Acknowledgements
I should like to express my thanks to the following people for their kind assistance :
Mrs [ oan Fong , who wrote Relatively Speaking , under her maiden name of [ oan Hon , and the novel Star Sapphire under her pseudonym Han May for her arduous preliminary work on the written contributions to this book .
Reverend Father Michael Arro , Church of Our Lady , for permission to study the manuscript , Annals of the Catholic Mission in Singapore ' by Father J . M . Beurel .
Reverend Father Paul Munier , for initiating our correspondence with the Missions Etrangeres de Paris , and for information aboutFather Charles Nain .
Reverend Brother Kevin Byrne , Principal of St [ oseph ' s Institution , for the use of the manuscript ' History of the House ' in the Brothers ' Library . Reverend Brother Christopher Chen , whose remarkable memory often helped me to resolve questions about which I was in doubt .
The Principal of De La SalIe School , Mr Choo Cheok Hai , and the Principal of St Michael ' s School , Mr Lirn Buck Thow , for giving me the opportunity to study their school diaries .
Professor Yeo Kirn Wah , Department of History , National University of Singapore , for scrutinising the passage in Chapter Sixrelative to post-war conditions in Singapore and for his emendations .
Mrs Tan Chew Moi , for her assistance in obtaining
Reverend Brother Ioseph ' s Diary of the Bras Basah Boys ' School .
Mr Anthony Sursham , ARIBA , for his advice on the architecture of St joseph ' s Institution .
M and Mme F . Grunstein , Cultural Counsellors at the French Embassy , for their help in obtaining materials from France .
Mme Marjolaine Mourot , Chef de Service d ' Etudes et de Documentation , Musee de la Marine ,
Paris , for the print of La [ ulie . The Archivist of the Missions Etrangeres de Paris ,
Reverend Father J . Verinaud , for the letters of Father Beurel .
The Archivist of the Mother House of the de La Salle Brothers of the Christian Schools in Rome for material relating to the early Brothers in Singapore .
The Archivist of the de La Salle Provincialate , Re- . verend Brother Alban Rosario , for his assistance .
The Delegates of the Reverend da Fabbrica di San Pietro in Vaticano , Rome , for particulars of our statue of St J . B . de La Salle and for information about the sculptor .
The National Archives in Singapore for material derived from their architectural plans and drawings , and for their unfailing courtesy and help over several years .
W . F . R . B .