Chapter Four :
Memories of eachers and Pupils ,
1900-1939
St Joseph ' s Institution as it appeared in about 1912 . The curved wings terminate in two carefully composed classical facades and each hood is crowned by an elaborate finial . The parapet completed the composition .
Time and immemorial custom have played their part in shaping generations of boys at SJ !. The Founder ' s intention was that his students should be made aware of the longer perspective , the spiritual dimension . Every day at noon , the deeptoned bell of SS Peter and Paul rang the Angelus and the classes paused to pray . Every hour , upon the hour , the boys used to stand while the monitor said : ' Let us remember that we are standing in the Holy Presence of God .' Such things serve to remind one of the past in the present . You have the same sense as you sit in the quiet of the Chapel , the silence broken only by the sound of distant voices in the Sacristy . Nowhere does this sense of the past at SJIfeel more tangible . Above , in the vast attic of the Old school , amidst the huge timbers that hold up the roof , the dust , the superannuated statues from the Chapel and other relics of the past , you hear the noise of the school drifting up from below and you feel the genius loci , the spirit of the place .
This is a chapter of memories of the school between the wars . C . C . Tan , the eminent lawyer , was a scholar of SJI from 1918 to 1927 . In 1948 , in the first elections ever held for the Singapore Legislative Council , he came top of the poll .
' 1 was admitted into ' Sjl , my father ' s Alrna Mater , in January 1918 , when the armies facing each other in the First World War on the Western Front were still locked in mortal combat . I joined what was then called the Primary Class . In those days , SJ1 , the only La Salle School in Singapore , was a full school . One commenced school life in the Primary Class , and all being well , could proceed by annual promotions to Standard I and thence up to Standard VUto spend the first of the final two years in what was called the Junior Cambridge Class and the second in the Senior Cambridge Class , the latter being equivalent to the present " 0 " Level .
The Rev . Brother Stephen was then the Director of the School and Rev . Brother Sigebert was the Sub-Director .
' School hours were from 8.45 a . m . in the morningt03.00p . m . in the afternoon , with one hour off between noon and 1.00 p . m . for lunch which was usually spent either playing games in the school hall , then called " the King George V Hall " ( now renamed " Oei Tiong Ham Hall ") under the School Chapel , or , if one was more adventurous , going over Bras Basah Road to the school playing field on the other side of the road for a bit of football or run-around . There used to be a noisy electric rail tram-car running along Bras Basah Road , commencing from the junction of Beach Road and after reaching Dhoby Ghaut , turning right and proceeding on to Upper Serangoon Road . In those days the rail tram , with its toast-rack shaped cars , provided the only means of public transport except for the FMS Railway which used to run from its Southern terrninus atTank Road to Woodlands , taking in five intermediate stations on the way .
' My Primary Class was sited in the middle room on the ground floor of the right wing of the old SJ1 main building . Iremember that the end class nearer to BrasBasah Road was under the charge of Mrs . De Souza and one still retains vivid memories of the sound of corporal punishment administered by her to the children in that class . Class teachers
were then authorised to mete out corporal punishment .
' In those days , no uniform was prescribed for the clothing of pupils and there was a variety of attire , some consisting of shorts and shirts , some of long pants and shirts and others of complete suits of " baju tutup ". The last mentioned was the most common attire , comprising a pair of long pants with a long sleeved jacket , fitted with five main detachable buttons down the front and two small buttons in the collar . Even this outfit varied in material and colour from the ordinary white or khaki cotton drill , to linen or even silk , in white , blue or pale yellow . I can still remember an old friend of mine , who went through ten years of
Memories of Teachers and Pupils , 1900 -1939 23