boo across the shoulder with a fire at one end and food for cooking at the other end of the poles . The appearance of the school hall during break was more like a market but the odour of the food was very mouth-watering .
' St . [ oseph ' s was a four stream school but after Standard Seven there were only two Cambridge classes and one School Certificate class . This was on account of the prosperity of Singapore and the ease with which boys were able to find employment . The purpose of coming to school was to get a job eventually , and there were all kinds of opportunities in Singapore . There was no Form Six , no University , but the King Edward VU College of Medicine existed , and it was in 1928 that Raffles College came into existence .
The Commercial class was in the charge of Brother Andrew from California . When he wen t to class the first morning , he gave a dictation which he collected but which it would seem he did not correct . Then he started the American Palmer System of Handwriting . In a short time everyone ' s writing had improved . Then three months after the class had been in existence Brother Andrew gave the same dictation that he had given on the first day , and he returned both copies of the dictation to the boys to show them the progress they had made in penmanship .' Brother James Dooley was on the staff of SJl from January 1936 to December 1937 . He used to teach on
The Community of Brothers in 1937 . Back row , left to right , Philbert Paul , Victor Henry ( who was killed on 12 February 1945at De La Salle College , Manila ), Antonius von Jesus ( who survived the massacre at Manila ), Thomas Siephen , Kieran Eduiard , Fridebert John ( also killed at Manila ), Edwin Alexius , Cronan , Felan James . Front row , left to right , Finian [ oeeph , Basil Francis , Lawrence Henry , Denis Senach , Stephen Buckley ( Director ), Symphorien Auguste , Edmund of Salisbury , Charles [ ulian , Leonard Francis . the first floor of the main bu iJding , looking ou t on Bras Basah Road . He says :
' What shocked me was the stark poverty of some of the boys and arising from this poverty , the trauma of having to collect school fees for the Department at the end of each month . The fee was $ 2.50 . It looked small but it was a fortune for poor parents . Asking for the fees at the end of each month was like extracting teeth . I felt so bad about it that in all my classes 1had the boys elect a Minister of Finance - less embarrassment all round I thought . But the boys were good-humoured , cooperative and even though most of them were very average intellectually , they did their best .
' I can still recall one great moment we all had in my class each morning . A smiling Indian hawker would bow himself politely right through my classroom to take up his stand for recess time . He left in his trail the rich aroma of giant , juicy curry puffs . We all took a deep collective breath and looked at the clock .' Brother Philip O ' Callaghan writes :
' 1 took over Standard 7B in 1938 from Brother Gerald whom I ' m sure none of his students will ever forget . I had a class of thirty-six . We occupied the class on the top floor of the Anderson Building closest to Bras Basah Road . It would be too long to give you a list of the students but among them were the Boo Hong twins , Tan Puay Yong , Ho Shun Fatt , Aloysius Seck , Teo Boey Fook , Leslie and Hugh Monteiro , Emmanuel Dorett , Pat Goh Yong Hock and many others whose names 1still recall . They were a wonderful group .
The Anderson building was regarded as a sort of luxury building in those days , compared with the dark classrooms of the old building . Being on the top floor gave you a chance every day to make a tour of the whole set-up when you were allowed to go to the toilets , for you could then , as I ' m sure you can now , walk round the verandahs distracting or making faces at your friends on all three floors as you returned . Perhaps the greatest attraction was the undertaker premises owned by Mr . Neubronner across the road on Waterloo Street . He made the coffins on the verandah and you could hear , not only the nails being driven in , but also the cornmen ts of the workmen and the occasional dispu tes that followed . Next door was the Synagogue , but J would think that the greatest distraction for the teacher , at least , came from the compound of SS Peter and Paul ' s Church . Father Becheras had many Chinese living in the compound and the children used to sing the Requiem Masses . Frequentlyduringtheday theycouJd be seen perched in the trees and singing the whole Requiem Mass in Latin and they were a source of welcome distraction . Of course Waterloo Street corner was also a source of information for you could see the kids who were late for school trying to get in without being noticed or you could see the kids who ventured out of the gate in school hours to buy lolliesat Mrs . De Sa ' s shop across the road and you could also register the distress of Mrs . De Sa when she found tha t someone had pinched an exercise book or run off with a bar of chocolate .
' One could recall the very excellent teachers at St . [ oseph ' s in my day . I would like to mention two whose names will bring back many happy memories to some Old Boys . There was Rev . Brother Kieran who had such a wonderful influence in the school from both the academic and the religious point of view . His untimely death at Bahau during the war was a tragic loss . Then there was Brother Leonard , a Chinese Brother , who was so versatile , so gifted , so sociable . His annual art and craft exhibitions were real attractions just before the war . The war did upset many things at St . [ oseph ' s , To recount the experiences of the school itself and the experiences of the Brothers and teachers during that period would take volumes .'
Memories of Teachers and Pupils , 1900 -1939 31