""" I his assistants were all Old boys , a Solemn Requiem mass for all the departed Teachers and pupils of SJI and the other Brothers ' Schools , a combined Sports Day , a combined Schools Concert , and a Banquet given by the Old Boys .
Brother Thomas noted :
' Church and State combined in union to make the Centenary Celebrations the great success they were . The Sisters of St Maur who began work also in 1852 had similar Centenary Celebrations and were immensely pleased with the response given by the people of Malaya -altogether a most popular and enthusiastic week .' C . C . Tan recalls the Centenary banquet as a unique occasion :
' The dinner was held in the dining hall of the old Adelphi Hotel , which has now been demolished . It was a special celebration - we decided to make it , at the same time , very much a " family " affair , our aim being to get as many Old Boys from as many De La Salle schools from other parts of the world . We made a special point of inviting the Presidents of the Old Boys of the Brothers ' Schools going up North from Seremban , Malacca , Kuala Lumpur , Ipoh and Penang . It hasn ' t been done since then . And we also had , as our guests , the Presidents of the Old Boys of the other major schools in Singapore , like the Raffles Institution and the Anglo-Chinese School .' Meanwhile the building of the new Primary School went ahead . It was to be called St Michael ' s , as a reminder of the famous Brother Michael who was Director of SJIbetween 1900 and 1914 , as well as of the Saint , who is always portrayed slaying the serpent of Evil .
After World War 11 , Brother Director Anthony Knoll had invested $ 69,000 in land near Victoria Park , with the intention of building a Boys ' Town . But he was foiled , partially , in his wishes because another religious Order built a Boys ' Town before he could start . When Brother Ignatius became Director of SJI , he , with the help of the Land Office , divided the property into thirty lots . The Jesuits bought eleven lots for their Church and the rest were all sold in record time . The land realised $ 300,000 . This money , together with the money raised by the Christian Brothers Old Boys ' Association enabled the Brothers to build St Michael ' s on land from the Singapore Improvement Trust . The School , in its beautiful fields , opened its doors on 11 January 1954 with 590 pupils . Reverend Brother Thomas came from De La Salle to direct the new school . On 14 January 1954 he noted :
' The Primary children are beginning to run about and play while the vast gathering of mothers etc . is slowly fading away .' Shortly after , St [ oseph ' s Junior School was transferred to St Michael ' s to make room for more Secondary boys in SJI .
A marble plaque at the entrance to the school records that on 22 September the school was formally opened by Mrs C . C . Tan . The occasion was hosted jointly by the Director of Education , R . M . Young , and by Brother Director himself .
St Step hen ' s was the last of the Brothers ' Primary Schools to be founded , and as a feeder school for St Patrick ' s the purchase of the land and the progress of the building were seen to by Reverend Brother Lawrence Robless . The land cost $ 10,113 and the building contract was for $ 371,000 . On 7 May 1957 Bishop Michael Olcomendy gave his episcopal blessing and in September the Director of Educa tion officially opened the school . Ten years later it merged with St Patrick ' s Junior School .
On 11 February 1957 the Reverend Brother Ignatius relinquished his Directorship of St [ oseph ' s Institution after six eventful years . He had certainly made his mark , both upon the perceptions of his pupils and upon the buildings .
When he was a Form Teacher immediately after World War IT he naturally seemed less remote to the pupils than when he subsequently became Director . Itis , therefore , to that cohort of students thatwemust turn for an intimate portrait of him . Goh Sin Tub was in his Form , whose members were a good deal older than their years belied . Brother Ignatius weighed into them with characteristic thoroughness . He gave the boys large quantities of work to do in term time and held extra classes in the holidays . Occasionally he would give the boys the rough edge of his tongue for halfanhourata time , but there was a quality about him thatrivetted theirattention . He was a spur in the flank : he also knew when to be encouraging . As an English teacher he made the art of writing a life-long interest for some of his pupils . His love of poetry was contagious . He had no hesitation in wandering far outside the syllabus , and he read to the boys from G . K . Chesterton and Hilaire Belloe . ' Don ' t read good books ,' he would say . ' Youhave no time for good books . You only have time for the best books .'
Goh Sin Tub , who was to return to school and serve as Chairman of the Board of Management for many years , reminisces :
' To those of us who are fortunate , there will be one great teacher who will be ourconstantinspiration for the rest of our lives . For me this is Brother Ignatius . He was stem but fair , he was uncompromising in his stand for right behaviour , he taught me values which have stood me in good stead all the days of my life . His love for literature and his ability to transmit this love opened a vast new world to me and planted in me a love , indeed a compulsion , for creative writing . His limitless idealism , and his personal example of tenacity educated me and helped me to face challenges in my career without fear or doubt . I have been asked : why do Iand many other Old Boys dedicate our time , energy and resources to help the Christian Brothers ' Schools ? Well , it it simply because there is Brother Ignatius and together with him the band of other Brothers as well as the teachers of our schools . Because they are , so we are .' Sometimes the boys would notice that Brother
52 Memories of SJI