Ignatius ' hand was shaking : this was malaria , the legacy of his days in Bahau . But he never spoke of it . He was a stoic . His reserve seemed to be impenetrable , and yet his pupils sensed that behind the frowning countenance there was a tender heart . Tan Eng Yoon says :
' I joined St [ oseph ' s in 1947 , and Brother Ignatius taught us Maths . This was in Standard VIll , and 1heard that the year before , in Standard VU , they had done very badly in Maths- 1think three quarters of the class had failed in the subject ! And he was a great Maths teacher , 1 can tell you . He gave us lots of homework - fifty sums , eighty sums a day . And we all did very well , and 1think he influenced me . I have a great respect for him . He made me want to do well in studies and 1think I became a good student , both in the 1947 class exam as well as in the 1948 Cambridge Examinations .' As Principal Brother Ignatius inspired a wholesome awe in the student body . To them he appeared Olympian and remote , even terrifying .
' He was a visionary ,' says Patrick Mowe . ' He was a builder too .'
' Ignatius was extremely strict . He had a very powerful presence . 1 have never seen anything like a whole crowd of 400 or 500 boys in a Hall in complete silence while he spoke . He reminds me very much of Lee Kuan Yew in that respect . He would explain a lot on stage , just off the cuff , not from a prepared speech . I felt he treated the students as rational people who had got to understand things : he didn ' t talk down to them .
' I was Head Prefect . 1 was also Sergeant-Major of the Cadet Corps , and I remember a predecessor , a Sergeant-Major of the Cadet Corps , who failed his Cambridge Examination , and 1 think some boys had made some derogatory remarks about him . Unfortunately , as Sergeant-Major of the Cadet Corps you tend to be a bit officious , so the boys took great delight in his failure ! I remember Brother Igna tius coming over the loud speaker and condemning this outright : he said this was extremely bad behaviour . The same boy was also Head Prefect . So I think Ignatius put things in perspective when he came out torcefully on the side of this unfortunate chap .' Brother Ignatius gave his senior boys a large measure of freedom for the exercise of their own initiative , and this led to the creation of the paper called the ' Christian Brothers ' Schools News ' or ' CBS News ' for short . It eventually achieved a circulation of 12,000 copies and covered the whole of Malaya from St Xavier ' s , Penang , right down to all the Brothers ' schools in Singapore . Wherever he went in the school Brother Ignatius spread an island of silence lOO metres around him .
' You ' d wonder how he knew so much about his school ,' recalls Brother Joseph . ' It would be enough for him to walk along the corridor and he would know everything that was happening .' At the end of the day ' s work he would stand on the bridge connecting the Anderson Building to the main school to ensure that boys left quietly . They did .
To his teachers Brother Ignatius seemed to be , above all , the embodiment of justice . Lim Choo Sye says :
' He was very fair . Broadminded . I was one of the Senior teachers , I recall , in 1953 . I was one of the elected City Councillors . When the Government decided on this Primary School business Brother Ignatius decided to break St [ oseph ' s . which was a full school with Primary and Secondary , into two sections . So he organised St [ oseph ' s Junior School , functioning in the morning . Mr FrankJamesandmyselfwere the two most senior and most eligible to become the Headmaster of a Junior School . Frank was very many years my senior , and a Catholic . But Brother Ignatius put me as the Headmaster of a Catholic Brothers ' School . In Singapore , as well as in Malaysia , I was the first lay Principal . You see he was very broadminded .
' He also allowed my younger teachers to join the Government schools . Before this there was an " understanding " between the Government and the Missions that if any Mission teacher were to leave a Mission School to join the Government schools he or she would lose two years in pay . In other words , if I was drawing $ 200 and 1left the Brothers ' Schools to join the Government system I would start in the Government school at $ 180 , losing two years increments . But Brother Ignatius reasoned it in this way : he said that by allowing our younger teachers to join the Government he would have , in later years , in the Inspectorate or Administration , people who would be more reasonable , or who would favour the Brothers ' Schools or Mission Schools to some extent .' Reverend Brother Patrick Loh remembers Brothers Ignatius especially for his building of the Science Labs . He created five , and cunningly utilised passages to maximise the space available . He also
Pages 54-55 , Sll Staff in 1957-1958 . Back row , left to right , Dominic Yip , lames Tseng , Anthony Chew , Paul Tang , Ow Mun Hong , lames Low , unknown , Tan Kwang Loong . Second row , left to right , unknown Brother , Rudy Mosbergen , Tan Chin Moh , Yap Boon Chuan , Eu Siak Hong , Charles Camegie , Chee Kah Ann , Goh Yong Meng , Mr Vincent , Peter Colaco , Colin Wilson , Brother Alban , loseph Yeoh , George Seow , Brother Iosepn Kiely . Third row , left to right , S . Holmberg , Mr Subramanian , Mr Lau , Miss Scares , Mrs Chapman , Miss Scares , Miss Soares , Cheah Boon Hong , Simon Pauri , E . Read , Ho Fook Seng , Mr Chan , Sng Yew Chong , Goh Cheng Eow , George Seow , Mr Chong , [ ohn Tseng , Leong Hong Hee , unknown Brother . Front row ; left to right , Brother Columba , Brother Albinus , L . A . Woodford , Tong Quee Yat , Miss A . J . [ ensen , c . V . J . Reutens , Brother Christopher , Brother Lawrence ( Director ), Lim Choo Sye , F . J . Rappa , C . B . Arriola , Frank lames , Ngui [ im Chiang , Brother Vincent , C . R . Eber .
Post-war Memories 53