The Time Machine Dominic Chua
Every time it came around we ’ d all be buzzing in the staff lounge , ‘ Oh , what ’ s the next joke to play on the boys ?’
National Day Flashcard Contigent
We also played a joke on the whole Secondary 3 level . We got the fiercest teacher we could find , Mr Moses Wong , because we knew the students were least likely to suspect a prank from him . We got him to write a memo to the Secondary 3 students using the school letterhead . The note went something like this :
‘ Dear Boys , due to unforeseen circumstances , all RI Sec 3 students have been asked to take part in the National Day Parade Flashcard Contingent . The following boys are exempted :
1 ) All students who wear spectacles
2 ) All students who are left-handed
3 ) Students from Malaysia
The following are the rehearsal dates ( they were all Sundays !).’
We also planned answers to questions that the students would probably raise , and how to break it to the boys that it was an April Fools ’ joke . One more memorable one involved the teachers creating flashcards of letters to take into class that would form the words ‘ April ’ s
Fool ’— the boys were told to form a word using the letters as part of a ‘ rehearsal ’ for the first practice ! The word was , of course , ‘ April Fool ’.
As we predicted , the boys asked about the strange exemptions . We gave them the silliest answers we could think of , but they took us so seriously !
‘ Why are students who wear spectacles exempted , ma ’ am ?’
‘ Oh , you know , because flashcard contingents cannot have spectacles reflecting the sunlight , otherwise it ’ ll dazzle the spectators on the opposite end of the stadium .’
Centre : Mr Moses Wong
‘ Why not left-handed guys , ma ’ am ?’
‘ Oh , because you need the right hand to flip the flashcards .’
There was one question we didn ’ t anticipate — we didn ’ t have very many foreign students in the school at that time , and they were mainly Malaysians . We forgot that we had Indonesian students too ! So one Indonesian boy ( in Mrs Alba ’ s class I believe ) stood up —‘ I am Indonesian , why am I not exempted ?’
‘ Because we buy water from Malaysia ,’ was her pokerfaced reply .
All this happened between 1991 and 1993 . I went off to MOE HQ after that , and wasn ’ t sure if the teachers kept up the April Fools ’ tradition , but we lived for April Fools ’ Day ! Every time it came around we ’ d all be buzzing in the staff lounge , ‘ Oh , what ’ s the next joke to play on the boys ?’
Rafflesian Times
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