Contributors wanted
Calling for passionate contributors to the OVA website!
Do you:
a) Have a knack for writing?
b) Have a collection of photos that must be shared with fellow Victorians?
c) Have a memorable quote from a past teacher to add to our quotes collection?
d) Have a memory of an event/ teacher/ place that cannot be erased?
e) Want to help out in the bolts and nuts behind running a website, eg, Drupal, WordPress, Photoshop or payment integration?
f) All of the above?
If you are any of the above, get in touch with us now! Please indicate how you would like to contribute and how we can get in touch with you.
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By Old Boy, May 23, 2009 @ 11:01
There are photos of VS at Tyrwhitt Road from this famous nostalgic site where the owner is also an old VS boy.
Check it out!
http://timesofmylife.wordpress.com/2007/04/
By Old Boy, May 23, 2009 @ 11:21
I do not know how to create a new posting. So I am putting it here.
Can someone shed some light on this part of the history of VS?
1. Victoria Morning School, which is actually Victoria School (?)
2. Victoria Afternoon School, which co-existed with Victoria Morning School using the same building. Victoria Afternoon School does not have a principal but has a supervisor. The purpose was to cater to overaged students after the War (?)
3. Victoria Afternoon School was renamed Victoria Continuation School (?). The students were transferred to a new school call Beatty Secondary School, which was near VS at that time.
Found this from Beatty Sec School history which is rather interesting:
In March 1953, the Deputy Director of Education, Mr R.E Ince invited the Principal of Victoria School, Mr R. F. Bouford, to visit a school building which was almost ready to be taken over by the Education Department from PWD. This was situated near the former Rumah Miskin Police Station along Serangoon Road. The Supervisor of Victoria Continuation School, Reverend Daniel Elijah Sundram, was asked to accompany them as an interested party. The school was later named BEATTY SECONDARY SCHOOL.
The school began with 323 students in eight classes: 3 Standard Six classes from Bartley Secondary School and 3 Standard Seven and 2 Standard Eight Classes from Victoria Continuation School.
http://www.beattysecondaryschool.net/cos/o.x?c=/wbn/pagetree&func=view&rid=47707
So what is the status of Victoria Afternoon School and Victoria Continuation School? It is part of VS? another sister institution of VS, like VJC? Or just another institution bearing the same name, ‘Victoria’?
By Roshaizan Bin Sapan, May 24, 2009 @ 13:14
Great Reading!
And I remember all the 5 of you!!
Just that, can’t figure it out, which one is you!!!
By Old Boy, May 24, 2009 @ 16:16
Another similar site:
Vanishing Scenes of Singapore – Part 6 (My Secondary School Days)
http://victorkoo.blogspot.com/2005/11/vanishing-scenes-of-singapore-part-6.html
By Lim Eng Chong, May 27, 2009 @ 01:23
History of Victoria School
It’s enlightening to know that there are Victorians who are interested to probe into the long history of Victoria. Like that gentleman who put up those questions about Victoria Morning/ Afternoon/Continuation school etc, I have many questions as well. It would be interesting to gather Victorians who have an interest in the History of Victoria to exchange information and perhaps even to do a research project which could culminate into a published book for all past, present & future Victorians to appreciate the long and illustrious history of this great institution. Can the gentleman pls contact me at my email: eclim.pals@gmail.com as I would like to get to know you and discuss on this. Thanks
By Old Boy, May 27, 2009 @ 01:32
Reply to Lim Eng Chong,
I came across them and it was merely out of curiosity. At this moment, I don’t know how much I can contribute, esp due to my work commitments.
Your idea of a book is a good one. I have seen Raffles, ACS, SJI, etc…even Outram Sec have came out with book(s)
- Kelvin Y.L. Tan. Labour Conquers All: 100 Years of Outram Secondary School (2006). Singapore. ISBN 981-05-5775-2.
I believe they have been on sale to public before and kept in our libraries. Hopefully, Victoria will have a book one day too.
By Lim Eng Chong, May 28, 2009 @ 02:02
Thanks your reply. Yes most of us don’t really have the time to contribute as much as we would like to. I can see you have a keen interest in the history of the school and you also have lots of knowledge & references about other schools as well. Like you, I hope there can be a book published on the history of
Victoria, like some the other schools with a long history and rich heritage. To make this a reality, we can first gather the people who have the interest and/or the knowledge to see how we can go about doing it. You dont have to get actively involved but can just provide whatever input, suggestions, advice on sources etc or whatever you already know or want to help with. We can get others to help research and contribute more, to collate, compile, edit etc as a first step. We can also obtain the help of other Victorians who are writers, poets, journalists, historians, retired VS teachers & students etc to help. For instance, I am sure we can seek the help and advice of Prof Edwin Thumbo who would most forthcoming to contribute to Victoria as he has always done. I am willing to help coordinate and take the lead on this project. I hope you can leave me your email in case I need to ask for your advice.
I hope other Victorians who are interested in
“The History of Victoria” could also contact me to explore this project together. My email: eclim.pals@gmail.com
By vicson, May 29, 2009 @ 12:50
I believe that when the late Dr Ong Chit Chung was an academic at the NUS, he had supervised a thesis on the history of VS (it was then discovered that the school could trace its early days to the school in Kg Glam started in 1876, Henceforth, the official yr of founding of VS was stated as 1876 and not 1890 which was until then accepted as the yr when was founded.) From a check of NLB record, it is found that a copy of this thesis may be available at the Bedok library
By Old Boy, June 9, 2009 @ 19:47
I did not know our libraries keep copies of such thesis. My guess is that the student who did the thesis is a Victorian too.
By Old Boy, June 19, 2009 @ 10:04
A list of notable Old Victorians of VS and/or VJC is listed here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Victorians
By Old Boy, June 19, 2009 @ 10:07
Whoever have time can help to improve the pages on Victoria School and Victoria Junior College. They need to be neutral, or else moderators may come in to edit/delete/put special tags on these pages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_School
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Junior_College
By vicson, August 8, 2009 @ 20:00
re posting dd 29 may, it was an academic exercise completed by an honours student Mr Ernest Cheong for the year 1987/88, entitled “Victoria School 1876 – 1987″.
By Old Boy, August 8, 2009 @ 22:40
Syed Alwi site vs Victoria Street
All the while, it has been recorded that during the years 1900-1932, VS was known as Victoria Bridge School, situated near the Victoria Bridge, at Victoria Street.
Howcome the site is call the Syed Alwi site now?
http://itclub.vs.moe.edu.sg/newschool/gallery/images/DSCF0019-1_JPG.jpg
The site was later used by the Kota Raja Malay School.
Is Syed Alwi site at Syed Alwi Road? If it is, Syed Alwi Road is actually separated by Jalan Sultan from Victoria Street.
Any one can clarify?
By jalanbesar, August 9, 2009 @ 17:52
The list of notable old VS boys (as gleaned from Wikipedia) features several Malaysians. To be added to the list is Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Rahman, the former Chief Executive of Malaysian Airlines System and a prominent Malaysian businessman. According to the attached infor, Mr Aziz attended the post certificate class (equivalent to today’s GCE A Level) in 1953 in VS after completing his senior cambridge in Kota Bahru.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn6207/is_20010701/ai_n24904277/
By Old Boy, August 10, 2009 @ 04:15
In 1932, the SULTAN OF TRENGGANU sent his 2 sons to study at Victoria Bridge School.
http://newspapers.nl.sg/Search_Result.aspx?keyword=%22victoria%20bridge%20school%22%20sultan%20%20&fromdate=&todate=&articles=1&advertisements=1&illustrations=1&letters=1&obituaries=1&miscellaneous=1
The Sultan at that time was Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah. After he passed away in 1942, his eldest son, Tengku Ali, was made the Sultan until 1945.
http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/legal/general_news/history_behind_the_royal_lineage.html?date=2007-09-01
It is not known whether the Sultan, Tengku Ali, is one of the two sons that was sent to study in Victoria Bridge School. Sultans at that time were known to have a few wives and many sons.
By Old Boy, August 10, 2009 @ 14:27
It was previously recorded that the school name, Victoria Bridge School, was changed to Victoria School, in 1932.
But it seem more likely to be in 1936, as Victoria Bridge School name was last used in the newspapers in 1936, and Victoria School name first appeared in the same year 1936.
http://newspapers.nl.sg/Search_Result.aspx?keyword=%22victoria%20bridge%20school%22&fromdate=&todate=&articles=1&advertisements=1&illustrations=1&letters=1&obituaries=1&miscellaneous=1
By Old Boy, August 23, 2009 @ 04:06
Owing to some dispute in Wikipedia, which was a matter of time, as it is not the right place for the listing of prominent Old Victorians, the list has been transferred to http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2209767942&topic=9258
By Old Boy, September 15, 2009 @ 19:31
It was recorded that VS Arrow Scout Group is founded in 1922. Raffles Institution scout group was also formed in the same year, and it is the earliest scout group in Singapore.
However, there was scout group formed in VS as early as 1919. It was known as the 5th Singapore (Malay) Troop.
See below:
———————————————————
It was recorded that a scout unit was first established in 1919 at Victoria Bridge School (presently Victoria School).
“In the post-World War I environment, many parents in the Malay-Muslim community did not support the idea of their sons joining the Cadet Corps. As a result, Hashim changed his plans and opted for the founding of an All-Malay Scout Troop at Victoria Bridge School. This led to the establishment of the 5thSingapore (Malay) Troop in 1919.”[1]
“First appointed as Scoutmaster of the 5th Singapore Malay Scout Troop in 1919, Alsagoff would later be promoted to District Scoutmaster (Malay Scouts), District commissioner (Malay Scouts) and Assistant Chief Commissioner (Malay Scouts).”[2]
Little was know to the 5th Troop. We don’t know who founded it or when it was closed down. In the Annual Report on Education in the Straits Settlements, it was clearly stated that a scout troop was established in 1922.
“22. Singapore – The three Government Schools, Raffles Institution, Outram Road School, and Victoria Bridge School, formed School Troops in 1922, and depended entirely on pupils and masters for officers.”[3]
It was not clear who founded this 6th Singapore Troop. However, it was mentioned in Scouting in Singapore 1910-2000 that Scoutmaster of 6th Singapore Troop was Mr. S. R. Williams and Assistant Scoutmaster was Inche Hamid Bin Omar.
References
1. Kevin Y.L. Tan and Wan M. H., 2002. Scouting in Singapore 1900-2000. In :Campfire Yarn No 8. pp 174
2. Kevin Y.L. Tan and Wan M. H., 2002. Scouting in Singapore 1910-2000. In :Campfire Yarn No 8. pp 174
3. E. C. H. Wolff, (Director of Education, Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States),1923. Annual Report on Education in the Straits Settlements for the Year 1922. pp 213
http://deletionpedia.dbatley.com/w/index.php?title=Arrow_Scout_Group_(deleted_10_Aug_2008_at_18:01)
By Old Boy, September 15, 2009 @ 19:35
“Scoutmaster of 6th Singapore Troop was Mr. S. R. Williams” – Mr Williams later became principal of VS.
By Old Boy, September 15, 2009 @ 19:42
VS, before it was known as Victoria Bridge School, was more commonly known as the Government English School, an English school that catered exclusively to Malay pupils. The name is quite a generic one, as there are a few other schools known as Government English School in Malaya.
By Old Boy, September 16, 2009 @ 03:13
It was recorded that VS NCC (Land) was formed in 1948. However, according to NCC Singapore history, NCC was formed in 1918 in VS.
———————————————————
In 1917, steps were taken by the Education authorities to revive the Cadet Corps on a new basis. It was decided that six schools (Raffles Institution, St Joseph ’s Institution, Anglo-Chinese School , St Andrew’s School, Outram Road School , and Victoria Bridge School ) should each form a Cadet Unit. This time, the Cadet Corps in school would be entirely separated from that of the Volunteer Corps. The aim of the movement was to improve the physique and discipline of the boys, and to inspire them with ideals of esprit-de-corps and patriotism.
In 1918, all the six selected schools formed their Cadet Units under the command of their own Cadet Officers.
http://www.ncc.org.sg/The_Corps.htm
By Old Boy, November 28, 2009 @ 13:44
Level Up @ Victoria School Open House 09 Video (14 Nov 2009 Sat)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwQlby0rLXU
By Old Boy, November 28, 2009 @ 13:49
Victoria School Anthem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LYxiP_P6V0
By Sonny, December 14, 2009 @ 23:45
Former MP Sha’ari Tadin laid to rest after suffering a heart failure
By Daud Yusof, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 14 December 2009 2317 hrs
SINGAPORE: Former Member of Parliament for Kampong Chai Chee and Bedok, Mr Sha’ari Tadin, has been laid to rest.
The ex-Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Culture died on Sunday.
Mr Sha’ari’s body was brought to the Ba’Alwie Mosque for prayers before being buried at the Muslim cemetery.
He suffered heart failure after a 10-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.
The former PAP MP was instrumental in spearheading a movement to uplift the Malay community educationally.
And the Colombo Plan Scholar led by example, being the first graduate Malay MP at the age of 36.
Former students like Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and MP for Aljunied GRC, Zainul Abidin Rasheed regard Mr Sha’ari as a beacon of education.
He said: “He in fact imbued me with a lot of values. Value of education. Value to serve the community and the importance of what we do as a collective effort for the community.
“And I also know in fact that the late Haji Shaari was a source of inspiration to many other Malay MPs, and he in fact put my name up in 1976 as a candidate for the PAP to consider.” – CNA/vm
By Sonny, December 15, 2009 @ 23:08
PM Lee sends condolences to family of former Malay MP, Sha’ari Tadin
Posted: 15 December 2009 2248 hrs
SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has paid a glowing tribute to the late PAP MP Sha’ari Tadin who passed away on Sunday.
In a letter to Mr Sha’ari’s wife, Mr Lee said without Mr Sha’ari and his generation of Malay leaders who served the party and Singapore loyally, the country would not be where it was today.
He noted that Mr Sha’ari was the first Malay graduate MP and belonged to a new generation of better educated Malay leaders.
This, he said, reflected the steady progress of the community.
Since then, Mr Lee said in each successive election the government have upgraded the quality of the Malay MPs elected, not only in terms of educational attainments, but also their participation in and contribution to national issues. – CNA/vm
By Sonny, December 16, 2009 @ 00:23
Sha’ari Tadin is a distinguished Old Victorian. He was Guest-of-Honour at VS Speech Day in 1968 and 1974.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sha%27ari_Tadin
By Support, January 19, 2010 @ 23:47
You can support VS here: http://www.nemation.sg/
By Old Boy, January 31, 2010 @ 22:00
Jan 29, 2010
PA gets historic new home
By Nur Dianah Suhaimi
The conserved the old school building while converting the classrooms into sleek offices. The school hall-cum-canteen is now a dance studio and storage area for Chingay and National Day props. — ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
WHEN the People’s Association (PA) was set up 50 years ago, its headquarters was a former airport in Kallang. On Friday, it officially moved to another old building: the former Victoria School building in King George’s Avenue.
This time, however, the PA engaged architects and gave its new home a $47 million makeover.
The conserved the old school building while converting the classrooms into sleek offices. The school hall-cum-canteen is now a dance studio and storage area for Chingay and National Day props. A new five-storey extension block was built behind the old school and a sprawling lawn fronts the entire structure.
The changes won it the Architectural Heritage Awards last year, an annual honour given to well-restored monuments and conservation buildings in Singapore.
On Friday night, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is also PA’s chairman, officially opened it new home in a ceremony attended by about 1,000 people, including Cabinet ministers and grassroots leaders. The event, held on the lawn, was like a mini National Day celebration, complete with floats, performers in colourful costumes as well as a fireworks and pyrotechnics display.
Mr Lee also opened the PA heritage gallery, an exhibition which charts the association’s growth over the past 50 years. The gallery will be a permanent fixture at the building’s atrium. These events are the first in a series of activities to be held this year to mark PA’s 50th anniversary.
Read the full story in Saturday’s edition of The Straits Times.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_483982.html
By Old Boy, February 9, 2010 @ 00:52
I am reposting this enlightening piece of VS history in this thread, so that it can be easily refer to, if in future, a book on the history of VS and/or VJC is written.
========================================================
By Tyrwhittdays, February 8, 2010 @ 09:20
In the yesteryears, especially during the 1960s, Victoria School was a hive of activity and pioneer in helping to raise funds for charity and in giving the students the space to exercise their creativity and spirit of kindness and love for the school. There was a pop band concert successfully organised at the Singapore Badminton Hall and spontaneously spearheaded by the students in 1965 to raise funds for a former Victoria School great distance runner Justin Rozario who was paralysed after a diving accident. I think many students would have recalled with pride and fond memory of the efforts they put in to selflessly helped a fellow Victorian in need. I think Mr Phil Wong, a popular blogger now living in Sydney had recalled with pride in his involvement in putting up the banner for the show. See his blog. Then there was the 1968 Carnival of the Year held at the school compound and having the then Minister of Social Affairs Mr Othman Wok as Guest of Honour to raised funds for charity. It was a roaring success, with a myriad of popular activities staged, including a beauty contest won by a lady who later went on to become the first Miss Tourism Singapore and a talentime contest whose champion turned out to be a VS boy Subronto who later became a well know professional trumpeter. By the way the carnival was conceived by two Pre U students Arthur Goh and Raj Kumar and subequently taken on by the OVA whose stalwarts included the former Head Prefect Mr Richard Teo Cher Aik and the late SRS Naidu and their committee. Then in those years the school annually held a talentime concert in which there was tremendous particpation by the students. I recalled that among the prominent particpants were Baharom Salleh, the great sportsman and footballer who had a golden voice to match, and Chong Seng Choi, the then Head Prefect who was an accomplished guitarist. There was no dearth of talents and the the event was held in the school quadrangular which were looked forward to enthusiastically by the students. Some years later, the talentime was discontinued perhpas by the more conservative principals. Then there was the beautiful garden and pond created by students of Pre U 2 Arts in 1967 in the school quadrangular and it was spearheaded by Philip Lee, a Queen’s Scout and a very creative person who is now a high flyer in the corporate world. Also in the 1960s, Victoria School was the first school to introduce a school supporte’ cap which was won proudly by our students at inter school sports meets, especially at the Serangoon District Annual Athletics Championships where Victoria Scool was the perennial champion. Our hero athletes of those years were people like Alagirisamy and Dr Siah Kim Bin, both middle distance champions, Giang Toh Chye, the top sprinter and Fok Keng Choy, the best shot putter of his time. They brought joy and cheers to the fellow Victorian supporters who were equally up to the task in their vociferous support and the mass turnout. There was one year when a large contingent of supporters marched from Farrer Park Stadium back to the school in Tyrwhitt Road, waving the school banners and singing the school song and shouting out the school cheers all along the way after yet another triumph at the Serangoon District Championships. It was really a sight to behold and an experience that will not be forgotten by those who had taken part. Come to think of it, this could have been considered as an infringement of the law forbidding public demonstration. But hey, the students were in really high spirit. By the way, the student who came up with the supporter’s cap which was Arthur Goh who was a very creative and innovative fellow who later made a name for himself in the publishing business, Although a somewhat simple item, no other schools had had ever thought of making one those day and this was quickly copied by schools like RI. Then during the 1960s there was a proliferation of school newsletters published by “rival” groups. There was the ‘Victory’ dominated by the science students and there the ‘Victorian Forum’ spearheaded mostly by the Arts students. The newsletters even carried serious articles including an interview with the the US Consul in Singapore. Some of the promient editors of these newsletters were student like Chung Chee Kit and Mok Kong Chua. Then many graduating Sec 4 and Pre U claases published their own commemorative class magazines. One of the popular one was the “VICSON” which was the class magazine of Sec 4 Sc One in 1968 and edited by that most loyal of Victorians, the evergreen Alwi Said Abdullah, who was a champion campaigner for everthing Victoria School. What great days those were! I am sure that the Victorian Spirit is still as strong as ever now.
By Tyrwhittdays, February 9, 2010 @ 21:14
Hi Old Boy
Thanks. May I just put in a little correction. The beautiful pond in the quadrangular was created by the students of Pre-U One Arts in 1967 spearheaded by Phlilip Lee. The “VICSON” was the commemorative class magazine of Sec 4 Science One of 1966.
By vs68, February 12, 2010 @ 15:05
Here are two interesting postings taken from the popular blog of Uncle Dicko, an old Victoria School boy. The first one was on the 1984 annual campfire of the Victoria School’s 6TH Arrow Scout Group. It was acccompanied by a historic picture showing the guset of honour, the grandson of the founder of the scout movement Baden Powell and Mr Mansor Adabi, an ardent old Victoria School boy who was the Editor of the Malayan Law Journal and for had served in the OVA Committee faithfully for many years.
The second posting was that on Mansor Adabi and his marriage to Maria Hertogh, the Dutch teenager who was the subject of a controvery when her natural parents won a court decision to return her to them from her Muslim foster parents. This resulted in riots in Singapore during which there were some casualties.
Victoria School is indeed something more. It is full of history and many personalities, prominent, controversial or colourful have been associated with it over the years of its existence.
http://uncledicko.blogspot.com/2010/01/1988-meeting-up-with-bps-grandson-wife.html
http://uncledicko.blogspot.com/2010/02/mansor-adabi.html
By Old Boy, February 12, 2010 @ 16:08
Re-posting oldvic entry here for easy reference:
———————————————————
By oldvic, January 27, 2010 @ 09:56
re Old Boy’s posting of 25 Jan. In the old days, it was common for the established schools such as VS, SJI, ACS, SAS,to have “Afternoon School” named after them and operate in the afternoon session in the same school premises. These “Afternoon Schools” are not administratively part of the main schools and they operaterated independently. They took in over aged students, lesser qualified students and Chinese Schools’ students who attended such schools in the afternoon after their normal Chinese classes in their own shcools. I believe one such Chinese school student was the late Prof Chao who studied at Cahtolic High School and then attended Victoria Afternoon School later in the day. Interestingly, Victoria Afternoon School was the “founding school” of the present Beatty Secondary School when the latter was established in the 1950s with its first student intake all transferred from Victoria Afternoon School. In due course, Beatty began to admit in its own students. Although Beatty was then labelled by some as a “rugged” school, it had produced its fair share of oldd boys who later distinguished themselves in the professional lifes, including a cabinet minister, high court judges, top medical and education specialists and most well known of all, Mr Shih Choon Fong, the former distinguished President of NUS and now founding President and Professor of the ultra modern Sultan Abdullah University in Saudi Arabia. Beatty School also excelled in sports in those days, especially athletics, football and hockey. It was a fierce rival of VS, SJI, RI especially in these sports. One of the school’s most renowned sportsman was Mr Low Sin Chock, now a retired SIA Jumbo Captain who was Singapore’s top sprinter in the late 50s and early 60s. After finishing his School Certificate at Beatty he joined the Pre U classes in Victoria School and much glory to the shcool as the fastest schoolboy of his time. In the early 60s, Mr Low more often than not made his presence at the VS Sports Day by taking part in the old boys 1oo m race. He was proud of his VS links.
By tyrwhittdays, February 16, 2010 @ 21:06
Hi Old Boy, Glad to inform that one of my classmates of Pre U One Arts in 1967 had read my posting of 8 Feb above. He reminded me that our class monitor Mr Lim Lay Hock, who later carved out a successful career in the banking world, had played a big part in getting the beautiful pond done and leading our class of students to a forested area in Bedok to cut and collect the bamboo to build the pond. I now recalled that we worked very hard and tirelessly to cut, collect and bring back the big amoung of bamboo to the school. The pond was symbolic of our class wanting to show ourselves as role models for the younger students and played our role in contributing to the school. Our then form teacher, the late Mr P K Hernon, a long serving British expatriate educationist in Singapore who had been posted not long ago to our school from RI (where he served for many years) performed the opening ceremony much to the applause and admiration of our other fellow Victorians. Besides, Messrs Lim Lay Hock, Arthur Goh and Philip Lee (mentioned in my posting, our Pre U One Arts Class of 1967 had produced a number of other well known Old Victorians, inclduding the great middle distance runner R Alagirisamy (a one time Secretary-General of the Singapore University Students’ Union, the late Dr Ong Chit Chung (who needed no introduction) and Rajoo Gopal who is a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police in our Singapore Police Force. We are trying to search for photographs of the beautiful pond that we had proudly built and will contribute them to the school heritage centre or post them on the OVA blog if we can find them. Thank you.
By tyrwhittdays, February 19, 2010 @ 20:35
For the information of interested readers, the quadrangular was the school’s courtyard which was surrounded on three sides by the claarooms and laboratories and one one side by the toilets. It was the place where the school assemblies were held, where the school annual talentime contests were held and at times speech days were held there. In 1967 the then Pre U One Arts class initiated the project of contstucting a beautiful garden cum pond in the quadrangular.In the mid 1960s, the toilet building was torn down to make way for the constuction of new additional classrooms. A temporary toilet in the form of a large wooden shed was built on the side of the school field facing King George’s Road. It was really quite an eyesore but the students endearingly dubbed it the “White House.”
By Old Boy, February 20, 2010 @ 03:00
Thanks to tyrwhittdays and oldvic on the above information, especially on Victoria Afternoon School.
Victoria Afternoon School started as early as 1938. It was possibly re-opened in 1946 after the War. In 1953, it was renamed Victoria Continuation School. In 1954, Victoria Continuation School students were among the pioneers of Beatty Secondary School. In those days, Victoria School was also known as Victoria Morning School.
Thus, Victoria Afternoon School/Victoria Continuation School is part of the Victorian family/OVA.
Besides renowned forsenic expert, Prof Chao Tzee Cheng, another prominent person who attended Victoria Afternoon/Continuation School was an Indian Singaporean (cannot remember his name) who became the first-ever Singapore Chief of Defence Force (before SAF was set-up).
By Old Boy, February 20, 2010 @ 03:15
http://ivyidaong4.blogspot.com/2009/03/inter-school-cross-country-cships-2009.html
By vs68, February 20, 2010 @ 10:02
Victoria School has always been a power house in inter schools’ cross country championships since yonder years. Every year, inevitably it will capture either the B or C Division titles, though there were the occasional lapses when we finished without any title. Whatever the results, the highlights of the natiional secondary schools’ championships is always the largee contingent of VS supporters present to rally behind their runners. For many years now, VS always has the biggest group of supporters present on the occasion, including many old boys. The Victorian Spirit is best seen best when the VS supporters gatherr together holding the School Flag in the colours of the various houses – red (glam house), yellow (
By vs68, February 20, 2010 @ 10:08
,,,(rochor), blue (kallang), green (kapor) and purple (whampoa)(whampoa used to be the “White” house.) and waving the flags proudly while at the same time shouting out the school cheers. Looking forward to this year’s championship which is scheduled for 24 Mar 2010? (can this date and venue be confirmed). Nil Sine Labore
By oldvic, February 20, 2010 @ 10:23
Re Old Boy’s post of 20 Feb. It is known that before the SAF was set up, there was the Singapore Military Force which was part of the Malaysian Armed Forces when we were briefly in Malaysia from Sep 63 to Aug 65. According to Victor Morais’ “Who’s Who In Malaysia and Singapore” series of publications, the the then MAF brigade commander in Singapore was one BG Syed Alsagoff, an old boy of Victoria School. He was the de facto Singapore armed forces chief then (?). Later he was promoted to Major General in the Malaysian army in the post merger era.
By vs68, February 20, 2010 @ 11:20
re my post of 20 Feb, I recalled reading the commemorative magazine marking the 130th anniversary of the school and seeing a photograph of a SAF officer with the rank of one star general standing smilingly shoulder to shoulder with a Victoria School representative at a national schools’ cross country chamnpionship. I believe he was present during the meet possibly as a guest of honour. The said general appeared to the incumbent Chief of Defence Force, LG Neo Kian Hong. He must have been a great sportsman during his days in Victoria School.
By Old Boy, February 20, 2010 @ 13:27
Perhaps some can help to fill in the blanks on VS placings in the previous years’ X-Country Championships here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_School_Cross-country
By Old Boy, February 21, 2010 @ 15:35
MG Syed Mohamed Syed Ahmad Alsagoff
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=20000919&id=15kWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WxQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3743,5160950
By Old Boy, February 21, 2010 @ 15:39
MG Neo Kian Hong
http://app.mfa.gov.sg/pr/read_content.asp?View,10815,
By tyrwhittdays, March 13, 2010 @ 11:08
There is a fair bit of information on VS during the 1960s in the postings here. During that era, VS had its “ups and downs.” Nevertheless, the school still had its fair of students who excelled in their studies or the sports fields. VS had its first President Scholar in 1966 when Lam Chuan Leong was awarded the scholarship after topping the Singapore HSC results. Then there were outstanding sportsmen like the all rounder Nga Thio Hwa, athletes Dr Seah Kim Bin, Giang Toh Chye,
R Alagirisamy and Fok Kheng Choy, footballers Yong Chong Fatt, Eric Paine, hockey and cricket star Neethianathan, and softball maestro Kader Sultan. However, the school lost its status as one of the three premier govt schools to have their principals holding the substantive grade of Superscale G after the departure of Mr Cheong Hock Hai ln 1963. Subsequent principals were either holding the Superscale G grade in an acting capacity or on timescale.
There seems to be a dearth of information on the school during the golden era of the 1950s when VS was indisputedly one of the top schools in Singapore and the then Malaya, in both academic and sporting achievements. Perhaps Old Boys of that generation may want to share their recollection of the school then by postings the infomation on the OVA blog.
In the 1950s, up till about the latter part of the 50s, VS had two very dedicated British headmasters. The first was Mr R F Bomford who designed the first Science Block in Singapore in 1951. A very popular headmaster, the Bomford Memorial Science Awards for the top students were created by old boys of the school in memory of him and the awards continue to be given out till these days. Also in 1951 the first batch of Post School Certificate Sixth Form classes was started in the school and VS also saw its inagural intake of female students. The “Red Brigade” as they were known (because of their distinctive maroon skirts)had contributed much to the success ofthe school then. Famous alumni include Dr Kanwaljit Soin who topped the medical course at the then University of Singapore and Emeritus Professor Wong Kim Ping of the Medical Faculty of NUS.
In 1954 another Bristish educationist Mr Michael Campbell was appointed VS’ headmaster and he continued on the achievements of Mr Bomford. Under his leadership the school continued to be one of the premier schools and in fact in 1955, it topped the School Certificate results for boys in Singapore.(Mr Campbell donated the cup for the inter house cross country champions and I remember that the Campbell Cup continued to be the symbol of cross country supremacy in the school. Wonder if the Campbell Cup is still being continue these days?) The school also produced the fastest schoolboy in Singapore and Malaya in 1956 in the person of Kesavan Soon. He represented Singapore in the 1956 Olympic Games thus becoming the first Malayan schoolboy to do so. In 1957 VS won two of the three Queen’s Scholarships given out that year. The scholars were Teh Ee Kheng for arts and Yap Choon Teck for science. In 1958 a VS student surnamed Sitoh was also awarded the Queen’s Scholarship.
During the 1950s, VS did not only excel academically, it was one of the top schools in the sports arena, including in all the major sports – athletics, football, hockey, cricket, rugger and even swimming.
Btw, besides Messrs Bomford and Campell, VS also had several outstanding British teachers in the 1950s. The most famous of them were Mr Shamus Frazer who composed the ever rousing VS School Song. He was a literature teacher and he wrote the book ” The Crocodile Dies Twice” which became a popular Sec One textbook in Singapore schools until the early 1960s. It was interesting to learn from one of his former students that Mr Frazer was so earnest in his teaching that he would even lie down on the table while he was teaching the class Shakepeare’s plays. Then there was Mr West, the geography teacher who also wrote textbooks on the subject which were used by Singapore schools even up to the 1960s.
Thank you. Nil Sine Labore
By tyrwhittdays, March 14, 2010 @ 07:58
Victoria School in the 1970s
On the academic front, the 1970s saw some of the current most prominent Singaporean administrators and professionals studying in Victoria School. Among them were Mr Chiang Chie Foo, now the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence and the Prime Minister’s Office who completed his entire six year secondary and pre u education at the school. A rare breed indeed as top students of those days including those of other premier schools were mostly enrolling themselves at the then newly opened National Junior College, the first junior college to be set up in Singapore, then the supposedly elite place of study for the best GCE A level students. Another two promient Victoria School boys who followed the path of Mr Chiang by doing their O and A level education of at VS were Dr Wong Kais, a top GCE A level student in Spore in 1975 and Dr Suresh Sahadevan who topped the 1975 GCE O level for all Singapore schools. Presently Wong Kais is private medical practitioner and Suresh Sahadevan is an Associate Professor/Senior Consultant in Geriatrics Medicine at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He is also one of the doctors attending to MM Lee (PMO Press Release dated 1 Dec 2008), These three top students were fullfuling the Victorian Spirit by completing their full secondary education in Victoria School inspite of the lure of NJC, as epitomised by Mr S Dhanabalan, Chairman of Temasek Holdings, who was reported in the press some years ago to have disclosed that he was reluctant to leave VS after completing his School Certifcate in VS in the early 1950s and managed to canvass (?) for the school to start a Post School Certificate class (now GCE A Level) for arts students so that he could continue his studies at the school!
In the 1970s VS also had a student who was later to become the Singapore Chief of Defence Force from 2003 to 2007. LG (NS) Ng Yat Chung was a student at VS from 1974 to 1977 and continued his Pre U education at Hwa Chong JC. He was awarded the prestigious SAF Overseas Scholarships in 1980 to study at Cambridge University. He is now a Senior Managing Director in charge of Portfolio Management at Temasek Holdings. He continues to render his services to his alma mater by currently serving as Chairman of the Victoria Executive/Advisory Commiitte.
On the sports front, VS continued its traditonal prowess. Among the well known sportsmen were Song Koon Poh and Goh Lai Hoa in the school rugger team of the early 1970s. Song Koon Poh was later to captain the Singapore national team and subsequently as national coach. His playing career reached its zenith when he was awarded the Sportsman of the Year in 1978 after spearheading the Singapore national team to its ever first third place in the 1977 Asian Rugby Championships behind Asian perenhial power houses in the game ie Japan and South Korea, a feat not to be repeated thereafter by any of our other national team in the sports.
Two star athletes graced the school grounds in the early 1970s. They were Goh Pi Tuan, one of the finest all round school athletes of all times. He excelled especially in pole vault and the high hurdles events in which he was the national schools champion. He represented Singapore in the 1973 SEA Games held in Singapore in the decalthon. He is now the General Manager of the Jurong Country Golf Club, having served a short stint as the golfing manager at the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzen, the biggest of its kind in the world.
Following Goh Pi Tuan, there was Noor Mohd Merican, who was the national schools middle distance champion in the early 1970s. Popularly nicknamed Singapore’s Sammy Davis Junior (he has close resemblance to the late legendary American entertainer), Noor is now a senior lawyer in private practice well known for his contributions to society by offering his services on a number of legal cases on a pro bono basis. Incidentally Goh Pi Tuan and Noor Mohd Merican were “foreign talents” who joined Victoria School for their pre u education from Gan Eng Seng School and Siglap Secondary School respectively.
Hope that the above information on the school in the 1970s is of interest and Old Victorians especially those who were students then would come forward to give their recollections of the school and share the moments of triumphs and travails of the school during that era. I am sure that there are many. Thank you.
By Old Boy, March 14, 2010 @ 08:18
Thanks for the info, tyrwhittdays.
Another member of the Red Brigade in the 60s, (Ms) Daylily Pan Soon, Head Prefect, also went on to top the medical faculty at University of Singapore.
Archives of Straitis Times are now available online at the National Library too.
By Old Boy, March 14, 2010 @ 08:25
There were also Old Victorians like T A Mugam who was the Superintendent of Customs and Low Siow Chek who was the Postmaster-General.
By oldvic, March 15, 2010 @ 21:55
while reading up the Victoria School milestones, found that in 1993 Victoria School produced its first perfect 10 As student in the GCE ‘O’ Level Examinations. He is Mandeep Singh, an Asean Scholar from KL who had started his education at VS in 1991. Completed his A Level at VJC and then medical school. An up and coming prominent ophthalmologist, he is now pursuing his Ph D in eye surgery at the Oxford University on a Singapore Government Scholarship. See attached feature article on this brilliant young man who was quoted to have said of his years spent at VS: “Eveyone learnt from each other and it’s wonderful that we remain as friends to this day.”
http://mystory.sg/content/1593/Close_Tiong_Bahru_2.html