My Son Chris

On 27 Mar 2012 The Straits Times published an article regarding primary one school registration. Its caption "Registration changes will mean more slots for Singaporeans". Having priority over permanent resident kids is clearance of first obstacle. Singaporean kids have still to compete among themselves in other phases of primary one school registration excercise. Sibblings already in the school are automatically given a place. Next phase is children living within the school zone, that is within 1 km of the school. Final phase are for children who had no affiliation with the school and will be balloted for the remaining vacancies.

The school primary one registration exercise flashed my mind back to 1969 when my eldest son Chris had to register for a place in primary one at St Stephen's School. He came under the last phase excercise and there was no balloting then. It was a 'first come first serve' exercise and the long overnight queue was like buying a condo during the building boom. At that time there were very few primary schools in the east. We opted for St Stephen's School and had to queue up overnight to get a place for him. My son was lucky to get a place. I am not sure about those who were lining up behind us as there was very few vacancy left. Three years later I went to the same school to register for my second on the appointed date. He was automatically given a place for having a brother in the same school. I think the primary one registration exercise should be reviewed and changed to a system that is fair to all.

                                                    St Stephen's School Sports Day

St Stephen's School sports day was featured in The New Nation newspapers on Thursday May 13 1971. The boy in the center is my son Chris. He took part in the 8 x 25m relay. Each boy had a bag on his head while running. It's a matter of balancing. That was 41 years ago and his children are now older than he was in the above picture.

On Monday April 14 1980 The Straits Times published an article about student police corps in St. Patrick's School.  Again he was mentioned in the article together with a group photo.

In that year the student corps actually helped the police to detain a suspect who allegedly robbed a student of his watch in the school compound. They investigated the case by interviewing the victim and managed to established the identity of the suspect including a photograph of him. The student corps went to Joo Chiat Police Station and provided the police with what they had found. Later the suspect was arrest.

Shorthand typist

Many senior citizens are quite familiar with the shorthand book shown above. I found it hidden somewhere in my bookselves. I remember shorthand courses were very popular in the 1960/1970s, especially with young girls who aspired to be a stenographer (steno). The pay was better than an ordinary typist. Furthermore a steno could be the Company's secretary or personal assistant to a Manager, Director or CEO. She had to serve hot drinks to her boss every morning although it was not part of the job description. A steno had to take dictations by using shorthand, that is using symbols or abbreviations for words and phrases. In that way it was faster than writing word by word. There were 2 forms of shorthand. One was known as Pitman shorthand and the other Gregg shorhand. Both were equally popular. It was widely used before the invention of voice recording machine.

Kodak

A giant has fallen and is breathing its last breath. Will it be able to get up again? I attached much sentimental past with Kodak cameras and Kodachrome movie film. During school days I had a Kodak Brownie camera. It was cheap and easy to use. Later I upgraded to a Brownie box camera. Each negative was square in shape and the hard copy was exactly the same size as the negative.

Square negatives and photos

I do not know the reason for keeping the negatives except putting them aside after the photos were printed. Now they have become more precious as the negatives and the photos reminded me of the past, especially my growing up years.

In the 1950s and 1960s there was only Kodak and Ilford films in the market. Japanes brand like Fuji and others were not introduced in Singapore yet.

Besides Kodak cameras I also owned a Minolta movie camera. There was no Japanese 8 mm film for movie camera on sale except Kodak 8 mm movie film which could be processed only in Australia. I forgot the cost for each reel of movie film but the cost of processing was S$10. It took at least about a week for it to be sent to Australia for proessing and back. I took movies mostly of my kids. We visited many places of interest in Singapore such Haw Par Villa, the old National Theatre and Van Kleef Aquarium, Raffles Place, Changi beach and others. I have posted a few film clips on the Facebook.

Each small reel of movie film was glued together to make it into a spool for about half an hour show. I had a Japanese projector but the film was often jammed and burnt due to very intense heat from the projector's light. I had to cut the film, removed the burnt part and joined the two ends together. Much films were wasted in this way. It was very tedious as everything was done manually. Thinking about it, the time spent  was really worth. Now I can look back when I was once young. I can still see in the movie films (converted to DVD) the places that had disappeared or had new landscapes. National Theatre and Van Kleef Aquarium had been demolished. Raffles Place has new landscaping. The Changi beach that we used to go for swimming and picnics is different now. The kelongs or fishing stakes that were close to the beach and the sampans for hire had disappeared too.

8 mm Kodachrome movie film

small reels of 8 mm movie films

spools of 8 mm Kodachrome movie films

新年快乐

New Year Visitors

Chinese New Year is fast approaching. It reminded me of the time when I was still working in Jurong. Every new year my colleagues came visiting and we had an enjoyable time together. A group picture was taken each year for remembrance. They were Chinese, Malay and Indians. It was real racial harmony.

Chines New Year 1978 & 1979

Many Chinese are looking forward to this coming Chinese New Year because it will be the 'Year of the Dragon'. An auspicious year for most Chinese who wishes to have a 'dragon' son or grandson. Dragon is the fifth sign of lunar cycle. There are five types of dragon and each has an element such as metal, water, wood, fire and earth. My son was born under the sign of 'wood dragon'. He has chosen to live in US. During one dragon year I painted a dragon on the wall to remind me of him. An elder relative who came visiting then told me that my dragon had four claws which was no good and advised me to erase it. I did not bother to find out the reason then. After the festive period was over I erased the dragon painting with a few coats of white paint. Each lunar animal sign has a cycle is twelve years. When the dragon year was approaching, I painted a five claws dragon on another wall. I still do not understand why a four claws dragon is bad. Perhaps, someone can enlighten me.

Happy New Year 2012

                                                         
                                           Wishing All Foyers and Viewers
                                      A Happy New Year for 2012!

Christmas 2011

My family celebrates Christmas with friends and relatives every year. We had an Australian friend who was our Santa Claus. The kids loved him for he brought presents to them. Instead of riding his reindeer sledge and coming from the sky, he came down from upstairs carrying a heavy load of presents for everyone. After Santa Claus had settled comfortably on a chair, he dipped his hand into the bag to fish out a  present. Everybody was looking at him anxiously hoping his/her name would be the first to be called. When a name was announced there was acclamations and cheers. The person went promptly to Santa to claim the present. In the end, each of us got about half a dozen presents but the kids got more.

Next it was time for Christmas carol. We had a pianist to provide the music. Song sheets were distributed and the singing began. After singing until our voice hoarse it was time for dinner. We had an arrary of Christmas food such as roast turkey, honey baked ham, baked salmon etc.

Tomorrow is Christmas day. We shall be going to church for Christmas service and Christmas celebration with the family. The Aussie Santa Claus had gone home and we shall have a new Santa Claus.