Page 6. Memoirs of An Old Boy. by Chris Chng.
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St. Patrick's School, Singapore: Page 6. Memoirs of An Old Boy. by Chris Chng. |
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| Click on image, above, to access the school web site. |
Hello! My name is Christopher Chng Yeow Leong. I was at Saint Patrick's School from 1985 to 1988..... I began in Secondary 1E, up to 2E, and got streamed to Secondary 3 Commerce 1, up to 4 Commerce 1.
Yes, we still had the Commerce stream then..... heard that the Ministry of Education has scrapped it now!
During those years, Saint Patrick's was particularly strong in soccer. I mean it was only later that I would find out that the more traditional sports that our school was reputed for was Tennis & Squash.
If my memory serves me correctly, the East Zone Soccer Championship Title was something which stayed with the school for almost that entire time! And in the National Championships, the B Division team were Champions in 1987, and 3rd in 1988. The C Division team being Runners Up and then Champions in those same two years!!!
I enjoyed my time in Secondary 1 and 2, especially since I was playing soccer just about everyday then! Once I got to school each day, the school bag would be chucked aside and I would join my classmates on the school field (next to the tennis courts) and kick ball! Recess time, and we would be back to the field and be at it again. And sometimes, we would play after the end of the day too!!
It was a horrific moment when in Seconday 3, the principal banned us (the entire school) from playing soccer on the school field! Gone were the days of several classes playing all over the place at the school field..... it was eerily quiet and empty..... why, thinking back, you could probably rear some cows to liven things up then!! haha
Today (year 2002), and that big ol' school field is no longer. Most of it has been 'eaten up' by the new school wing..... ~sigh~
Its no wonder that I dun see "St Pats" appearing anywhere in the school sports scene under soccer anymore.
Here are some scanned images which might be interesting, for your viewing pleasure.....
The Patrician Annual has changed over the years. From the images below of the "Patrician 1982" and "Patrician 1986", you will notice that they changed the size of the book in 1986. From my knowledge, the new size was used for the next few editions until the 1989 one.
Above is the full spread of the cover of "Patrician 1985".
And here we have a look at the "big ol' school field".
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Notice the tennis court at the top right hand corner..... there are actually two tennis courts there (one is not in the picture), so you can estimate how much more area to the perimeter wall bordering East Coast Road.
From my estimate, two-thirds of that field is taken up by the new wing now.
And here's one of the staff.
Patrician Staff 1986 (in case not clear in scanned pic)
Seating (1st Row - left to right):
Mr Peter Malcolm Mealin, Mr Wong Soon Teik, Mr George Joseph, Mr Denis Augustin, Mr Edmund Rodrigues, Mr Eu Wing Kee (Senior Assistant), Mr Joseph Ng (Principal), Mr Michael Loh Chee Kong, Mr Francis Paulus, Mr Stephen Png Tee Ong, Mr Joseph Danker, Mr Fathol Rahman, Mr Michael Phang Peng Yoong.
Standing (2nd Row - left to right):
Miss Irene Chong Ai Lin, Mdm Aminah Bte Haron, Mdm Lee Whay Cheng, Mrs Roslyn Seah, Mrs Maisie Lye, Miss Teo Meow Noi, Mrs Ng May May, Mrs E Nicholas, Miss Seem Siew Yong, Miss Vivien Ang Wek Cheng, Miss Yok Ming Hong, Miss Lee Soon Lan, Mrs Irene Teo, Miss Kuah Kim Heoh, Mrs Chuang Yeun Ping, Mrs Tang An Kheng.
Standing (3rd Row - left to right):
Mr Vincent Liew, Mr Moses Tay Thuan Cheow, Mr Oon Kwee Seng, Mr Wee Kheng Hoe, Mdm Halimah Bte Osman, Miss Han Kok Peng, Mrs Lorene Nalpon, Mdm Tan Guik Kiow, Mr Terry Jones Stanley Ess, Mr Abdul Rashid B Mohd Noor, Mr Koh Tong Hiong, Mr Harold Chong Soh Har, Mr Peter Thong How Soon, Mr Cyril Louis.
Standing (4th Row - left to right):
Mr Francis Brennan, Mr Valentine Tan Peng Tong, Mr Abdullah Bin Awang, Mr Coleman Baptist, Mr Bernard D'Cruz, Mr Aloysius Yong Kim Seng, Mr Mervyn Rodrigues, Mr Ng Aik Seng, Mr Lee Hock Pun, Mr Tan Thiam Pheng Matthew, Mr Ashley Hogan, Mr Tan Oon Seng, Mr Wong Boon Peow, Mr William Choong Mun Chong.
Important Notice to all 'old boys' of St. Patrick's School!
A Request for Contributions to the School Archives: The school is now forming an archives of historical material and memorabilia, and would like to request contributions from all former students, please. Instead of consigning your old report cards, photographs, badges, and other similar material to the rubbish bin, please consider sending such items to the school for storage, for the benefit of researchers and other students. Any assistance is very much appreciated. |
Please continue on to Page 7 .
Return to page 5.
Names, current residences and contact information of 'old boys' can be found at the Register of Past Students, St. Patrick's School, Singapore page. To include your details, please contact the author, Terry Foenander.
Links to some of my other web pages:
On the American Civil War Navies.
A brief bio with additional links to pages on Singapore, etc.
The following web site includes some profiles of past students of the school, and is an attempt to connect 'old boys' with their former buddies:
St. Patrick's School Alumni
Check out The Patrician Society, a group of our fellow "old boys," now restrengthened through the efforts of former students such as Vice President, Vincent Low.
The Singapore Volunteer Corps was a militia unit formed in this British island colony in the 19th Century. At a later stage, island residents were permitted to enlist in the unit, resulting in the formation of Chinese, Malay and Eurasian Companies. This particular site relates to one of those Companies.
© Terry Foenander.
September, 2002.