Item 9 on the list of the Top Ten things I intend to do before leaving Singapore: Visit Rosyth School.
It has been nearly a decade (9 years) since I left my primary school and many things have changed during that time. The school itself has changed. The Rosyth that I went to was a pre-Independence building along Parry Avenue. It was a very simple place, but there was a quaintness to the utilitarian features. It can even be described as having a rustic charm. Many of the window grills, pipes, fences, gates and rafters had corroded but were still functional. In the old Rosyth, you get a lot more sunlight, fresh air and greenery. We shared a huge field with Parry School. Creepers sneak into classrooms and the huge trees become guerilla hideouts for boys playing catching after school. From the fourth floor, you get a very good view of the entire area. I had always found that view very uplifting. The one who designed the new
school seems to be fantasizing about architectural awards when he was planning the building. He poured everything he learnt from Architecture school into the blueprints. You have stairways and walkways that extend from and cut across each other. You have columns that extend to walls, and walls with openings cut into them as part of a Zen-ish matrix. If not for some URA restriction or MOE regulation, the architect would have added glass pyramids, Grecian columns and Oxfordian spires. In the main academic building, classrooms surround leafy nature; you will find a seamless flow of lines, from concrete to water, interconnecting the space. The new school has a canteen and an open-air basketball court on the fourth storey, a multi-purpose hall somewhere higher up, it has a lift, a heritage center, spiral staircases and CCTV cameras.
I can’t recognize most of the teachers but I am surprised that the few whom I recognize still remember me, without having to go into chicken-and-duck questions to backtrack our memories. Was really surprised that Mrs. Irene-can’t-remember-her-last-name still remembers me. She taught me for only one year, when I was in primary one. Mrs. Tan-can’t-remember-her-first-name still recalls my name. I remotely, vaguely remember her teaching me maths. Mdm Norlela still recalls my show-and-tell item (I talked about my fighting fish, very random). My primary 3 form teacher is Mr. Raymond Bong. My class is probably the worst that he had taught; nearly all of us flunked our exams and all except two went to below average classes the year after. 9 years later, he readily identifies my class after our chief prankster. So, felt pretty happy when he invited me into the class to speak to his students. Spoke to Ms Katherine Tan for quite awhile. Amongst all my teachers in Rosyth, she is the one whom I have the fondest memories of. She is approachable and has plenty of common sense. She pushed us hard but not too hard; she allowed us to be children.
The school population today is twice that of my JC. The students go to exotic places for field trips. They learn the er-hu for music lessons. When I was in primary school, I learnt the banal recorder. I could never get a hang of that instrument, and music lessons soon became acting classes for me. We didn’t have internet access. Now, the school has internet clusters along the walkways. They have an Innovation Center. They have murals explaining the different parts of a cell. These days, teachers are a lot prettier.
Item 9; checked.
It has been nearly a decade (9 years) since I left my primary school and many things have changed during that time. The school itself has changed. The Rosyth that I went to was a pre-Independence building along Parry Avenue. It was a very simple place, but there was a quaintness to the utilitarian features. It can even be described as having a rustic charm. Many of the window grills, pipes, fences, gates and rafters had corroded but were still functional. In the old Rosyth, you get a lot more sunlight, fresh air and greenery. We shared a huge field with Parry School. Creepers sneak into classrooms and the huge trees become guerilla hideouts for boys playing catching after school. From the fourth floor, you get a very good view of the entire area. I had always found that view very uplifting. The one who designed the new
school seems to be fantasizing about architectural awards when he was planning the building. He poured everything he learnt from Architecture school into the blueprints. You have stairways and walkways that extend from and cut across each other. You have columns that extend to walls, and walls with openings cut into them as part of a Zen-ish matrix. If not for some URA restriction or MOE regulation, the architect would have added glass pyramids, Grecian columns and Oxfordian spires. In the main academic building, classrooms surround leafy nature; you will find a seamless flow of lines, from concrete to water, interconnecting the space. The new school has a canteen and an open-air basketball court on the fourth storey, a multi-purpose hall somewhere higher up, it has a lift, a heritage center, spiral staircases and CCTV cameras.
I can’t recognize most of the teachers but I am surprised that the few whom I recognize still remember me, without having to go into chicken-and-duck questions to backtrack our memories. Was really surprised that Mrs. Irene-can’t-remember-her-last-name still remembers me. She taught me for only one year, when I was in primary one. Mrs. Tan-can’t-remember-her-first-name still recalls my name. I remotely, vaguely remember her teaching me maths. Mdm Norlela still recalls my show-and-tell item (I talked about my fighting fish, very random). My primary 3 form teacher is Mr. Raymond Bong. My class is probably the worst that he had taught; nearly all of us flunked our exams and all except two went to below average classes the year after. 9 years later, he readily identifies my class after our chief prankster. So, felt pretty happy when he invited me into the class to speak to his students. Spoke to Ms Katherine Tan for quite awhile. Amongst all my teachers in Rosyth, she is the one whom I have the fondest memories of. She is approachable and has plenty of common sense. She pushed us hard but not too hard; she allowed us to be children.
The school population today is twice that of my JC. The students go to exotic places for field trips. They learn the er-hu for music lessons. When I was in primary school, I learnt the banal recorder. I could never get a hang of that instrument, and music lessons soon became acting classes for me. We didn’t have internet access. Now, the school has internet clusters along the walkways. They have an Innovation Center. They have murals explaining the different parts of a cell. These days, teachers are a lot prettier.
Item 9; checked.
Stuff that school horror stories are made of.
More security than the Louvre.
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