A ROSYTH SCHOOL MINI-REUNION: CLASS OF 6A (SCHOOL 1) FROM 1977

 

The year 1977 seems like such a long time ago that it might as well be part of pre-history. That was the year I took my PSLE exams at Rosyth School. What? Where? Why? I spent my primary six year at a government neighbour school off Yio Chu Kang Road, which prepared me for the rigours of the daunting Primary School Leaving Examination. I was at the cross-roads of my early life, when education and where I studied was seemed like the be-all and end-all of one's existence.

Fortunately for me, I had nothing but good memories of that year, spent in the company of forty other travellers in the arduous road called education. We were good, well-behaved and concientious students for whom the world was our oyster, and we had to do was work hard and the just rewards would be to get into the secondary schools of our (parents') choice. 

And for the first time in 46 years, I was to reunite with people I knew only for 12 short months, after which we scattered like the wind to our separate lives. Did I feel a pang of anxiety, not knowing whom to meet and what to expect? Thankfully, it was Tsu Chin Sun (also called Gary) who hunted me down at my clinical burrow, and got me together with the gang, with who he had been in close contact for some years. That eased the way and opened the door to many good memories. 

A big thank you to Chin Sun
for reuniting me with the Rosyth 6A gang.

The seven (from L to R):
Philip, Eng Hoe, TL, Chin Sun,
Boon Mui, Ser Lee & Doris.

There were just seven of us who met at Wine Connection in New Tech Park, Lorong Chuan, not too far away from old Rosyth School. How many people did I remember? Memories grow hazy through the years, but some sharp imprints remain. 

Chin Sun was the playful and good natured "shorty" who sat near me. Ser Lee, with her unmistakable dimples, would one day blossom to become Miss Singapore. Boon Mui, with her superior Chinese, would pip me to third place in class rankings (I was fourth, but the top scoring boy), while Doris was the literal "girl next door" who lived on Yio Chu Kang Road. I don't remember Eng Hoe or Philip (Soon Seng) as well but their faces rang some bells.

What did we make of our lives during the ensuing decades? Much I would guess, but some have retired while others are still chugging along. Boon Mui, now better known as Clara Cheo, rose through the ranks to become CEO of Golden Villages Cinemas (still my wife Janet's favourite hangouts for movies). Eng Hoe (also called Ian), I learn, bicycles through the roads of Europe. Ser Lee is still a media sensation, now a consultant on matters of social etiquette. I am still learning more about the others...

The girls look more chio now than before.
Boon Mui, Ser Lee & Doris

Here's a rare photo from the final class party
held in December 1977.
Amazingly, four of the kids most visible here,
Eng Hoe, Philip, myself and Doris,
were present at this mini-reunion.

And here we are, re-enacting that scene,
with Eng Hoe, Philip and myself taking the mickey
of Chin Sun, who sits in place of Mr Loh Tee Yang
(also known as High Coffee Old).
Eng Hoe still has the same facial expression!

The Class of 6A (School 1)
Rosyth School, 1977
Can you name the others in the photo?

Till the next class reunion, and I certainly hope it's not in another 46 years' time!