My Education

Back

Above: The Crest of the Singaporean Ministry of Education.

As a Singaporean, I have grown up under a different education regime from the United States. It follows the British educational system closely, and the educational ladder we go up can be found below (with the American equivalent):

2 Years of Kindergarten

Grades 1 - 6: Primary School

Grades 7 - 10: Secondary School

Grades 11 - 12: Junior College

School History

And here is the list of schools I have attended, along with their URLs.

Calvary Pandan Kindergarten

No one can expect me to remember much about my kindergarten days. I am actually amazed by those who still can, and are able to relive their kindergarten past accurately.

All I could remember is that I hated the sweet potato soup the teachers gave us, and I got beaten to the swing by a girl who ran diagonally across the grass (whereas I obediently went around the perimeter).

I spent a year here before moving on to my next school.

Nanyang Primary School

This was to be my school for 7 years, as they take in students from K-2 grade. I think I was one of the last batches for that to happen. Now K-2 students stay in the kindergarten and only move on to Primary School proper after the end of the 2nd year.

As the name might suggest, NYPS was a conventional Chinese school. That meant strict discipline, one can't voice disagreement (which meant disobedience), art had to be great, you had to score good grades (which I didn't) and so on. I may have my gripes about it, but it did play a huge role in shaping who I am today. I had my fun in school with the friends I made, and some memories to cling onto as I grow older.

Activities were not compulsory to have, and I didn't join any organization or group for more than a year. I only joined the 'wei qi' (or Chinese chess) club during my fifth year, and not going to it right after that. Learned a bit of this ancient game, and played a little with friends in the club too.

At the final year at NYPS, I took the PSLE (Primary School Leaving Exam). Even though I studied hard for it, I only managed mediocre results. Interestingly, I scored the exact total score as my brother, but my grades were AAAA+, while my brother had AAAB.

Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road)

There are actually 2 ACS (Anglo-Chinese School) secondary schools in the country. One is called ACS(I) ('I' for Independent, or privately-run), and the other is ACS(Barker Road) which is government funded. ACS(I) had all the name and prestige, and was where students with good grades went. If you have read about my primary school before this, I had normal grades and went to ACS (Br). People hold a misconception that it is a school of unruly boys, and couldn't make it to a good school. I really enjoyed my years in ACS(Br), and it is common for a lot of graduates to form strong bonds, and still keep in contact after leaving the school.

Mr. Ng Eng Chin was (and still is) the principal of ACS(Br), and was a respected figure. He had solid belief in the students he had, and was a father figure to us. 'Walk by faith and not by sight' was his motto, as he continued to inspire us to work to our best. We did make comments about his hair, which had a white spot on the fringes of his black hair.

In ACS(Br), I was in about 2 activities in my 4 years. I joined the Athletic Club for a year, only to leave after a year, and no one followed up on me after that. My other activity was the Scouts. My time in the Scouts was certainly memorable, as I made close friends from there, learned skills not taught in the classroom, got to know passionate Scout adult leaders, earn badges, do footdrill under the Sun, go to a Malaysia cycling trip, and even attend a Jamboree (huge collection of Scouts) in my homeland. I held 3 positions during my time which were Patrol Leader, Scribe and Venture. After I left the school for my Junior College, I did return to continue my involvement with the Scouts. I went on for a year, and held the Chairman post in the light of the Chairman's stepping down.

Certainly, I like to save the best for the last, and that is my class for secondary 3 and 4, or known as 'A2'.

Anglo-Chinese Junior College

Dickinson College

If you would like to find out more on what I am doing in Dickinson College, please visit this link