fangirl forever: The School Song

Composed by Mrs Christine Kanagarajah in 1967, with lyrics by herself and the late Sr Carmen Dengah, this is our beloved school song, a truly melodius and stirring anthem which still gives me the thrills when I hear it sung by the 'girls', especially when we hit those high notes and even more especially on that resounding final note!
I'm sure all of us think we have the best school song ever!
The pics above are a reprint of the original score which Mrs Kana autographed for me a few years ago at an alumni dinner. :)

Here's a little recording I did on piano (erm...no, my solo singing voice would put you off immediately but one day when I get a recording at any SAC function, I'll put it here):

Lyrics:

Verse 1

United in common endeavour
At work, at play, Life's lessons we learn
Our youthful hearts are filled with ardour
For truth and wisdom we yearn

Chorus

Courageously with heads held high
We march ever on through Life
Schooled in your spirit Canossa
For Virtue, True Nobility we strive
Schooled in your spirit Canossa
For True Virtue we strive!

Verse 2

Our Alma Mater, our Guardian, our Guide
Prepare our Spirits for duty's call
Our country to serve with Virtuous Might
We stand for Truth and for Right



I can 'hear' this song in my mind as we sang it assembled in the Quadrangle all those years ago...awesomeness!

fangirl forever: Tomboys get Technical

Ok, these classes were not, technically (pun intended) at Middle Road.
But they were an integral part of school life back then...read on!


I often blame my lack of culinary skills and general unease in the kitchen on not choosing to do Home Economics when in Sec One.
But then again, being the tomboy I was then, there was just absolutely NO WAY I would willingly wear the white frilly apron and scarf which were mandatory for Home Econs. *grimace*

So Technical Education it was, with lessons held at McNair Road two mornings a week (or was it three?).
It was nice to go to another school and the blue apron/red-and-white-checked scarf combo were suitably less girly looking and more acceptable (at that time).

Essentially, there were two aspects of Technical viz Metalwork and Woodwork.
There were theory lessons and then practical sessions in the workshop where we had to fashion out various items from slabs of metal or chunks of wood.

Metalwork was rather dirtier, as there was always some oil involved (to prevent rust, I'm sure) and some of the objects I remember making were a soapdish and a small hammer (more like a mallet, actually). We had to draw out the outlines on the metal and use the hacksaw and file to get the required shape. There was also drilling to be done.

Woodwork was cleaner but one perpetual problem I had was planing the wood down evenly....somehow, my surfaces always ended up a little curved...!
Or my sawing would be off and the joints of wood would not fit together properly. :(
Somehow, some way, I managed to complete those projects and would bring them home proudly to show my parents...lol!

Sad to say, Technical education did nothing to make me more comfortable wielding a screwdriver, hammer or other implements in an everyday toolbox.
But it was fun doing all that together with my friends and comparing our 'masterpieces'; I wish I had kept some of them. *smiles wistfully*

Ah LOng Jie: The Quadrangle

Ah LOng Jie gives her insights on another Uniquely SAC feature:




Memories of the school quadrangle.

SAC is not architecturally beautiful or designed ornately in any way.
It is just a very 'squarish' block,  simply designed to be  functional.

The land area of the school  was maxed out with every square foot , with classrooms lined along the corridors.

The Canossian nuns, from Verona, Italy  had a mission -  to alleviate the suffering of the poor, provide an education for all , regardless of background , religion or race (so apt as today is National Day when I am writing it).

Like the piazza in an Italian city, they  probably brought a little bit of Italy to SAC.

The quad was the center and hub where activities took place; both the usual daily assemblies and special occasion events.

In the mornings , assembly was at the quadrangle.
While the flag was raised on the second floor for all to view,  we girls stood at the ground floor - in the  quadrangle. We dutifully recited our national day pledge and sang the national anthem in a language unfamiliar to us.

There was no need for chairs in the quadrangle.
We sat on the floor - where we trampled on.

The  trampling sometimes turned out  dance  and song when Mrs Kana led the singing and replaced the prayerful hymns with worldly tunes.

The quad was cleverly placed - in the middle of the building .
The was no need for lighting - the quad was in the open area but  well shaded.
Looking back, the school was forward looking -  they had  designed SAC with a sustainability mission.

The floor of the quadrangle was  never tiled. Instead, it was painted with stripes for some semblance of a basketball court area as we did our basketball training there.

Within the quad, we   fought (yes convent girls do fight) ,  we reasoned,  chanted hymns,  got chastised and we cheered  jubilantly over our academic achievements and sports skills -  all announced in the confines of the quadrangle.

No one  could never escape the watchful eyes of the discipline mistress or nuns , who could scan the  girls in a matter of minutes from the second floor.

We had our recess , lunch, group discussions, push up punishments and prep talks  within the quadrangle.
It was one of the best and most memorable areas of SAC!

fangirl forever: Songs Mrs Kana Taught Us

Here are some of the most unforgettable songs Mrs Kana taught us waaay back and which I can still hear in my mind, us girls in the Big Hall, singing along as she played the piano and prodded us into pronouncing the words properly, keep the correct rhythm and timing, whilst hitting those high notes accurately!



I'll start with one of my absolute favourites viz Beatitudes, which I seldom heard after leaving SAC, but the melody was etched in my mind and I love to play it on the piano too.
This is by The Dameans:

The Song of Ruth: Wherever You Go, by monks of the Western Priory:

This is an all-time favourite song which lifts me up every time I feel down viz Thank You, Lord and which SAC girls sing WONDERFULLY:

He (God) in 3/4 time is what Mrs Kana taught us and here's the link to the youtube vid. I think SAC girls sing this much more beautifully than the guy in the vid, though. ;)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNLY6XzQQEk&feature=fvwrel



Author of Beauty is another one of those songs which I seldom heard after leaving SAC, but will always remember it for its haunting melody and rhythm:

Mrs Kana was ambitious indeed....we were taught Latin hymns as well...two of which I remember very clearly.

Panis Angelicus, here performed by Dame Kiri Te Kanewa:

Ave Verum Corpus:

 

Now for a TOTALLY UNFORGETTABLE Hawaiian number, complete with dance steps which EVERY SAC girl remembers most fondly...presenting The Hukilau Song!

Pokarekare Ana, a Maori song was another hot favourite:

Dahil Sayo, a Philipino love song...le sigh...here performed by The Lettermen...remember them? ;)

And of course, everyone knows this one about Arithmetic and a worm...it's quite soft though, so please turn the volume up:

And the Sesame Street version which is has the adorablest Inch Worm ever!

Hope you all enjoyed them! 

VronT: More than just music lessons

I first mentioned my amazing music teacher, Ms Toh from School 1 in my Of Nuns And Music post.

Well, the music teacher from School 2 was no less awesome, as VronT describes here:



While Mrs Monica Toh was the music teacher of School 1, Mrs Catherine Zuzarte taught School 2, where I was. And like my contemporaries in the other session, we found music lessons an escape from lessons and homework - a relief from books as we carried our recorder and harmonicas happily during recess time, played a few tunes before the bell rang where we would head for the hall or the music room for a good 40 minutes. We learnt what were crochets, quavers and semi-quavers - clapped to rhythms of ta-te-ta-te ta-ta. We used tamborines, castanets and triangles. I learnt how to multiply 2 and 4 times table at music class.. believe it or not?

Our music teachers were instrumental (pun intended) in drilling us in articulation. When we sang, we had to mouth words correctly - round them, and throw them. We had to pronounce our "ahs" and "oos", "ik" and "eeeek", placing your tongue in-between your teeth with "th" and ensuring that we say that "our mother is thirty, not dirty" was a drill in precision tongue positioning. Their thoughts in what they taught were well applied. (now read that right!)

I appreciated that very much.

Those exercises made us speak the way we do - with the right diction, emphasis and enunciation. Tongue twisters were taught at music lessons - quite an unlikely topic, but we were drilled to master them to sing well, ultimately to speak well. The Eliza Doolittle drilling made a huge difference in our verbal prowess.

That's why Convent girls speak differently.

VronT: April Fool

Convent girls are not all sweetness and light....according to this account by VronT:



Have you seen a teacher cry in class?

I'd have you imagine that one would be crying if the class was in chaos, causing a wild racket. Probably you'd get a vision of an uncontrollable mob? Pulling punches or fist fights perhaps.

None of that.

On the contrary, the class was quiet. Dead pan expression. All seated upright, looking straight ahead... But this teacher started to weep, uncontrollably within minutes after she stepped in - before she even reached her table.

She was our young, soft spoken Math teacher, whose name took after a white, dainty flower. Probably in her early 20s, quite likely in her first permanent teaching job after graduating.

We had been notified just a day before that there was going to be a test on a new topic. The entire class was mad because there were ECAs that afternoon - and all of us hated math. So one smart Alec proposed "revenge".

Timely enough, April Fool's day was D-day.

The subject bell rang. The moment she came in, she got greeted by an unpleasant sight on the floor just four steps into the class, just beside the waste paper basket. She began to shiver and wail - for someone to "get that away!!"

The plan was for the entire class to just sit still and pretend not to know what to do - explains the dead pan expression (thanks to the mastermind). And after two minutes - which probably seemed like forever to our dear crying teacher, someone got up - walked to the bin and calmly lifted it - and kept it.

Wanna know what it was?

A plastic twist of turd, with two plastic cockroaches beside it.

We didn't get our test. Her April Fool's joke gone wrong.

Syl: The Reading Habit

Not sure about now but certain books were staple reading diet for teen girls waaay back....as Syl recounts below:



Most people believe that if you read a lot, you’ll write well.
So we were encouraged to read and to read all sorts of books. At a time when the internet was non-existent, trips to the National Library and a few main libraries like the Toa Payoh Library were necessary to get our literary fix!

SAC girls, of course, had access to our school library and we were frequent visitors. The library was manned by girls (pun intended) from the Library Club. Now, schools are quite big on student-led activities, well this was one student-led activity that brought some results.

Many girls visited the Library but I don’t think the readership rates of the school’s collection were high.

That was because the librarian on duty was an avid fan of the Mills and Boon series and she had a monthly subscription that would avail her to six titles every thirty days. Current titles were reserved for her own reading pleasure but she would loan out titles that she had already read. We visited the library and out from under the counter, she’d show us what was on offer. She’d then take our names and tell us when we had to return the books to her.
Forbidden fruit being sweeter, M&B were flying off the 'shelves'!
Did the teacher ever wonder why we always had 'azure seas and sailboats' in our compositions? Needless to say most of us aced our English exams. :)

83uniquegal: Bullets which went astray

83uniquegal's firsthand account of a classroom prank....



Well...

We all know the 'headless driver' that passes through the church compound from time to time...
This particular driver was in class one day when the girls decided to do paper bullet shooting (you know the kind where you fold up the paper into a small strip and bend it across a rubber band and let go!) ...
And this went on whilst she was seated at her desk but stopped every time she looked up... only to see innocent looking faces.....
As things went, in the frenzy of aiming at odd angles, one landed right in front of her eyes in her book!!
Her head came right up and our heads went right down!
One poor girl (who is quite famous by now) normally well known for her loudness and involvement but who happened not to have been involved (somehow or so she claims) chose that moment to look up and met her eyes!
Without a shade of doubt, this clueless teacher singled her out and pronounced her guilty.... much to her righteous (!) anger...
That left her protesting loudly amidst all our stuffed laughter, tears of mirth and stifled chokes....

Ah LOng Jie: Girl groups in SAC

Ah LOng Jie is a prolific writer indeed! Check out her classification of the subgroups in SAC. :)



My memory is hazy after 30 years of leaving school. But I  remember the  prefects , the athletes ,   the basket girls  and low-socked girls, the science class and the 'other' girls .


School girls were sort of grouped into those who played sports like basketball, tennis , running  viz  the athletic type. Often times they had short hair and they were brown and tanned . They were secretly admired for their prowess and would have a girl fan or two. ;)

The Basket  girls loved to carry the baskets bought from Arab Steet.
Pink, blue,  beige , pastels - the baskets  came in all colors but the girls shared one trait - viz the feminine  type/ sarong party types .

Low -socked girls pushed their socks all the way down the ankle. I must say they were creative in elongating their legs. Not that they needed it, they always had  pretty faces to match.

Science class girls were the smartest and brainiest - the intellectuals of the school. They were not just bookish , they were gifted with musical and dance abilities.

The prefects dressed totally different from the rest of us. They had special uniforms just like policemen  who wear  uniforms to patrol the streets -  except  they didn't carry weapons ; they discreetly carried a thin paged blue 555 notebook and a pen (presumably so you can't erase  naughty deeds off).
Mischievous as I was , I was careful never to get into their bad books...literally and metaphorically.
To me, the  prefects were  " perfect " angels chosen by the teachers to wear the fashion statement clothes .

The other girls- that's the rest of us . They didn't have a group but that didn't matter.

What mattered was the joy of attending an all-girls school, free from bullying  boys, free from  the worry of discussing kotex pads,  growing breasts and puberty in a co-ed environment.

We could dare play, dream , excel  as boys  do.

83uniquegal: Of Rain and Socks

 83uniquegal was a helpful soul.....



SAC......

Many memories come to mind; some hilarious, some poignant, some well .. just ARE.

One distinct memory I'm sure was unique to our school related to the days when there were heavy downpours, causing mini floods at the bus stop and school compound near the St Joseph's Church entrance. I suppose people would call it 'ponding' these days. ;)

Well, if I recall rightly, this was whilst we were in Sec 2, queen of Lower Sec!
Girls were stranded at the bus stops on Victoria Street: where the chicken rice restaurant was and just outside St Anthony Boys' School.
The good Samaritans that we were...
We would bring umbrellas out and wade through the water to go and help shelter them in. The fun, of course was in the getting wet! Some went out in slippers (how did they get them??); some barefooted.
The common thing though, was that we all got drenched together.

The sight in the air conditioned classrooms, to the shock..amusement...consternation ... of our teachers, upon entering our classroom was to see girls in various states of dress (or undress!)...

Ok ok NO ONE were stripped down to bare...
And the SOCKS were hanging on the aircon vents!!!

Obviously not much got taught in those first two periods!!

joyracreu: Roll and tumble ECA in SAC

joyracreu remembers an activity which was somewhat forced on her but eventually turned out pretty well!

The year was 1979 and I had just entered Secondary 1. 

Like the others, I had to pick an ECA (the origin for CCA) so I chose athletics as I had done hurdling before in CCPS. When I showed Her Highness, she vehemently protested and insisted I joined gymnastics instead. I begged and cried to her as the only reason I didn’t want to do gym was to wear leotards! In those days, Mother’s word was law. Today, children rule their parents-how times have changed.

Saturday arrived quickly. Painfully shy and fearful of the unexpected, I met Ms Antonia Gng, the ECA gym teacher. Along with other new recruits like myself, I remember my first tumbling session in school PE attire. Contrary to my belief, I soon realized there was no need to wear leotards for ECA sessions at all. I was so relieved! The only obstacle I had to overcome was having many pairs of eyes staring at you while you jumped, rolled or tumbled in the school quadrangle. Being self-conscious, the attention was unnecessary.

Over time, my interest in gymnastics bloomed. Ms Gng and many seniors encouraged me to go further and train harder. I didn’t know that gym was so fun until I started it in secondary school. In those days, gymnastics was still a niche sport in SAC. I particularly admired the gymnastic team from the primary side because they seemed more graceful and more experienced in the way they executed their stunts. I was never trained under Sister Angela but I looked up to her as it was the first time I had met a nun who was very actively involved in sports.

From just Saturdays, extra practices on weekdays and even a few Sundays surfaced. There were no teachers around on Sundays; just ourselves and mostly my seniors from the upper Secondary. On reflection, I have no idea how I ever got into the school on a Sunday. Perhaps, Auntie Minnie wasn’t around to man the door facing Middle Road or she could’ve been around but didn’t say a word except to stare at me.

Six months later, I participated in my first National Schools’ Gymnastics Competition under ‘C’ Division. The competition was held at the former Singapore Badminton Hall in Guillemard Road. No names mentioned, I remember there were 6 of us, fangirl included. For the first time, I was seen in a black leotard before a public audience! I kept pulling at my leotard to cover my buttocks prior to the competition but was told that the judges would cut marks if I did that as pulling one’s leotard was not part of the exercise routine.

Till today, I still hold fond memories of my gym days. One of my regrets is doing the most foolish thing of giving away my gym medals while I was cleaning out my old TV cabinet decades ago. If I could turn back the clock, I would’ve shown them to my children today.

Sue: The Power of 555

An innocuous thing which Sue had the privilege of using:



Remember the small 555 Notebooks??
Never has so much power been wielded by so small an object. A pretty harmless one at that!
To most school gals in SAC then, the sight of the good ol' 555 being whipped out from a prefect's pocket was nothing to rejoice at. It just meant that an offence was being recorded and possible detention class if it was the 'third strike'.

I was a prefect and had booked many SAC girls in my four years there. Not that I was trigger happy or anything. But teenagers do get angsty and anti-establishment sometimes. So, we prefects were never short of 'victims'.

As they said in the Spidey movie, "With great power comes great responsibility". So, I took my prefect responsibilities seriously. But oh, how I struggled between friendship and justice whenever one of my buddies got caught committing an offence and I had to book them.
Luckily, true friends understood and were able to forgive and forget.
And these are the friends that to this day, remain giving and warm in their friendship.

Jude T: A Fumble with the School Flag....

How many of you have had a chance to raise a flag...any flag?
Read about Jude T's unforgettable experience!



My most memorable time in school must be in the year 1981 when I was in Secondary Four.

Our school had very limited space and it was in the heart of town in Middle Road.

I remember fondly the small quadrangle, slightly bigger than the size of a basketball court. We did almost everything there together at school gatherings, from daily assembly time to prayer/ hymns sessions, announcements, physical exercise and even at recess time where we ate and played basketball and other games there.

As a school prefect that year, I had the privilege of raising the National and School flags. The prefects took turns to do so, according to duty roster.

It was always an honor especially to raise the National flag. All the more so.. to me because our cohort were born in 1965, the same year as the year Singapore gained her independence. So, as Singapore turns 47 today, we turn 47 this year too!

The first time I raised a flag was the School flag. It must always be raised slower and lower than the National flag.
On that day, as usual, the school gathered daily at the quadrangle for the National Anthem. As they sang Majullah Singapura, they looked up to the first floor where the flags were being raised. Of course, with pride and joy, I raised the school flag. But in my eagerness and enthusiasiam, I had raised it faster than the other prefect who was raising the National flag!
This was a no-no. I realised the mistake only at three quarter of the flag's way to the top of the pole. I was so embarrassed that I blushed like a shy child and instinctively stuck out my tongue, in full view of the school, much to the laughter and smiles of those who saw me doing that.

Such were some of the fond and beautiful memories of yesteryear...

Ser: Mr Quah (the late) and PE

Ser's graphic post about the most formidable PE teacher ever and guess what? Even Convent girls get into fights...lol!




My most vivid memories of my schooldays was “PE lessons”!!!
I never actually liked PE. For a few reasons, like I hate to be in the sun and perspire like a dog but the biggest reason was the PE teacher was a MILITARY DICTATOR aka Mr Quah!

I used to think PE lessons were “Punishment Education” not Physical Education. He would yell from the ground floor when we dilly dallied our way down. Those too slow to get changed into T-shirts and shorts for his lessons were punished with running a few more rounds around the quadrangle. Then torture began as we were pushed to our limits and beyond. Our PE was tough.

Our running track (we didn’t have one) was the St Joseph's church compound, a rough graveled ground where tripping over shoelaces made awful scrapes for many a permanent scars on our knees. There were fights after PE.
One would be for water taps, where girls who don't bring their water tumbler (as we'd call it then) would be rushing to guzzle down life-giving water before the next class.
Another classic fight was for the air con. We'd sprint our way to class after PE, to rush in front of the window unit air con vent, holding down collars to get the cool drafts down our sweaty chests, pushing and shoving to get up close, clamouring on tables and chairs to get the strongest draft. Physical fights were not uncommon on front of the window units. Girls being thrown on the floor was common after PE. Broken air con vents in some classes were the evidence of somewhat more violence there I’m sure.

Looking back, we were really a soft bunch; if it wasn’t for the tough military stance taken by our PE Teacher Mr Quah, we wouldn’t have gotten around to enjoy games like basket ball, net ball, tennis, squash and swimming.

Years later, Mr Quah passed on at a young age and in memory of him, the school’s alumni organized a Charity Run on 31 January 2009. Everyone ran, including the nuns in their habits!! That’s the spirit of SAC.. it’s in our blood!

I have to thank my grandma who queued 3 days and nights outside the school to get me a place in a Convent School! I had the best education anyone can asked for!

Mel: SAC: Best education ever!

The following post is by Mel, who was my fellow fangirl in the same primary school class for a few years. Donny and Marie Osmond were our fave duo, amongst many other stars...and till today, we still squeal along together in true blue fangirl fashion!



The Way, The Truth, The Life....

That is the motto of my school.

My school years spent at St Anthony's Convent Secondary School were the best of my growing up years......

Top grades, A stars, band 1s, CAs, projects, were never rigidly set nor made priorities of.

In their place, instead, we learned and practiced values of diligence, responsibility, honesty and took pride in what we did. We formed friendships, created opportunities, made sacrifices, nurtured kindness, embraced charity, understood compassion, and learned grace.

We grew up respecting teachers and elders, accepted the need for discipline and quickly learned the need to raise funds for our causes and nothing comes easily without hard work and persistence.

And of course with these values in place early, the interest of studying came naturally to me, I did not dread homework, did well enough, had time for play and sport and most importantly, was happy!!

My fulfilling education at St Anthony's Convent Secondary School, is irreplaceable , immeasurable.

I found & kept the best of friendships till today - great friends, warm friendships that lasts.

The Way, the Truth, the Life....and how fortunate of me to have guided by these truly meaningful principles.

I could not have asked for more.

Syl: Mrs Kana and the Choir

The school choir was a leading light amongst the ECAs and I wish there was some recording somewhere of the majestic Hallelujah Chorus which Syl talks about in her post below, which also highlights how every girl was given a chance and taught accordingly.




Much has been said about the culture of music and the arts in my alma mater – St Anthony’s Convent. What has to be emphasized is that the sisters and teachers then nurtured our passions regardless of our qualifications.

I joined the school choir because I love to sing – I have no formal training in music and cannot read a note to save my life. I remember trembling at the audition as a Secondary One pupil. I was particularly nervous because I had failed at the audition for my church choir!! At the end of it, I was welcomed with a wide smile and open arms. “Darling, you’re in!!” said the Choir Mistress, Mrs Christine Kanagarajah.
But she also issued a warning that all who joined the choir had to turn up for all practices otherwise we’d be booted out. In reality, she needn’t have issued such a warning, the practices and extra hours that we put in were filled with so much fun.
We learnt more than just to sing songs, she taught us how to be ladies – to put on make-up, to walk in long skirts and heels (though not as high as the ‘ankle-twisting’ ones of today). I remember vividly how she would cringe if anyone of us lifted our skirts beyond our knees to climb up the steps of the choir podium. She put flowers in our hair at each and every performance.

We sang at national school competitions, community events, at Youth Day and National Day parades and of course, in school. We even sang with a Japanese Quartet “The Dark Ducks” at the DBS Theatre. What a thrill to have been part of a paid programme to entertain members of the public!

Firmly etched in my mind is our performance at our school Centenary Concert.
Mrs Kana, as we fondly call her, had decided to throw us all the challenge of singing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. After months of practice, blood, sweat (much of which were Mrs Kana’s – remember she had a bunch of us who could not read music notes) and tears, that evening arrived. As we trooped backstage, some cried; we didn’t dream we’d be singing the Hallelujah Chorus to a huge audience. After reassuring hugs and prayers from the sisters, we went on stage.
It was electrifying!
My ears rang, the hair on my arms and back stood on ends as we hit word after word, note after note! It was a thanksgiving – for the school which provided us the opportunities, for the teachers who stood by us, for the sisters who prayed for us and who always cheerfully supported us. We are blessed to this day!

Ah LOng Jie: Hairy Legs and Boys In Cute Shorts

My dear friend, Ah LOng Jie's journey through her teens is documented below:



When I passed my primary school leaving exams and moved into SAC located downtown, I didn't know I was headed for the world of urban living right on Bras Basah Rd - the middle of town.

My long 45-minute bus ride from the east of Singapore gave me glimpses of the world, where hawkers peddled noodles and ice kachang balls and sometimes in front of the coffee shops selling Hainanese chicken rice; and where sarabat stall sellers sold bryani and teh tarik.

I was the gawky twelve-year-old from the gangster-infested district of Macpherson growing into my teens and discovering a new world.

I morphed into the urban gal - running for buses which never waited, while glancing at the Catholic High boys in khaki shorts and oftentimes with unshaven legs . To many, they demonstrated a lack of civility and were often compared to the "English educated boys" at SJI as crass and unfashionable. To me, they were geekish Chinese educated boys in cute shorts.

I was meant to enjoy the gastronomical world of enjoying a spread of cuisine offered around the school area - relishng Victoria Hotel's chicken rice in cool air conditioning, the beef noodles with fresh sliced beef in thick dark soy based gravy laden with lime and irresistible chilli or the luxury of the Western pork chops after I have scrimped on my pocket money. After school hours , we would also saunter into the Bugis area of transversites and to more wonderful culinary delights, and a mixture of Mandarin and English songs blasting from the tape recorders. Shopping was part of our lifestyle, as I recall buying music tapes by Karen Carpenter and Bee Gees.

Inside our school, a linear British designed block of building which housed about 500 girls, I remembered fondly the Friday morning masses where having a religious moment meant a morning away from classes. I totally leveraged on it (God forgive me).

The pre-class courtyard mass and singing in the mornings liberated my lungs and allowed friendships to be formed across the snaking lines of giggling girls.

My CCA, one of which was school basketball, was the sole reason why I grew from a dwarf and gained five centimeters of height - I could reposition my place as the second person from the front to the middle of the line after lower secondary.

The late sports teacher Mr Quah's military and communist athletics trainings toughened me, gave me gusto and a fearless streak. I also morphed into an unfeminine androgynous gal which barred me from boys who were threatened by my boyishness and adroitness.

As I write this and watch the London Olympics, I am pleasantly reminded of the gold medal we won for the nationals inter-school games for 4X100m relay . The crowd at Kallang Stadium cheered jubilantly as we surpassed the other gal teams.
That experience of elation and pride is still not forgotten though I cannot remember my running mates except for Peggy Teo. At that time, our modest lifestyles meant there was no camera to record the medal ceremony.

Then there were Girl Guide days of campfire singing, knotting and obstacles courses, cooking outdoors with the most scanty resources of twigs and burnt leaves. In the midst of the urban setting outside the church , there was smoke spiraling as we hope that the rice will be cooked and the soup boiled. We would huddle proudly together to eat the little that we cooked with happiness and in unabashed camaraderie. "Be prepared" was the mission mantra. That was imbued in me.

My school days at SAC are dotted with bittersweet memories of play , pranks and sometimes prayer. Bitter because of the angst of the growing up teenage years, sweet as I was often emotionally comforted with our singing songs from ABBA, Don Mclean, Roberta Flack and the movie Grease.

Never one to shine academically, I was contented to pass adequately to move on to college.

I didn't realize that the best days of my life were over because college and university proved to be a bore and quite forgettable.

SAC was truly the place where I grew and blossomed.

Win: From HK with love...circa 1972

The following was contributed by a friend whom I've known since primary school, Win:



When I came to Singapore at the age of 7 from Hong Kong, I could not speak a word of English nor understand this alien language then. I was really fortunate to be in St. Anthony’s Convent (SAC), which provided me a very friendly and warm environment which I could be a part of for 10 years.

It was definitely not easy to adapt to a new environment and when I just came to Singapore. I was enrolled into SAC in the midst of the 1st semester in Primary 1. To my relief, my form teacher Ms Ong could communicate in Cantonese. I remembered my first friend JL who came to me with a big welcome smile. The rest of my stay with SAC was the best school days I had.

It was stress-free years in our primary school days during our generation. I could hardly remember having to struggle through tests nor examinations. We studied but it was never a chore as we had so much fun added to our school life.

I loved the moral instruction classes, in particular watching the bible stories movies from the roller film projector. The movies were not in HD nor had digital sound features, but the roller film projector certainly did a good job, though at times we had regular intermissions every now and then due to break downs.

Music classes were most fun. Each time, we girls hoped to be selected to choose our favorite percussion instrument like tambourine, castanets, triangle with the metal rod and the music room would be so alive! We were even given the opportunity to play on the accordion and it looked huge on me as I was small in size.

I could remember after school, we would all just rush out to the school compound to buy our favorite Magnolia cut biscuit ice-cream, “ding ding’ sweets and crispy pancakes all awaiting for us after our half day school session. And yes, I loved the triangular packaging Magnolia milk too, which seemed to taste better than the carton ones these days.
While waiting for the school bus and parents picking us up back home, we had many creative self made games and activities. One of the most innovative one was “Yeh Yeh” better known as zero point. Rubber bands were linked together and formed into a look alike skipping rope. Two persons would hold onto each end of the rope and the girls would do all jumps and stuns to get over the rope. However, the game was banned when an accident happened to one of our friend who fell and her front tooth was chipped off!
That did not stop us with our after school fun. We had quieter games too like five-stones, pick-up sticks and “charteh”. We collected bottle caps for this game called “kuti kuti”. We loved football and dog and the bone too! Each day we looked forward to this happy hour after school.

Moving on to St. Anthony’s Convent Secondary school together with all my primary school classmates seem to be a natural progression. Spending 6 years together in SAC Primary School and another 4 years in SAC Secondary School provided us a platform to bond our friendship even stronger.


When asked which school I am from, SAC would always pop out to be my answer although most would mention our college or university we attended. I am proud to be an alumnus of SAC and I believe Sec 4 class of 1981 will continue to lift up to our school motto “Via, Veritas, Vita” …. the “Way, Truth, Life”.

God Bless all.

Ah LOng Jie: Aircon classrooms!

The following is written by one Ah LOng Jie, who requested that I post it for her:


When air-conditioning was still a luxury in Singapore in the late 70s, an entire school of blue-and-white-attired convent girls had to use it as a necessity. It was a necessary evil to keep noise pollution down as the school was located at the junction of busy crossroads.

As we muttered under our breath and cursed the annual donation drives to raise money for the aircons, we secretly knew that we enjoyed the little white box which yielded us oxygen, provided cool relief after a sweaty physical education class and helped us dry our wet hair and armpits.
We were the only air conditioned school Singapore.
In the literal and metaphorical sense - we were the coolest school!
*** applause***

fangirl forever: Of Nuns and Music

Tonight's post is my submission for the 'I Remember SG' Singapore Memory Project.

I feel very fortunate, in a way, to have grown up in an era, where there was no school rankings, no DSA, no Gifted Education Programme.

What is known as CCA now was then ECA (Extra-curricular activies) and one could join whichever sport without having to undergo selection trials or risk being kicked out of the ECA if one was not in the school team.

I was in the gymnastics team...and honestly, I don't think I ever got round to perfecting a sommersault, but I had great fun training for whatever few skills I could master.

Streaming in the primary school was unheard of.

Those were the days when the PSLE results slip only stated whether one passed or failed.

And there were only two choices for secondary school.

There was no agonising over where to go for many of us from the mission schools as it was a given that we would go on to the 'affiliated' secondary school, thus maintaining bonds with many friends who had grown up with us from childhood; bonds which have endured till now.

Life in St Anthony's Convent for me was outstanding in two key aspects:

1) The presence of the Canossian nuns and the prayerful atmosphere in school.

Being a convent school, this was inevitable but neither was there ever any outright proselytisation which would have made the non-Christian students and staff uncomfortable. In fact, the Malay/Muslim teachers and students got along very well with the nuns, who walked the talk of showing God's love to all, whilst maintaining strict discipline with the help of the teachers.

And because of their 'actions speak louder than words' examples, many girls would go on to convert to Christianity on their own accord.

True, there were nuns who were 'holy terrors' by virtue of their at-times fierce demeanour, but deep down, the girls knew they cared and in turn, returned that affection.

2) Music/drama activities.

Music was omnipresent in SAC. 

Hymns were sung at assembly every day and in my time at both the primary and secondary school, we had absolutely fantastic music teachers who had no end of activities to keep us occupied, where music and drama were concerned.

Music lessons were never sacrificed for revision of other subjects and they were definitely the favourite periods for us girls.

My primary school music teacher was Miss Monica Toh, whose soaring soprano voice kept us enthralled even as she drilled us in theory and taught us how to sing (and speak) clearly, learn to play songs on the recorder, pianica and harmonica.

The one most vivid memory I'll always treasure is the opretta she produced when I was in P4 viz The Magic Rose. It was a stage musical and involved almost the whole of one session of the primary level.

Oh...that was amazing! 

It had acting and singing; there was a choir and instrumental ensemble and we ran the show for not just one, but three performances!

The Youth Festival was also something to work towards and I remember playing two Filipino songs on the pianica for that in an ensemble and being dressed up in a traditional Filipina dress too when I was in P5. :)

My secondary school music teacher was no less amazing and she is the one and only Mrs Christine Kanagarajah, who taught generations of SAC girls and imbued in us a musicality which would remain with us all through our lives. Even now, so many years after leaving school, the hymns and songs we learnt stick in our brains and just a line or two can trigger a warm rush of nostalgia.

Incidentally, she is also the composer of our beloved school song, a marvellously melodius and emphatic anthem with meaningful lyrics which truly embody the Canossian ethos by which we were schooled in.

Drama was another activity which was encouraged, with each class usually having to put up some skit or other for big occasions like Teacher's Day, Foundress' Day or smaller events in school.

There was also the annual Inter-Class Drama Competition, with each class putting up a play. 

I most distinctly remember my Sec One experience where the play centred around a bird family and we had to wear a chatek feather on our heads to symbolise our avian origins...lol!

Ah...the goings-on that went on at the small stage in our 'Big Hall' during these performances!

It was also in Sec Three that I finally discovered my *ahem* more feminine side when I started taking an interest in dance.

Rose Eberwein taught lessons in our school for a spell, and eventually, Miss Emily Hogan took over and I remember her drum which she used to thump out the beats and rhythms for us to follow.

We choreographed items for school performances using popular tunes from then....including Funky Town, A Fifith Of Beethoven (from Saturday Night Fever) and the theme from Close Encounters of The Third Kind...and the reception from the audience was always nothing short of enthusiastic!

I'm pretty certain what we went through laid the groundwork for present-day SAC to find her niche in the Performing Arts, whilst providing a holistic education for the girls. :)