I REMEMBER WHEN: Classrooms were simple and bare
The writer (right) and his former teacher, Datuk Teoh Teik Lee.
FOUR years of Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945 left our country poor and the people in low spirits.
So, when the Pacific War ended, Malayans were jubilant and looked forward to better times.
The British military administration of the country (from September 1945 to April 1946) saw us facing a shortage of essential goods, widespread unemployment and inadequate rail and road transports.
There were also insufficient classrooms, desks, chairs, textbooks, as well as teaching equipment.
It was amidst this scenario that English and vernacular schools re-opened in late September 1945. I was 10 years old and living in Rengas Estate, Padang Rengas, located north of Kuala Kangsar.
I remember it was in the same month that I enrolled in Clifford School, Kuala Kangsar.
I couldn't sleep the night before, not because of excitement or joy at the prospect of going to school and making new friends, but because I was gripped with fear.
I was warned in advance that I would have to speak only in English for as long as I was in school. My eldest brother coached me on the rudiments of addressing the teachers and so on. But I was not confident.
Those days, most parents from estates could not afford to send their children to an English school. I was the only child from the estate to have the opportunity.
The other children went to a Tamil school which was located in a larger estate about 1.6km away.
On the first day, my brother took me to see the headmaster, the late V. Arumugam, who admitted me to Standard One. My class teacher was the late T. H. Yogaratnam.
There was no proper classroom. Instead, the school hall was converted into two classrooms, separated by wooden screens. There was a rickety blackboard. It tottered on three legs and could have easily toppled over from a gentle knock.
I noticed there was a long thin cane on the teacher's table. The cane was an essential item of the teaching profession's paraphernalia then.
There were about 30 boys and girls, many of whom were my age. I cycled to school daily, along with the Malay boys who lived in a nearby kampung.
The school, which was established in 1895, had the distinction of being the first English school to be built in the royal town.
Until the Malay College Kuala Kangsar was built in 1905, children of royalty and very important persons attended this school. It continued to be a co-ed school until January 1949, when the Government English Girls' School was opened at Jalan Raja.
There were more male teachers in school as most parents did not send their daughters to school.
This was also the reason why there were fewer female pupils. In 1947 and 1948, there was only one girl in the School Certificate class.
In Standard One, we had no textbooks and copied whatever was written on the blackboard. There was no kindergarten in those days and children had to begin from scratch. We learnt the alphabets, Ba Ba Black Sheep and so on.
If the teacher caught anyone being noisy or mischievous, the pupil would be given a knock on the head with his cane. We had to pay a school fee of $2.50 a month.
When the new term began in 1946, I was promoted to Standard Two and my classroom was in the hostel block of the Malay College located diagonally opposite the school. All the primary classes were accommodated in that building.
My teacher was the late Bhagawan Singh, a mild-mannered gentleman in his late 30s. Many of the boys were naughty and the soft-spoken teacher had a tough time.
However, he never resorted to the cane, even in extremely provocative situations. For the first time, we had a textbook, Look and Read. Those who didn't have the book shared it with others.
In 1946, Arumugam was transferred to the Government English School (now Sultan Yussuf School) in Batu Gajah and K.D. Luke took over as headmaster.
The school sports day was a big annual festival. The most interesting event was the inter-school relay. Some 10 to 12 schools from all over Perak took part.
Every student was given a coupon for a large bottle of orange crush from Fraser & Neave. I was in Idris House and we were the all-round champion for 1949.
All those who passed the final exam were promoted to Standard Four (Special Class) under Teoh Teik Lee (now a Datuk).
This was a pilot programme where we did two years' of studies in one year. So, 1949 was a tough year for most of us.
Teoh insisted that every student must have an atlas and a pocket dictionary, and these must be brought to school every day. He guided us in the selection of books to be borrowed from the school library. We read titles like Robinson Crusoe, Tom Brown's Schooldays, Treasure Island and so on.
In 1950, most of us were promoted to Standard Six and our class teacher was again Teoh.
In January 1951, I completed my primary education and enrolled in Anderson School, Ipoh. I continued my studies there until I finished Form Five in 1953.
I owed a lot to Clifford School and its teachers because it was there that I got a firm education.
I have great admiration and profound respect for my teachers. They took time and pain to impart knowledge to us, and inculcated in us the noble values which were essential parts of our tradition.
I am deeply indebted to my teachers, those who have died and those who are still living. In school, we grumbled the most, yet it is undeniable that school days are the best part of our lives.
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