Soon I got into the thick of school life. The principal decided to implement Industrial Arts, replacing Handicraft. The Ministry of Education wanted all boys to be exposed to Industrial Arts, which involved metalwork, woodwork, power mechanics, electricity and drafting. The new philosophy was breadth and not depth. Two new workshops, one for power mechanics and one for electricity, had to be set up. Teachers graduating from the Technical Teachers Training College are trained to teach all these areas. Teachers trained to teach Handicraft had to attend inservice courses during school holidays. I attended the Electricity Course. Very soon, the Principal told me to take charge of the metalwork workshop and be the Head of the Industrial Arts Department. The teacher responsible decided to call it quits with I.A. And wanted to revert to teaching Mathematics. For extra mural work, I was made teacher incharge of hockey, assisted by Siva Ananthan. My cricketing days resumed in full swing. Jayaratnam now teaching in KHS, was my primary 1 & 2 classmate in KE VII, Taiping before the Japanese Occupation. In 1946, he switched to St Georges while I continued in KE VII. We had many inter street games while we were in primary school. I lost contact with him when I moved to Ipoh. My former classmate and playmate informed the Kajang Indo Ceylonese Cricket team of my arrival. The KICC took part in the Navaratnam Shield Competition and I played five seasons in this team. I was the only Chinese in the team and often questioned how come I represent KICC. The answer was that I am an associete member. Every year the school has its annual Speech and Prize Giving Day. All subjects have to put up displays. So the workshops would be spruced up and students work put on display. Some items were available for sale. I was appointed Sports Secretary, responsible for the running of of all games but the main job was organizing the Annual Athletic Sports Day which is a grand affair. The officials and invited VIPs were feted to food and drinks.i had to appoint Committe take care of this. The Honourable MP Dr David Tan Chee Khoon will be one of the notable Old Boy present, always present on all school functions.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 03:53:54 +0000
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