Transcript of Interview with Tan Joo Kheng

JinXiang: Good afternoon Mr Tan, thank you for granting us his interview. 

JinXiang: How did the name Ang mo kio came about? 

Mr Tan: Actually the name probably came from the historical records. Because the word                             Ang mo kio is came from dialect translation means European bridge. And probably there was    a bridge around here build by the columbium people . 

JinXiang: So what was Ang mo kio known as before it was developed into a new town?

Mr Tan : Actually it was only a continuation of a rubber estate from Serangoon garden all to Mayflower and then the other parts were all bushes. So actually there was nothing outstanding about the place except there was a series of path all of the place. And if you look at the map of those days, you will find the number of path. But when you go down and

walk and take a look you will find that those path don’t even exist. 

JinXiang: So what amenities were there back in 1970s? 

Mr Tan: When you talk of the amenities, I was thinking in terms of what were there available back in 1979. In the year 1979, it’s the time I step into this place. And not very far from the school the present school site, there use to be a wet market and a number of shops and that was really a town centre at that time. There were shop houses in this area. 

JinXiang: What is unique about Ang Mo kio? 

Mr Tan: There is nothing unusual about Ang mo kio except the development had been a very peaceful one. So people move in as the houses were ready. 

JinXiang: Were there many people living in Ang mo kio in the 1960s? 

Mr Tan: Actually in the early 70s, Ang Mo Kio new town has not been build, is only built after 1975 then the town was being built around the area. So in terms of people living in Ang mo Kio at that point of time, there were not many people only a few thousand people living around he small blocks here.  

DaoQian: I shall take over and ask you about Ang mo kio Secondary School. 

DaoQian: Do you have any idea that was Ang mo kio secondary school the first seconday school built in Ang mo kio?  

Mr Tan: Yes, It was the first school. Because there was one other school and that was a primary school.  

DaoQian: So why was the school named after the town? 

Mr Tan: The named of the school was done by the people in the Ministry of Education and in those days school were named after places or roads. Just like Thomson Secondary School, Upper Thomson Secondary School and here we have Ang Mo kio Secondary School. 

DaoQian: So what was the challenges you faced as the first principal of the school? 

Mr Tan: When the school was ready, the school building was ready, the school was already functioning at a borrow building namely the premises of HuiYou Secondary. So we have our first batch of Sec 1 classes since January of 1979. Then later in the year end of April the school was handed over to the Ministry and then to me. And then after the handing over, the furniture came in. The furniture came in literally every member of the staff and  students. At that time the students were not around but we manage to get a few and we all had to collectively help to carry the furniture into the class room like the tables and chairs. 

DaoQian: So Do you have any impression of the Ang mo kio student back then? 

Mr Tan: Actually the student back then were very eagle to come to school because here we are having is a brand new school and here is a school that is downstep to them. So we started off with the Secondary 1 classes in the 1979. then the following year we open our classes to pupils from secondary 1 to 4 plus class for a level of the Chinese stream. 

DaoQian: So any idea on how many teacher in our school? 

Mr Tan: I cant remember.  Because some teachers did not belong to our school because our school was being use to house pupils from mayflower primary school because there school was under construction.  

DaoQian: So what is your most memorable moment during your term of office in the school? 

Mr Tan: I think the thing being in the school was that there was a lot of things to be done and then we try to do the things as fast as we could. Just like one of thing we had to do is the opening ceremony. In the past, schools that want to prepare for their opening ceremony had borrow bands and dancers from other school in their neighborhood but when we prepare our own in the year 1980s , we have literally everything ourselves. We have our own dancers; we have our band perform the tune that we wanted because we engaged company to do it to supply us our equipment and to prepare our pupil to play the require the music that we wanted for the function. We were part of the community, we also encourage our facility to be use by the people association so there was a decentralized parade using our school drums. And during those days, the parade for the decentralized has being held all over the island in housing estate.  

DaoQian: So were there any school songs back then? 

Mr Tan: Talking about the school song, I don’t know what is the present school song. We had one song that was compose for us by a Filipino friend from Melina. He composed for us and then when I brought the song and the music back; it was set to the brass band for Mr. Ananta to the ACDC. 

DaoQian: Were you involved in creating the school motto? 

Mr Tan: I cannot say I was involved; I was involved in literally of everything. But quite a lot of things are collective effort by a group of people. That mean staff members contribution, members from SAC, because at that time, our school committee consisted of people from the commercial sector. Just like the first chairman. The first chairman was once who work in an insurance company. 

DaoQian: What was the school motto then? 

Mr Tan: I cannot remember. 

DaoQian: So do you have any idea what does the school logo represent or rather are there any school logo back then? 

Mr Tan: I cannot remember. 

ALL: Thank you Mr. Tan.

 

Students involved in the Oral History Project

The following students were involved in the Oral History Project as part of NOMAD 2008.

 

Interview with Mr Lai Fah Chong on his childhood

by

Tan Yi Zhen of Class 22

 

Interview with Cheo Sow Ling on her childhood

by

Chin Wei Ni Winnie of Class 22

 

Interview with Lai Siew hung on fashion in the 1960s

by

Goh Tsi Hui Amelia of Class 23

 

Interview with Phang Ban Heng on living conditions in the 1960s

by

Tan Zhengjie and Johnaton Phang of Class 25

 

Interview with Mr Koo Kim Seng, a grassroot leader, on Ang Mo Kio in its early years

by

Lim Zhi Le Jerome and Lu Junyao of Class 2A

 

Interview with Mr Tan Joo Kheng, the Principal of AMKSS, on his experience of running the school in its pioneer years

by

Wong Jin Xiang and Tay Dao Qian of Class 3A

 

Interview with Mr Koo Ah Lek, SAC member of AMKSS, on his experience as an advisory member of the school

by

Wong Jin Xiang of Class 3A

 

Oral History: Transcript of Interview with Koo Ah Leck

The following is a transcript of an interview with Mr Koo Ah Lek conducted on 10 April 2008 by Secondary 2 student Jin Xiang.

JinXiang: Thank you sir for granting us an interview. Let us start our first question. When were you first appointed as a SAC member?

Mr Koo: Let me give you a history how I become a SAC member. I joined the school SAC member in 1979 and that was the year when the school started. I was introduced by Mr Tan Joo Keng the first principal of Ang Mo kio Secondary. He was actually my school teacher when I was in Outram Secondary school back then. And after I left school, I still keep in touch with Mr Tan regularly. And one day, he called me and asked me would I be interested in doing some community work and I was invited by the school principal. The school principal said the first thing he need to do is to form a school SAC and he invited me to sit in the committee and sit as a treasurer. And that was the first time I heard of the SAC. So I told him I am not very familiar with the SAC and he told me to come and join for 1 term which is 2 years and after that you can decide do you wish to continue. Then that was supposed to be a 2 year term and it turned out to be a long 30 year term.

 

Status Unknown: Glory

Created by Teacher Facilitator and Artist Nurhidayah together with the students from the 2008 Secondary Three Normal Technical Elective Module in Digital Art Class.

This was used together with the Dance Performance of the same title by the AMKSS Modern Dance Club choreographed by Jesper Tan, performed at the first NOMAD 2008 Fringe Festival Performance – Arts in the Blocks, held at Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 Blk 325a on the 30th of May 2008.

 

Status Unknown: Birth

Created by Teacher Facilitator and Artist Nurhidayah together with the students from the 2008 Secondary Three Normal Technical Elective Module in Digital Art Class.

This was used together with the Dance Performance of the same title by the AMKSS Modern Dance Club choreographed by Jesper Tan, performed at the first NOMAD 2008 Fringe Festival Performance – Arts in the Blocks, held at Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 Blk 325a on the 30th of May 2008

 

Reflection: Singapore in 1964 – 1964年新加坡

 

暴动的起因：　新加坡在1964年7月21日发生大规模的种族暴动之后，由巫统领导的联邦政府领袖指责“新加坡政府亏待新加坡的马来人，结果造成种族暴动”。7月3日，巫统控制的《马来前锋报》在报道中歪曲李光耀这段讲话的意思，它指李光耀发表“马来西亚的43%马来人不能赶走60%的华人和其他种族人士”的言论。后来，也在它的社论中进一步攻击李光耀，指他对新加坡马来人进行“逼迁”，“试图分化”新加坡的马来社群，等等。这一切便使华族与马来同胞的关系越来越疆。接着，发生了马来人游行变成殴打警员事件。当日，午4时以后，游行队伍浩浩荡，荡的沿着美芝路、亚拉街和维多利亚街步行到加冷路，朝向芽笼12巷，进发。在大约是下午5时，七八名参加游行的马来人突然离队，在场的一名警察要求他们归队，其中一名马来人拒绝归队，这名警察只好把他推回所属的队伍。这时，人群中突然有人高喊：“你这个警察，你以为你可以推人？”接着有人开始包围这名警察，不料，一名造事的马来人突然从背后攻击这名华人警员，接着其他的马来人也开始殴打警员，场面简直是失控。不久，在7月的种族暴动中，总共有3568人被捕。 

暴动以后: 在9月4日上午，大批的华人和马来人结集在芽笼士乃的路边和巴, 刹，对抗的情绪逐渐升高. 到了近中午时分，种族暴动再次发生，七个人在暴动中丧命，冲突的范围不断扩大 。而据报告显示，次参与种族暴动的暴徒看起来更有组织性，也不纯粹是以其他种族为攻击目标。最后，守站的士兵只好开枪将暴徒驱散。结果在9月的种族暴动中，总共有1439人被捕，新加坡政府最终在9月11日全面取消戒严。 

暴动之果：行动党政府发现它不能坐以待毙，与其被马来极端分子“围堵”堵在新加坡，不如力求自保，开始向马来半岛，甚至北婆罗州扩展它的政治影响力。种族暴动也促使行动党领袖发现，他们必须依靠自己的实力来对抗种族极端分子即使是在新加坡，行动党也面对种族暴动可能造成的政治问题。总而言之，1964年的两场种族暴动，可说是为新加坡最终必须脱离马来西亚独立，埋下

了关键性的伏笔也因此，我们跟应该珍惜目前为止种族和谐的日子。

谢东辰（12） 4/1

 

 

Student Reflections: Life in the 1960s

45: Ye Li Yu

43: Wu Ying Ying

43: Lee Yan Run

43: Feng Wei Xin

43: Ding Jia Qi

41 : Pan Shi Hao

Yu Shu Wen, Huang Kai Hua, Chen Jing Yong

Huang Zi Kai

45: Su Xiao Yun

44: Chen Rui Shan

43: Chen Ying Xin

43 : Cai Quan Qi

42: Liang Yi Yao

42: Lee Liang Yi

42: Bo Cheng Xi

41: Lee Ni Jun

5A: Wu Peiling

5A : Mei Zhu

5A : Wu Si Hui

The above works were selected from among the class work completed by the 2008 Secondary 4 Express and Secondary 5 Normal (Academic) Classes completed during their Mother Tongue Languages Lessons.

 

Technology in the 1960s

Students of Class 1A: Lim Yuxin, Tay Chuying, Lau Kaman, Tee Kaiyin

Work of : Hu Qiruo, Elysa Leong, Goh Liqi

Work of : Seow Meng, Der Yunn, Koh Yi Xian, Ming Hong

Students of Class 11: Gina Hoh, Ong XinHong, Lin Jiani and Nur Hazwani

Students of Class 14: Tang Yun Rou, Ow En Qi, Oh Ai Qi

Students of Class 11 : Eddie, Nurhaikal

The above projects were selected from the class work produced by the 2008 Secondary 1 Science Students who investigated on the technological advancements and developments in the 1960s.

 

1964 Singapore – Life in Singapore in the 1960s

Announcing the Project Strand synopsis for the Mother Tongue Languages Department.

1964 Singapore

Overall IC: Koh Chee Keong

Teachers Involved: All Mother Tongue Languages Teachers

Students Involved: All Secondary 4 and 5 Students

Synopsis: Students reflect on the way of life in Singapore during 1960s “(especially 1964), from politics, housing to social aspects. Students are free to present their reflection in various forms, such as comics, text, mind-mapping and drawings.

More information about Project Strands can be found here:

Project Strands

 

Reflection on Newspaper Reports from 1964: Race Riots

1964年7月21日种族暴动

新加坡在1964年7月21日发生大规模的种族暴动之后，由巫统领导的联邦政府领袖指责“新加坡政府亏待新加坡的马来人，结果造成种族暴动”。他们说，新加坡总理李光耀（现任内阁资政）在种族暴 动之前，即在6月30日发表的演讲更是“造成种族暴动的导因”。李光耀当时在为一个人民行动党支部主持开幕礼时说：“我们（马来西亚的不同种族）必须和平共处，不论是43%的马来人和土著、40%的华人、10%的印度人以及7%其他种族的人士，都必须和谐的生活 在一起。如果他们想互相压制，那么他们之间将出现争端，这将造成     马来西亚的动乱。我吁请所有的人民具有耐心并设法了解对方。” 现场的目击证人所看到的情况，显然接近于后者。政治部的报告指出，许多住在加冷路一带的居民事后受访时透露，他们看到一群马来人围殴一名华人警员，这件事引发了加冷路的种族暴乱，最终扩大到整个新加坡。种族冲突到了一触即发的地步。下午4时以后，游行队伍浩浩荡 荡的沿着美芝路、亚拉街和维多利亚街步行到加冷路，朝向芽笼12巷进发。当游行队伍来到加冷路和甘榜苏布的交界处时，不幸的事件终于发生。大约是下午5时，七八名参加游行的马来人突然离队，在场的一 名警察要求他们归队，其中一名马来人拒绝归队，这名警察只好把他推回所属的队伍。这时，人群中突然有人高喊：“你这个警察，你以为你可以推人？”接着有人开始包围这名警察，他们喊说：“打他！打他！”一名华人警员见势不妙，连忙上前协助这名警察维持秩序，不料，一名造事的马来人突然从背后攻击这名华人警员，接着其他的马来人也开始殴打警员，整个局面终于失控。一名目击者过后回忆当时的情景时说：“我看到参加游行的人用石头和瓶子攻击在旁观看的华人以及店屋，一些店屋的窗口被打破，一些马来人接着攻击华人……当这种情况在芽笼11巷发生时，一些在前面的马来人已经突破芽笼12巷的封锁线，朝芽笼路冲去。情况已经完全失去控制。”一些华人除了受到攻击外，他们的店屋和车辆也被暴徒焚毁，当时的警察总监约翰·勒卡安(John Le Cain)过后在报告中说：“受害者大多数是华人，那些在加冷路和甘榜苏布的交界处制造事端的马来人，继续沿着芽笼路（往芽笼士乃的方向）攻击华人。”当芽笼一带发生种族暴动的消息传开后，原本在暴动中处于守势的华人，也开始在全岛各个以华人居多的地区攻击马来人。从傍晚6 时半开始，在小坡奎因街、维多利亚街、梧槽路以及桥北路一带也发生了种族暴乱。警方动用了所有的警察镇压暴动，政府在晚上8时23分宣布全岛进入紧急状态，并在9时30分实施全岛性的戒严。在“黑色星期二”之后，尽管政府仍然在部分时间实施戒严，全岛各地仍然发生连串的种族冲突事件，更多人在冲突中丧命和受伤。到了星期五（7月24日），种族冲突事件才开始显著减少。8月2日，政府在情况稳定后，决定全面解除戒严。在7月的种族暴动中，总共有3568人被捕。 

感想：

读了这篇报道后，我觉得新加坡人应该对现在李显龙所领导的政府感到感激。一个国家没有平安，天天有暴乱会使国人不信任政府，后果就会不堪设想了。我们的政府知错能改，所以现在不同种族的国人可以开开心心地和睦共处。我们也要学会赦免别人所犯下的错误，不要为了鸡毛蒜皮的事而大惊小怪。千万要记住暴力不能解决任何事。

巫慧娴 4/5 （4）