the cashew trees of telok paku school

where was telok paku english school? i just learnt that it used to be at where the changi international airport is. it was not far from changi beach which it faced.

the school seems to hold a special place in the hearts of its former pupils and teachers. two persons - one, a former pupil and the other, a former teacher - who had connections with the school, like to talk fondly about it. especially, about the huge school field which was, at one stage, covered with very well-maintained grass.

along the perimeter of this magnificent field were some special trees - the cashew-nut trees. in those days, they would eat the pseudo-fruit and discard the nut which was outside the fruit. one former pupil maintained that one of her most vivid memory of her days spent at telok paku were eating the fruit from the cashew-nut trees.

"the cashew nut is defined botanically as the fruit. it grows externally in its own kidney-shaped hard shell at the end of this pseudo-fruit, or peduncle. the nut kernel inside is covered with an inner shell, and between the two shells is a thick, caustic, and toxic oil called cardol. cashew nuts must be cleaned to remove the cardol and then roasted or boiled to remove the toxins before they can be eaten."

the school was housed in a single-storey building. the school must have started in the 50s or even earlier because i was told they had latrines - that means they used the bucket system - and this was still in use, up to the early 70s.

the former teacher talked about the prowess of the school in track and field. it consistently won the changi district championship for track and field and they would hold celebrations and camp in the school during the holidays. the school also excelled in the softball and soccer. teachers and pupils would spend their long school holidays camping in school.

this picture from the national archives shows some secondary school cadets at telok paku english school