Monday, August 3, 2009

monk's hill secondary lives on





even though monk's hill secondary school became history in 2006, images of its past glories are still being flashed about. today, when i visited the new amenities centre at macritchie reservoir park, i came across the above photograph (taken by some straits times photographer), and the caption that went with it.

the school merged with balestier hill secondary school in 2007 and its premises have since been taken over by acs junior school. however, the old pre-war monk's hill school building still stands.

my association with monk's hill secondary went back to the days when i studied at newton boys' school. from my classroom, i could see the students of the integrated - malay and english - school streaming out of the main gate at dismissal time.

when i attended secondary school, i had a chance to go back to the area when my own school played against the monk's hill secondary team in an exciting action-packed rugby match. the bodily actions continued even after the match.

in 1987, i was posted to teach at monk's hill secondary. i taught there until 1998 - the year i requested a transfer to a primary school in woodlands. so, i spent some years in the old building and some in the new.




in the 70s, monk's hill secondary school excelled in a number of sports, one of which was cross-country running. their girls' teams were formidable. i remember the teacher in charge as one mr willie tan whom i used to run into at macritchie reservoir when i was training the balestier hill secondary runners. in the middle of the 80s, they had one sikh boy - whose name i cannot remember - who won the individual championship for his division.


picture from national archives of singapore

28 comments:

noelbynature said...

hi yg! you taught at Monk's Hill Secondary? My dad also taught there, around the same time! did you know a Tan Wang Tee?

yg said...

how's your dad? he was the one who helped design the remodelled monk's hill sec sch badge. i think the last time i met him, he told me that he was teaching at ngee ann sec sch. is he still in that school? small world!

kiatsan said...

Oh. I still remembered the time when our MHSS conducted our annual cross country race at macritchie reservoir park.

Ruuning the full 4.8km route through the forest and that long stretch of Lornie Road. hehe. I really enjoyed the race there. Is the route really having 4.8km? I heard from someone, it maybe shorter than 4.8km

But it has been quite long since I run at Macritchie.

kiatsan said...

Hi noelbynature,

I was also taught by Mr Tan Wang Tee once during the lower secondary. I still remembered his name because his name is really so unique. hehe :)

I remembered he was also teaching Art & Craft in MHSS correct?

That time he was teaching us Geography and guided us on how to read the Singapore Atlas. haha. I still have that book with me.

yg said...

guan kiat, if you start from the end of the ziz-zag bridge and finish at the place where the new amenities centre is, the distance is around 4.8km.

the schools' national cross-country race has not been held at macritchie for a number of years already. this year, it was held at the bedok reservoir park. the year before, it was at botanic gardens.

kiatsan said...

Oic. I remembered last time our MHSS cross country starts the race after we cross that zig zag bridge and finished just outside the toilet where the prize giving area was. haha.

Oic. I remembered I took part MHSS cross country race from 1994 to 1997 at Macritchie and squeezed into the top 10 position in the 1996 and 1997 race, but that is history already. hehe. :)

So from Year 1998 to 2006, where was the X-country race held for MHSS before it merged with balestier hill secondary school?

Ruuning in the Botanic Garden is also a good location, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the garden while you run. hehe.

noelbynature said...

small world indeed! my dad has retired, but he is teaching part-time these days. I shall refer him to this post.

noelbynature said...

kiatsan-> yes, my dad taught art & craft and geography. English too (but then, everybody taught English)

Lam Chun See said...

During my time in ACS, there was this boy called Mirza Namazie who could really run when it came to the X-country!

gohjohan said...

yg, which subjects did you teach? I was there from '89 - '91. I didn't do my N-level 'cos I went overseas for further studies

yg said...

chun see, i had the privilege of running with him in the same team at one of the cross-country friendlies. of course, he was in a different league....more than 2 minutes faster than me for the same course.

yg said...

gohjohan, i would have taught geography, english and physical education.

gohjohan said...

After checking the '89 Monkshillian, I remember you. I was in your Geography class in Sec 1C and you set some trick questions in an early test papers. A lot of us, including me, fell for it

gohjohan said...

Just to add, no hard feelings. What's past is past. I'm still some what cross 'cos I needed the extra marks to jump from normal to express stream. Although it's 20 years ago, I've done reasonably well even though I didn't make the jump

yg said...

gohjohan, the fact is you have triumphed over the adversity. the 'unfairness' spurred you on greater success. if you had been laterally transferred to the express, you might not have benefited from an overseas education. let the past go.

gohjohan said...

I already have :)

Johnny Loh said...

Hi All,

I had started a Site
www.mhss.com.sg/joomla

Will be changing to www.mhss.com.sg in long run. Welcome to the Gathering. Photos and contributions are welcome.

Cheers
Johnny Loh (1986~1989)

kiatsan said...

Hi Johnny,

Oh. That's great !!
Thanks for the setting up of MHSS website. A good job well done. Ü
Really appreciate that.

I am sure more people will know about it and become a good place to share photos, making discussions and in a form of interaction and networking.

Posting something in Facebook will sure let more MHSS alumni to know about that. :)

Ishmael said...

Hi...

I remembered Mr Tan... He taught me Art and Craft when I was in sec 1...

Mr Tan is also my dad's teacher... Not sure what subject he taught him though...

I also remembered he was the NPCC teacher i/c...

One thing about him that I never forget is his super large hands... I remebered a few of my frens got a slap on their back when they misbehave... hehehe...

Those were the days...

Misteri Jam12@ ria 89.7fm said...

Hi Anyone from Batch 67-71 am or pm,Wud love to get in touch with all of u,My name is Jamil Sawi in Sec 4C-1971,pls drop in my facebook http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=126834624042776#!/

sabmhss said...

hi mr ong! my name is sabariah & i was a student fm mhss 1985-1988. this year a couple of us ex-students hv got together & organized a reunion on this coming nov 18. this event is for all ex-students as well as teachers. it would be an honour for us if you can join us for the reunion. we have our own site 'monk's hill secondary school' where you can look at photos of the previous reunions that we have organized. i do hope that you will give a positive reply as your ex-students are looking forward to seeing you at the reunion. here is my email, just in case: sabmhss@yahoo.com

yg said...

i must apologise that i cannot give a definite response because i am not sure if i will be back in s'pore then. you see, i spend most of my time in melbourne this year - looking after my grandson - so i most likely will be away. if i am back and able to join, i will get in touch with you.

Unknown said...

Hi, do you still have school magazine '98.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I am looking for Centrepoint Kids, and some of them may have been students at Monk's Hill Sec Sch. We are working on a documentary to showcase our heritage of the unique Centrepoint kids phenomenon.

They were colorful flashily-dressed group of kids who hang out at
Centrepoint. These are the first groups in Singapore to band together at a shopping centre.

Can you help us locate these folks among the cohorts of your school
alumni members, by now in their late 30s or 40s, so they can share their historic moments with us?

Thanks, I can be reached at ok45sg@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

https://www.facebook.com/events/379107908853991/?notif_t=plan_user_joined

Good Day Mr Ong,

We will be having a reunion dinner this June, wonder would you be able to join us?

we can be reached at mhssrcm13@gmail.com

Cheers
Ken

lie sun said...

I am also ex monkshillian,,I am from indonesia,,do you know miss wong

lie sun said...

Hai Mr Ong,,how are you,,its has been a long time,,I miss MHSS a lot do you know miss wong???she is my favourite teacher

Anonymous said...

I was taught by him. Tall guy. Very slipshod