Primary School

I went to Shih Chung Primary School for my first three grades.  Here, we call these years Standard 1 to Standard 3.  After Standard 3, I have to continue at another school called Shih Chung Branch School.

The old school was created in 1929. A local rich man donated his mansion in Penang to become the school. When I started at Standard 1, there were about 30 students in the class. Today, the classes in this building are very small. The smallest? One student only in Standard 4.  Other classes have from 3 to 8 students per grade.

On Saturday, Jan 11, 2020, my brother attended a class reunion at the old school. I was invited to go along.

A few cars were already in the front yard of the school. When I was a student there, in 1955, the front yard is our playground. There was a slide to the right and a teeter-tooter to the left. The rest of the yard is for running around.

Towards the gate, there is a gatehouse. It is now a security office, but in my days, it was the canteen. That is where you buy food and drinks. A bowl of shrimp noodles was 5 cents, and a drink was 5 cents also. You can also buy candies and biscuits (crackers) at the canteen.

The school day was short, I think. The school has morning and afternoon classes. I was in the afternoon class. The afternoon students gets in at 1 PM, and finishes at 6 PM. In between, we get 30 minutes for recess.

Inside is the main hall. This used to be an area we can have for indoor sports. There were a few ping-pong tables on the right side. It is now a stage. I suppose the school concerts and shows are performed here.

To the left, the space is now blocked by a wall. It is used as a library and teachers' offices. In the picture are three of uncle Siew Seng's classmates.  Uncle Siew Seng is in the background, the second person from the right.

The classrooms are further behind this hall. There are two floors. My first year Standard 1 classroom was in the second floor, at the back of the school. I remember the first day of class, and that is, the first day of my life that I attended class, my mother brought me to the classroom. She found me a seat, left me at the seat, and went to the teacher. She presented the teacher with a thin rattan cane, and told her to use it on me if I ever act up.  I was a good student ever since.

I don't remember too much of my teachers in this school. I only remember my favorite teacher, Miss Chung.  Miss Chung was my Standard 1 class teacher. She taught Chinese. One day, at the end of the school day, I stayed behind to class the blackboard, and cleaned the dusters.  Back in the days, the teachers use chalk pieces to write on a blackboard.  The blackboard were cleaned using a duster - a tightly bound block of cloth. The chalk dust were swept into the cloth dusters, and they have to be cleaned by hitting the dusters on a hard surface, or hitting two dusters together, to shake out the chalk dusts. This is usually messy. Anyway, I did the cleaning, the dusting, and Miss Chung said to me, "It is late. I better take you home."

She gave me a ride home in her car! I sat in the front passenger seat while she drove. It was the first time I was in an automobile. I was so excited. The front windshield can be pushed opened to allow in fresh air. I played with the crank, pushing the windshield open and close. I marveled at all the instruments in the car. I was hooked on cars since then.

I do have one teacher I didn't like. A Mr. Soon, my second grade English teacher. I don't remember much about his classes, except that he changed my name. I had handed in my exercise book, with my name "Mui Siew Mun" on the cover.  After he corrected the homework, he returned the book, and he had corrected my name to be "Mui Siew Moon".  He said that new spelling better reflect my dialect. I was so mad, I changed it back to "Mui Siew Mun" immediately.  We were never on good terms ever since.

This is a picture of one of the classrooms. On the right, the bigger brown table is the teacher's table. In front of it, are two students' desks. The class has only two students.  This is very common in this school, this year. There are not many students in this school. In the past, there would have been up to 30 or more students in this room.  Imagine having only two students in a class. The students must have to really pay attention to what the teachers say.

This classroom has five students.

This is my first grade classroom. I sat behind the teacher's table. Uncle Seng and his classmates and I talked about their old teachers and classmates.

We toured through the classrooms, and the new canteen.

At the end of the visit, we had a group picture taken at the front gate,  The lady in the picture is the security guard for the school. She followed us through the tour, and provided much helpful information about the classes.