owen primary school

the building is still standing, after more than 50 years, but the school 'died' many years ago. i was registered for primary one in dorset primary school - long since demolished - but because there were more applicants than places, i was 'transferred' to owen primary school, a new school in 1955. three years later, i was to move again, this time to another new school, newton boys' school.

i do not have much memories of the school and its teachers but i can still recall how the headmistress at that time, mrs aria, terrorised us. woe betide those who forgot to wear their pe bloomers to school on days they were supposed to have pe. mrs aria forced them to remove their trousers and to wrap newspapers around their waist.

i had a classmate named onkar who lived further down the road from the school. he came from a nice family and i remember visiting his two-storey house once. there was another classmate or schoolmate who lived in the tasek utara estate. his name is poh pheng. a good looking boy, he seemed to have been talented from young.

from this cohort who started at owen primary school in 1955, at least six of us made it to raffles institution. onkar and poh pheng were rafflesians. meng tong, who was also transferred to newton boys' school and who always topped the class was another. if i am not wrong, ho pin chan was also from the same batch.

i think the school closed down in 1989 but not before it became well-known for the wrong reason - two of its pupils disappeared and were never found.

today, the building has been renamed cambridge international hostel. it serves as a hostel for foreign students studying in singapore schools. all the rooms are airconditioned and i was told that food is catered.