I Taught in Anglo Chinese School (Barker Road) in 1988.

I Taught in Anglo Chinese School (Barker Road) in 1988.

Contributed by Jerry

It was with Anglo Chinese School (Independent) in its first year of operations and I was recruited to teach the Science (Physics/Chemistry ) classes for their Secondary 4 cohort.

It was an illustrious school where the rich and famous children get their education. I was the form teacher of Sec 4I. Just in my class alone, I had a CNB director, a Ngee Ann Poly lecturer and a Sarawak Timber Boss as fathers.

Businessmen sons are of course the most challenging to teach. I had a few in my class. One was a smart boy whose father became rich importing abalone and seafood to Singapore even before Vietnam was opened up for business. Another was the son of a wealthy vegetable and fruits wholesaler at Pasir Panjang port. This student was the class treasurer.

The students revealed to me that a regular activity that they had was to watch the cars queueing up to fetch the students at dismissal time and to guess which car was the most expensive and whose chauffer was driving it.

At the Meet the Parents Session,  some parents entered the school premises as if it was a holy ground (Barker Road Methodist Church sits within the same premises). The school compound is historic with the clocktower being the most iconic.

I taught the lower end of the Sec 4 classes, so they were not as academically inclined but it was certainly a tribute to have taught there as not many would have the privilege to study there lest having taught there even just for a year.

Editor’s After Notes:The original ACS Clock Tower was a place where groups of students gathered together for regular prayer. The beginning of the charismatic movement in Singapore is attributed to the 1972 event in Barker Road Anglo Chinese School where there was an outburst of tongues amongst some students.