Dormitory

contributed by Sam Teo

Our boarding houses where we stayed had names like: Kiwi, Hornbill , Clarke and Dearnley hostels. We have showers in the open air with just a towel or sarong around us. Meals were served in a huge dining room. We lived like kings and had corn flakes with milk for breakfast! What luxury! We thought we were in paradise.  I realised now that this corn flakes and milk powder, although delicious to starving boys in the boarding schools, were probably supplied in bulk from UNESCO as overseas aid to under developed countries and they had most likely gone past their used-by date. I hope that they were not also genetically engineered!

Kiwi hostel, my home 1963/64

However, during the long school holidays, I noticed that not all the native students went home because some were so poor that they could not afford the boat fares to go home more than once a year. These bumiputras were land rich but cash poor! Being a town boy, used to having at least some pocket money, it was a shock to me that some other students who had parents were actually poorer than me! It was an overwhelming discovery for me. I have won a Shell Bursary of $750 per year. After paying boarding fees of $50 per month I still had some pocket money. Very often during the weekends, I joined some boarders clandestinely cooking and eating Maggi mee in the kitchen! Richard Lau and Paul Ling Hwa Ing were always hungry!