PULAU BRANI, SINGAPORE HARBOUR -
I LOVED IT!
I was fortunate enough to have two tours in
Singapore, and both times I lived on the
small island of Pulau Brani, in the middle of
Singapore harbour.
The first time, 1958 to 1961, I attended
Pulau Brani primary school, which was
converted from an officers house. It had two
classrooms on the ground floor; with the
staff room between them and another
classroom taking up the whole of the first
floor. The three classes were for children 5
to 7, 7 to 9, and 9 to 11. My brother Stewart
was in the middle class, with about 11
children, and I was in the top class, with 8
children.
Pupils, both British and Gurkha, also came
from the next island, Blakang Mati to our
school, arriving by ferry at Buller Jetty, a
short walk from the school.
School was mornings only, then it was home and lunch.
Homework was done after lunch, we weren't allowed out to play
until after 2.00 pm, to allow the Mum's a quiet time for a nap, and
then the island was ours.
We had no television, but never missed it. We would tear round
the island on our bikes, pretending that the whole Japanese army
was after us (our houses had been used by Japanese officers
during the war). We had an air raid shelter on the large expanse of
grass in front of the houses, curved like a mssen hut, but made of
smooth whitewashed concrete, which made a wonderful slide. We
had our own little beach, a bit of jungle, some old gun
emplacements and the most vivid imaginations.
What a wonderful childhood.
We came back to Pulau Brani again, from 1963 to 1966. My
youngest brother Graham went to the island primary school, but
Stewart and I went to Alexandra Grammar School, Singapore. It
was an early start, as we caught a Duty Boat about 7.20 am, which
went on to Blakang Mati to collect the children there, before
reaching Jardine Steps, where we waited for the school bus -
number C7. We were first on the bus, and last off, what a long
tedious journey, and then to have to climb all the steps up to the
schooL I don't think anyone could have been overweight then, all
that exercise.
Most people remember exactly where they were when Kennedy
was killed (November 1963), I had just got off the ferry on the
way to school, and saw the headlines on a board outside the paper
stall at Jardine Steps.
Again, school was mornings only, with activities in the afternoon
if you wanted. I can't remember what I stayed behind for, but my
Mum made me the most peculiar packed lunches. I had a type of
small French loaf, which started off savoury, such as ham salad,
but then halfway through it changed to sweet, such as lemon curd.
A novel way to have your dinner & pudding.
Sports days were held at Gillman; if I remember correctly; and we
got free ice cold Milo to drink, which was advertised as 'Milo is
Marvellous', an energy drink. How confused was I - when
returning to Britain it was advertised on the television as being the
by Lynne Copping (nee Wilson)
perfect bedtime drink, to guarantee a good
nights sleep.
The summer holidays of 1964 came, and on
returning to school it was quite exciting. A
brand new school, St Johns, air conditioned,
and all day. The grammar and secondary
moderns had combined. The school was for
the third years upwards, with the first and
second years staying in the old buildings. I
thought that they only used the old
secondary modem school, but from other
peoples stories it appears that they used
both buildings.
The uniform stayed the same, white shirts
and khaki shorts for the boys, with white
blouses and green skirts for the girls. The
exception being the prefects, the boys being
all in white, and the girls in green
shirtwaisted dresses.
We had a few days settling in, witll great groups of us in tlle hall
sorting out our timetables. We each made our own, having core
subjects, and having to fit in other subjects arOlUldthem, so if you
wanted to do French, and it clashed with when the J\faths was,
you had to change the French class to another one, with the time
and day fitting in with everything else. It appeared very
complicated at first, but we soon got the hang of it, and lessons
started.
School lunches were very good, and Fridays were brilliant, with
fish for the Catholics, and Nasi Goreng for the rest. Absolutely
delicious. Mind you, sometimes lunch on a Friday went by the
wayside if we were skint, and going to Gillman Youth Club that
night.
The dances, the sixties, the hotpants, the Rolling Stones at the
Badminton Hall, Freddie and the Dreamers, Manfred Mann.....
The children today don't know what fun is ........
