I was exposed to publication work at a young age. Photocopiers were unheard of in the early 1980s. As a prefect, there were times we had to make publicity materials, notes and song sheets for the entire school. Thus we learnt to type on stencils and operated the trusty Gestetner press on the school’s behalf. Firstly, one had to ensure that there was adequate ink on the drum. This involved squirting the Gestetner issued ink and making sure that the ink does not land on our pinafores and our shoes. Then we had to peel away the stencil and adjust that to fit smoothly over the drum. This was a very delicate operation. Like it or not, no matter how careful one was, one would invariably have printer’s ink on one’s fingers or hands. Before we allowed the machine to run, it was necessary to ensure that a consistent layer of ink was over the drum. This we did by manually turning the crank very fast to run a couple of copies over several pieces of jotter-book-like papers. We did not have pristine-white A4 80 gsm paper then! Sometimes when we turn the crank fast, ink would splutter out of the drum. Viscous blobs of ink would land on our pinafores, bodies and on our faces. We would have a good laugh upon seeing each other with blackened noses or artificial moles. But we did not make a fuss as these stains could be quite easily removed with some washes under a running tap. “Memories collected from the School Reunion Contest held from 15 July to 9 Aug 2012 in collaboration with SPH and sponsored by Singapore Flyer.”