Photo of Tamil School Teachers

My neighbor called me and excitedly informed me that she found an old photo which had my father and her father next to each other. I went over to look and indeed my father was in the picture. I later confirmed with my mother that this was a photo probably taken some time in the early 1960s. All of them in the photo were either tamil school principals or teachers together with 2 inspectors for tamil schools. This photo was taken in the bygone era when there were Tamil schools catering to the Tamils in Singapore. There were numerous primary schools all over the island and one secondary school, which was the Umar Pullavar Tamil school.

My parents were both tamil teachers. My father was a teacher at Kalaimagal Tamil school from 1955 to 1960, then a principal at Barathithasan Tamil school from 1960 to 1974, when the school shut down. My mother was initially a student at Sarathadevi Tamil school for a year. She then did her teachers’ training, which in those days was conducted in Johore Bahru on a Saturday and became a teacher at the same school. She then moved to Umur Pullavar Tamil school. Thereafter tamil schools in Singapore ceased to exist and all the tamil teachers became tamil second language teachers in English medium schools.

I remember waiting for my father at his school which was at the Henderson/Alexander area. It was a single storey building with one classroom per level. There used to be a big field next to the school. On the other side was a dispensary/clinic. It was surrounded on all sides by city council houses, which were single level houses.

My mother’s school was at Norris road and I remember waiting with my father for her school to finish to pick her up. Sarathadevi Tamil school was at the end of Norris road. At the front end of Norris road was Vivekananda boys school.

I recognised some others in that picture. Some of them were my Tamil teachers in primary school.

During my primary school days from 1969 to 1974, my school did not have tamil teachers. So those taking Tamil as a second language had to attend classes on Saturday mornings from 8 am to 1 pm. Tamil teachers from other schools would come to my school on that day to teach us. I remember my own father going on Saturdays to Pulau Blakang Mati (now Sentosa) to teach Tamil at a school there

From L to R back row

Mr Varathappan (my teacher), Mr Duraisamy, Mr Balaiyah (my teacher), Mr Pavadaisamy (my teacher), Mr Steven Manikam, Mr Kesavan (my neighbor’s father), Mr Rathinam (my father), Mr Selvaraj, unknown, Mr Thangaraj.

From L to R front row

Ms Parvathy, Mrs Florence (my teacher in JC), Mr Karupayah, unknown, Mrs Chelliah, Mrs Krishnaveni

Sadly everyone in the picture haa since passed on.-(