Visiting St Nicks - My Alma Matar

Founded by Father Nicholas Barre, Chij St Nicholas Girls' School is where I spent my best growing up years. I still remember how violently I argued with my Daddy when he had insisted that I go to St Nicks for my secondary studies. Back then, I had wanted to go to Dunman High School, for a really silly reason that the boy I liked was going there as well. Luckily, daddy stood his ground, and as I realised later, Daddy did know better.

St Nicks, in my opinion, is a school with a difference. With a mission "Simple in Virtue, Steadfast in Duty", our then principal, Mrs Hwang-Lee Poh See always emphasized on grooming us into ladies who were, in her words, "Wen(1) wen(2) er(2) ya(3), gao(1) gui(4) da(4) fang(1)". Whilst she emphasized on academics, the school never forgot to educate us in other areas like tradition, values, and culture.

Our school corridors were filled with wind chimes which tinkled and danced in the breeze. Our classes were named after virtues like Charity, Diligence, Faith, Grace, Hope, Justice, Purity, Steadfast, Truth, and Wisdom instead of the boring alphabet. There were pianos sprinkled around the common areas for those of us who liked to tinkle a few tunes during recess. There were also mirrors at staircase landings to remind us to be well-groomed at all times. The whole school would celebrate all traditional holidays like Duan Wu Jie, with Mrs Hwang leading all of us to wrap dumplings! It was here that I learnt how to work hard and play hard, it was here that I made some of the best friends of my life.

Today, I re-visited St Nicks, together with my previous band mates, Suan Suan and Jocelyn. Suan Suan had taken leave today, while Jocelyn is currently teaching English in the school. We spent 2 hours walking the ground that we used to roam, reminiscing the good old times when our band used to play the National Anthem at each morning's assembly, and not forgetting to recount the times when I got punished by teachers for not doing my homework, not paying attention in class, or even for not sewing my belt on to my pinafore! The food in the canteen still looked as unappetizing as ever, but we were so excited to see Uncle Mobeen's drink stall still there, after all these years!

We met up with the ever exuberant and lovely Mrs Julia Yeo (who amazingly remembered the names of half our class from 1993!)....

..as well as Ms Leong Choon Fah, teacher-in-charge of the Symphonic Band during our time...
I also couldn't resist taking a photo of my "favourite" room of the school, the Sick Bay! haha! I used to report sick when I didn't study for tests and would head there to "rest"! :Þ
Though the building facade has changed, though more than 90% of the teachers are new faces, it felt like yesterday that I was still a student in SNG. Its always nice to come home. After we left St Nicks, we headed to the newly opened AMK Hub for a late lunch. Over pasta and dessert at New York New York, we chatted and exchanged life stories for the next 3 hours! Here's my lunch of Tagliatelle Arrabiata with Meatballs followed by Fried Mars Bars with Ice Cream
Suan Suan and her Manhattan Sunrise And finally, Jocelyn's very "muddy" looking Mud Pie!