The Big Read: JC mergers - Schools to make way, but memories and bonds stay

SINGAPORE — With more than a century of history between them, Serangoon Junior College (JC), Tampines JC, Jurong JC and Innova JC will stop taking in students next year, as part of the biggest school merger exercise to date.

In response to falling birth rates and shrinking cohort sizes, 28 schools — including JCs for the first time — will be consolidated in 2019, the Ministry of Education announced last month.

For everyone associated with the schools, the news was not easy to take, although they understood the rationale. For some, it may have been only two years of their lives, but the time spent at their JCs made a big difference and helped shape what they would go on to become.

From students and teachers past and present, to canteen vendors and janitors, those who spoke with TODAY shared their fond memories of the schools and the values that would stay with them - long after their JCs are consigned to the history books. In this week’s Big Read, TODAY takes a close look at the four JCs, and catches up with former students, teachers and others, for a sense of what made the schools special in their eyes.

Take Mr Haniel Soh, 26, for example. Back in the days when he was a student at Serangoon JC, he was a self-confessed troublemaker - despite being a student leader. Among his long list of misdemeanours include getting his schoolmates to drink alcohol while on an overseas trip. After he got found out, he faced the wrath of his teachers and was suspended from school for a few days, but they did not remove him as house vice-captain - a simple gesture that stuck with him.

He said: “Despite (the gravity) of the offence, the teachers gave me a second chance... they allowed me to carry on serving the school...I really appreciated that second chance they gave me. I remember how they gathered the entire cohort in the hotel lobby, scolding us...The trip was meant to be about character development and moral growth… so they were quite disappointed when they saw that we did something stupid like that.” Today, Mr Soh is a teacher himself.

Other Serangoon JC alumni were grateful to the school - which was founded in 1988 - for giving them “second, third, fourth chances”, and paid tribute to the teachers for their sacrifices and dedication including the late Ms Rosalind Gurupatham Jeyamoney, who died eight years ago. Despite battling cancer, the literature teacher continued teaching, turning up in class in a wheelchair. Said one of her former students, Mr Syafiq Rafid, 28: “Part of the reason why I’m more outspoken now, is because she got students to speak their minds ... When I went for her funeral, (looking back), it’s amazing how one person can impact your life.”

It is not just teachers who left their mark on those who passed through the school gates.

Ms Alice Lim, or “Aunty Alice” as she is affectionately known to Innova JC students, has been running a drinks stall at the school canteen since it opened its doors in 2005. Showing off a stash of handwritten notes and cards which she has received from the students all these years, the 54-year-old said she treats the students like they are her own children. She could tell when students are feeling stressed, and would provide a listening ear - sometimes with a special concoction of green tea and passion fruit in hand. She created the drink to perk up the students. “You can see it in their eyes (when they are stressed)... I can’t do much but I can lend a listening ear,” she said.

Among the four JCs, Innova JC is the youngest but its former students noted how it managed to build up a school spirit quickly, with students and teachers chipping in to design the school uniform, and write the school song, among other tasks.

For Tampines JC, its alumni told TODAY that their time at the school saw them forge deep friendships with others from different races and socio-economic backgrounds, and these remain strong today. The school was the first JC to offer the Malay Language Elective Programme. Entrepreneur Khairul Amri, 30, noted that the school has one of the “most multi-racial communities you can find in a JC”. The former students also attested to a “kampung spirit”, which is encapsulated in the Hawaiian word “Ohana” - a term often used in the school by teachers and students alike, which relates to how family members should help one another in times of need and not leave anyone behind.

While these JCs may not have attracted the most academically-inclined students, many of their alumni have gone on to make their mark in society. Jurong JC, for example, can count Members of Parliament Mr Ang Hin Kee and Mr Pritam Singh among its former students. Another well-known former student is Mandopop singer-songwriter Eric Moo, who was talent spotted while performing at a college concert in 1983. Television actor Desmond Tan, who graduated from Jurong JC in 2004, recalled how the school gave its students “a lot of space and opportunities to showcase our talents”.

The decision to merge the JCs was painful but necessary, as Education Minister (Schools) Ng Chee Meng put it - and one that Mr Ng said he had agonised over. If things had been left as they were, several JCs would only be able to fill less than half of their desired first year intakes, with some possibly struggling to fill even 200 places, he said.

Still, the strong public reaction was understandable, he added. “This decision affects us personally, as students, alumni, parents and teachers,” he said. “It is not an easy transition, but let us — students, alumni, parents and teachers — all work at it together, to honour the identities of our schools even as we make the necessary adjustments for the future.”

After the announcement, there was an outpouring of emotion from the public, as alumni groups and school administrators swung into action to make sure the schools’ heritage will not be erased. Plans are afoot to preserve memories of the schools’ identity and culture, ranging from having a digital heritage archive, commemorative events, and using social media to source for ideas on how to go about doing this.

A Year 2 student at Serangoon JC, who only gave her name as Bernice, said the news of the mergers would make her and her peers “cherish what we have all the more”. “When you think about how this school (might not be here) anymore, it really hurts your heart quite strongly. Previously, you would think that you can just visit the school anytime and reminisce about the good memories… But three or four years from now, when you walk past Kovan, the school might (not be here anymore),” she said.

Innova JC alumnus Muhd Ilham Firdaus, 28, said he will “miss everything” about his alma mater. “It gave me a second chance when I needed it,” said Mr Muhd Ilham, who was close to quitting school after failing his examination before one of his teachers encouraged him to persevere. Now a social worker, Mr Muhd Ilham plans to hold his wedding photoshoot at the JC before the campus is closed.

While she was unsure about her next step, Ms Lim said she will miss her time at Innova JC, especially the vibrant atmosphere in the canteen. “Memories are forever, I will remember the students and teachers here,” she said, as she held the cards and notes which the students gave her close to her chest.

Some others were more sanguine. Ex-Tampines JC student Choy Wai Wan, 27, who is back at his alma mater teaching theatre studies and the drama elective programme, said: “Of course I’m sad, but as drama people, we always say, the show must go on.”