About Mr Ang

Hi,

I am Ang Leng Sze and I have been a teacher since graduating from Boys Town English School in the late 50s after having taken my Senior Cambridge Exams - what is now known as the GCE 'O' Levels. I was the 2nd batch to take these exams. I was in what was referred to as Standard 9 in those days.

I joined Boys Town English School in 1963 as a teacher in their primary level after having taught at Kay Wah Public School in Lim Chu Kang since 1958. I majored in Art during my Teacher Training College days and that is how many of my students remember me best for. However, besides Art, I've been tasked to teach English, Math and Chinese in school too.

In 1973, when the mixed-gender secondary school called Assumption English was launched in Boys Town, I was asked to teach Art there. And I've been with AES since. Besides Art, I've also introduced to my students the technique of doing silkscreen printing. I've advanced it to a certain stage now, using light-hardening film instead of the usual adhesive sheets.

With regards to my coming to Boys Town, it was Mr Goh Lay Siong, a fellow teacher, who pulled me into teaching there. I had just moved to Princess Elizabeth Estate then. It was a shorter commute to teach at BTES then KWPS.

Like me, Mr Goh is also a BT Old Boy. I joined Boys Town English as a Sec 1 student in 1954, and graduated in 1957.

Besides my duties as a teacher in AES, I also took charge of the scouts. I was Group Scout Leader of our Scout Group, Group 1411 of Jurong District. During my tenure, with tremendous effort put in by my Training Scout Leader David Neo, a former student of mine, we became the first land scouts to engage in sea activities. We raised funds and bought our own speed and rescue launch. We spent many days at Sarimbun seaside to learn sea craft and various manouvres. Those were truly some one-of-a-kind activities.

About this blog: It chronicles my birth, right to when I got married and had kids. It also details some of my personal thoughts on certain matters. I've lived a long and rewarding life and hope some of these stories shed light on a bygone Singapore that was very different to live in. And perhaps offer future generations both the joys and struggles of making a life here. There could be lessons in my blogs, but mostly, they are just my stories for you to read. I hope you find them interesting.

Lastly, I wish to thank Lai Tuck Chong, my former student, for having transcribed my memoirs into a blog form. Without his volunteer effort, my memoirs would be sitting somewhere in my drawer unread.

I hope to write more, but at this stage this is what I have. Please enjoy.

My first entry: http://a-boys-towner1954.blogspot.com/2012/05/my-birth.html

Yours kindly,

Ang Leng Sze
Adjunct Art Teacher, AES
May 2012