The picture above showcases the earliest view of the Sin Min High School. In the background, we can see two of the three bungalows of which formed the school.

Xinmin's earlv beginnings

How it started

Mr Yap Fun Hong - Xinmin's first principal (1945-1949), with the help ofMr Heng Chin Soo and Mr Tan Choon Teng, set up a school in Hougang on 1 November 1945. During those times, many people were uneducated or had their education stopped halfway, due to the Japanese occupation. Schools, including kindergartens and high schools, were limited and only those who were "rich" among the rest were able to attend the classes.

Comprehending the situation, Mr Yap and his fellow colleagues planned to set up a school for the needy and those who lived far from the central districts, where most schools were located. They sold five pigs and raised money to open up the school, which actually comprised of three rented bungalows at Upper Serangoon Road (though the time taken was unknown). Raising funds was not easy as most people were poor back then and would rather use the money for their daily necessities. However, the three founders persisted and received support from those who acknowledged the need of having a school to educate.

The opening of school

On 15 October 1945, the first day of registration at Sin Min High School, the villagers were ovetjoyed. On the first week, there were 620 students registered for the school. The villagers were ovetjoyed as since the end of the Japanese Occupation, there was an island-wide lack of schools which made school fees too expensive for the villagers to enroll their children in. With the opening of Sin Min High School, the Chinese children were finally able to have education at affordable school fees.

The Facilities the school has

Canteen

The canteen served its purposes of accommodating students during breaks, being a dining area and an "assembly point" where students from different classes met and conversed with each other. It had only one stall selling the same kind of food unless on special occasions where other varieties of food were sold. Fried noodles formed the staple of students in Sin Min High School. The students were mostly not eating, but they would rather play around the canteen or in the field. They would rather spend their break time catching spiders, playing a game, resting or even playing with the monkey bars located near the canteen. The canteen consisted of a small dining area, with several rows of wooden benches and tables. Teachers had their lunch in their staff room, unless they had a meeting with their students.

Field

It was small compared to other schools, usually muddy with a little grass patch and not good enough for the students to have their sports activities. Students had their PE lessons in the field (if they were playing games instead of basketball). Normally, during a sports day, they would have their practices in St Gabriel's, where they had a spacious and proper field, fit for them to hold sports activities like shot putt and javelin.

A look into the school field of the old Sin Min School, which barely served as a field. The small picture on the topmost left is that of a prize-giving session during the School's Annual Sports Meet.

Basketball Court

Students congregated at the basketball court and when Singapore achieved independence, it served as an assembly place, where they would sing the national anthem and their school song. This was held every morning before lessons began. Unlike students nowadays, they were patriots and so proud of their school and country, that they sang with gusto and pride. The basketball court was not cemented, and it became muddy and flooded whenever it rained, but was still big enough for the students to enjoy a game. Also, the students had their PE there if they were not playing games in the field.

Classroom

There were insufficient classrooms to fit the large number of students. The classrooms were hot and stuffY, as many students were squeezed into one room. (Take note: Schools were rather scarce at that time, therefore when a new school opened, it was to expect children from other neighbourhoods or villages). There were no fans or lights in the classrooms. It mostly consisted of several rows of wooden tables and chairs, an old, dusty blackboard and a bigger wooden table for the teacher.

The pictures above showcases the activities the students carried out in their classrooms.

Chapter 2 : The Challenges of Xinmin's Growing years

Sin Min High School's growing years did not go by smoothly. Problems were brought up regarding the insufficient amount of funds to maintain the school and to give the students the education they needed. The staff of the schools acknowledged the problems and decided to persist in solving the problems instead of neglecting it. With their committed staff and cooperating students who loved their school, they identified the problems and worked together to solve them.

Main Problem - Lack of school funds

The school, when it started, had spent most of its seed money to provide basic facilities for the students. With the lack of school funds, this led to a few complications that deterred school's progress.

The school had few toilets (poor sanitation), a small canteen selling a limited variety of food, and the desks were all made of cheap and rough wood, meaning it was not durable and when the furniture was spoilt, there was hardly any replacement, thus students had no choice but to share a table, or just make do with sitting on the ground. Also, with the lack of funds, the school was unable to give much exposure of the world to the poverty-stricken students*, who yearned to see beyond the classrooms. (e.g. no excursions, education on current affairs etc.). Moreover, the teachers did not really get much pay from the principal as the school was low in funds.

*Not all students were poor. They were a few regarded to be "rich" among the community. However, they were not selfish or looked down on the rest. They contributed a lot to the school.

Ideal solution- Fund raising

The students and teachers therefore carne together for fund raising activities like the two-night concert staged at Broadway Theater to raise funds for the school building fund. After curriculum time, students, and sometimes the teachers, worked together to corne up with perfonnances and prepare the props. They creatively made the props and practised at night, weeks before the actual fund raising concert. As they were short of cash, they had to improvise. Despite all the limitations, the students managed to put up a spectacular perfonnance and raised $10 000 in total for the school. The concerts were all put up and planned by the students' independently and received little help from the teachers .

The students and teachers also invited Teochew Opera troupes to perfonn and screen movies in cinemas, with the aim of raising money for the school's building funds. In addition, groups of students would be seen going from house to house, village to village to ask for donations for school funds. This was practised by them so often after school that it became part of the extra-curricular activities. Some other examples of fund-raising included having a "bazaar"- students selling items, and opening a bookshop to raise money to help the needy students.

Behind the scene of fund raising activities- The teachers and students

Teachers of Sin Min High School displayed a very fierce sense of pride and loyalty to school, as they would set out after school in seeking donations for school funds. Even though their salary was meager, their contributions to the school were priceless and countless. They spent the day educating the students and the night planning for the school's future. Students were also not forgotten, as they were the main contributors to the school (teachers were their backbones and support throughout their plans). They persevered and sacrificed their free to plan and obtain funds for the school. Their sense ofloyalty and pride to the school could be seen in the long hours they put in, in preparation for the fund-raising performances.

The minority problem

Aside from the lack of funds, there were certainly other nitty-gritty problems that were not usually discussed or brought up. Problems were connected to the situation of the country itself. From 1945 to 1965, Singapore faced a lot of problems, like the riots, political clashes and racism. During these years, Chinese schools were affected, due to our colonial masters of that time, the British, who looked down on such Chinese schools. Sin Min High was not excluded. The government did not give the school proper funds, education and proper certificates when students graduate, causing them to have difficulties in finding a job (school gave graduation certificates, but not valuable when compared to certificates issued by the school with government's endorsement). With the school being in a rural village, it was unknown to most of the society, making the school more isolated and neglected. Students also faced greater difficulties in finding a job.