The Big Read: For Tanjong Katong Primary, the ties that bind also heal
SINGAPORE — Taking a deep breath to compose herself before speaking to a group of reporters, 12-year-old Tanjong Katong Primary School (TKPS) student Chantal Phuay spoke softly but with a steely determination: “I would definitely want to go back to Mount Kinabalu … It’s just to make sure the Tanjong Katong spirit lives on.”
She was referring to the mountain where seven of her schoolmates and two teachers perished, following an earthquake last Friday.
Over the past week, staff and students of TKPS have had to endure the darkest period in the school’s short history — it opened its doors in January 2001 following the merger of three schools — but the strong school spirit and the support from the community are helping them to recover from the tragedy. Between Sunday and Thursday, droves of Singaporeans and expatriates turned up at the school along Seraya Road to pen their condolences.
Apart from national leaders and athletes taking part in the SEA Games, members of the public including former staff, the school’s alumni and parents of TKPS students visited the tribute centre set up in the school. Many also spent hours manning the centre, and helping to usher visitors.
Two students who were injured in the earthquake also made their way down despite not having been discharged from hospital, as did family members of some of those who died.
With the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) to take place in a few months, the family members spoke to other Primary 6 students who were on the trip and shaken by the ordeal to “do well in our PSLE, in the spirit of our friends who have passed on”, said Raeka Ee, 12.
TKPS teacher Ashiq Hashim, who lost close friend and colleague Mohammad Ghazi Mohamed, 35, to the earthquake, said: “You can really see the TKPS family coming together. This inner circle matters a lot to me — to see former students, parents whose kids have left the school, and former colleagues coming back to support us.”
Last Friday, news emerged that eight Primary 6 students and two teachers from TKPS who were on a school trip to Mount Kinabalu were uncontactable. Over the next few days, anxiety turned to anguish for family members as all but one — a student was rescued with injuries — of those initially deemed missing were confirmed dead.
Navdeep Singh Jaryal Raj Kumar, 13; Ameer Ryyan Mohd Adeed Sanjay, Emilie Giovanna Ramu, Matahom Karyl Mitzi Higuit, Rachel Ho Yann Shiuan, Sonia Jhala and Peony Wee Ying Ping, all aged 12; as well as their teachers Mohammad Ghazi and Terrence Sebastian Loo Jian Liang, 29, lost their lives in the disaster. A Singaporean adventure guide, Muhammad Daanish Amran, 22, who had accompanied the TKPS students and teachers also died.
While they seek closure to the tragedy, the children’s classmates vowed to pick themselves up. Park Soo Ah, who was best friends with Emilie, said: “She’s gone already and we can’t turn back time. We got to move on, but we know that she’ll be beside us wherever we go, and sometimes it’s okay to cry, right? So even if (we) cry we just console one another, just look through the photos we took with one another. That’s how we move on.”
Avni Lodhavia, 12, said she will treasure the memories of her good friend Sonia. “But I will be strong and move on,” she said.
THE TKPS SPIRIT
TKPS was formed in 2001 with the merger of three schools — Haig Boys’ Primary School, Fowlie Primary School and Mountbatten Primary School. The school’s website shows it has a substantial proportion of foreign students — in 2007, 40 per cent of its students were foreigners.
Despite the school’s diverse make-up of nationalities, TKPS students and staff — past and present — spoke glowingly of the “TKPS Spirit”.
It is the sense of “belonging to one big family, and coming together as one and supporting each other through good or bad, (whether) we know one another or not”, said Sean Tan, 16.
Hazirah Ismail, 14, who went on the same expedition organised by the school to Mount Kinabalu two years ago, said the school spirit was encapsulated in its motto, “Giving nothing but the best”, and not giving up in the face of adversity.
She was at the school every day to volunteer at the tribute centre. For her, it was a way to seek comfort. “You see the familiar faces — the teachers, your ex-classmates and friends, and it calms you down,” she said.
Mr Teo Kok Khiang, 46, who used to drive the school bus for TKPS a decade ago, came to the school last week to help direct traffic. “Everyone here is really like family. If there are any problems, we are free to talk about it. We don’t ‘play rank’,” said Mr Teo in Mandarin, referring to how he was treated as an equal by the school leaders.
Avni’s mother, Mrs Mrudula, 44, said the members of the school’s parent support group were close-knit. “If there is (an activity), and one of us cannot make it, the rest of us will step in to help as best as we can,” she said.
Madam Suizairah Salim, 40, is also in the parent support group. She had helped to coordinate volunteers at the tribute centre. She said she had received a constant stream of messages from parents offering assistance.
The fateful expedition was part of the school’s Omega Challenge — one of several programmes for its student leaders. Started in 2005 for student leaders in sports, the Omega Challenge was later expanded to include more pupils.
Former TKPS vice-principal Alvin Ong said the school seeks to maximise every student’s leadership potential, based on the belief that “every student is a leader”.
“It’s about showing students that leadership is not only an appointment. You can be a leader of your own life — by little actions like doing your homework and taking charge of your own life,” said Mr Ong, who was with TKPS between 2003 and 2013.
Mr Ong, who was among more than 20 former staff to return to the school to help out in the past week, said there is a strong bond among the school’s employees.
He recalled two events that were held as part of the school’s 10th anniversary: Over 10 hours, student leaders trekked to 10 venues with special significance to the school. Teachers and students also worked together to stage a musical.
MOVING ON
On Thursday, hours before the tribute centre was closed, volunteers began to collect the flowers that would be passed to the victims’ families. The numerous tribute messages were also taken down to be kept away in storage. The gates were then locked and the school fell silent, having borne witness to a nation’s outpouring of grief.
In just over two weeks when the school holidays end, TKPS students and staff would return to a school missing some familiar faces.
TKPS student Muhammad Shafiq Aiman, 12, said: “The school’s atmosphere will change definitely. People have lost their friends, and you’d take some time to get over such things, right? The school will be more moody, maybe (the students will be) less talkative than before. But I know time will heal all things.”
Mr Ashiq said the sense of loss would be particularly acute during assemblies, or other events where the entire staff and student population comes together.
“Even though there will be a sense of loss, there is a sense of coming together. It will not happen overnight, it may take years (to heal) ... (but) I think the support and spirit will live on,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy, I think we are definitely emotionally affected by all this, but what is heartening is that we have seen support from various groups in the community.”
Avni said she would miss her best friend. “The whole class will feel emptier ... The school will be quieter. But we are still going to support one another no matter what.”
