Schools in Lim Chu Kang

Schools Along Lim Chu Kang Road and Neo Tiew Road 林厝港路与梁宙路一带的学校

Remember Singapore recently published an article on the history of Ama Keng, one of the 3 large Chinese villages located in Lim Chu Kang. Lim Chu Kang was originally made up of large areas of pepper and gambier plantations. In 1910s, Neo Tiew 梁宙 (1884 - 1975), originating from Lam Ann Fujian, was entrusted by the landowners to lead over 800 workers in the development of Lim Chu Kang, such as rubber plantations, coconut plantations, agriculture and farms.

Located at 18 ms Lim Chu Kang Road and Neo Tiew Road respectively, Thong Hoe Village (通和村) and Lam Hoe Village (南和村) were both named after the shophouses set up by Neo Tiew to cater to the daily needs of the workers in the early periods of development. Most of the infrastructure within the villages were also set up by Neo Tiew, including the village houses, electrical and water supply. Ama Keng Village (亚妈宫村), located along 16-17 ms Lim Chu Kang Road, was named after the Ama Keng Temple built in 1900 by Lim Nee Soon.

As Lim Chu Kang began to flourish in the 1930s, there were no proper schools to cater to the educational needs of the farming community in the area. In 1938, a group of warm hearted pioneer educators, led by Neo Tiew, began the challenging task to merge the study centres in the 3 villages to form Kay Wah School 公立启化学校 (now Qihua Primary School), a Chinese medium school with an enrolment of about 200 students. In mandarin, 'Qi Hua' means 'the opening of minds to receive education'. The school was closed during the Japanese occupation but re-opened after the war with an enrollment of over 2000 pupils. Kay Wah School had 3 branches, namely Kay Wah Main at Thong Hoe Village for upper primary levels, Kay Wah Branch I at Ama Keng Village and Kay Wah Branch II at Nam Hoe Village for lower primary levels, run by 3 principles, Mr Ong Hang tin, Mr Choo Phie Ching and Mr Tan Chek Sen respectively. In 1980, the school adopted English as its medium of instruction. As the villages around Lim Chu Kang were resettled in the 1980s, the 3 branches of Kay Wah School merged and moved to Woodlands New Town in 1987 to form the new Qihua Primary School.

 

In 1951, Ama Keng School 亚妈宫学校 was founded with 53 students in a single storey building with 14 classrooms. The school population grew quickly to 570 in 1963, and doubled between 1965-1973. As such, an expansion program was lunched to build a 4 storey block of 12 classrooms and a hall-cum-canteen in 1973. Ama Keng School became an integrated school when a Chinese-medium class was started. But by the 1980s, the Chinese medium classes were phased out. In 1990, Ama Keng School merged with Nam San School to form South View Primary School.

Two other schools which were set up in the Lim Chu Kang area are Lim Chu Kang Primary School 林厝港学校, located at the junction of Jalan Bahtera and Lim Chu Kang Road, and Loke Yang Public School 公立洛阳学校, located at the junction of Lim Chu Kang Road and Lim Chu Kang Lane 3.

SN	School		Motto
1	Kay Wah Public School (Main, Branch I, II) (Qihua Pri)	公立启化学校	勤爱诚朴 / Industry, Love, Honesty, Purity
2	Ama Keng Primary School	阿妈宫小学	Alert, Keen, Steady
3	Lim Chu Kang Integrated Primary School	林厝港混合小学 /广扬小学	忠善知 / Knowledge, Character, Knowledge
4	Loke Yang Public School	公立洛阳学校

 

References:

http://remembersingapore.wordpress.com/2013/08/22/searching-for-the-remnants-of-ama-keng/

http://www.qihuapri.moe.edu.sg

http://www.southviewpri.moe.edu.sg

http://sgcls.zhongwenlink.com/news_read.asp?NewsID=11502
http://lostnfiledsg.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/kranji-heritage-trail-part-1/