Teacher I Remember You

With Elton John's Teacher I Need You playing in the background, I can't help but reminiscence about my school days at Cochrane Road School and the teachers who was there. Wonderful dedicated teachers who touched my life in one way or another.

Who could ever forget Mr Alfonso, our geography teacher with his sideburn and 'groovy' (at that time anyway) spectacles and he had this knack that his punishment was both terrifying and funny. At the start of every lessons, he will ask questions about what had been taught during the previous lessons and god forbid that you should not know the answers.

He will come to your seat, look at you through those dark lenses and give you a smile. That 'You better have the correct answer or the next 3 minutes will be your worst 3 minutes of your pathetic life' smile. If it is obvious that you doesn't have the answer, he will lift your hand ever so gently and slip a rubber band on your arm.

You have to give him credit though, He is a fair punisher. He will just pull the rubber band an inch or two and repeat his question and this time if you get it wrong or does not have the answer......Twang!

Of course, by now those who did not revised our work will be busy looking for the answers in our text book while those who did their homework will be enjoying the punishemnt that is being dished out.

And who can forget about our Maths teacher, Mrs Chan! A big sized woman with a ever smiling face but beneath that cheerful face lies an 'evil mind'.

Same formula as Mr Alfonso, she will go round the class, choosing her 'victims' at random and god forbid that you doesn;t have the correct answers. She will stand at your side, a step behind you and ask the question and when one have difficulty in coming up with the correct answer, she will repeat the question but this time with ther big strong palm (did I mentioned that she was a giant of a woman?) resting behind your back. Once the correct anwer is not forthcoming, the palm will be raised slowly and by this time, the poor 'victim' will be cringing at the expected pain and.........wham! The palm would have come down hard on your back before you have time to say, "Oh God!".

As usual, we will all be sitting there terrified except for those who had done their homework and had studied the day before.

Come to think of it, if it wasn't for teachers like Mr Alfonso and Mrs Chan, I wouldn't have known that Japan was once famous for her silk and I wouldn't have been able to keep tab of my taxes.

And who can forget our physical instructor, Mr Liew. A short and barrel-chested man who was our gymnastics instructor. He really pushed us hard on the school field and in the gym. His pep talk was out of this world but unfortuantely then, I was more interested in getting onto the field quickly instead of listenning to his long-winded but good-intentioned lectures. After all, P.E. period was only 50 minutes and after deducting time for changing of attire, there was just not much time left.

Then there was the Senior Assistant, Mrs Dorothy Ee. Always walking around the school with a fierce look on her face and at times, a cane in hand. It was much later after I left school that I had the oppourtunity to meet her again in a different environment. Realised that she wasn't a bad person after all. A very normal and pleasant lady. Guess one can't judge anyone from the cover.

To all the teachers of Cochrane Road School (1972-1976) who had graced my life...........THANK YOU!!!