Page 146 - GFA – A Different Drumbeat
P. 146
GFA – A Different Drumbeat 146
SINGAPORE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
According to David Bentley-Taylor, GFA spent some of his time in Hongkong recruiting
workers for the New Villages being set up in Malaya. If this is so, then it is a move that may
have been dictated by a couple of factors. It seems that, although the Special Operations
Executive and Force 136 had ceased to exist in Chungking after the War, they had been
resurrected in a slightly different form in Malaya to battle the Communists during the
Malayan Emergency. It was a result of the so-called Briggs Plan that the New Villages had
been set up in 1950 to isolate the population from any contact with or support for the
insurgents. GFA may have been asked to assist with the recruitment of Chinese workers to
support the resettlement of the 400,000 of the 450,0000 people in the New Villages who
were Chinese.
There was also a strong connection at this time between the Education Department in
Hongkong and the Education Department in Singapore. Both were British colonies and
were laying the foundations for independence. Malayan independence came in 1959 and
Hongkong was officially handed over to China in 1997. With GFA’s teaching experience
and his well-developed administrative qualities, it may well be that he was ‘head-hunted’ by
the Hongkong Education Department. However Hongkong’s relationship with China was
uncertain at this stage and Singapore would have seemed a better choice.
Little did he know that the Singapore Education Department was also in a state of tension.
In September 1945 the British returned to Singapore after an enforced absence of three
years brought by a humiliating defeat by the Japanese in 1942. To prepare the island for
ultimate independence, the ruling regime was under pressure to moderate the tension
between the Chinese and the Malays. Hence Chinese schools, which based their
curriculum on that of schools in China, and made every effort to encourage their students to
be proud of their Chinese heritage, were seen as breeding a sectional, China-centered
identity, and retarding political development on the island.
Complicating the situation even further was the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) which
was aiming to topple all Singapore regimes supported by London. Part of their strategy was
to infiltrate Chinese schools. In reply to this threat the British decided to open more British
schools and close the Chinese schools. Perceiving Chinese schools as vital for the
preservation of their culture, the Chinese were spurred to struggle fervently to safeguard
their schools.
The timing of all this turmoil in the Singapore Education Department coincided with GFA’s
time in the colony. He arrived in Singapore in late 1950 and was given the role of Liaison
Officer with the numerous Chinese schools on the island.
Also coinciding with these dates, the China Inland Mission, who had to leave China in 1950
were in the process of setting up a new headquarters in Singapore, and changing their
SINGAPORE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
According to David Bentley-Taylor, GFA spent some of his time in Hongkong recruiting
workers for the New Villages being set up in Malaya. If this is so, then it is a move that may
have been dictated by a couple of factors. It seems that, although the Special Operations
Executive and Force 136 had ceased to exist in Chungking after the War, they had been
resurrected in a slightly different form in Malaya to battle the Communists during the
Malayan Emergency. It was a result of the so-called Briggs Plan that the New Villages had
been set up in 1950 to isolate the population from any contact with or support for the
insurgents. GFA may have been asked to assist with the recruitment of Chinese workers to
support the resettlement of the 400,000 of the 450,0000 people in the New Villages who
were Chinese.
There was also a strong connection at this time between the Education Department in
Hongkong and the Education Department in Singapore. Both were British colonies and
were laying the foundations for independence. Malayan independence came in 1959 and
Hongkong was officially handed over to China in 1997. With GFA’s teaching experience
and his well-developed administrative qualities, it may well be that he was ‘head-hunted’ by
the Hongkong Education Department. However Hongkong’s relationship with China was
uncertain at this stage and Singapore would have seemed a better choice.
Little did he know that the Singapore Education Department was also in a state of tension.
In September 1945 the British returned to Singapore after an enforced absence of three
years brought by a humiliating defeat by the Japanese in 1942. To prepare the island for
ultimate independence, the ruling regime was under pressure to moderate the tension
between the Chinese and the Malays. Hence Chinese schools, which based their
curriculum on that of schools in China, and made every effort to encourage their students to
be proud of their Chinese heritage, were seen as breeding a sectional, China-centered
identity, and retarding political development on the island.
Complicating the situation even further was the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) which
was aiming to topple all Singapore regimes supported by London. Part of their strategy was
to infiltrate Chinese schools. In reply to this threat the British decided to open more British
schools and close the Chinese schools. Perceiving Chinese schools as vital for the
preservation of their culture, the Chinese were spurred to struggle fervently to safeguard
their schools.
The timing of all this turmoil in the Singapore Education Department coincided with GFA’s
time in the colony. He arrived in Singapore in late 1950 and was given the role of Liaison
Officer with the numerous Chinese schools on the island.
Also coinciding with these dates, the China Inland Mission, who had to leave China in 1950
were in the process of setting up a new headquarters in Singapore, and changing their
