Chapter Two

Summary

I entered the medical college in Singapore ill-prepared for it. The only students who were prepared were from schools such as the Penang Free School, the St. John's and Victoria Institutions in Kuala Lumpur, and the Raffles Institution and Anglo-Chinese School of Singapore. These students were taught physics and chemistry in school, two subjects which were and still are essential for first year study in medicine. As for myself, when I first attended lectures in physics and chemistry, I did not even know what friction or oxygen meant. I was very frustrated and became even more so later on when I learnt that the annual examinations were held not only on a competitive basis, but also in such a way that only a certain number of students would be allowed to progress to the next stage. In addition to this restrictive practice on academic life, there were other restrictions which were peculiar only to centres of higher learning in the colonies. Students in medical school in Singapore were not treated as grown-ups but rather as schoolchildren. It was therefore not surprising that the professors adopted the attitude of schoolmasters towards their students who, in turn, were expected to behave like schoolchildren. An example was their having to ask the permission of the professor if they ever needed to perform a simple act. There was one amusing incident I can recall. It was my practice, whenever I could afford it, to go with a few friends to a cabaret where we danced with the hostesses by paying with coupons. Invariably, there was strong competition to dance with the currently popular hostesses. Clients were allowed to approach the hostesses only when the music began to play. Consequently, at the first sound of the band playing, there was a mad rush in the direction of the popular hostesses. One evening, I was in the midst of one of these rushes. To my surprise, I found myself standing directly in front of the most popular hostess. As I was dancing away I happened to look behind and saw a face red with anger. It was the face of one of my professors, who had expected me to step aside and give way to him to dance with the hostess.