My 4 years at Raffles Hall 1982-1986

Stella Lau Chow Ong
8th Nov 2017

Place: 

I stayed 2 years each at RH Nassim Road, and RH Kent Ridge. The old RH brings back nostalgia and fondness. Who can forget the majestic rain trees with overarching limbs that seem to sweep a weary student and enfold her in its soothing embrace? The frogs herald the end of a rainstorm with loud croaks that betray their hiding places and we would hunt them down for a quick “catch and release” with giggles and squeals that would match their cacophony. The lawn was my favorite watering hole to catch up with the daily gossip, who is “buaya-ing who”, who is the “kiasu king” who pretends not to study but pulls an all nighter, whilst sipping the mud colored but delicious tea and watching the hockey players whack the ball and each other.
The spanking new RH at KR has its own repertoire of sweet memories. We have been told the proper way to get around sprawling RH is use the connecting walkways at ground level, and then climb the stairs to our rooms. But as innovative undergraduates we discovered clever shortcuts of waltzing on top of these walkways to our rooms before the alarms are raised. The journeying time from RH to lecture hall was so well orchestrated, one can sing in the shower, dress hastily, gulp down breakfast and race for lecture with no seconds to spare. Sigh it didn’t always work, once I actually wore 2 t-shirts at the same time, this was before layering was fashionable.

People: 

Of course, people are the most precious of memories. Pak Mat was the cantankerous cleaner whose generous middle portion can be spotted miles away with his ubiquitous mop and bucket. He was pleasant provided you don't step on the spots he had just cleaned, or else get ready for a earful with a mop in tow. Resident Fellow Stanley Yeo and his affable wife Teng were available if we needed a sympathetic ear. I had the glorious privilege of changing diapers for their baby Jen li whose sun kissed cheeks was the target of adoring males. Master Tan Lee Meng was encouraging and reassuring to “scared to death” law students like myself who shied away. There was a lot of camaraderie amongst fellow Malaysians who made up the bulk of the hostelites. We shared common culinary taste; our wanton mee didn't have ketchup like the Singaporean ones. We shared jokes punctuated with our multi lingua slang whose cultural innuendo escaped the locals. The cool thing at my time was to call someone by their first two names eg Chin Yoke Mun became Chin Yoke (mattress), Wong Lai Kuan became Wong Lai (pineapple) and yours truly Lau Chow (old and smelly). It wasn't true then but may be so now except for the smell. Till today, whenever I stop by Singapore, I make the effort to meet RH friends and renew ties which were made 3 decades ago but are still meaningful and fresh.

Perspective:

Time and distance give us the lenses of hindsight to gain perspective of significant events in our lives. At RH I met interesting and colorful people whose diversity of views have added depth and width to my little world. I may not have appreciated that then but now I hope am more accepting of nonconformists. I met very smart people who intimidated me as I was insecure but now I realize everyone has their own strengths and weakness. One night as a struggling freshie looking for direction, I took a walk among the trees and felt the Divine Presence assuring me I do not walk alone. I reached out by faith and his steady hand continues to hold mine as I walk my tree lined path of autumn glory.

Lau Chow Ong studied law. She left Singapore after serving her bond and relocated to the US before calling Penang home for the last 20 years. She found legal practice in Malaysia a huge challenge- more tea drinking needed to whack a legal ball in the right court. She enjoys painting and gets her inspiration from the rain trees.