The 'Good old days' SSGC

Ah, the memories are flooding back as I revisited our old school in the Open Day on April 20, 2002......The School Albums - Remember how embarrassing some of those pictures were? They were less likely to be picked up 10 years ago as a pastime reading publication but now those were worth a lot and I wished I haven't thrown them away. Below just some of the snapshots that slipped through my mind as I jot down this email and I very much would like to share them with you all.....

Miss J.Ho, our marvelous math teacher in Form 1 - the one that got me stand outside the 1R classroom for half an hour just because I couldn't stop giggling with Chu Kar Yan. She emerges as the mother of a local pop singer. (Guess who) Algebra, geometry, trig....she managed to get us through it all.

And remember the blue Jumpers that everyone had? Why were they always several size bigger and torned and how on earth could we wear them all through the summer months? (Hoping to grow into them perhaps). Earning a 'reputation' was certainly a big deal in those days, wasn't it? The senior class plays, the fashion shows, the orchestra, senior choir conducted by Mrs. Fu..........Mr. Lee who teaches Chinese was sooo cool, Miss Law (then later called Mrs Yau) was the most elegant teacher of all times and the Putonghua classes by Miss Ho Sic Ming whom I can only think of a resemblence of a waterfall! Did anybody actually learn any Putonghua then, honestly? The enthusiastic Miss J.Ma who introduced "The Ancient Greek and Egyptian Civilisation" to us (anyone remember the map of Crete that was made of egg shells)?

Eating lunches in the shade of those beautiful trees on the front playground of the main building when the weather cooperated and hanging out by the covered playground when it didn't. How about that first Field Trip we went with Mrs. Lam Cheung Sun Ching's Geography class in Form 1 - Up to the Peak we went - collecting specimens, Flowers, bugs, frogs...I forget, what? Gym classes - Volleyball, basketball, badminton and worst of all - Dancing...ugh, the horrible folk dances with who else but Tam Por (Mrs. Tam). Those dreaded navy shorts we had to wear. The fire alarm that seemed to go off at the most inappropriate times. We never had a fire, did we? Lots of practice though. Just in case. Selling lunch boxes tickets to earn a bug or two and the smell of the chicken legs and instant noodles from the tuck shop....Ummmmm ! They were sure good.

And when we weren't in school - Always something to do, someplace to go - the great convenience store 7-11 just down the road, San Bin - our good old stationery shop, the Hallmark Galleria in the corner where we used to save up pocket money just for Hello Kitty, My Melody and Little Twin Stars or The Runabouts goodies. Those were the places to see and be seen.

As I sift through all these memories...each leading me off in another direction......I realise how much I miss the "good old days" at St. Stephen's Girls College in the '80-90's. We were family. The kids at St.Stephen's were family and I miss knowing my classmates and friends. Good times. Gone forever but the memories are oh so sweet. I loved it all. Who would ever have guessed?

I am so glad to see the changes made in recent years at school and I encourage each one of you to revisit it some time when you can. I must admit, I got lost in the middle of the Jubilee Path leading to the new building (forgot the name), but facinated and impressed to know that every classroom has a PC, connected to the school's network and every teacher has a notebook. Needless to say, air-conditioning in all classrooms - surely that was a privilege to the staffs only in my days. You should go check out the lovely library, I sure will study harder if I had such a wonderful and resourceful place before.

I hope the school will continue to excel in everyway, to educate marvelous students like me and let everyone who teaches in it and whom learns from it, be proud of oneself.