My Daily Prayers

Here's an ancient relic from my alma mater. A card measuring 10.5" x 5.5" with a list of prayers printed on both sides. It is neatly folded in thirds so that it fits nicely into a student's shirt pocket.

My Collection Of St Michael's Institution Exercise Books

I wonder, do people actually collect exercise books, especially of those that are from one's former school? Well, I certainly do not. But I am beginning to wonder now if I should. Most household do not give a hoot to them come the end of the school year. Most will be discarded and there is certainly no exception at my home. However, for one reason or another, a couple of these exercise books from my former school did survive. They were not all kept at the same place. So when I gathered them together, I realized that I have quite an interesting collection - historical items from my old school St. Michael's Institution, Ipoh (S.M.I.).

Not all of these exercise books were mine. Some were my brother's, and for the more recent ones they were given to me. In all, what I have now is a collection of S.M.I. exercise books that span something like 43 years. They date from 1970 till 2013, and are all of the same size, measuring 16.5cm x 21.0cm. Off my memory, I can recall the 40, 80 and 120 pages for the plain/blank, single line, double line and square line used during my school days.

I only have vague knowledge on the history of some of these exercise books that were used before 1970 and also after 1985. The simple reason is: I was not there in school. Please correct me if you find any inaccuracies by leaving a comment below.

The Living Stream's 1978 Interview With Bro Ultan Paul

I just found this 1978 copy of "The Living Stream" within my home recently. I must admit, I have completely forgotten about it and now, I can't even remember how I got it. "The Living Stream", by the way, is a magazine that is published, once every two years by the 6th Form Arts Council of the St. Michael's Institution (S.M.I.), Ipoh. I think they are only distributed to the Arts Stream students in the Upper Secondary in S.M.I., which makes this a mystery as I was in the Lower Secondary in 1978.

When I flipped through the pages, I seem to have some recollection of the cartoons depicting life at S.M.I. back then. But I don't think I have actually read the rest of it, which is a pity actually as there is an interview with Reverend Brother Director, Bro. Ultan Paul about the history and background of S.M.I. that is not found anywhere else, as far as I know - not even in the pile of school magazines, "The Michaelian", that I have. Hats off to the 1978 Editorial Team of "The Living Stream" for filling this void.

Below is this interview, conducted by Denise Teh Swan Teen and Choong Mee Yong, both of Lower Six Art 2 1978. See what you think. There are some typos. So, my corrections are in brackets and in blue.

There is no mention of a tunnel of any kind by the way. With all that piling in the school hall at that time, is building a tunnel possible?