ANGLO-CHINESE SCHOOL 1886-1941 : CASE STUDY OF A MISSION SCHOOL

Abstract

A school functions not only as a learning institution. It is also a social and cultural organisation. It acts as an agent of cultural transmission by transmitting accumulated knowledge, skills, values and beliefs. It is a place where knowledge is passed and exchanged, where characters are built, where bodies are strengthened and spirits enlightened. The Anglo-Chinese School is built on such foundations. The ACS today is widely recognised by both Government and parents as one of Singapore's premier school. My concern in this Academic Exercise however, is a study of ACS as a mission school from the period 1886 to 1941. My study terminates just before the Japanese Occupation of Singapore because the period after the Occupation and particularly, when Singapore achieved self-rule in 1959, would see the mission schools lose more and more of its autonomy. The People's Action Party Government, unlike the British nonchalant attitude towards education, undertook a state responsibility for education which it regarded as fundamental to nation building. This contrasted with the pre-World War II period where the colonial government gave a greater degree of freedom for the mission schools to conduct their religious programmes. With regards to mission education, I am interested in the cultural implications of a Chinese boy schooling in an English Christian institution. I have mentioned earlier that a school acts as an agent of cultural transmission. In the case of ACS, it was the Christian culture that its founder, William F. Oldham hoped to transmit to the Chinese boys under its charge. The Chinese boy who attended ACS was then caught between two different world views. At home, his parents clung to their ancestral worship or the practice of Buddhism, at school, the day began with a prayer and hymn and his teacher taught him the stories of Jesus. He was at the centre of a tussle between parents and school for his allegiance. My study of the school's history is divided into five chapters. I have chosen to structure them by themes rather than by a chronological order. The first chapter deals with the philosophy of mission education and an assessment of the mission schools in Singapore before ACS was founded in 1886. This gives us the setting before ACS was established. The second chapter gives us an insight into the role of the founder, William Oldham. The founder is especially important in a mission school. He provides the Christian foundation and ethos of the school. He is the one who gathers support from the Mission and the community to support his educational projects. Oldham accomplished all these essential objectives in three years. Oldham's innovative spirit, most notably in his drive to set up the Anglo-Chinese College, established the desire for excellence which is most succinctly captured in the school's motto "The Best Is Yet To Be". In Chapter Three, the theme of cultural clash .is explored. An exposition is given of the ‘Isaiah’ controversy in 1896. This is a study of the implications of trying to convert and establish an indigenous Christian leadership in the Church. In Chapter Four, 1 examined how the all-round education provided by the school helped to produce firstly, Christian leaders that served the churches and secondly, an elite in Singapore. Many of these old boys retained their ties with the school in the form of the Old Boys' Association and their loyalty to the school reflected the influence of the school on these elites. Finally, I conclude with an overall assessment of ACS's missionary goals. In doing my research, I was limited by the scarcity of records from ACS. Many of the its records were lost in the chaos of the Japanese Occupation. Oldham's collection of letters and records are kept in the Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church in America and therefore not available for my research. Fortunately, the Singapore Methodist Archives proved a valuable source of help in my research as were the information from the old boys of the school whom I had the privilege to speak to.