吴韦材写公教老操场 Ng Wai Choy

吴韦材，公教校友，全职作家，以小说、散文、杂文、诗、游记等文体发表过不少作品，其中尤以游记风靡不少读者，并掀起一阵年轻人的自助旅游热。

以下是他于2012年10月22日发表于联合早报有关母校旧校舍老操场的回忆：

想起老操场，因为不久前是母校校庆。 
　 
一年级到六年级都在这里。老操场那时感觉是无边无际地“伟大”，尤其在“放食”时，任谁走进去了，都会眼花缭乱地被蜂拥乱窜的学生海洋吞噬掉。一年级到六年级，顶多也就12岁，但那些噪音，那些吹弹得破的笑脸，那些还不必认识日子的天真，很惊人的。 
　 
诡异是，人越老，就越记得更早前的事。这老操场，清楚极了。 
　 
在街那边的一幅矮墙，是我们的“警察总部”。而对着校舍的高墙，就充作“贼窝”。小学生喜欢又跑又叫，多数爱玩警察捉贼。游戏很简单。一些学生扮警察，另些学生是贼，贼只要一离开贼窝就能追着来抓，抓到押回警察总部的墙边就不能动，必须等候另个贼来营救。营救也很简单，手掌打到一下就free了。我们玩到疯，其实什么都没有，却好像身后有几只UFO冲着追下来一样咿呀鬼震。那时也真的是一张白纸，警察和贼的定义或者抓与被抓的定义也都一点不懂，追的就一定是警察了，逃的就一定是贼了，糊里糊涂就一直信以为真，以为世界也就简单到那样。 
　 
那些在操场上打篮球的同学，都很讨厌我们这些玩警察捉贼的。 
　 
因为我们乱乱窜，整天都撞到那些正要投球或正要挡球的人。撞倒在地，擦破膝盖，头上起高楼，常见的事。有时也会打起来的。假如给学生巡察员逮到，两个都得抓到教务处。通常修士都不会罚先哭出来那个，这心思大家心里有数了，后来只要一被抓进教务处，个个都依依呀呀凄凉委屈地表演一番。 
　 
但修士也从来不会真的体罚我们，打得厉害的倒是老师，12英寸的木尺，打手板，像superman，老cowboy，还有教马来文的那位，都很会打。我们的肉长着一层又一层的顽皮，要打到痛，老师们看来都有点研究。打手板是不痛的，所以尺打下来要打在手指上，那才痛。通常，一个字spelled错了就打一下。假如10个字全错当然就是10下，就算只有一个字错也得挨一下。说起来要打一整班也得花些时候，大家被打惯了，发了簿子回来看看自己错了多少字就会乖乖排队走出去等打。其实气氛也不紧张，大家还打赌看谁的板子最“jak lat”，一齐苦中作乐，也就过了。 

操场角头的楼梯口，是文具部。也没什么设计，柱子上挂个从上而下写着“文具部”的木牌，就用铁闸门拉起来围着一个小空间。里头倒是有位卖文具卖簿子也卖儿童图书杂志的老伯伯。现在我还记得他样子。整天ho ho ho笑，只是颇瘦，像减肥成功的华人版圣诞老人。我们要买什么，就全部堆挤在铁门外面把手拼命伸进去，拼命伸进去，我从没去想过他从里面看出来是怎个样子？一定很噩梦，一道铁闸门，永远数不清上上下下伸进来需索一切的小手，一定很像《苦海孤雏》的镜头。 
　 
小学时总是觉得从操场这一头跑到另一头已经是太远。 
　
 但我们好像不太在意这些远近。那个时代，成长的日子里，每天、每个阶段其实都会出现它们应该出现的启示，经验的学习，跟年龄心智是互相配合的，这是那个时代还能够自然有致的幸福。 
　 
后来才都知道了，孩童时光是最快消失的。如今一个个时代下来，现在很多孩子出世没多久就已经被逼离开这个角色了。 
　 
说的是呀，也进步得真快。 

梁文福 (Liang Wern Fook) 获颁2010年度文化奖

梁文福，1964年生于新加坡。毕业于公教中学、华中初级学院。1988年以中文系第一名和文学院第一名考获新加坡国立大学普通学位，1989年获荣誉学位，同年获研究奖学金，1992年获文学硕士，目前获研究奖学金于南洋理工大学中国文化于语文系攻读博士学位。

中学时期，梁文福便开始写作，并多次在全国中学生文艺创作比赛中夺魁。他擅长于写各种文体，除了散文，在诗歌、小说、寓言和小品文等方面都有自成风格的表现。梁文福也曾多次获得文学奖项，包括国家艺术理事会在1992年颁发的第一届《青年艺术家奖》（文学）。他同时也是一位杰出的新谣歌手和著名的音乐创作者。

已出版的著作有散文集《最后的牛车水》、《自然同窗》、《曾经》，新诗《盛满凉凉的歌》、《其实我是在和时光恋爱》、《嗜诗》，小品文《批眉情》和寓言小说集《梁文福的21个梦》等。

80年代，他是新马家喻户晓、深入民心的学生歌手和创作才子，谱写一代人的本土感情和集体记忆。

90年代，他是新加坡音乐走向国际的幕后重要推手之一，通过词曲向华人世界展现新加坡的音乐文学特色。

在1996年，梁文福负责了新加坡第一出大型华语音乐剧"雨季"整出剧目的编剧和词曲创作工作。次年，他也为新加坡电影"轨道"谱写主题曲"你是不是还在"。

"他在文学界和音乐界之间搭建桥梁。" 这是新加坡著名的戏剧前辈郭宝昆曾经给予梁文福的评语。的确，如果没有梁文福，就不会有极富文艺气息的新加坡创作歌谣。由此可见，梁文福有着颇高的音乐造诣。他的作品在深入民心的当儿，却不失高雅的文艺情操；在推广音乐文学的理念中，也没有坠入曲高和寡的凄清悲凉中--相信这就是所谓的现代才子吧。

从《细水长流》、《一步一步来》、《新加坡派》、《历史考试前夕》到《担心》、《每次醒来》、《没有人》、《她来听我的演唱会》；从上个世纪到这个世纪，两岸三地不同世代的顶尖艺人和优秀歌手都曾演绎他的词曲创作，唱成经典。

梁文福昨晚（10月12日）从纳丹总统手中接过2010年度文化奖。18年前，他在同一个场合以文学类获青年艺术奖。文化奖是本地艺文界的最高荣誉，授予在艺术领域有卓越成就的艺术家。

梁文福受访时说：“世界上杰出的艺术家很多，但未必都能得到国家和民族的认同。从一开始，我就是一个怀着本土情感去创作新谣的创作者，能得到国家的认同，我实在是很荣幸。我觉得一个国家必须懂得珍惜自己的文化，如此我们才可以在国际上建立自己的文化自豪感，因此我很珍惜这个肯定。”

Singer-songwriter Liang Wern Fook, an old boy of Catholic High (Sec 4, 1980) received the Cultural Medallion, Singapore's highest honour for artists, at Istana from President S R Nathan on 12 Oct 2010.

Dr Liang is a pioneer of the popular music movement "xin yao" (新谣) that started in the 1980s.

In his 25-year music career, Dr Liang has worked with scores of famous singers and won various industry accolades.

"In the past, the Cultural Medallion is only given to serious musicians, whereas I write popular music. So I feel this award is a national recognition of the effort of Chinese songwriters who have been writing popular music all these years," Dr Liang said.

马炎庆 Baey Yam Keng

马炎庆, 1987年公教中四毕业。
以下是联合早报的报道。

“海燕等人” 新戏 《内衣阁》 打开“内衣阁” 触碰敏感地带
（2010-07-08）

联合早报● 周文龙
 
国会议员马炎庆和太太林海燕呈献的限制级舞台剧《内衣阁》，内容和台词非常大胆，但林海燕却不担心会引起审查问题。她说：“批评政府并非错事，最重要的是不应一味批评，还需有艺术良知。”

马炎庆则说：“《内衣阁》可能涉及一些敏感地带，但我相信我们有足够的社会空间。”

本地议员马炎庆和太太林海燕呈献限制级舞台剧《内衣阁》，请来MM、SM和PM，一起在台上大谈内衣论？

哈，原来这些名称指的并非我们的内阁部长，而是剧团里的职位。
由 “海燕等人”剧团呈献的新戏《内衣阁》，有着MM、SM和PM等角色名称，令人联想到我们的内阁资政（MM）、国务资政（SM），以及总理（PM）。

但《内衣阁》编导林海燕说，这些名称只是跟观众玩文字游戏，博得观众会心一笑，并非直接针对任何一位内阁部长。
事实上，所谓的MM、 SM和PM，指的即是剧场最重要的三个职位：行销经理（marketing manager）、舞台监督（stage manager），以及制作经理（production manager）。

林海燕说：“约3年前，我无意中发现我们剧场的几个重要职位，简称竟然跟我们的内阁部长一样，这个巧合性让我觉得有趣，也让我联想到我们的剧场环境，或许跟我们的政治环境非常相似，我可以借用剧场环境去看一个更大的政治空间，表达各种政治隐喻和联想。”
有趣的是，林海燕的丈夫马炎庆，是《内衣阁》的监制，同时也是丹戎巴葛集选区议员。

吴韦材写黄伟光老师 Ng Wai Choy

吴韦材，公教校友，全职作家，以小说、散文、杂文、诗、游记等文体发表过不少作品，其中尤以游记风靡不少读者，并掀起一阵年轻人的自助旅游热。

1983年，他与一位摄影同伴做长途自助式旅行，并在《联合晚报》发表游记，一共持续三年。1987年开始在《联合早报》发表游记，称为《背包走天涯》。其他著作有《吴韦材怪谈》、《解连环》、《泥土手记》、《九个半女人》，其中《泥土手记》获得1991年度散文组全国书籍奖。

１９９７年离开南极后，他到中国北京电影学院电影导演系学习１９９９年底回国。现在专注于舞台剧演出项目，最新剧作为《友善角落》、《生命中难以承受的猪》（我爱猪猪），最新著作为《吴韦材异境奇幻》及《吴韦材错体古典》。 ２０００年，他在互联网上设制一个属于自己的网页，称为摇摇网（yoyonet.com）。内容丰富，画面精美。网页内容共分成十大栏目，即《情爱生活》、《饮食男女》、《精品文化》、《美丽世界》、《新元素时代》、《家居空间》、《健身所知》、《网友优 待》，而《车迷乐园》及《近期推出》还在筹备中。在这些栏目中，又分成许多小栏目，如在《文化精品》中，又包括了《激情感官》、《收藏家与艺术鉴赏》、《雅俗共赏》、《电影弹赞区》、《接触吴韦材》、《娱乐前线》、《传统戏曲荟萃苑》，让网友能在这里接触到艺术工作者、作家、名人、主持和学者，互相交流人生品味与心得。

今年三月，校友会组织了三峡游，这是他四月5日在联合早报发表的有关文章。文章里特别提到了今年八十多岁的黄伟光老师。

‘  校友会组织三峡游览团，80余名不同年代的校友一齐畅游。更教人值得高兴是，我还看到张校长和两位教过我的老师。校长与老师，年纪也都确实老大了，但他们精神状态都很好，更幸运是一路上只要有机会，我都能跟随在长者身边，尤其黄老师，那头偶尔飘飘然、积累着人生丰富智慧般的白发，还有慈祥可亲的言语，有时甚至还来点幽默，让我这趟旅途倍感温馨难忘。

其实是，我自己年纪也不小了。我想假如不是现在的我而是20年前的我，相信这份感触还不至于如此强烈。可现在我也是个老师了，有些心情，现在的我就如有了默契般，也明白了多一些。

我相信黄老师也有过他自己的老师。就如同在我生命里曾经有他出现的这一段时光。或许以前，日子匆忙的我没时间去细细回顾这些过往，但如今老来我就明白了，人的一生形状，更多时候是在不断的回顾里塑模成型的。

这就像，我最初写游记时总喜欢原汁原味的现场感，写到后期我才发现，一座山一片海一个城市所能给我最确切的体会，其实是过后重新在自己思维里将它们再次塑模起来的时候。就因有所沉淀，所以倍感清晰，就如那座山那片海那个城市，真正烙上自己的体会，那才是真正到过的。这也就如一个人，一段过往，或是人生的某个阶段，也因为凝合上自己不断反复的回顾，它们才越加真实地牢固起来——除非我刻意铲掉自己少年时代让它随风而逝，但假如无论那时代是甘甜是苦涩我都认为是自己一生里无法分割的部分，那么我更愿意使它们坚固起来，那就是我，而我要完整的一生。

旅途上有位92年毕业的小学弟很天真地问我，当然，问这问题时他只是一片坦然的直觉，他问：“你们每次聚会无论多人少人都是这样一齐唱校歌的么？”我说，“对啊。”他问， “不会觉得怪怪么？”我笑笑说，“不会啊。”看他神情还是不甚明白，我就安慰他，“你现在还小，等你年纪再老大一些，等你一天感到有些自己青春年少的记忆渐渐被磨得模糊时，你就会大大声一齐跟着唱了。”我都还没告诉他，唱校歌有时唱到感觉涌来之际，好像唱完就可以坐下来上课，感觉空中就像有个熟悉瞬间，虽闪电而过，却那就是真实。

旅途上，黄老师的手常扣在我臂弯里，下梯级时，他会稍稍用力，黄老师是我们训育主任，他教学风格还是挺严厉的，除教授课文，黄老师更多时间是教我们这班猢狲如何好好做人，当年年少的我，并没强烈感觉到这一课人生启蒙是紧紧地扣在他的指引上，如今在我臂弯里，在这绵延不断的山峦和这源远流长的江河间，我真真切切地感觉到这指引过我的手，除了人与人的信任与温暖，也确切地感到在一个老师与一个学生之间，其实就是一份深深凝成的情谊。

快半世纪了。半个世纪前这些师长掀开我们人生道途的启蒙，半个世纪后今天，我们还能携手并行于山水间的美好人世，一分，一秒，都是珍惜。’

Kwok Kian Chow 郭建超

Kwok Kian Chow studied at Catholic High from 1962 to 1973.

Here is a news report published in the Straits Times entitled 'Art Gallery Company Set Up' on Wednesday, 18-March-2009.

Art Gallery Company Set Up

The upcoming National Art Gallery will have its own company to run it.

Called The National Art Gallery, Singapore, it is formed under the National Heritage Board.

This was announced at a press briefing on Tuesday by RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Senior Minister of State for Education, and Information, Communications and the Arts.

He also announced the appointment of Mr Michael Koh, CEO of the NHB, as the CEO for the Gallery. Mr Kwok Kian Chow, currently the Director of the Singapore Art Museum, will also be Director for the Gallery.

'As a company, the Gallery will have more freedom to seek out its own partnerships and sponsors and establish something unique,' said RAdm Lui.

The Gallery will have full operational autonomy and its own board 'to allow it the necessary flexibility to be a nimble and effective organisation, and help fulfill its ambition in becoming a world-class visual arts institution," he added.

'This arrangment ensures accountability for its performance, financial discipline and responsible management.'

RAdm Lui also pointed out that under this arrangement, the Gallery would be able to tap and contribute to the national collection, which is under NHB's charge.

'With the Gallery under NHB family of museums, there is greater synergy in the sharing of resources in terms of expertise, capabilities and networks, as well as joint shows and festivals,' he said.

The $300 million Gallery to be housed in the City Hall and former Supreme Court buildings is on track to open in 2013.

The former Supreme Court building will house South-east Asia art, while the City Hall will have a Singapore Art Gallery, showcasing Singapore Art.

The Gallery will also have a Children's Museum within the City Hall, that is specially designed and programmed for school children and families. The public will also be able to access the rooftop plaza, which will have large public spaces, with a variety of F&B outlets and art installations.

陈世集 Tan Tee Chie

陈世集，又名陈放、笔名陈庄、号放石堂主，1928年生于祖籍中国海南省文昌县，新加坡公民。

陈世集从1946年至1948年就读于公教中学。

1951年毕业于南洋艺术学院（美专）纯美术系，历任母校教务主任与注册主任，纯美术系高级讲师。他也是新加坡中华美术研究会与艺术协会多届理事、布莱德岭联络所华族传统美术顾问以及韩国篆刻学会永久名誉理事。

获南洋艺术学院四十余年教学服务金奖、中华美术研究会与艺术协会服务功勋奖章、中国新讯与企业家刊物特约撰稿人。常作美术评介发表多方报刊。主要艺术成就有彩墨画、书法、篆刻、油彩画、木刻

版画，1975年出版木刻版画选集。他开过五次个展，1992年1月被美国密芝根大学东方美术馆邀请个展历三阅月，并亲临讲座与示范，评论得东西艺术融和，风格抒情简捷。

作品被私人、新马国家画廊以及海内外多处收藏。篆刻作品被录入中国“当代篆刻家大辞典”，“当代肖形印谱”，书画则被录入“中国当代书画家名人大辞典”，可见其作品的影响之深远。

.

Choo Thiam Siew

Old boy Choo Thiam Siew (朱添寿) studied at Catholic High from 1958 to 1969.

He is currently the President of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), a leading arts institution established in 1938. Prior to this, Mr Choo was the Chief Executive Officer of the National Arts Council, Singapore from 1997 to 2003.

Here is a news report on him in 1998:

Lion City stalking global arts title
Sunday Morning Post. June 14, 1998.

BY Zeida Cawthorne

Judging by the line-up for this year's festival, future projects may dare to challenge the island's reputation for predictability.

SEXUAL bliss is clearly not on the cards for the couple in Superfriends At The Hall Of Justice, but she refuses to give up without a fight. "Satisfy me, satisfy me!" she screams in frustration as she straddles him on a chair.
The actors may not be doing a full Monty - in mock risque fashion, they have stripped down to black bodysuits - but Haresh Sharma's production for Singapore's The Necessary Stage, definitely has impact.
At the Drama Centre in Fort Canning, a mostly young audience laps up this taboo-busting piece - homosexual undercurrents, graphic miming, 'f-word and all - at the 1998 Singapore Festival of Arts.
"Tell me: as a woman, were you offended by the masturbation scene?" a perturbed Choo Thiam Siew asks the next day in his office.
"We've had some feedback on Superfriends and I'm wondering if we should suggest that they tone it down a bit."
The dilemma facing the executive director of Singapore's National Arts Council (NAC) - presenter of the month-long festival which runs until June 28 - is something new for the Lion City. Suddenly, all sorts of unprecedented liberties are being taken and the guidelines are looking fuzzy.
Will heavy-handed censorship prevail in the squeaky-clean metropolis whose moral guardians recently saw fit to chop the lyrical nude painting scene in Titanic? The next two years will be testing. In response to the region's financial meltdown, Singapore has decided to create a new annual arts festival - shorter and leaner, but rich in Asian content - and hopes to have it in shape by the year 2000.
Like its prime model, Hong Kong, Singapore has invested hugely in the arts and this year's S$8 million festival, featuring a bevy of imported heavyweights - among them, the St Petersburg Philharmonic, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Twyla Tharp - plus action-packed Fringe and WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) programmes, has been the biggest ever.
"We planned it in late 1996, so we had the budget and sponsors in place, but in future the festival has to be smaller," Mr Choo says. "My biggest worry is sponsorship, though I believe Singaporeans will support a major annual arts festival.
"It will continue to be international, but focus on the best of Asia. Next year's festival will be a bit of a test run. The one after will be the important one." In fact it will combine two annually alternating events - the Singapore Festival of Arts and the Singapore Festival of Asian Performing Arts - and be reshaped in ways which the NAC hopes will prove a winner.
Providing it achieves the right mix - genuinely fresh and exciting regional fare balanced with top drawer attractions from further afield - Singapore should achieve its objective, though it will not be plain sailing.
Deeply entrenched conservatism will be one obstacle and this year's festival opener illustrated another. With such a profusion of riches to choose from, a seasoned artistic director would have been loath to settle for the worthy, but very tired Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company - but then again, the NAC does not believe in having artistic directors for its arts festivals.
Still, if selection by committee has obvious pitfalls, the eclectic, often stunning lineup for '98 has also proved the NAC lacks neither sophistication nor daring.
It certainly boasts some formidable talent at the top.
Indeed, between them, Mr Choo and chairman Liu Thai Ker have wrought much of that modern miracle visible throughout the lush island.
"When 1 took on this job in 1995, 1 chopped off the 'horti' and kept the 'culture'," says Mr Choo, the New Zealand-trained visionary responsible for the greening of Singapore.
"Frankly, it was a real shock. Despite my experience in strategic planning, the arts presented me with a completely different horizon and 1 thought: why me?"
"Choo Thiam Siew is quite a poet and artist - actually, a wonderful calligrapher - and very well versed in all the arts," observes Mr. Liu, the urbane architect who went on to Yale after completing his degree at the University of New South Wales and, in 1989, became the founding chief executive officer and chief planner of Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority.
"Back in the early '70s, 1 remember taking photos of pigs' waste flowing over footpaths and visiting parts of Chinatown where there were 900 people per hectare and most of the buildings were firetraps," says the man who revolutionised public housing in a way no city in Asia - and few elsewhere - has equalled.
Today's clean, green, fastidiously planned Singapore may remind Hong Kong cynics of a vast Discovery Bay, but as the venues for the Festival of Arts sharply remind, there is much to envy.
The twin elegance of the Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall; the old-world charm of Jubilee Hall at the Raffles Hotel; the former Catholic schools which have been brilliantly transformed into the Singapore Art Museum (presently hosting the festival highlight, the Origins Of Modern Art In France: 1880-1939) and trendy disco and dining favourite Chijmes (once the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus) - Singapore oozes history and heritage, and the arts have been a key beneficiary.
Other major conservation projects, including the second wing of the Asian Civilisations Museum, are in full swing, though the real excitement centres on The Esplanade, the performing arts complex at Marina Bay, due to open in three years' time, complete with a 2000-seat Lyric Theatre and 1800-seat concert hall.
As old buildings undergo facelifts and new ones rise, the obvious question is whether Singapore has the talent to fill them. Certainly, it does not have a long tradition in theatre training - things only started moving in the '80s - though that is not necessarily a disadvantage.
"In Singapore, 'good' acting used to mean British accents and that is still the prevailing sentiment in some quarters, though things are changing," notes Goh Su Lin, general manager of The Necessary Stage.
"We're now seeing a lot of contemporary theatre - often using other local languages and Singlish - which is attracting young, enthusiastic audiences.
"Here, we start with ideas and develop works from them - hence the company's name. Most of the older theatre groups are similarly experimental and it's the newer ones which are mainstream.
Usually, it's the other way round, so it seems we've broken the mould in Singapore."
Many would question Ms Goh's bold assertion, but there is a bigger challenge to consider.
Now that the Hong Kong Arts Festival has the international field largely to itself, will it meet the demands of the new millennium - or allow Singapore to realise its enthusiastic hype and become Asia's Global City for the Arts?

Published in the Sunday Morning Post. June 14, 1998