It seems that as I continue pursue my education, I have come to recognise and appreciate the value and importance of the education I have been so fortunate to have received in my time in SCGS. As cynical as I may sometimes appear about my alma mater, there is a part of me that is proud to be an SCGS girl. That part of me also grudgingly recognises that my experiences and the opportunities that have presented themselves during those four years have given me some sort of an academic edge over my current peers. I'm finding it hard to put that in words, especially without sounding 'elitist'.

Why the sudden nostalgia, you might ask. The reason is simply that it struck me on the train ride home that today marks the first day for SCGS' new principal. For those of you who, like me, didn't get to read this, Here's the article:

Dec 28, 2006
UPFRONT
Formidable Miss Heng steps down as principal
By Ho Ai Li

YOUNG girls cowered at the sight of her, pranksters knew better than to set off stink bombs in her class and a former Defence Minister once declared she had the better army. In a black and white photo, Miss Rosalind Heng looks formidable in army uniform, beret and boots.

As a teacher in charge of the National Cadet Corps at the Singapore Chinese Girls School (SCGS), she came in for praise when the late Defence Minister Lim Kim San inspected a drill put up by her girls in 1969.
He told then principal S.K. Tan: 'You got a better army than I!'

Miss Heng had joined the school that year after graduating from the then University of Singapore. She became principal in 1979 when she was 34, stayed 38 years, devoting her entire career to the school.

'She was very hardworking but rather loud,' a retired SCGS teacher, Mrs C.O. Lee, 64, recalled with a laugh.
'When she scolds, the whole school knows!'

The towering headmistress with a weakness for floral-print dresses became synonymous with SCGS, which was founded in 1899 as a school for seven Straits Chinese girls. It has about 2,200 students now.

Today, she is stepping down and giving way to the new SCGS principal, Madam Sim Ay Nar, formerly head of Xinmin Secondary.

Miss Heng, 61, is among the last of Singapore's legendary principals who stayed at their posts and became identified with their schools.

To Ms Sie Siok Hui, 45, a former SCGS teacher, Miss Heng's retirement marks the end of an era.

She reflected: 'When I was a trainee teacher 20 years ago, we heard of principals by word of mouth. 'Fearsome', 'awe-inspiring', 'slave-drivers', 'uncompromising in standards', 'undying dedication' were usually associated with principals of prominence.'

But many of that generation of principals have retired and the Education Ministry rotates principals so that they bring new ideas to schools and learn from their new environments.

Today, 50 principals, including 17 being made heads for the first time, will receive their new appointments. Miss Heng is among 20 who are retiring. The others include Mrs Goh Hwee Choo from Tampines Junior College, Miss Chan Mee Leen from Chestnut Drive Secondary and Mr Loh Ai from Yuhua Secondary.

Miss Heng stands out also for heading a full school with primary and secondary sections.
She declined to be interviewed, but those who know her well related the successes chalked up during her years.

SCGS produced nine President's Scholars, gained independent status for its secondary school in 1989 and moved from Emerald Hill to its Dunearn Road location in 1994. It has also won many fitness, dance and value-added awards.
In the 2006 school achievement table for secondary schools, the school was ranked in the top band with five other schools.
But Miss Heng's legacy goes beyond facts and figures.

As she has said before: 'What I want for the girls when they leave school is that they have confidence in themselves, that they are emotionally stable girls, happy that they've had a happy school life.'

More than anything, students and staff say she stands for integrity.

Nothing infuriated her more than parents who thought they could get their daughters into the popular school by offering a hefty donation or trying to impress with their connections.

School registrar Julie Lee, 52, said: 'I tell them no, but some insist on seeing the principal.

'So I say, 'Sure, but let me do you a favour. Please do not mention anything about donating or drop any names. It's sure to throw you to the back of the line'.'

Despite competition from other top-ranked schools for bright students, Miss Heng decided against introducing the Gifted Education Programme or starting an integrated programme to bypass the O-level examinations.

There was pressure from old girls and parents for the school to have these programmes, but Miss Heng insisted that she did not want to cause divisions among her girls.
And where other independent schools worked at raising the cut-off for enrolment at Secondary 1, SCGS retained all its primary pupils who qualified for the secondary Express stream.

So this year, for example, it took in girls with Primary School Leaving Examination scores of 201 to 265.

Some might criticise Miss Heng for being conservative, but Mrs Lee, who was taught history by Miss Heng, begged to differ: 'She's a historian, and makes decisions with a good understanding of where the school has come from.'

The school emphasises character development and good values and aims to produce 'kim geks' - a Peranakan-Hokkien metaphor for women who are treasures because they embody the virtues of filial piety, gentility, kindness, propriety and diligence.

SCGS board member Euleen Goh, who is chairman of International Enterprise Singapore, said of Miss Heng: 'She has left a deep imprint as a principal in the way she has cared for each student, so that they have a confident, well-balanced life.'

On a lighter note, Miss Heng's reputation of being fearsome is such that some swear she has eyes in the back of her head.

An SCGS legend has it that one class who tried to play a trick on her received a taste of their own medicine instead.
The girls had planned to ambush her with a stink bomb in class. Miss Heng turned up, wrote a few history questions on the blackboard and said, without turning her head:

'I think I have a cold. Could you close the windows?'

After the windows were shut tight, she said: 'Okay, girls. Do the questions, and I'll be back.'
She left, slammed the classroom door shut and left the pranksters with a lesson to remember.

Beneath her no-nonsense persona, staff and students say, there lies a good sport prepared to laugh at herself, and someone who never fails to give support to staff or students in need.

Once, she arranged for an entire level of girls to visit a drug rehabilitation centre to help a girl who had gone astray, and to show them the harmful consequences of drugs.

Even though she has retired, Miss Heng plans to help out at SCGS as an adviser as long as she is needed.

But one thing not on the cards, contrary to a hot rumour in circulation, is marriage.

Mrs Lee said with a laugh: 'That rumour follows her with every long holiday she takes.'