Believe It Or Not
In 1949 a little girl disguised as a boy and went to enrol in an all-boys mission school at Primary II class. The masquerade went undetected for eight years. It was not until the end of 1956 when her secret was divulged through an English newspaper on a Sunday, after her completion of the final term exam at Form III (present day Sec. II). The school authority and her schoolmates were shocked. Many of her close classmates felt embarrassed because they shared personal secrets with one another.
Eventually ,the school principal helped her to get transferred to a sister mission school to complete her secondary education.
I shall call this "boy" Johnny. He came from a poor family; and he shared a cubicle (a small rented room) with his mother at Smith Street where the poor people lived at the time. He was one of the good pupils in the class. He always moved around with a group of boisterous classmates from whom he acquired a lot of experience growing up with them.
Johnny played his card very well to guard his identity. He did not get himself wet whenever he went to Changi Point seaside for a swim with his budddies. He merely strolled along the beach. During PE sessions he would opt for table-tennis while others played basketball. Occasionally, he would join them in passing remarks on a girl's figure if it was not up to expectation. On one ocassion he even teased a classmate in the toilet while the latter was easing himself.
I shall share with readers a few anecdotes that took place during these eight years:
1) Classmate Casey one day stroked his buttocks and said to him, "Johnny, your
buttocks are soft and tender, very siok. If you were a girl, I am sure to
marry you".
2) Classmate Chua was horrible. He exposed his private part to Johnny and asked
him for comments.
3) During the Rock and Roll Craze in 1956, Johnny enjoyed doing the R&R hand-
shake with one classmate Argo. It required body turn of both partners. He
would call out, "Argo, let's rock" stretching his hand whenever they met
before the school session commenced for the day.
During the final week before his secret was divulged, Johnny did drop hints to the group. He told them that he was thinking of going to Ipoh to continue with his studies, but he was discouraged from doing so. On another day, he mentioned that he was going to join a sister school the following year, and Argo jokingly told him to chop off his little 'johnny' before he put on the new uniform of the sister school.
Out came Johnny's secret through that Sunday morning newspaper. At around noon time, Casey and Argo went to his home at Smith Street to look for him. They were told that he had gone to Ipoh with his mother the previous day. His buddies were was made to look like fools. He was transferred to the sister school of his choice. Finally he became JUDY. Sometime in the second half of year 2004, Judy's eyes and Argo's eyes caught each other's sight for the first time in 48 years at Raffles Place. Judy was coming out from the main entrance of the then OUB Centre and Argo was at the other end at the junction of Malacca Street. Both stood dumbfounded and stared at each other for a while without acknowledging each other. Finally, they went their separate ways, perhaps for the last time they ever see each other again.
The entire episode reminds me of the tragic Chinese love story of Liang San Po and Zhu Ying Tai.The two stories shared some similarities. Judy had to disguise as a boy in order to get into an English school because there were limited places in English schools at that time. Ying Tai was also a girl who disguised as a boy in order to attend school for three years as girls were not supposed to go to schools during that time. I was not convinced with this tragic story until I encountered the secret of JOHNNY who subsequently became JUDY.
What an unbelievable but a real life story! BELIEVE IT OR NOT?
Eventually ,the school principal helped her to get transferred to a sister mission school to complete her secondary education.
I shall call this "boy" Johnny. He came from a poor family; and he shared a cubicle (a small rented room) with his mother at Smith Street where the poor people lived at the time. He was one of the good pupils in the class. He always moved around with a group of boisterous classmates from whom he acquired a lot of experience growing up with them.
Johnny played his card very well to guard his identity. He did not get himself wet whenever he went to Changi Point seaside for a swim with his budddies. He merely strolled along the beach. During PE sessions he would opt for table-tennis while others played basketball. Occasionally, he would join them in passing remarks on a girl's figure if it was not up to expectation. On one ocassion he even teased a classmate in the toilet while the latter was easing himself.
I shall share with readers a few anecdotes that took place during these eight years:
1) Classmate Casey one day stroked his buttocks and said to him, "Johnny, your
buttocks are soft and tender, very siok. If you were a girl, I am sure to
marry you".
2) Classmate Chua was horrible. He exposed his private part to Johnny and asked
him for comments.
3) During the Rock and Roll Craze in 1956, Johnny enjoyed doing the R&R hand-
shake with one classmate Argo. It required body turn of both partners. He
would call out, "Argo, let's rock" stretching his hand whenever they met
before the school session commenced for the day.
During the final week before his secret was divulged, Johnny did drop hints to the group. He told them that he was thinking of going to Ipoh to continue with his studies, but he was discouraged from doing so. On another day, he mentioned that he was going to join a sister school the following year, and Argo jokingly told him to chop off his little 'johnny' before he put on the new uniform of the sister school.
Out came Johnny's secret through that Sunday morning newspaper. At around noon time, Casey and Argo went to his home at Smith Street to look for him. They were told that he had gone to Ipoh with his mother the previous day. His buddies were was made to look like fools. He was transferred to the sister school of his choice. Finally he became JUDY. Sometime in the second half of year 2004, Judy's eyes and Argo's eyes caught each other's sight for the first time in 48 years at Raffles Place. Judy was coming out from the main entrance of the then OUB Centre and Argo was at the other end at the junction of Malacca Street. Both stood dumbfounded and stared at each other for a while without acknowledging each other. Finally, they went their separate ways, perhaps for the last time they ever see each other again.
The entire episode reminds me of the tragic Chinese love story of Liang San Po and Zhu Ying Tai.The two stories shared some similarities. Judy had to disguise as a boy in order to get into an English school because there were limited places in English schools at that time. Ying Tai was also a girl who disguised as a boy in order to attend school for three years as girls were not supposed to go to schools during that time. I was not convinced with this tragic story until I encountered the secret of JOHNNY who subsequently became JUDY.
What an unbelievable but a real life story! BELIEVE IT OR NOT?
posted by Socaps at 5:03 AM
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