the ph0t0s

MRS ELIZABETH CHOY was born in Sabah in 1910 and came

to Singapore in 1929 to further her studies. When her mother died two years later, she was left to bring up her six younger siblings on her own. During the Japanese Occupation, she became a canteen operator at a mental hospital with her husband. They secretly helped British internees by passing them food and radios.

Also a teacher and social worker, Elizabeth Choy touched many lives SHE was best known as a war heroine to most Singaporeans. But Mrs Elizabeth Choy was much more than that to those whose lives she touched: A teacher for more than 40 years, she also founded a school for the blind and served as a politician for a spell.

BLIND from birth, Ngiam Quek Bee had little hope of an education back in the Singapore of the 1950s. Even when a school for the blind was started, the 15-year-old boy's family was reluctant to let him attend. But the school's founder, a feisty woman called Elizabeth Choy, refused to give up.

A SHORT CONCLUSION..

*1933 : Became a teacher at C. E. Z. M. S or Church of England Zenana Mission School (currently, St. Margaret's school)

*1935 : Transferred to St. Andrew's Boy's School, probably the only untrained teacher at that time.

*1949 : Began a stint as an artist's model, when she was 39 years old and was working in London. She posed for the famed sculptress, Dora Gordine, who did two works of her entitled Serene Jade and Flawless Crystal.

*1950s : Returned to Singapore as Senior Assistant, or Deputy Principal at St Andrew's School.
End 1953 - beginning 1954 : Conducted a lecture tour of Malaya in the US and Canada at the request of the Foreign Office in London. Prior to the tour, she took time to visit Malaya to get a better understanding of the country. At that time, it was in the throes of Emergency.

*1956 - 1960 : Became the first principal of the Singapore School for the Blind.

*1960 - 1974 : Returned to St Andrew's Junior School and promoted to Deputy Principal in 1964.

[EnDoFbP0St]