Past Event – Benefits of Practising Heart Sutra

Dr. Ang Beng Choo was a prominent educator with the Ministry of Education for 33 years. Among her contributions, she was instrumental in transforming the instructional materials compilation and teaching pedagogy of Chinese language in Singapore during her time.

After retirement, she has frequently been invited to give talks on personal development, marriage and family education. In addition, she also devotes her time in performing marriage solemnization as a volunteer deputy registrar of marriage. .

Dr. Ang was recommended by the Singapore Chinese Teachers’ Union (SCTU) to the National Library Board (NLB) for memory interview as part of the Singapore Memory Project. In this interview, Dr. Ang shared with us about her childhood memories, growing up in Singapore and her journey in the education sector. She also imparted her insights on teaching and the issues faced by youths today.

Dr. Ang Beng Choo was born in Singapore in the 1940s. Both her parents were immigrants from China, and they settled in the Telok Ayer area, where they stayed on the second storey of a shophouse. A shophouse then consisted of three levels, providing accommodation for multiple families, usually a family on each level. Dr. Ang recalled that there was a strong ‘Kampong’ spirit among neighbours in the area; the adults knew each other while the children played in a group. Although Dr. Ang was the only child in the family, she never felt lonely because of her company of childhood friends in the neighbourhood. The children were very active and moved in and out of houses to play. Some of her close friends frequented her house to eat because her grandmother cooked very well. Children also went to school together in the vicinity. Most boys went to Ai Tong School, and girls to Chong Fu Girls’ School.

Education during that time was very traditional and teachers were highly respected. Parents gave teachers full trust in educating their children. When classes first began, some parents would even bring canes to teachers for disciplining their children. On their part, teachers would occasionally do home visits to understand about the family background of pupils and their lives outside school better. Dr. Ang believes that this partnership between parents and teachers was effective in giving children a good upbringing in their formative years.

After completing her secondary education at Nan Chiau Girl’s High School, Dr. Ang entered Unive