Our sixth profile will be of 86 year-old Mr. Dhoraisingam Stephen Samuel. Grab your tickets for the dinner quick, to get your chance to see him in person and thank him for the memorable days you had in VS.

1. What do you do now?

I am 86 years old now. I retired as Asst Director of the Ministry of Education and now spend my time writing and authoring. I have published seven books to date and my most recent was published in March 2011 – Singapore’s Heritage, which is largely about history.

Click to watch a YouTube video of the book launch.

2. What are your fondest memories of VictoriaSchool?

I taught History and English for Sec 1 and Sec 2 from 1953 to 1957. My fondest memories are of the then principal, Michael Campbell, who urged me to go to university, which I did in 1957. His years as principal were the best years of VS. We obtained 2 Queen’s Scholars, whilst RI achieved only 1. VS was the top school in soccer, and I was then the Soccer Master, and Charlie Chan was Singapore’s soccer centre-forward then. VS was also the athletics school champion, and my former student Lieut Col(Ret) Kesavan Soon represented Singapore in the 1956 Olympics in the 100 yards dash, whilst still a school boy at VS. The students that I taught then included former DPM S Dhanabalan, Prof Edwin Thumboo and former Perm Sec Wong Hung Khim.

3. Message to present teachers/words of wisdom?

The teachers should work hard to inspire your student to achieve their best. Make VS regain its earlier status of being the best school inSingapore. Take interest not only in the academic studies of your students but also in their family backgrounds and character-building.