Principal of now-closed Sembawang school dies aged 100, ex-students sing at her funeral

Principal of Poi Chai School in Sembawang for 38 years dies

Though a school in Sembawang closed in 1986, some of its former students remember their principal fondly.

So much so that when she recently died at the age of 100, they attended her funeral and even sang.

Principal of Sembawang school dies surrounded by family

Madam Zhang Juan (transliterated from Mandarin) passed away on Tuesday (9 July) at about 6pm, reported Shin Min Daily News.

The centenarian was surrounded by her family, which included four daughters and three sons.

She was cremated at Mandai on Friday (12 July) afternoon.

She took over the school for S$500

Mdm Zhang’s 75-year-old third son Luo Shoutian (transliterated from Mandarin) told Shin Min that his mother studied at a school established by the Hakka clan association as his grandfather was a clerk at the association.

She then became a teacher after graduating from high school.

After she settled down in Chong Pang with her husband after the Japanese occupation, the principal of the privately founded Poi Chai School in Sembawang retired.

Mdm Zhang’s husband encouraged her to take over the school, and she did so after raising S$500 to buy it over.

Sembawang school closed in 1986

In the 38 years that she was in charge of the school, she had to constantly raise funds to keep it going and expand the campus.

The family even got into debt, owing building material suppliers a large sum of money.

However, the times changed and the kampung residents moved out to HDB flats. Poi Chai School then shut down for good in 1986.

Ex-students pay tribute to Sembawang school principal after she dies

Though it’s been a while since the school closed, about 20 of Mdm Zhang’s former students attended her wake at the Woodlands Memorial.

As a final tribute to their former principal, 12 of them stood next to her coffin and sang their school song twice, in a touching scene.

Mr Pan Zhangzhan (transliterated from Mandarin), a 60-year-old photographer, said he enrolled in the school in the 1970s when Mdm Zhang was his principal and music teacher.

As she was an avid music lover, and the school song was composed by her, they decided to sing it to her.

Mr Wen Yuming (transliterated from Mandarin), a 59-year-old pastor, had visited Mdm Zhang at home twice every year since 2005, he said.

When he visited her earlier this year, she could still play the piano, he added.

Also read: 105-year-old great-great-grandma in S’pore dies, lived under the same roof with 5 generations of family

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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.