Mr Ong Chin Hwee

Sending my 2 girls to Pei Tong brings back fond memories as I was a former student of Pei Tong Primary. When Pei Tong moved to the new Clementi campus in 1981, my family had also just moved into Clementi new housing estate.  Hence, my 3 younger brothers and I all studied in Pei Tong.

When my siblings and I have kids, like all parents, we wanted to send our kids to the top academic schools.  However, I realised that Pei Tong has a rich history of heritage and decided to enrol my kids in Pei Tong.  It is also the sense of belonging and returning home.  Belonging to the same school opens up conversations between parents and kids as I was able to share with them what I did in school and the little corners where I used to play although the school building has been redeveloped.  These shared memories fascinated the children as they were able to relate to my stories and we can all see the changes that evolved in Pei Tong.  They were proud to be in the same school as their father and were happy to let their friends and teachers know about this!

Pei Tong is a school that provides a holistic and nurturing environment for children.  It is not a “high-pressure cooker” school where chasing after grades is more important than developing the children.  When we pick up our kids from school, we can see the children laughing and chatting with each other when they are dismissed from school.  This is in stark contrast to other top academic schools where we noticed the children are sombre and tired of excessive homework. Pei Tong allows the children to develop and discover their passion and interests through various CCAs and programmes.  I am indeed proud to be an alumnus of Pei Tong and even prouder that my children will also be Pei Tong alumni.  I hope that Pei Tong continues to maintain this nurturing environment as it is such that children can maintain their curiosity in learning and discover their talents, and not be bogged down by the continuous chase after grades.