Calligraphy at Tuan Mong 端蒙书法

If one has to name a school that has contributed tremendously to the development of Chinese calligraphy in Singapore, many would naturally think of Tuan Mong High School.

Tuan Mong School at Tank Road, which is on the fringe of the Central Business District, was set up in 1906 as a primary school by public-spirited Teochew clan leaders. As with schools built by the various clan associations in Singapore, Tuan Mong served the education needs of Teochew children, and was staffed by Teochew teachers using the dialect as the medium of instruction in its early days. In 1953, the Ngee Ann Kongsi took over the management of the school. Two years later, it became known as Tuan Mong High School when secondary levels were included.

The school, which took in about 1,900 students in 1960, occupied the three upper floors of the four-storey Teochew Building. The lower floor housed the offices of the Ngee Ann Kongsi and the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan.

However, the school closed on December 31, 1994 due to falling enrolment as more schools were built away from the city area and nearer to housing estates where the bulk of Singapore's population lived.

Calligraphy was tremendously popular at Tuan Mong, especially in its early days. There were many factors contributed to this, and one of them could be because the school was traditionally a Chinese school that emphasised on learning and developing Chinese cultures. Chinese calligraphy is the most sublime form of Chinese arts, and it was naturally included as one of its co-curricular activities. Obviously, it also helped to have teachers and principals who were accomplished calligraphers and who truly loved calligraphy.

In 1950s, one of the teachers who cultivated the tradition of learning calligraphy at Duan Mong was Zhu Yeyin. Another teacher that is worth mentioning was Yang Baobin. Although he taught English in school, he was proficient in both English and Chinese. He was good in chanting poetry and writing couplets, and proficient in calligraphy.

When one recalls the heyday of calligraphy at Duan Mong, one will inevitably remember Tan Keng Cheow (Chen Jingchao), who was an accomplished artist profient in calligraphy. He was its principal for 14 years. When he was the principal, due to his busy schedule, he did not teach Calligraphy, but he would find opportunities to write school notices, banners in calligraphy. One can not underestimate his influence on cultivating the love of calligraphy that continued through time at Duan Mong. By the time he left Duan Mong in 1964, the school had already established a positive environment for learning calligraphy.

During the later period, it was Chang Kwang Wee (Zeng Guangwei) who had contributed greatly to calligraphy education in Duan Mong. He was a hardworking teacher, practising hard on various types of model calligraphic works, and he did his utmost to promote calligraphy in the school. Chang, born in 1936, is still active in promoting Chinese calligraphy now in Singapore.

The whole-hearted love of calligraphy at Duan Mong is indeed something rare in the local calligraphy scene. Even today, when we meet someone who is good at calligraphy, we will ask naturally, ‘Excuse me, are you from Duan Mong?’

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如果要找出一间对新加坡书法发展有贡献的学校，很多人都自然的会想到端蒙。

端蒙设在登路，在市区边缘，是1906年由一群有公德心的潮州人领袖开办的小学。与新加坡其他各会馆所主办的学校一样，早期是为潮州孩子的教育需求而设立，当时的教师都是潮州人，并以潮州方言为教学媒介。1953年，由义安公司接管学校行政。两年后，随着中学部的设立，变成端蒙中学。

1960年，学校拥有1，900 名学生，在潮州大厦四层楼的建筑物的上面三层楼上课。最下一层则是义安公司的办公室与潮州八邑会馆。

然而，由于越来越多学校在靠近人口多的市区以外开办，报名入校读书的人数减少，学校终于1994年12月31日关闭。

书法在端蒙特别流行，尤其是在早期。其中的因素很多，一个原因是端蒙是间传统的华校，一向注重华文文化的学习与推广，而书法堪称为中国文化的最崇高形式，自然就被列为课外活动之一。显然的，拥有一群热爱书法、有名的书法家老师，更有推波助澜之效。

在1950年代，祝业殷是把书法风气带进端蒙的其中的一位老师。另一个值得提的是杨抱冰老师。他虽然教授英语，却中英兼通，还能吟诗作对，亦为能书者。

回顾端蒙书法鼎盛时期时，便不能不提起在端蒙担任14年校长的陈景昭。陈景昭本人就是个书法写的很好的艺术家。虽然掌校期间，他本身没有教导书法，但经常以书法书写文告、大布条等。日后端蒙的书法风气之所以能够历久不衰，他的影响力不容低估。当他于1964年离开端蒙时，这所学校已经建立起非常良好的书法风气。

后期对端蒙书法教育贡献良多的，应推曾广纬老师。他是一个勤于练习，广临碑帖，弘扬书法不遗余力的导师。1936年出生的曾广纬目前还一样地热心推广书法。

端蒙的书法风气是本地教育史上的一大奇观。就算今天，碰到一个书法写得好的人，我们都不禁要说，‘请问，你是从端蒙来的吗？’