Mr Tan Oh Sai is seated in the first row, fourth from the left, with Library staff on the occassion of Miss Jean Waller's farewell in 1966. Photo courtesy of Michael Cheng.
I started working in the Raffles College Library in 1931. The College opened in 1928. The Library was initially a one-man show. I was 'librarian', clerk, attendant and peon all rolled into one. Lists of books to be acquired would be sent to me by the Heads of Departments and I was responsible for obtaining them for the library collection. As none of the local bookshops were able to provide the books needed, Blackwells (London) became our main supplier.
In the beginning, the Library was just one room located in the gallery of the Oei Tiong Ham Hall. I remember that during closing time, I had to use a long ladder to shut the windows which were located very high up. Later I was given a peon to run errands and help out with the office work.
Some of the students were very friendly and would drop by for a chat from time to time. I would sometimes seek their help to make summaries of some of the new books acquired. They would often invite me to their social functions and meetings. Some of the students I befriended later became well-known figures in Singapore, like Mr Yong Nyuk Lin, Mr Howe Yoon Chong, Mr Maurice Baker, Mr Lim Kim San and Mr Lee Siow Mong.
I remember the Carnegie Corporation of New York had donated an electric gramophone with an amplifier and over 600 classical records. These records were kept in my office and teaching staff would come in to listen to them. Gramophone concerts were also organised, with selected records being played from this collection. The gramophone and many records were lost during the war.
When World War II started, all classes ceased and the buildings were turned into the Kempetai Headquarters. The books in the Library were distributed all over the place by the Japanese Army, even up to Malaysia and Thailand. I gathered that they were used as reading materials for the prisoners of war.
After the war, efforts were made to recover them and I remember a Lt-Col Archie who was one of those responsible for the recovery. Some of the library books were found in the old Raffles Library and adjoining buildings, as well as the Wesley Church.
'Where so much else was lost or destroyed, we were fortunate in recovering the bulk of the Library, which was removed in the early days of the Japanese Occupation to Fullerton building and thence to Raffles Library, and was ultimately housed in the disused Wesleyan Church adjacent.'
-- Annual report of Raffles College 1946-47