OUR HISTORY

毓兰书室
保赤宫（陈氏宗祠）建立不久，宗亲依德先生本着发展教育，于1889年借用保赤宫之护厝作为开办私塾，设立“毓兰书室”，教导附近族人子弟识字知礼。时值清朝末年，教育制度沿用旧式启蒙读本，如《三字经》、《千字文》、《幼学琼林》等。毓兰书室成立之初，学生仅限陈氏宗亲，人数不多，且又多属家境贫困，流动性颇大；书室低调运作，少为人知。

1898年，清政府力图变法维新，康有为、梁启超等提倡教育普及，废除腐败思想，传播新知识，南洋各地华侨教育深受影响，响应号召。“毓兰书室”顺应时势，除教导经史词章外，还增加算术和国术两科，希望学生注重科学，锻炼体格，做新时代的好青年。

数年后，校长陈依德去世，由其哲嗣长万先生接任掌管毓兰书室，施教内容照旧，学生略有增加。
1911年后，书室因经济短绌，且校舍简陋，发展困难，不少学生纷纷转移到其他新式学校上课。“毓兰书室”为求生存，改为补习学校，招收在职青年，教导国文（华文）、尺牍两科，学习实用性的科目，这项调整，甚得在职青年欢迎。毓兰书室同时也为小学毕业者开办补习刻出，协助他们进入中学。

过去“毓兰书室”只收陈氏族人的子弟，这时也推行有教无类的教育宗旨，不分姓氏，任何人都可参加补习班。从此学生逐日增加，甚至开办夜学班，以容纳更多急欲求知的青少年

1942年，太平洋战争爆发，日军南侵，“毓兰书室”被迫停办。
1945年日本战败投降，新加坡天日重见，由于受到战时失学的影响，战后进入学校受教育者众多，有适龄的，有超龄的，因此许多热心教育人士、会馆及商团纷纷开办学校，收容失学孩童。“毓兰书室”复课，吸引了不少附近的居民，把子女送来接受教育，当时报名者多达150人。“毓兰书室”得宗祠的协助，利用两边的厢房，辟成四间课室，以容纳四个班级的学生。这时“毓兰书室”以全新的课程来教导学生，脱离了旧式的私塾模式。

当年秋季，陈长万校长过世，“毓兰书室”由保赤宫接办，改成“保赤学校”。交棒与“保赤学校”继续为下一代传授知识与文化。至此，“毓兰书室”已完成其历史任务，在新加坡华文初级教育史上留下不可磨灭的功绩。
（资料）

Yu Lan Shu Shih (毓兰书室)
After the establishment of Po Chiak Keng Tan Si Chong Su, clansman Mr. Yi De (依德先生) aspired to establish education in the community thus he formed a private school named Yu Lan Study Hall (毓兰书室) in 1889 which occupy one wing of the temple. He taught characters recognition and rules of etiquettes to the younger generation of the clansmen nearby. During the Qing Dynasty era, they followed rudimentary education system and used elementary books like San Zi Jing (三字经), Qian Zi Wen (千字文), You Xue Qiong Lin (幼学琼林) etc. In the early days, the private school restricted students only from the Tan clan. As such, the number of students were limited, largely from lower income families, and quite some movement in student enrolment. The private school was not well known as it was running on a low profile.

In 1898, Qing government pushed forward reformation. Kang You Wei (康有为) and Liang Qi Chao (梁启超) promoted popularity of education, abolishment of corruption mindset, and new knowledge dissemination. Chinese education all over Nanyang were profoundly influenced by this and responded to the call. In view of this, the private school added two more subjects which were Mathematics and Martial Arts on top of History. It hoped to inculcate good focus on science whilst also build up strong muscle to become a great youth of the new era.

After a few year, the principal Mr. Tan Yi De (陈依德) passed away and his son Chang Wan (长万) took over the private school’s management. He followed the same syllabus and there was a slight increase in the number of students.

After 1911, due to lack of funding, shabby facility and challenging development, many students transferred to other new school. In order to keep its existence, the private school later advanced to become a tuition school. It enrolled working youth and taught them practical subjects like Mandarin and letter writing. This adjustment was very welcoming and popular among the working youth. It also held tuition class for primary school graduates helping them to advance to secondary school.

Previously the private school only accepted descendants from the Tan Clan. However, it eventually promoted equality in education where everyone could participate in the tuition class regardless of the surname. As a result, the number of students increased and it even opened up night class to accommodate more earnest young learners.

In 1942, with the outbreak of Pacific war and the Japanese army invasion, the private school was forced to stop.

In 1945, Japanese army surrendered and Singapore regained hope. The war had disrupted many learning opportunities. For that reason, the school enrolment actually spiked up tremendously after the war ended. There were even enrolments from overage students. This phenomenon prompted many warm-hearted education advocates, clans, and business associations to open up more schools to cater to all children.

The restart of this private school had attracted many parents nearby to enroll their children here. There were almost 150 enrolments during the peak. With the assistance from the temple, the private school occupied 2 rooms which were then divided into 4 classrooms to accommodate students for 4 classes. It totally eliminated the old syllabus and taught brand new curriculum to the students.

In 1942, with the outbreak of Pacific war and the Japanese army invasion, the private school was forced to stop.

In 1945, Japanese army surrendered and Singapore regained hope. The war had disrupted many learning opportunities. For that reason, the school enrolment actually spiked up tremendously after the war ended. There were even enrolments from overage students. This phenomenon prompted many warm-hearted education advocates, clans, and business associations to open up more schools to cater to all children.

The restart of this private school had attracted many parents nearby to enroll their children here. There were almost 150 enrolments during the peak. With the assistance from the temple, the private school occupied 2 rooms which were then divided into 4 classrooms to accommodate students for 4 classes. It totally eliminated the old syllabus and taught brand new curriculum to the students.