Dunman High School (Junior High)
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Augmum:
Hi Augmum, I just PM you.
Congratulations !!!
Louis, yr eldest son or yr younger DD there ?
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Hi kiasuparents, I am a former Dunman High student who graduated a few years back and I’d just like to share my experiences. To anyone considering applying to Dunman High, I can’t stress this enough: please, please make an informed decision. School prestige/distance from home aren’t the only factors; school culture matters a lot. You want your child to be a good fit for the school – be it Dunman High or somewhere else. I wasn’t. I don’t want anyone else to make the same mistake as I did.
First up, I must clarify that I’m not saying Dunman High is a ‘bad’ school. Many of my friends loved it, and for good reason. The school provides good academic grounding, and excellent character grounding. (I recall one CME lesson when we had to calculate how much our parents spent on us every month/year. The high expenses shocked us and taught us to appreciate the monetary – and non-monetary – sacrifices our parents put in to bring us up.) Many of my friends found a second home there because the environment is very friendly and caring. If you/your child come from a ‘Chinese’/Confucian background, chances are, your child would enjoy his/her time there.
But I didn’t. My six years in Dunman High was the unhappiest period of my life: the Chinese environment was just too much for me. It was something I was not used to, and could never get used to. You see, I was one of the few students who came from a strictly English-speaking family (most people spoke either only Chinese or a mix of Chinese, English & possibly dialect at home). While it is normal for Dunman High students to speak English to one another, it is common for them to speak to one another in Chinese too. Even my parents discouraged me to apply there because they foresaw the culture clash, but I insisted – it was the best school I could go to based on my PSLE score (I was quite achievement-oriented for a child, if I may say so myself) and I thought I could easily handle the culture clash (I have since learnt that 12-year-olds don’t make the wisest decisions). The language difference translated into an actual divergence of values between what my parents taught me/what I grew to hold dear as I matured, and what the school imparted. I tried hard to integrate: I read Chinese books on my own during my spare time and tried to speak Chinese to my friends. I even tried to make the school’s values my own. But that just didn’t work. I felt there was a barrier between the school and me, and my trying to break that barrier to become one of them made me feel I was living a lie. I spent many sleepless nights wondering why it was all so… wrong. Some teachers didn’t like me because I was so Westernised, even when I tried not to show it – I felt they would only accept students who subscribed to the school values. Some nasty classmates even derived legitimacy from the school values to pick on/dislike me because of my Western background (but to be fair, I don’t think the school deliberately encouraged that sort of thing. It was just a natural reaction to strong advocating of Chinese values at the expense of Western ones, I think). It translated into health problems: migraine (the attacks initially made the doctor fear I had retinal detachment), hair loss, low immunity. There were a lucky few students from English-speaking backgrounds who appeared to enjoy their time at Dunman High, but I have been told that I am quite a headstrong person so I think that might have made me adapt less easily. Finally, at the end of J1, I snapped. I decided: no more trying. No more pretending to embrace their values. I learnt to accept myself for who I am.
There were a number of instances when the clash in values hurt me, such as throughout my Project Work experience. I was the only one in my PW group who was actually working; some group members were especially lazy, rude and harsh. When the teacher-in-charge sensed that something was not right, instead of encouraging my groupmates to work harder, he said,” In this school we want to teach you that it is better to get a B in PW and remain friends long after graduation, than to get an A and fall out.” (We got Bs and fell out.) When I expressed concern over my future (I really wanted to do well for my A Levels and have a bright future), I was simply told,” Well, you are in one of the top 5 schools in the country!” I felt that argument was heavily flawed – most of us got into the school through PSLE grades, which was not indicative of how well we’d do later in life. Also, in every prestigious institution, the other end of the spectrum always exists; there would be people not doing very well. But we were encouraged to believe that having the label of a top school would automatically immunize us from failure, and I felt this “too big to fail” belief could potentially cause students to adopt a spirit of complacency. Fortunately, I have since learnt that PW doesn’t matter that much – and, in my case, not at all, because I went to a university in the West which does not look at PW grades.
Also, the school had always told us,” in this school we want to teach you that you partake in activities because you want to serve the school, and not for your own personal benefit.” It went too far sometimes. One example was when I was given an official CCA leadership position (as stated in a document circulated CCAwide) in Sec 3 by the CCA authorities. I won’t disclose the position/CCA but let’s just say that in that CCA we were split up into groups, and I was the leader of that group. At the end of that year, I realised it was not keyed into my CCA record! When I pressed the CCA teacher-in-charge for an answer, he/she told me that because I was in Sec 3, I was ineligible. But because it was an official appointment and I had executed all my duties, we brought it up to the principal. Even he couldn’t do anything about it – the CCA teacher-in-charge was so adamant about not mentioning anything about it on my record. I think many of my Dunman High friends would have let the matter rest but I thought, I did what was expected of me so, surely, I deserved some credit. Soon, CCA politics ensued. When I was in Sec 4, I was treated so badly and often humiliated in front of others (e.g. it was automatically assumed that every single thing which went wrong was my fault, when that was not the case) while my direct junior was often commended; the disparity in treatment made her think she had CCA-sanctioned permission to treat me badly. (For e.g. if she talked to me and I didn’t quite hear her, she’d roll her eyes, sigh, raise her voice and repeat herself. This never happened before my ‘fall from grace’.) I even had to politick my way into key CCA events which had a selection process, when just a year ago, there would be no question that I (and most Sec 3/4s) could get in. One fine day, it was made known that my direct junior was officially appointed the group leader! (There is no limit as to how many group leaders there can be in a group – everything was entirely up to the CCA authorities’ discretion. And once you are group leader, you remain one till you complete your term in the CCA in Sec 4 or J2.) There was no warning, no ‘fair trial’, no probation, no official mechanism to sack me – it happened just like that.
I was crushed. I felt Dunman High taught us to respect authority, our peers (to some extent), public property – but not ourselves: speaking up was generally frowned upon. But the good thing was that the whole saga made me more determined to prove myself. I became the Founder & first President of a new Society in JC. I then left for university in the West (which I enjoyed a lot more) and became President of a university Society. These are much better positions than the original group leader position I had in my secondary school CCA. If that ugly and unfair event had not happened, I might have stuck to that CCA. The skills I would have developed would probably have paled in comparison to the skills and opportunities I enjoyed by exploring other interests, including my Presidency of two Societies. It took me a few years after leaving DHS to heal, and now, I am finally at peace with who I have become.
I admit, I did not enjoy Dunman High. I still look back with sadness. Awful things happened. But through it all, I learnt what I didn’t want, fought for what I wanted and got it in the end. It was a painful process for me and my parents – they said they felt pain when they understood how my difficulties in adapting translated into so much pain for me. So my last sentence is: please, please find a school your child can feel culturally comfortable in. For the sake of your child’s well-being. -
Dear Eatpraysleep,
I graduated from DHS many years back. As a more senior alumnus, I am glad to know that you are doing well now. My children are in DHS now. I would like to share the following observations/comments related to your post:
1.\tMy children tell me that students communicate among themselves mostly in English, not Chinese. Like many of your schoolmates, they are happy in DHS. I cannot imagine English speaking students find themselves out of place in DHS nowadays.
2.\tI agree with you that expectation is very important. In my time, the early year of SAP, there are many very bright ex-English primary students who came to DHS and found a totally unfamiliar Chinese environment. Some of their English educated parents expected that, and put them in DHS to immerse in the Chinese environment without losing their “Englishness” which can be attained at home.
3.\tStudents go to Dunman High knowing they are into one of the Top Secondary schools in Singapore (whatever way this can be interpreted). As in any school, that does not guarantee success 4 or 6 years down the road. I was achievement oriented, strived from being below average to one of the top students 4 years later (in a way, we are similar). The school did not take away your will to strive. In fact it encourages it! I also heard about complacency in other top schools. Unlike DHS, they can take in good O Level students to beef up their A level results. That means, which DHS’s good A Level results (unofficially one of the top 5 in Singapore), DHS is adding good values to its student who were taken in from Year 1.
4.\tOne of your unhappiness is in CCA. I also had my personality clash in CCA (this can happen anywhere. In my case, I wrongly chose a CCA that did not suit me). I was not promoted to the rank that I thought I deserved, and was unhappy about it. When I went to JC (no IP then), I was elected to a leadership role in my new CCA, which surprised many of ex-school mates. In your case, DHS did provide you an opportunity to start and led a new society. This opportunity may not be available everywhere. I think you are capable (see, we are similar again). But you must thank DHS for the new opportunity. Ironically, two years ago, when my CCA celebrated its 50th Anniversary, I went back and found myself the only one present from my batch. The many good things the CCA taught me, the unhappiness, etc, were part of my growing up. With reflection, I learnt to be more tactful when dealing with people, so that I can achieve what I want while minimise unhappiness for myself and others.
5.\tI do not thinking in anytime (before, during, after my time), speaking up is frowned upon in DHS (or anywhere). May be it is the way of speaking up that one has to be careful about. Nobody will stop other people from doing good, especially for the greater whole. Other than this, I am still unclear what are the "western values" that you mention being suppressed in DHS.
6.\tI totally agree with you choosing a school that the students will feel comfortable is important. Some people cannot fit into their school. In extreme case, there was a student who brought her school (another top school, with higher PSLE cut off point) to court. While I am not here to comment, the incident actually happen in a highly sought after school Singapore. So there is no perfect match. At one stage, regardless of all the happiness and unhappiness, I told myself I came into DHS which was my dreamt school, hence I am proud to be there, and would want to contribute to it. “Don’t ask what the school can do for you; Ask what you can do for your school”. Partly for that I strive to work hard for O level, which hopefully help to put the school high on the academic standing. That was also a personal gain.
The school has given us good values and foundation. It does not dictate what it cultivate is the only good way. The rest is up to our endeavour. -
Hi,
Asking on behalf of a friend who is helping to choose an IP school for his kid and wants a long term view:
In terms of A levels results, DHS maths and science results is better, or humanities ( history , geography e lit etc) results? Where can we view the past years A levels results, if any?
Thanks. -
FantasyLandDreams:
Between Maths and Science ( the 3 sciences) in A level performance, Maths is better, alwys maintain ard 70 +/- % of As...Hi,
Asking on behalf of a friend who is helping to choose an IP school for his kid and wants a long term view:
In terms of A levels results, DHS maths and science results is better, or humanities ( history , geography e lit etc) results? Where can we view the past years A levels results, if any?
Thanks.
Between History n Geog, Geog is better, consistently more than 70 % of As...
DHS publishes their A level results in their sch website when results are released but only for the previous batch... -
Augmum:
Hard to make comparisons as to whether Maths n Science is better or humanities...as the number of pupils taking Subjs like ELL or E lit /C Lit are not many...
Between Maths and Science ( the 3 sciences) in A level performance, Maths is better, alwys maintain ard 70 +/- % of As...FantasyLandDreams:
Hi,
Asking on behalf of a friend who is helping to choose an IP school for his kid and wants a long term view:
In terms of A levels results, DHS maths and science results is better, or humanities ( history , geography e lit etc) results? Where can we view the past years A levels results, if any?
Thanks.
Between History n Geog, Geog is better, consistently more than 70 % of As...
DHS publishes their A level results in their sch website when results are released but only for the previous batch...
Look at individual subj performance...
Having said... Interest n passion in the subj combi plays an impt role, besides the sch statistics... -
Hi Augmum
Thanks! Your post brought back some fond memories of my Biology, A Maths and Sec 2 History lessons. -
FantasyLandDreams:
Fantasylanddreams , U re welcome...Hi Augmum
Thanks! Your post brought back some fond memories of my Biology, A Maths and Sec 2 History lessons.
Yay...A maths n triple sciences were my fav subjs too...
Btw, is yr child in DHS too ? ( iirc, think i read some of yr postings here) -
Augmum:
Nope my kid is still very young. But she is very much \"influenced\" by the DHS die-hard fans in the family to head there already if her results can make it next time.
Fantasylanddreams , U re welcome...FantasyLandDreams:
Hi Augmum
Thanks! Your post brought back some fond memories of my Biology, A Maths and Sec 2 History lessons.
Yay...A maths n triple sciences were my fav subjs too...
Btw, is yr child in DHS too ? ( iirc, think i read some of yr postings here)
In fact, she wanted to go to the last open house in May 2015 to take a look after hearing so many fond memories but alas we were too busy. Hopefully we can bring her next year.
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FantasyLandDreams:
Nope my kid is still very young. But she is very much \"influenced\" by the DHS die-hard fans in the family to head there already if her results can make it next time.
Fantasylanddreams , U re welcome...Augmum:
[quote=\"FantasyLandDreams\"]Hi Augmum
Thanks! Your post brought back some fond memories of my Biology, A Maths and Sec 2 History lessons.
Yay...A maths n triple sciences were my fav subjs too...
Btw, is yr child in DHS too ? ( iirc, think i read some of yr postings here) In fact, she wanted to go to the last open house in May 2015 to take a look after hearing so many fond memories but alas we were too busy. Hopefully we can bring her next year.[/quote]Wah DHS die- hard fans in the family...Nice to hear that...
So how many more yrs she has to wait, to become part of the Dunmanian family?
Yes, if wanna to go for its open house, go for the May one... instead of the smaller scale one which is held in yr end...
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