Clouds on the horizon Oct 9, 1956 A morning like any other. Almost... 17-year-old Wong Hon Sum, in his all-white school unform, flung his school bag over his shoulder and climbed onto his bicycle. He cycled to school to save 10 cents on bus fare. School was Chung Cheng High School in Goodman Road (Katong area). It was a Chinese middle school, and Wong was a student in lower Sec 2. But not for long... A Singapore Traction Company bus in 1956. Fares then cost only 10 cents. Something was brewing among the students -- and things were about to come to a head. The students were primed and ready. In the weeks leading up, they had many meetings, some lasting one hour, some up to three hours each. At a lunch-time meeting the day before, they had decided to send a petition to the then British Governor in Singapore, Sir Robert Black. The students wanted the Government to repeal the ban on the Singapore Chinese Middle Schools Students' Union imposed in September. Many were also unhappy as they felt the British did not support Chinese education. The Government viewed such student protests with strong disapproval. They condemned the meetings as illegal. What will tomorrow bring? Next chapter Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.