Singapore Xinhua Middle School, thank you all 3Q

Xinhua Middle School, a Chinese middle school in Surabaya, eastern Java, Indonesia, was founded 68 years ago. The school song used was actually the same as the school song of Singapore Overseas Chinese Middle School, but the lyrics were different. "Two schools, one song" reflects the common goals and beliefs of Chinese schools in Southeast Asia at that time: to preserve and promote Chinese culture and not to become rootless duckweeds. Recently, I had the opportunity to go to Surabaya, a city in eastern Java, Indonesia, to attend the 68th anniversary celebration of a defunct Chinese middle school. In addition to personally experiencing the love and persistence of the older generation of Chinese in Surabaya for Chinese culture, I was even more surprised to find that, The school song of this middle school actually uses the same tune as the school song of Singapore Chinese High School. The Chinese middle school in Surabaya was Xinhua Middle School (Xinhua Middle School for short), which was founded in 1934. It was closed in 1966 due to President Suharto's order to ban the use of Chinese in Indonesia. New Central Plains is a very famous Chinese middle school in Indonesia. It has trained many Chinese talents in Indonesia in the 32 years before its closure. ●A large number of alumni returned to China in the 1960s. After an anti-Chinese movement broke out in Indonesia in the 1960s, Indonesian Chinese youth set off a "return wave." The so-called return means returning to China, because at that time quite a number of Chinese Indonesians still retained Chinese nationality. Under this "tide of returning home", many Xinhua Middle School alumni also returned to China with everyone. Later, due to changes in the situation, many of the Chinese Indonesians who returned to China also moved to Hong Kong and other places, forming Xinzhong alumni in many corners of the world. Now that the ban on Chinese language has been lifted in Indonesia, alumni of New High School initiated the celebration of the 68th anniversary of the founding of New High School and invited alumni and teachers scattered around the world to return to Surabaya to reunite and celebrate the school anniversary. At the celebration that night, cultural and artistic performances from China and Indonesia were also held, including a sizable choir singing. After singing the Indonesian national anthem at the beginning, the choir then sang the new high school anthem in Chinese. On May 1, 1951, Surabaya Xinhua Middle School celebrated Labor Day, and the student band played music at the celebration. ●New High School and Hwa Chong are "distant relatives". The first two lines of the school song gave me a very familiar and cordial feeling, because the melody is the same as the school song of Hwa Chong School in Singapore. Since I am an alumnus of Hwa Chong, even though I have been away from school for a long time, I am still very familiar with the Hwa Chong school song. When I heard this familiar song, I was immediately surprised, so I listened attentively until the whole song was sung. I found that it was exactly the same as the school song of Central China, except that the lyrics were different. I then told the alumni of New High School that they and I were "distant relatives" because our school songs used the same melody. My friends were equally surprised when they heard this. How could such a coincidence happen? I sang the Hwa Chong school song from beginning to end, and they were convinced that the two school songs had the same tune. So in surprise and curiosity, we were keen to investigate the cause of this coincidence. Surabaya New High School and Singapore Hwa Central are both Chinese schools with long histories. They are thousands of miles apart. How come the founding associations of both schools invariably chose the same tune as their respective school songs? Another coincidence is that the predecessor of Xinzhong was also called Huaqiao Middle School, also referred to as Huazhong. In the 1920s, sages from the Chinese community and education sages in Surabaya worked together to establish Chinese schools. In 1929, the Overseas Chinese Middle School, or Huazhong for short, was the only Chinese middle school in Surabaya at that time. Two years later, in 1931, another Chinese middle school, Jiji Middle School (referred to as Lizhong), was established locally. ●Two middle schools merged in 1934. However, there were not many students in Huazhong and Lizhong, with less than 100 students each. Therefore, both schools were operating poorly, and the school finances also encountered difficulties. Both schools were in trouble and faced the crisis of closure. Seeing that it was difficult for the schools to continue operating, the leaders of Huazhong and Lizhong schools decided to merge the two schools in order to survive. The merger was completed in 1934, and the new name was Xinhua Middle School. But not long after, the original school systems and school-running policies of Huazhong and Lizhong were different, and it was difficult to coordinate in the merged new middle school. The original Huazhong chose to withdraw and start its own Huazhong. The merger took only three months. time. After Huazhong withdrew, the remaining Lizhong did not need to return to its original name and kept its name as Xinhua Middle School. The school was closed when Japan invaded the south. After the war, New Middle School reopened, but Huazhong failed to resume school due to various reasons.

In this way, New China continued to shoulder its mission of providing Chinese education for Chinese children in Indonesia until Suharto banned Chinese schools in 1966. This is the relationship between Surabaya New Middle School and Huazhong School, but there is no information about the school song. What is the connection between Surabaya Huazhong and Singapore Huazhong in the early years? Why do the two schools use the same tune for their school songs? The author has no information at hand. Singapore Hwa Chong has a large number of alumni, descendants of the founders of the school, as well as school directors and teachers over the years. Do you have any information in this regard to find out the answer to this "coincidence of school songs" between two famous Chinese schools in Surabaya and Singapore? Very interesting thing. Special issue commemorating the 68th anniversary of the founding of Xinhua Middle School in Surabaya. ●Alumni of New High School decided to reopen their alma mater. By the way, the 68th anniversary celebration of New High School in Surabaya was very successful. The most rare thing is that after decades of scattered things, alumni were able to gather about 4,000 people to attend a gathering to celebrate the school anniversary. Due to the large number of people, the same celebration was held over three days, with three different groups of people participating. Their preparations are also worth mentioning. They set up a temporary large stage at the Shangri-La Hotel, and there were multiple rows of auditoriums, one row higher than the other, which could accommodate more than a thousand people. The program is also very rich. In addition to the large choir, there are many Indonesian folk dances and children's dances. In addition, the Yunnan Song and Dance Troupe also invited wonderful performances. The most touching thing is the spirit of friendship and unity among the alumni of Xinhua Middle School. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the alumni of New High School have decided to reopen their alma mater, starting from the primary school. We wish that the Chinese schools in Surabaya will stand strong again and take on the mission of Chinese education in Indonesia. (The author is a retired journalist) The school song of Central China School. The sky is vast, the sky is vast, the clouds are green, the trees are green, I am there. The life of Central China School is vast, the ocean is foreign, and we are friends. We should strengthen ourselves and be faithful to the common people. The glorious glory has become a chapter. The road of etiquette and righteousness is rainy and spring breeze, and our friends are entrusted with the piercings. (Note) The morning sun sets, the sun rises, and the moon will not waste the good time. The physical strength is just beginning to manage the four directions. The future is vast and long. With the strength of central and southern China, I, the light of China, stand majestically on the lion island style. It is in the wilderness for eternity. It has no boundaries. Note: In ancient times, it was called a tent or something like a covering. The things on the side are called ping (ping), and the ones on top are called meng (meng). Here they are called shelter.