杨丕源 Yang Piyuan began his High School, or what is known in Malaysia, as "Secondary School".
The family had then shifted to 怡保 Ipoh, the capital of the state called 霹雳州 Perak.
杨丕源 Yang Piyuan would spend his Secondary School years in 怡保 Ipoh, in a school named the Anglo-Chinese School.
The Anglo-Chinese School Ipoh
The Anglo-Chinese School Ipoh got its name from its founding as a school with a dual focus: providing a British-style education ("Anglo") to the local Chinese community. It was established by the Methodist Episcopal Mission, with significant funding from local Chinese businessmen. The first school opened in a small Malay house in 1895 CE.
As a new student of the school, 杨丕源 Yang Piyuan had to complete part of the registration process in the office. On his visit to the office, he noticed a portrait of a man of cloth on the wall. He looked at the name of the portrait. The Rev WE Horley.
Swimming
The Anglo-Chinese was a well-reputed school. It boasted of a swimming pool. Swimming lessons were compulsory and for 杨丕源 Yang Piyuan, it was on Monday. He could not swim and so, at the beginning, he dreaded and even feared the lessons. This was particularly so because the Swimming Teacher was the Discipline Master. He was always carrying a thick cane. And he did that while he was instructing students how to swim.
Go fly a kite
The name of his English Language teacher was Mr. Dras. One could say that Mr Dras was rather bored with his job. To entertain himself and to make his lessons less boring, he would teach the students crude and offensive phrases. He could not share obscene words because to be caught doing so would mean he would be terminated from his job. So, he found phrases that could be read as vulgar like "Go fly a kite" to "teach" his students. To go fly a kite can be regarded as a vulgar slang to mean masturbate.
One day, the son of the principal of the school misbehaved in class and was reprimanded by Mr. Dras. Ritcher, 杨丕源 Yang Piyuan's classmate and the headmaster's son, shouted in response: "Go fly a kite." Mr Dras was at a lost of what to do.
Pornography
This was the year when 杨丕源 Yang Piyuan was introduced to pornography when one of his classmates brought lewd cards to school. The back of the cards looked like any normal deck piece. But instead of the numbers and shapes on the other side, there were pictures of Westerners having sex. At a time when many of his classmates were undergoing puberty, the cards drew a lot of attention. Interestingly no one was caught gawking at them. Many would have an erection looking at them. The word "erection" was not commonly used them. The boys in the class used "steam" instead.
Nicknames
Alternative words were a hit among the Secondary Year 1 students of the Anglo-Chinese School, Ipoh. 杨丕源 Yang Piyuan was called Pigeon because somehow to the classmates Piyuan spelled somewhat like Pigeon. Another boy was nicknamed Jakun, the name of an aboriginal tribe in Malaysia. Another was called Flu Gun because 。。 Flu Gan would later be elected Head Prefect in 1982 CE. 杨丕源 Yang Piyuan became the Head Librarian. Who would have thought a weapon would head the prefectorial board and a bird would lead the librarians?
Alex Haley's ROOTS
Alex Haley's fictional and historical novel about the United States titled 根 "ROOTS" was published to critical acclaim this year. 杨丕源 Yang Piyuan got himself a copy. It was a thick book, but being a reader, he was not intimidated by it. Instead, he was inspired by it. Completing the book marked the beginning of his search for his own 根 roots. The Chinese phrase for such an exploration is 寻根 xún gēn.
This grand exploration will take him to China both spiritually and physically until the end of his life. Thus, the selected meaningful character of the year is 根.
In the province of 山西 Shanxi, 戴应新 Dai Yingxin investigated the Neolithic site of 石峁遗址 Shimao.
The Link to other events that occurred in 1963 CE<<=HERE=>
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The Chinese Character 汉子: 根
The character 根 gēn means roots. Just like the character 杨 Yáng, 根 gēn also has the 木 mu4 tree radical. The other component 艮 gěn means stubborn but plays the phonetic part of the character.
