School Heritage and History

School Heritage and History

Contributions of Mr Loo Kian Chiang (2^nd Principal of the School) and his family

• Mr Loo Kian Chiang and his family are synonymous with the school as they have played a huge part in the growth of the school.

• Mr Loo Kian Chiang (Lu Jian Zhang) started his teaching career at Ai Tong before moving to Chiang Teck when the school was set up in Kampong Bahru. He became the Principal of Chiang Teck School in 1927. 

• Mr Loo knew the importance of a good education and urged families to send their children to school. He kept school fees low to help the poor families in the area and provided school fees subsidies.

• Mr and Mrs Loo would often seek old clothes, shoes, books and school bags from friends to provide for the poor children. 

• As the school could not sustain on donations from the community and well-wishers, Mr Loo went out to work to provide for the school and family.

• Mdm Chew Cheng Kee who was Mr Loo’s wife and a teacher in the school then became Principal till World War II which disrupted the school’s operation.

• All their seven children were educated in Chiang Teck. Mr Loo carried out fund-raising after the War to reconstruct the new school building in 1945.

• Mr Loo continued to serve the school as the Director of the School Board till his death in 1971. 

• The Loo family descendants continue to live out Mr Loo’s legacy and have been an integral part of the school’s growth till today.

• Mr Loo’s son, Mr Loo Sing Chew, joined the school as a teacher in 1950 and took over as Director of Zhangde School Board in 1971.

• Mr Henry Loo Soo Hock, Mr Loo’s third son, joined the school’s School Advisory Committee(SAC) in 1986 and served till 2002.

• Mr Mark Loo Hi Cheng, Mr Loo’s grandson joined the board in 2002 and served till 2010.

• The Loos donated $50 000 for the construction of the Loo Kian Cheang Library in 2004.

• Mr Chan Soo Sen, Minister of State for Education, and also the grandson of Mr Loo, officially opened the Loo Kian Cheang Library on 2 July 2005.

• Mdm Lee Yin Hui, the granddaughter-in-law of Mr Loo, joined the school’s SAC in 2010 and is the current Chairperson (2021).

From a humble beginning in rented premises in Kampong Bahru, Chiang Teck School started its operations in 1923. It served mainly poor Chinese homes with Mandarin as the medium of instruction. The school was then moved to Silat Road where a block of four classrooms and a teacher’s hostel were built. The enrolment soon grew to 300 students. The school had to stop its operations during World War II and was reconstructed in 1945 to serve some 500 students.

By 1961, the school had 24 classes with 1,004 students and 27 staff members. Zhangde (彰德) is the hanyu pinyin name for Chiang Teck. In August 1981, the School Management Committee decided to close down the school to make way for other developments in the area. The founders, school management committee, principals and teachers of Chiang Teck School had made important contributions towards the promotion of education in Singapore. In recognition of their efforts, the new school was named Zhangde Primary School.

On 31st August 1984, the school moved to Jalan Bukit Merah and started functioning on 10th September 1984 with students from Outram Primary School and Kai Ming Primary School. In the next few years, the school also took in students from Silat Primary School, Keppel Primary School and Pearl Park Primary School when these schools closed down.