Judy Rippengale
1969-1971
6D, 1A, 2A
Email: jud@comcen.com.au
The
School
I arrived in 1969 with my mum , dad and sister. (Sandra Rippengale)
Dad taught at the RAAF School in the primary classes. I started in grade 6A and
was in Mr. Doughty's class. His standard's were high , not the least for his son
Hunter Doughty who was also in his class) The whole first few months were a big
culture shock- a new country and a new huge school (I came from a small rural
school in Victoria) and corporal punishment!! What a shock to hear the whacks
of the cane. Chilling!! I quickly made friends with Judy Buckle, Toni Hyland and
Susan Grant.
Morning
Recess
A big highlight of the day was morning recess, where the first
in line got the chocolate milk- the rest has to put up with strawberry and banana(?)
Not real milk but pretty good!
Recorder
Group
I joined the recorder group and was in awe of those playing the
large recorders- mine being a pipsqueak! We "toured"- the most memorable
time was to farewell the British School which closed during my time in Penang.
We played "Now is the hour when we must say good-bye" and that song
haunts me still. I was so glad it wasn't us leaving as we loved Penang.
Mr
Lee's Idea
Another favorite memory was participating in a "speaking
choir" which recited poems as a group. It was led by Mr. Lee- the Principal
at the time. This scared me so much that I really did my best. However I don't
think that was good enough as I think we only performed at one School assembly!!
I think it was a bit of an experiment at the time, maybe a bit Nuevo as well.
My
favorite teacher
I have many positive experiences of school - on the whole
my teachers' were great and I felt involved, important and worthwhile. My favorite
teacher was Mrs. Mottershead, my English teacher for two years, and the hockey
coach. She was very encouraging and said lots of good things about you. She always
found the best thing about her pupils and encouraged that aspect of their lives.
She often got distracted and ended up giving off-the-cuff sex education lessons.
They were fascinating to a 13 year old. I'm not sure these lessons were in the
curriculum as the pictures on the board would quickly be rubbed of if another
teacher walked past. She also ran the model and makeup club which made us girls
feel very grown-up- she was a very popular teacher.
After
School
But most of the best times were had after school. Sandra and I
would walk up the monnie drain (monsoon drain) to visit Annette and Margaret Nolan
who lived nearby, and we would visit the Communist Hill which was behind our street.
(Jalan Ahmad bin Casa) It was quite a climb and the view was great We avoided
doing this if we could see a red flag and smoke on the hill, because this meant
that the rebels were in residence. Or Judy Buckle and I would ride our bikes down
the Ayer Itam Dam Hill- it was so steep we nearly killed ourselves on the gravel.
Or we would dare each other to climb through the monnie drain over the driveway
- a claustropic feeling halfway through! Another good friend lived nearby- Debbie
Dorian. We formed a special club with other girls in the area and Debbie's artistic
flair came into being creating special membership card etc. It was based on Halloween
and I often got the life scared out of me by our antics.
Holidays
As teachers kids, we were lucky enough to get lots of holidays and usually ended
up on road trips all over Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. We would usually travel
in convoy with other teachers families to places such as Langkawi, Songklah. K.L.
and the East Coast of Malaysia. This was interesting during riots when there were
soldiers manning road blocks and no other cars on the road except the Aussies
on their adventures.
Servants
The experience of having servants was a new one- I guess my mum reveled in it.
We got involved in our servants lives, and our whole family were devastated when
our amah, Chan died soon after childbirth. The servants also invited us to weddings
and to their homes. These were always humbling experiences as we took part in
another culture's festivities. The food was always a treat. Sometimes it was not
so welcomed but one had to be polite and accept all that was offered, though not
always very palatable to our Aussie tastes.
Vietnam
War
It didn't mean much to me at the time, but I realize now that the
RAAF was supporting Australia's war effort in Vietnam. As children, we were blissfully
unaware of the mayhem going on there. And yet we were so close. Except for a couple
of times- one was when I visited a neighbour who was playing a tape of bombing
raids on Vietnam. You could hear the pilots voices and the bomb noises as they
hit. I think I wasn't supposed to be listening but it was fascinating.. The next
time the war touched me was when I was visiting Mum in Butterworth Hospital where
she had no less that three operations for varicose veins (at the government's
expense I think) There was an ambulance carrying wounded soldiers from Vietnam.
As I walked past I looked in the see about six men lining the ambulance in triple
bunks. I could see blood on them and they were heavily bandaged and this gave
me a very spooky feeling.
And
finally..
There was always an air of loss around the school at the end
of each year as kids went back to Australia. It was a wrench if one of your best
friends left. When my best friend , Judy left I was pretty lost for a while. But
there were always new kids arriving so you never knew who might be in your form
the next year. I think it made for a pretty adaptable group of people, who got
to know each other quickly, whilst knowing the close friendship would probably
be short-lived.
There was a strong feeling of community within the school. We were all in the same boat- living our Australian lives in another country. We always were aware of our Australianess at school where we were taught to be proud of our homeland. When out and about we always attracted attention from the locals. I always felt a bit privileged while living in Malaysia, as we were quite economically advantaged compared with many of the local residents. This has in my adult life caused me to realize how lucky I was to attend the school and experience all that Penang had to offer. I do not take things for granted. I am very happy to have had the experience whose memories continue to resurface from time-to-time.
I now live in Frankston, Vic and have been married to Maurice for 22 years. We have two children, James who is 22 and Laura who is 19 years old. I work as Library Technician
My Dad, Ian Rippengale died in 1997, too young -from cancer. Mum (June Rippengale)also died that year from a long-term illness. I know they had an absolute ball in Penang and talked about it always with much great fondness. My sister Sandra Rippengale (Pollard) lives close. She also has two grown-up children.
Please contact me by email if you remember me or even if you don't!! I would love to keep in touch.