It was the words 爱同 to be stressed on. 爱同 (Ai Tong) means ‘love the same’. According to Wikipedia, the name 爱同 is derived from 博爱 and 大同 which means ‘Love for all mankind’ and ‘Equality/Harmony’ respectively. As for my understanding of these words in the dream, and having seen the scene of the principal and the old man, it means the “love of pupils” — 爱 means love and 同 can means same as in 同样， and it can also means students as in 同学.

I have heard of this school, but did not go to the school or seen it before. I searched the web and came to know some facts about this school… Ai Tong School ( 爱同学校; pinyin: Àitóng xuéxiào) is a primary school located in Bishan, Singapore.

Ai Tong School started at a Methodist Church at Boon Tat Street in 1912 with about 30 pupils. In 1929, Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan took over the school management. In 1955, when the construction of SHHK building was completed, Ai Tong moved into the building with Chong Hock Girls School (now named Chongfu Primary School).

In the seventies, urban renewal caused enrolment to drop and the School Management Committee decided to relocate the school to Ang Mo Kio. In 1990, Ai Tong School was among the pioneer batch of schools to be accorded SAP status. Plans were made to move the school to a larger site when enrolment soared. Ai Tong moved to 100 Bright Hill Drive on 9 July 1992.

The school has also attained many laudable achievements outside the classroom. In line with Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan’s objective to preserve Chinese language, values and culture, the school developed excellent programmes in essay writing, guzheng, wushu, Chinese dance, calligraphy, art and choir. Ai Tong also excels in basketball, volleyball and table tennis.

Over here, I learned about Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan….

Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan set up its first school in 1849. Over the years, it built Chongwen Ge, Chui Eng Free School, Tao Nan School, Ai Tong School, Chong Hock Girls’ School, Nan Chiau High School and Kong Hwa School.

Initially, these schools adopted prevailing China’s curriculum and taught Chinese culture and values, including Analects of Confucius (Lun Yu 《论语》), in Hokkien. To meet the pace of societal changes, these soon gave way to offering English Language and Mathematics in addition to the Chinese Language.

Today, the six affiliated schools: Tao Nan School, Ai Tong School, Chongfu Primary School, Nan Chiau High School, Nan Chiau Primary School and Kong Hwa School have a combined enrolment of 14,000 students and 700 staff. They share a common set of mission and motto:

Mission: • To provide for development in the moral, cognitive, physical, social and aesthetic spheres;
• To instill a love for the nation and the community;
• To equip students with basic life skills;
• To preserve and promote Chinese language and Chinese culture.
Motto: Sincerity & Perseverance

Searching and reading, I came to learn of Tan Kah Kee… and today is his birthday (21 October 1874); died 12 August 1961… Lee Kong Chian was his son-in-law, his birthday was just over, 18 October 1893! Lee Kong Chian died 2 June 1967. Both of them are businessmen. …

While watching No Limits on Channel 8 one day, when the show just started (episode 1), I saw a statue at Hwa Chong Institution… I was wondering whose statue it was, and today I have the answer… it was “Tan Kah Kee“…