Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road)

Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) is a government-aided Methodist all-boys' secondary school situated at Barker Road in Newton, Singapore. It is a member of the Anglo-Chinese family of schools in Singapore. It offers the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level Certificate and SBB full subject-based banding G1, G2, and G3 courses for its students from Sec 1 to Sec 4/5. Students may then move on to Anglo-Chinese Junior College or Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). ACS was also the first school in Singapore to have a flower named after it, the Ascocenda Anglo-Chinese School orchid, a hybrid created by the school to mark its 116th Founder's Day on 1 March 2002. ACS has many partner schools, such as the Anglo-Chinese School (Junior) and Anglo-Chinese Junior College. The school is close to Newton MRT station. It was a full school which subsumed Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) as its primary school section until 1998, when the school split into two. The school has been based at the newly rebuilt Barker Road campus since 2003. Its current principal is Mr Khoo Tse Horng, while long-serving principal Mr Ng Eng Chin is now retired, and Mr Peter Tan Chong Tze became principal of Queensway Secondary School until 2023. Mr Loo Ming Yaw headed the school as Principal from 2018 to 2023 before his posting as principal of Millennia Institute in January 2024.

1. Barker Road campus

In 1999, ACS (Barker Road) moved out of the campus after a closing ceremony on 4 November, to allow the campus to be redeveloped. A replica now stands 20 metres from the old clock tower, with the original clock mechanism installed in the new tower. The 5.7-hectare campus now contains the primary and secondary blocks of ACS (Primary) and ACS (Barker Road), respectively. In between the primary and secondary buildings is an administrative block housing the administrative office as well as the two libraries. The landscaped, open-air Student Plaza links the three buildings together. The cafeteria, bookstore, CCA rooms and Music Studios are one floor below the Plaza. The Arts Centre contains the Mrs Lee Choon Guan Concert Hall, Tan Cheng Siong Drama Theatre and the Lee Kong Chian Auditorium, which can seat 830, 270 and 1,200 respectively. The sports complex also sits on the campus, containing the Shaw Pool and the Tan Chin Tuan Sports Hall. The Sports Hall has three basketball courts, a racket centre, full recreational facilities, including a gym and changing rooms. The Olympic-size pool has eight lanes. The Transport Centre/carpark is below the complex. Barker Road Methodist Church and the Methodist Centre (housing the Methodist Church in Singapore) have also been relocated to the redeveloped Barker Road campus. ACS Oldham Hall has also been renovated with improved facilities, such as air-conditioning in some rooms, a cafeteria, and the capacity to house 500 boarders. The Barker Road campus was designed by SAA Architects Pte and the entire project cost was S$95 million, of which S$15 million had to be raised by the school. In 2004, the campus won the CIDB Award for Construction Excellence. Construction of the Indoor Sports Hall Complex was completed in January of 2022, and features 2 full sized basketball courts, and a futsal court. The block also features multiple fully air conditioned classrooms, and a university styled lecture theatre.

1. Notable alumni

Winston Choo, Lieutenant-General of the Singapore Armed Forces Lim Kim San, Former Cabinet Minister, Chairman of the Housing and Development Board and Chairman of the Port of Singapore Authority Goh Keng Swee, Former Member of Parliament, Former Deputy Prime Minister Ng Eng Hen, Former Member of Parliament, Former Minister of Defence Tan Chin Tuan, Former Chairman of OCBC Bank Nathan Hartono, Singer-Songwriter

1. See also

Anglo-Chinese School Anglo-Chinese School (Junior) Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) Anglo-Chinese Junior College

1. References

Earnest Lau and Peter Teo, The ACS Story, ISBN 981-04-8746-0 ECHO Magazine, Oct-Dec 2004

1. External links

Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road)