Patrick Loh

Andrew Martin Loh (19 August 1915 – 5 July 2001), better known under the religious name Brother Ildephonsus Patrick Loh, was a Singaporean schoolteacher, educationist and rock collector. He was the director of Saint Patrick's School from 1964 to 1966 and of St. Joseph's Institution from 1967 to 1974. He became the founding principal of Catholic Junior College in 1975, serving in this position until 1978.

Early life and education Loh was born on 19 August 1915. He studied at the St. Joseph's Institution in Singapore and took the London Matriculation Examination in June 1932. He graduated from the University of London with an external degree in mathematics, physics and geography.

Career Teaching A De La Salle Brother, Loh began his career as a teacher in 1936 at the St. Xavier's Institution in Penang. as well as chemistry, literature and English despite not receiving formal training in those subjects. Michael Broughton, a student of his, commented: "There was only one subject he could not teachart. He could not even draw a tree."

St. Patrick's School He came to Singapore in 1964 and assumed the post of director at the Saint Patrick's School,

To help develop the students' public speaking skills, Loh introduced a requirement for each student to speak in front of the class on a topic of their choice for a minute. He also upgraded the school's library, which was then managed by him and the Brothers, so as to not put additional responsibilities onto the teachers. He also extended its operating hours to 10 p.m.. He claimed that this move resulted in a 90% pass rate for Secondary Four students in that year, the highest the school had seen in 15 years. Additionally, the school saw its first presidential scholar, future diplomat Barry Desker. His students at SJI included future SJI principal Michael Broughton, who recalled that Loh guided the school through a period of "great change in the education system", it was announced that Loh would be stepping down as principal as he was to head the Catholic Junior College (CJC), to be opened the following year as the nation's first Catholic junior college. The staff and students held a surprise farewell for him on 31 May, his last day as principal; they had practised for the ceremony over the previous two days when Loh had been preoccupied by external meetings. His successor at SJI was Brother Joseph Kiely, previously the deputy principal at SJI and also a principal of St. Patrick's. This was partially a result of the school's attempt to accept as many students from the Catholic schools as possible by lowering the entry requirements; this led better-scoring students to apply for National Junior College instead and let in several students who were not as well-equipped to take on the A-levels, resulting in a "vicious cycle" where the college's overall results were poorer. To solve this, the entry level was raised in general, though it was lowered for affiliated schools only, and Loh himself went on a "public relations" campaign for the school. He later recalled his time as principal as something that he "[could not] say was a source of enjoyment", finding it a "very heavy responsibility" which he "felt obliged to fulfill whether [he] liked it or not." He additionally noted that it was "nerve-wracking" having to deal with "irate" parents. and for "special attention" to be given to "smart children" as the country's "only" and "best resource." He supported the establishment of the Institute of Education, finding that this was an effective way to counter the "exodus" of teachers to the private sector. In 1975, he was selected to be a member of a panel, alongside educator Ruth Wong, lecturer Gwee Yee Hean and journalist and historian John Drysdale, chaired by civil servant Tay Seow Huah and featuring Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who was to explain and answer questions relating to the government's bilingual education policy live on television.

Personal life and death Rock collecting Loh was an avid rock collector and fossil collector, gaining an interest in the origin and identification of rocks while teaching in Malaysia in his 50s. He claimed that in picking up a rock, he saw "millions of years of evolution" which "[spurred his] imagination", and that it "[opened] up a sense of time which [he could not] get any other way." His role as a geology teacher also contributed to this interest, and he would often give lectures on the topic. In 1981, he expressed his interest in establishing a permanent rock collection at CJC and in contributing to a geological display at the Science Centre Singapore.

Loh organised his collection into boxes labelled by origin and country. His collection primarily comprised objects collected from local beaches, quarries and excavation sites such as the Sahajat Formation; a trip to Punggol Beach yielded what was reportedly "one of the oldest rocks in Singapore." He would also travel abroad with the intent of adding to his collection, which also included rocks from Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines, Hong Kong and the western United States, so much so that he returned from his trip to Manila knowing "more about rocks and sands there than the Brothers living in Manila."

Retirement and death Loh was made a Justice of the Peace on 22 May 1979. In his final years, he was residing at the brothers' quarters at St. Patrick's School. He died of a heart attack in his room on 5 July 2001. When "persistent knocks" on his door failed to yield any response, the Brothers at St. Patrick's broke down his door. An ambulance was then called, and a paramedic pronounced him dead on the scene. The wake and funeral were held at the school on 6 and 7 July, respectively. He was then cremated at Mount Vernon. Loh was described in his obituary in The Straits Times as a "Catholic stalwart" who was remembered for his "tireless work in not only advancing the cause of Catholic missionary schools, but also in contributing to the social development of Singapore."