Bro. Philbert

What I find most fascinating, and you may find this surprising, is that none of them were qualified teachers. They were all self-made men. They went there with what they had in their hearts, their missinoary spirit, to get the best of what they could give.

When Bro. Philbert died, some of the ministers came to his wake. Bro. Philbert was a very outsanding person, feared by many because he had a very loud voice and he could lose his temper. But he was a very knowledgeable, self-made man.

He could teach accounts, physics, economics, mathematics, English, Latin, Greek, any subject wihout having gone through any college of education or tertiary institution.

When the Minister Augustine Tan came to pray at the wake, he told me that we had never seen a made so highly qualified and when I told him that he did not even have an O Level, he couldn't reply.

Because Bro. Philbert came the same age as I, when we were 20 to 21 yrs old and in those days, the emphasis of the government was not on qualifications but that the fact that they were brothers, they were taken automatically as teachers with a very basic salary. - Interview with Bro Emmanuel, 2007.

Bro. Philbert's Interview 

Bro Philbert Farewell Speech from St Gabriel's Sch Annual