"From Each His Best"

The School motto exhorts every students to do his best in everything that he does...

DSTS started in 1964 although it was officially opened on Friday, 14 May 1965, by the then Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Toh Chin Chye, and witnessed by the then Education Minister, Mr Ong Pang Boon.  The School lasted until June 1992 when it had to move out of its Hillcrest site to Bukit Panjang.  With the move, the school was renamed to Greenridge Secondary School.

DSTS was sited on a small hill sandwiched between Linden Drive and Hillcrest Road.  To gain access to the school, one either had to take a 10-minute walk up a winding path or to climb a 103 stepped staircase leading to the top of the hill.  No wonder DSTS had produced such good athletes during the 1970s as the walk or the climb to the school daily was a natural exercise.

Speaking of good athletes, it brought to mind that DSTS was indeed quite excellent in its sports.  DSTS athletes always excelled in District and National levels and training was naturally conducted by Mr Kunalan.  Besides athletics, the school was also famous for its rugby.  Some of the rugby players and track and field members not only represented the school in district and national levels, there were one or two who represented Singapore in rugby and athletics in the SEAP Games (later known as SEA Games in 1975) during 1970s.  Tennis and Girls Hockey were also sports which the school had excelled in both levels.

The school was a technical school and had the best technical facilities available during that time.  Other schools such as Raffles Institution, Anglo Chinese School, Raffles Girls Secondary School would send their students to DSTS campus for their technical lessons.

 The School’s motto “From Each His Best” exhorts every student to do his/her best in everything that he/she does.  “Best” is the willingness to do what one can, not only in the academic or intellectual fields but also in the social, intellectual and public field as well.  In this area, it is pleasing to learn that some of its former students have become very successful, and to name a few, we do have a Member of Parliament, chief executives of MNCs, pilots, a renowned jockey in Singapore, prominent businessmen, entrepreneurs, etc.

Written By  Annie Yeo
Aug 2004 for Reunion 2004