HE has lived in the nearby housing estate for 15 years.

And he strongly disagrees with the way Coral Secondary School treats its students.

The man, who gave his name only as Mr Heng, said: 'They just don't seem to understand that students are rebellious at this age. You can't use force and expect them to listen to you.'

Students, both past and present, know him as the owner of the provision shop they pass by when they walk through the estate.

And because they have been patronising his shop, both before and since the school imposed the ban, he has become a friend to some of them.

'These students, they may still be kids, but they want to be treated like adults. And that's how it should be done,' he said.

'If the teachers don't respect the students, why should the students respect the teachers?'

He spoke of one confrontation he witnessed on 20 Jan.

According to him, he saw a school staff member returning from White Sands with a packet of takeaway food in his hands when he came upon a group of students eating instant noodles at the void deck just outside his shop.

Said Mr Heng: 'He stood there, pointing with his own food in his hand, and told the students to throw away their noodles and go.

'How can he do this? You're supposed to be a role model.'

He said he used to relay feedback to the school on improving student discipline, but has stopped, because the school did not seem to think much of his suggestions.

One parent, whose son left Coral Secondary five years ago, said he missed the old discipline master.

'We knew him only as Mr Singh, but he was the type to talk to students. Very stern, but still understanding.

'I still remember the times when he would watch over the students leaving the school after dismissal.

'He would stand by the wall and cheerfully shout out to students by name, reminding them to stay out of trouble.'

A resident said that students used to stay back in the canteen to study with their friends after school hours, where they would be under their teachers' watch.

When asked to comment, a Sec 2 student said: 'We can still stay back after school, but the teachers say we should go straight home, the earlier the better.'

Continued the resident: 'They're teenagers. They have friends.

'They'll want to have a place to be with their friends. If they can't stay in school, they'll go somewhere else to do it.

'So now, instead of having the students in one spot, where they can be easily watched, they have students all around the place, from the HDB estate to Loyang Point.'

Julian Lee, newsroom intern

This article was first published in The New Paper on 3 Feb 2009.