School History and Milestones

Trace Peiying Primary School's roots back to 1919 and follow its journey from a community school to a modern government primary school in Yishun.

Last updated 5 May 2026

School History and Milestones

Old tinted photo of a low Chinese building with a gabled roof, Chinese characters on the facade, and a person standing at the entrance.

Peiying Primary School, formerly known as Poi Eng Public School, is one of the oldest schools in Nee Soon.

The history of Peiying can be traced back to 1919 when the famous philanthropist, Lim Nee Soon, set up Fa Chu School at Jalan Ulu Seletar. Fa Chu School was later moved to Kangkar and renamed Zang Hua School.

In January, 1941, the school merged with Qi Zhi School to form Poi Eng Public School which was then located at Upper Thomson Road (next to the former Seletar Institute). Poi Eng Public School was supported by the local community and provided education to the Chinese children in Nee Soon.

Aerial view of Peiying Primary School with a red roof, a bus parked outside, and surrounding greenery.

In 1987, Poi Eng Public School was relocated to Yishun Ring Road, became a Government school and renamed as Peiying Primary School. In Chinese, ‘Poi Eng’ or ‘Pei Ying’ means ‘to nurture citizens for nation building’.

While waiting for the completion of the new school building in Yishun Ring Road, Peiying held classes at Chongfu Primary School for nine months. In 1988, the new $4.69 million school building was completed. It was equipped with 36 classrooms, music room, art & craft room, language rooms, extra-curricular rooms, computer room and a dental clinic. The 2-in-1 canteen cum hall building had a lantern-like squarish roof-top that allowed natural light into the school hall. The compound also housed two outdoor basketball courts, a car park which doubled up as the assembly area and a school field shared with the neighbouring secondary school.

In 1998, an Adventure Tower was installed in the school compound and accentuated the emphasis on Outdoor Adventure as part of the holistic education that Peiying delivers. From 2001 to 2003, Peiying Primary School went through the PRIME upgrading and a new block of classrooms was added. 2018 marked the completion of an Indoor Sports Hall through the PERI Upgrading project.

Aerial panoramic view of Peiying Primary School with blue roofs, orange and white walls, surrounded by trees.

Principals:

Mr Ng Keng Song (1987 to 1995)
Mr Ong Kian Hin (1996 to 2000)
Mrs Yip Moh Ching (2001 to 2007)
Mrs Therasa Hong (2008 to 2013)
Mr K. Govindan (2014 to 2020)
Mrs Peh-Wong Wei Yong (Current)

Milestones

Table showing key events in Peiying Primary School history from 1919 to 2018.