Chow Ah Ming came to Singapore from Ipoh, Malaysia, in the 1950s and joined the Teachers’ Training College. At this time, he lived at the Kingsmead Hall student hostel for Malayan trainee teachers at Farrer Road run by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He completed a 3-year training course at the College and qualified as a primary school teacher. He later went on to specialise in teaching English as a second language. In this class photograph of the Primary 3 class of Lee Kuo Chuan School, Chow Ah Ming is seen in the centre.