Tuesday, April 6, 2010
For my fellow batchmates; the 2008 outgoing president's speech you all never got to hear:
Good afternoon to our Vice-principal, Miss Cheong, distinguished guests, teachers and fellow schoolmates. I am Fang Jia Jie, President of the 40th Student Council.
I stand before all of you this afternoon with mixed feelings. On one hand, I am proud and elated to have been a part of this prestigious student movement, and yet on the other, I realize how quietly the sands of time have slipped through my fingers and how much I had taken for granted.
Yes, I consider the Student Council a movement because its inception was with the objective of trail-blazing and establishing student leadership here at Anglican High. I recall the day when I was first elected as President and with much trepidation, assumed what is possibly the most important position a student in his or her four years here can hold.
The task that we faced was tall, and the giants of uncertainty seemed to tower above us. As with any new beginning, there would always be birth pangs, and these, may I add, were not a bed of roses.
However, I’m glad we dug deep, fought shoulder-to-shoulder and secured the fortress so that the next generation of student leaders would benefit from what we have achieved.
It has been a personally enriching journey for me. I’m confident that the student councilors who have served alongside me share the same sentiments. Regardless of the conflicts of interest and clashes in opinion, we all learnt that differences can be opportunities for learning and growth. What matters at the end of the day is not what happens but our response to it.
I want to thank the School for having entrusted me with the baton of Student Council presidency and the teachers who had been quick to listen, slow to judge and even quicker to lend a hand. I also want to thank all my friends and fellow Student Councilors for their listening ears, helping hands and generous hearts. Further, I want to thank my mother who was patient with and supportive of me even when I had to go the extra mile for my Council work.
To the Executive Committee of the 41st Student Council, do not be daunted by the giants that come your way because it is only through adversity that your inner repose and true potential can be revealed. Take every conflict as opportunities for greater understanding and unity. All of you – as one united whole – have the potential of becoming history makers here at Anglican High. To all my peers – the 40th Student Council – against all odds we have made it through the year. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to be a servant-leader to you, and if in any way I had been less than exemplary, I ask for your forgiveness. One thing for sure: that as we put our hands to the plough, we developed a bond that time could never tear asunder and sown a seed that would surely bear fruit in time to come.
Thank you.
Nostalgiaaaaaa (:
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Hey all, its been eons since I typed in this white window surrounded by brown borders.
In view of the recent Audition craze in my class, here's a whole playlist from Audition courtesy of imeem. Do note that some songs are history, whilst the rest are from the Korean version. Enjoy!
Personal favourite: Audition - You
P.S. May be closing this blog down soon, or just leave it on a perpetual hiatus as I've kinda lost the passion to report my life on a blog as you can infer from this post o.o
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Because I hate Thirty-Eight People who cannot keep their mouths shut for a second, who condemn everything they see.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Hello. This is not a rant.
*This bears no offence to any personnel in the management of the school. Any unintentional attack is deeply regretted.
Was in a discussion with my P and VP when some words set me thinking quite deeply. I head this post with the title "Student Leadership", which has been a highly controversial issue in recent years. Though I'm old and retired, let me just express my take on this issue.
In light of the recent tug-of-war incident, many questioned the role of the teachers, and much of the blame was eventually pinned on them. Deserving of our sympathy yes, but had the teachers stepped in and as we presume, reject the idea, wouldn't that be a flaw in our system to nurture student leaders? Of course, we ponder about the accountability of the issue and fingers point to the teachers almost instantaneously. The current view supposedly sees a fair balance between the planning of leaders and the teachers' hand in activities, with both parties ready for compromise. However, it seems of less importance that the people who planned and executed the activity take up the responsibility when things go awry. Under 16 our students may be, but for true establishment of leadership take place, we definitely have to be accountable for our actions.
The resultant paranoia of the incident seems to have caught onto the execution of CCA activities nowadays, with more stringent checks and certainly more impassable boundaries. Whilst this seems the obvious thing to do on the surface, I beg to differ. The very need for the second paragraph in this post reveals the trepidation students now face challenging the status quo in the conquest for a better schooling environment. We boast a sustained achievement award for consecutive years, with our all-rounded CCAs achieving nothing less than the best in every competition. Fair enough, our talents have certainly shone in recent years. Hidden behind the glorious record is probably the blood, sweat and tears of the noble seniors, giving in their all for improvement after improvement. Yet they are perpetually bounded by the intangible restrictions, making it almost impossible for any progress. Further, an equation between academic results and CCA involvement has been drawn in close relation, resulting in the drastic omission of various essential activities. Sadly, this sees efforts to maintain, much less improve, the standards of our CCAs diminished.
We've seen a significant number of workshops set up with the intention of maximizing students' potential, mainly in the academic aspect. Various reasons have been cited for the failure to deliver quality results, but "heavy involvement in CCA" doesn't seem to be the major culprits. In stark contrast, the lack of motivation and horsepower to push us in the war against fatigue is of much familiarity today. Whilst I have no agenda to disprove the above hypothesis, this would take years to prove true or false. Likening this to the environmental degradation of the world, the slide in standards would have already been irreversible. Wouldn't it be a case of too little, too late to recover all that has been lost? Quality leaders cannot be nurtured overnight, and a vicious cycle of unthinkable consequences would then be triggered, creating another problem which would take even more years and painstaking efforts to resolve.
I salute our valiant fighters for this cause today. To the CCA leaders who are still bidding for overnight camps in non-uniformed groups, I wish you all the best. There may be reasons for the broken tradition, but I sincerely hope that the original values are not lost. The school has been my second home for four years. I'd hate to see the decline of our dominance built on the back of former leaders, and I pray that the school remains a conducive environment for student leadership.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
INVESTITURE 2008It was pretty different this year, I didn't have to walk the long aisle cos I had to make speech and had to sit at the VIP area o.O Well, as an audience I realized that the starting was subtle and it started to get hot due to the late air-conditioning. Auntie and Uncle Behind Me Said This:
Auntie: "哇热死人了"
JiaJie: (turns and look)
Auntie: "他更Cham"(points at me with the blazer)
Uncle: "Dr Boon省电啊?"
JiaJie: Speechless.
Being quite restless at that point of time, I decided to reach to the floor and join my class for some pre-Investiture talk. Mistake was that the seat I filled happened to be beside Amelia, which was when MJ and company hinted me but I didn't get it. Only when I moved away did I realize why. Sheesh, sorry Aziel!
The event then started, the school was its usual enthusiastic self in the presence of their peers in council. Time flew by and before I knew it, the two glamorous presidents had already begun walking up the stage. At the cue, I went up and delivered the speech. All went fine till the part I had apportioned for my Mum. This was when the whole school came alive again, and I caught some saying:
"Wa he like getting Nobel prize liddat."
"So fillial sia."
Hilarious.
Ended off with a bang and joined my Council on stage. Handover was a little EmoNemo as I pinned the badges onto my Presidents. As I embraced them in assurance and confidence, it brought the whole school into some uproar o.O Don't know why but some said it was because it was very touching, others felt the lag in YuJun was comical, lol.
Continuing the long list of gratitude, Thank you to Mr Kevin and JunLe who assisted me in the speech. Glad I saw See Ting today, she's changed quite abit and looks cool in the DHS blazer ^^
Ending off,
"The end of the journey marks the beginning of the other."
This isn't the end of our road, it simply marked the beginning of a new era. As expressed in my speech, I have utmost confidence that they would be history makers of the school. All the very best to the 41st student council!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Council secfours, these are the details.
Address: 233 Paya Lebar Road
Condo: Le Crescendo
Meeting Point: Paya Lebar MRT, 5.30pm
For those going yourselves please inform me first. Those going for bowling and movie inform Reuben.
You're strongly encouraged to attend the BBQ as it's of chongping ge's goodwill. Please inform me if you have a valid reason, thanks.
See you there!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Ok we have 2 more days before we start studying for Prelims. Life of a SecFour: Study for MYE --> Study for Prelims --> Study for O's.
Anyway, I dont know if its a game craze but my sis has come up with a score to grade performances during exams:
GG - GoodGame
VGG - Very GoodGame
G - Great!
Papers so far still okay, History is my smoking paper cos I totally didn't know what I was writing and I studied 2.1, 2.2, 3.1; and 3.2, 4.1, 4.2 came out. VGG ^^
E-math, Physics, Physics&Chem tikamming session to go. All the best sec4s!
