Monicker.

Like Jonsam, I feel that Mr. Siow’s post perfectly sums up yesterday.

We say “It’s not how many times you fall that we’re worried about; it’s how many times you get up“
We say “The difference between a winner and a champion is that the Winner got the medal, the Champion won the race.”
We say encouragement isn’t about patting ourselves on the back when we do well; it’s telling ourselves to do better when we are facing difficulty.

http://www.mrsiow.blogspot.com

VJ did extremely well as well. 3rd for guys! Don’t worry guys, you guys performed splendidly out there and you’re still our champions! Congratulations to the girls who emerged overall champions! =))

(I actually have photos which I’d like to put up, but everytime I connect my phone to my laptop, it crashes. Some stupid virus.)

Okay, now with bluetooth technology and my dad’s phone -

No prizes for guessing which schools banner dominated again. Heh.

__

And now, on to the VS/VJ Forum to which I rushed down after Cross Country. Thanks again Mr. Siow for moving one seat! There were, of course, the usual and expected emotive responses about risking the Victorian Spirit and 130 years of culture, which I need not discuss, knowing that none of us would want to ever comprimise on that. Here are some of my views after listening to what transpired yesterday evening:

1. Well, firstly, I think the point that was emphasised yesterday over and over again was that, unlike what was mentioned in The New Paper about details of some proposal being presented during the forum, there are no proposals or anything of that sort in place at the moment. In this increasingly diverse education landscape, VS and VJ will have to adapt themselves to the environment and better themselves. Going Co-Ed and a merger are only 2 of the many other possible options to achieve that ultimate goal. The forum was held to include and hear the views of Victorians before any decision was made, unlike the other time in 2005 when nothing was known definitely. For this, I would like to sincerely applaud Mr. Chan and Mr. Low!
2. Another consideration that struck me was that of continuity. Before any proposals of such magnitude are submitted, various considerations will have to be made and rigorous planning will have to be done. This will not be an easy task and will take time. A couple of years at the very least. We all know that staff in Singapore schools are rotated, including the principal ( about every 5 years). And I was just wondering what would happen if either of the principals are reposted. How will we know if the next principals will be in support of this and will be equally motivated to see the proposal through to the end? I draw my views from the previous principals. And if MOE practices flexibility in its posting policies given the cirumstances, I stand corrected for this point.
3. Why fix something that is not broken? VJ is doing well and many might say that VS is not where it is supposed to be. But are academics the only thing that need to be considered? What is the role of education? To nurture. The Victorian Spirit and brotherhood is something that you have to live through to understand and will be able to teach you way more important things that matter in life other than books. Read Mr. Siow’s post on Thomas Ho. The fighting spirit that Thomas showed was something that Mr. Low vowed he would never let die and I believe him.
4. But at the end of the day, we want both schools to continue to be the great institutions that they are and even better and as long as that remains the motivation behind our actions, we will never go wrong.

And that was with Mr. Low leading. Too bad we weren’t treated to the pleasure of listening to Mr. Chan’s operatic vocals!