Some shots of Taj Mahal

Hua Yi - Study Hall Twinning Programme (9-23 Nov 2007)

Here are some of the photos from India...

A Snake Charmer

A Palace in Jaipur

A Sun Dial

Learning Classical Indian dance

Henna Tattooing by the Prerna Girls

A thought-provoking and inspiring talk by Dr Urvashi Sahni, Principal of Study Hall

A debriefing cum farewell session - A touching moment for one and all

Students from Hua Yi and Study Hall taking a group picture one more time!

Bon Voyage to those in india!

Hello Everyone!
hah its me again, Evann. Alan's in India now for a two week exchange trip so i shall blog for him instead. so yesterday we had Advocates breakfast in the morning at the airport before sending Mr Amran, Alan & Melvin off! Now i shall post the pictures we took yesterday! :D


♥ HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Pictures!

YAY! the papers are officially over! :D:D:D:D:D no school till tuesday!

yeahyeahyeah :D everyone's awaited deserve break. so here are the picture taken during the ONEHEARTBEAT camp that the advocates and Ceos went. oh, btw. I'm Evann using Alan account to blog all this pictures up, as promised. :D

Camp at Sentosa!

hope all of you did well for ure examinations.. hmmm, wel, recently i went for a camp with some avocates and CEOs.. another leadership camp. it was fun! haha! heres a pic that we took. haha! ok.. wel, the camp thought us leadership skills obviously. haha! every1 enjoyed themselves. we had lots of fun with the instruments that we had as it was part of the camp. the camp's group was oneHeartBeatz and they focus on community building through drum circle [ meaning you play instruments and learn to cooperate with others etc.] ok, we sure hope for more camps.. gotta Run!!

signing off!

alan~~

Exam Period is Here Again

It's that time of the year again Hua Yians!

I hope that you're all well-prepared for the examinations. Good luck to all!

More pictures for you!!!

A skit on the environment by students from 4E5

Huayians in action during In-Place Protection Exercise

Study Hall students and their buddies from Hua Yi at Sentosa

Study Hall students learning Chinese Calligraphy

Holiday Camp! (:

Hello! Evann and Alan here(:
in sentosa, and we are blogging in the middle of the night just for youguyes to know what the leadership camp we are attending is all about. so far we are enjoying ourselves together with ghazali and melissa! the advocates:D we are all having fun and leaning new leadership skills together in different ways. i guess we will be able to share with the huayians when school reopenes! yay:DD

Oh, anyway we will be performing for the community on sunday at marine cove-east coast park. so if you are free you can come down and support us and play the instruments with us. It will be from 330pm-5 noon. NOOOO. we aint sure yet, so when we have the time tomorrow we will come and blog about the timing.

hah! its nice spending our holiday so meaning ful at sentosa learning new skills from other school and interact sharing different experience. schools that participated are Huayi secondary, NUS high, st anthony, Boon lay secondary. making new friends and opening up our social circle.

we shall share with you more when we're back withlots of photos! (:

EVVVVVVVVVVANNNNNN & ALLLLLLLLLLANNNNNNNNN HERE! :D
cheerio!~

Teachers Day Celebration

wow! teachers day celebration is this friday!! wow! so fast! have all u guys hav any surprises for ure teachers yet???! i m sure u guys do! hmmm, seems like friday will be an enjoyable day where every1 can relax and spend some fun time with their teachers. hmmm, it happens once a year only!! so u people out there should really let ure teachers have fun and enjoy their day! there would be celebrations from after recess onwards put up by the various committees. haha! i m sure the teachers would enjoy it! wel, i cant wait for this friday especially to see the many smiles from all teachers after all the performances on that day. hmmm, u guys should also go back to your primary schools and say hello and wish ure teachers happy teachers day as well! they have raised ure 6 yrs of education in primary school very wel and u guys ought the be grateful for wad u have done.. so, till then... cherrios!!~~

Take Part and Win Attractive Prizes!!

Hua Yians, it's time to show them your stuffs!

1. I♥SG Competition

In conjunction with National Day celebrations, MICA invites all Singaporeans to share their fond memories of places, people and other things they love about Singapore at Earth@sg (http://www.earthsg.com).

Simply click on the “I♥SG” feature on the website to submit a picture together with a short write-up of 50 words describing what you love about Singapore. The best ten entries will win prizes of $100 each!

The closing date is 30th September 2007. Participants may submit more than one entry. For enquiries, email mica_national_resilience@mica.gov.sg

Over 200 teams of primary school students have produced websites and videos to share what they love about Singapore for two nation- wide competitions organised by Victoria School, and supported by MICA. One team recalled the story of a Singapore prisoner-of-war during the Japanese Occupation, another touched on the delights of their school compound and their neighbourhood, and a group of young soccer enthusiasts crafted a touching tribute to the National Stadium. Visit Earth@sg to see what our school children love about Singapore!


2. Book Reviews

Have you read an interesting book (related to NE) recently? How about sharing it with colleagues from other schools? We have started a new column on book reviews at our NE website (http://www.ne.edu.sg) and would like to invite you to share your review.

The latest book review on The End of War: Singapore's Liberation and the Aftermath of the Second World War was contributed by Lim Cheng Tju, Planning Officer. Email your name, school, title of book, author, snapshot of book cover (if possible), publisher and your review to LOI_Huey_Shing@moe.gov.sg .

We look forward to receiving your book reviews!

IC Presentation

Today we had another IC Presentation. It all began with a speech from Yu Lin explaining the importance of these presentations and how much the ICs mean to us as citizens of Singapore. Things were a little different from previous IC presentations as the Uniformed Groups were practising for the National Day Celebration next Wednesday. I got my IC this time and it does feel a bit weird to have two cards now :) Oh well...

51st Prize Giving cum National and ASEAN Day Celebrations

Long title, isn`t it? Next week, on Wednesday (8th August), this is what we will be having the whole day. So the day will be quite filled. Its starts of with National Day, goes on to Speech Day, for the prizewinners, and then for ASEAN Day, where most of the Advocates will be helping out in a room set up with ASEAN exhibits. Look forward to that day then. Bye...

Japanese Exchange Students

Today proved to be a very interesting day. From right after assembly, I have been helping out with the Japanese Exchange Students. There was some 80 Japanese girls from Josei High School (I think that is their school). It was a very busy day and the day started out with a presentation of a skit from the Hua Yi students. Then, the Japanese students had a song and then a dance. Only lower sec got to watch (except for the upper sec that snuck in to see their performance).

After that, we led them to the Heritage Gallery and were encouraged to interact with them. I was sort of held back as I don`t know how to speak Japanese and just stood there watching. Then, when they went down for lunch, one of the Japanese teachers as me to sit down and interact with a group of students. There was a very quiet moment for a while------------, then I decided to do introductions of names. It was difficult to catch all of their names and actually remember them, but at least there was some interaction going on. Another thing, these students are really NOT camera-shy. I mean, almost every single one of them has a camera. After taking a few pictures, and going on for interaction time, I had to go up to present my CCA presentation and demonstration to them.

Though I could tell, when I was speaking, most of them didn`t really understand what I was saying. So I`ve decided before any exchange students come to Hua Yi, I better learn up a few phrases, SERIOUSLY!!! It was fun meeting them and all, and they later on went to the 3E and 4E classes. The group that went to our class taught us about origami, and later had us try to make a jumping frog origami. During the debrief in the AVA room, you can realize that half a day at Hua Yi goes by so quickly, and the Japanese students will be going back to Japan after today. It was nice having them in Hua Yi, and it overall improves Hua Yi`s relations with schools, not only nationally, but now internationally.

Racial Harmony Day and Upcoming Events

Hello! Here is an update of Racial Harmony Day which was commemorated last Friday in Hua Yi. This year`s Racial Harmony Day was more unique than other years as we had our Study Hall guests together with us to commemorate this day. The ONE Advocates got into their various traditional costumes as they went on stage. With Alan as the MC, Racial Harmony Day got off to a start. The first item of Racial Harmony Day in Hua Yi was a traditional Indian dance performed by the Study Hall students. Next up was the presentation of Racial Harmony Day by the ONE Advocates: Evann, Melissa, and Say Yun. This included explaining what is the importance of racial harmony in Singapore and explaining what the Declaration of Religious Harmony meant, before all of the Hua Yians stood up to recite the declaration. After that, we had a skit by the Study Hall guests, a Chinese dance performed by the Dance Society, a few traditional Indian songs by the Study Hall guests, and another presentation made by the Study Hall guests on Lucknow, India. As this was the last day for the Study Hall students in Hua Yi, there was an exchange of gifts between Study Hall and Hua Yi.

The next big event the ONE Advocates will be planning for is the 42nd National Day in Singapore and will be an important event that is upcoming in a few weeks time. Until then, wait and see for what is in store for Hua Yi. Bye.

NS Song

Hi everyone. I've found something interesting over the internet. A funny look at National Service. So boys, you may want to take a look at this. Done by a local cartoonist, he made an NS song to go with his animation.

Take a look by clicking here.

The song stated that NS is a waste of time and we will not really need it if Singapore has good ties with her neighbours. What do you think? Post your comments!

Committee and Racial Harmony Day

Hi! A brief updates on currents events occuring in our school. First of all, we had a meeting yesterday with Mr Amran discussing some issues. One of them was the new committee and roles assigned to the different people. Here are the roles assigned to the ONE Advocates:

• President: Alan
• Secretary: Evangeline
• NRIC: Melvin, Ghazali, Yu Lin (Band)
• Blog: yours truly, Patrick
• Recruitment: Fadli
• Events: Say Yun, Nurulnisa, Melissa, Hui Min

Well, watch out for the Racial Harmony commemoration tomorrow. There will be a skit and a presentation by the ONE Advocates and some performances from our guests the Study Hall students as it is their final day in Hua Yi before they go back to India.

Amazing Race

Hello, it`s been a long time since I updated the blog. Well, this is an update on the amazing race we went through on June 30th. On the right, as you can see, is the badges we recieved in the beginning of the race. I`ve got to admit, we got really confident at the beginning as we went to the race totally prepared, with a bus directory, a street directory, and even a camera. But when we started out, it was quite a pain. First of all, we realized we were going to Raffles Place as our first stop, and most of us were unfamilier with the first stop, which was a temple called Yuan Hai Ching Temple.
Then, we realized our JJC counterpart, Yuen Shen (I think that is how his name is spelled) didn`t have his EZ link card. Quite a horrid start to our day. But, in the end, we came out okay. Out of some thirty something teams, we came out 11th. Not too bad I would say, though a little disappointing as we missed out of the top ten. Here is a list of the stops we went to throughout the race: Yuan Hai Ching Temple, Sri Mariammam Temple, Thian Hock Seng Temple, Ann Siang Hillpark, Armenian Church, Malay Heritage Board. Along the way, we learned a lot about these religious places. From the spiral joss sticks of the Yuan Hai Ching Temple to the Arabic writing that we learned of in the Malay heritage board.

TWINNING PROGRAMME

wow, this year, we are having students coming over to our school as for our exchange programmes like the one we had in the previous year. this year, we are having indian students coming over from INDIA ( not little india! ) so, it would be a good experience for the students who were chosen or had requested from the teacher-in-charge that they want to go for this Amazing trip. wel, i do these students enjoy themselves and play an excellent host / hostess to these indian students. if we do so, who knows? they might even be a excellent host as they had seen how well we have done for them (: signing off. Cheerio~~

Amazing Race and NICE Workshop

The following are the nominated students who will participate in the Amazing Race @ JJC:

1) Alan Lim
2) Patrick Tay
3) Melvin Lee
4) Yu Lin

The Amazing Race @ JJC will be held on 30th June 2007 from 0830 hrs to 1400hrs.

The NICE Workshop will be held in our school hall. The following students are requested to attend:

1) Evangeline Tan
2) Melissa Yam
3) Mohammad Ghazali
4) Nurulnisa
5) Fadli
6) Hui Min
7) Say Yun
8) Li Qing
9) Judith
10) Alan Lim

The date is 20 June 2007, from 0800hrs to 1230hrs.

Badge Presentation and Parliament Meeting

Hello, so long haven`t update the blog already. A little update now since the exams has just finished. This morning, during assembly, the ONE Advocates were presented with their badges (shown below).

Later on, after school, we went for the Parliament House meeting to sit in and listen. We first went into the building for a lot of security checks and entered one of the empty assembly rooms for a briefing on how things were going to work out. Because we weren`t the only ones there, with students from other schools attending as well, we were all separated into groups, so we visited during galleries at different times to hear in on the meeting.

My group first went to the education gallery, where our guide told us some facts about Parliament and how it is set up. The education gallery is the only place where we could actually talk without disturbing the meeting. Later, we went to the public gallery, where we were observing the meeting from above. We weren`t allowed to say a single word. Most of what we listened to was a bill on Competition, something that most of us didn`t understand. Though, halfway through the meeting, we saw PM Lee Hsien Loong walk in!

The Parliament

wow, we went to the parliament today.. the ONE advocates, Sec 2 CEOs, some sec 3 CEOs as well as Mr Lee and Ms Tracy. wel, it was an awesome discussion though it was rather...'hard to understand' what they were actually talking about. while i was there, there was this man sitting all the way in front. he is known as MR SPEAKER! xD but he doesnt talk much.. -.- so much for his name.. hahaha! wel, while we were listening to them, PM Lee Hsien Loong came in. we were not allowed to talk but we stared at each other as we saw him walk in.. it was like.. cool.. u get to see him in real life.. haha! wel, cheerio~~

THE Advocates Badges

The Global Student

Please visit this interesting website. ONE Advocates, do participate actively in this website and share your thoughts when we meet.

http://www.sst-inet.net

Events for ONE Advocates

The ONE Advocates will be involved in many events soon. For a start, they will be attending a Parliament Sitting on 21 May 2007. We would like to invite more Huayians to be ONE Advocates to be able to maximise the learning opportunities on offer. To the current ONE Advocates, please note that you are also earmarked for the following:

• Innovation & Enterprise (I&E) Summit at Ngee Ann Polytechnic
• The Amazing Race by Jurong Junior College
• Tapestry 07 by Central Singapore
• The Code Red by Mediacorp

and many more events which will need to be discussed as a group.

Please meet Mr Amran on 21 May 2007 (after the morning assembly) for more details.

NE Quiz

The NE Committee will be administering the NE Quiz for all graduating students on 21 and 22 May 2007. All Secondary 4 students regardless whether they are Singaporeans, PRs or Foreigners MUST sit for this compulsory quiz. For your information, you must pass this quiz before proceeding to further your education.

Please check the announcement at the e-portal for further details.

Racial Harmony Day

We are in the midst of planning events for the Racial Harmony Day. The tentative plan will include:

• Secondary One students participating in the Amazing RACE
• Secondary Two students learning various forms of cultural items; and
• Secondary Three students being involved in the Graffiti Art competition. Selected Secondary Three students would also be involved in the NEmation project.

Also in the pipeline, we intend to get the visiting Indian students to participate in our activities on that day. It will truly reflect the spirit of the event.

So, look out for more details on this blog. The ONE Advocates will be the main organisers of these events!!! It will be exciting times ahead!!!

update!

It seems like all my advocates are busy preparing for the examinations. So here I am, doing a little update so that this site won't bore you to tears with its lack of contents. Anyway, it's the 8th of May, 2nd day of the examinations. Hopefully, everyone is still in good spirits, full of optimism about the examinations. Study smart, everyone. Before you know it, it'll be the holidays. So hang in there, alright!

International Friendship Day

Hi! A little update from the recent event held in school. Last Friday, Hua Yians commemorated International Friendship Day. It was a very busy morning as everything needed to be prepared before the presentation started.

The assembly started out with the band playing the national anthem for the first time this year, and they will continue playing the national anthem every Friday. The dance society then continued with a performance from what they did last year at the 50th anniversary. Alan and Melvin then presented our slide presentation on International Friendship Day, along with some slides showing the T-shirt Design Competition.

After the presentation, we had the prize giving ceremony, where we had to carry the table with all of the prizes out and then announced the winners. It was quite strange for me and Melvin to all of a sudden have to go out on stage and point out the winning shirts. To be honest, I don`t think anybody actually knew what we were doing.

Anyway, congratulations again to all winners.

International Friendship Day

Hello :) Just to let you know, International Friendship Day will be commemorated tomorrow. Watch out for the presentation and the T-shirts (they will be hanging at the top of the stage). These T-shirts have been judged by fellow HYSS teachers who have kindly lent their time just to look at them one by one. T-shirts being displayed were chosen as the top and the best. We spent a bit of time to hang the 33 T-shirts being displayed by the way. Prizes will also be given out to the top three selected T-shirts from each level. Congrats to the winning teams for their hard work in making these shirts.

It` s a Singaporean Thing

Fines? Food? Or PCK? What makes us Singaporean? Maybe it is just the lah lah lah? What do you think? NYAA and NEXUS are having a project grant scheme based on the theme of 'What Makes Us a Singaporean?' It is open to all Singaporeans and Singapore citizens. You can create games, songs or websites for the project.
Check out the banner on the left and you will find out more about the project. Click on the above banner to see the enlarged banner the advocates have prepared. :)

Sports Day!

Wow, my first 2nd update after a long time.. pretty cool huh? lol, wel, today is the sports day, wel, i must say, really cool. 'gha gha' 'mel mel' got the video camera from Mr Amran and we are off on our own.. taking video of everyone. hmmm, i hav seen the entire video already and i have gotta say.. i miss out on Miss L. Oh no! everything was perfect till the last minute when we forgot to put in Miss L.. how saddening.. dun wry Miss L, we will still find a way to get u into the video shoot. WARNING, we might shoot from any direction. so, please do keep a good lookout. thank you :)

ok, today's champion house - UBIN! wow, i am sure all ubin members would be pleased. i m in ubin too.. so, i m just as pleased. haha. we are undefeatable. and we would remain undefeatable. so, that means one thing. WE are the Champions!

wel, the GOH ( guest of honor (not some1's surname ;) ) arrived at around 093o. why wasnt his EZ link confiscated? urgh! hehe. soon, the competitors from all houses were running.. and wow, they sure are FAST. in a blink of an eye, they have completed the run. wel, since our sch care for our welfare, it was good that we had a medical team ready and Red Cross members on the shady side of the field. So unfair, they dun get the rays from the hot sun. soon, gha, mel and i went to have a good stroll around the field. we wanted to take video firstly of the medical team, followed by the red cross members @ the shady side. the shady side of the field was nice and cooling. i could just sleep there all day long.

hmmm, there was some interesting games in the field. they were games set by the sec 4 and 5 classes. wel, there were all sorts of games. for ex. Dog and Bone. u need speed and agility in the game. just like a Dog.

as the end was coming, we had the parents volunteer group as well as the teachers having a tug of war matches.. it was really cool. u get the see everyone struggling to tug the rope to win the match. there was also the graduating classes having the tug of war matches. wel, they probably might have tug the rope till they are exhausted. in the end, everybody had fun.

soon, it was the prize presentation.. they medals the trophies were all given out by our GOH, vice principal, HOD of Humanities as well as Physical Education, the chairman and vice chairman of the Parents volunteer group. it was a wonderfyl ceremony as most of the runners came in the position that they had target for and they do deserve the medals as well as the trophies. and again, Ubin is undefeatable and will always remain undefeatable.

updates!

I just found out today from Mr Amran that one of our dear ONE advocate has been hospitalised. :(

So on behalf of the rest of us ONE Champions, Advocates and Hua Yians, I would like to wish Alan Lim of 3E3 a speedy recovery. Get well soon, Alan!! Miss L needs you to update the blog!! >_< Hurhur. Seriously though, get well soon!

On another matter, today, I brought 1E4 to the Science Centre. I had a parent volunteer with me, Mrs Foong, and in our conversation, I found out that 1E4 had made 1000 paper cranes for their friend, Wilson Soo, who was hospitalised because of the accident. Now, this is worthy of being mentioned because, I strongly feel that love and compassion should be a core value in every one of us. So I am very heartened to know that 1E4, made up of young twelve and thirteen-year-olds, have shown such care and concern for their friend. Well done, 1E4!! You guys are indeed role models for us all. :) Wilson, just like Mrs Leong and Mrs Lee have mentioned, is now well on the road of recovery!

Next, to technical matters, I've included a stat counter and a tag board into the blog. Feel free to post your comments and suggestions. Remember, BE NICE. Don't abuse it!

Now, on to another matter worth announcing....


OH MY GOD!!! We have people other than Hua Yians reading this blog!!! *hyperventilates*

Now, how do I know this? Because, the lovely people over at Nexus (Central National Education Office), wants us publicise their project themed 'Things that Make us Singaporeans' on our humble little blog! It's our pleasure to do so, oh lovely people from Nexus. :) So, we'll get a web banner ready and will soon post it up. Look out for it.

To find out more about the project, please click here. The project will be open to all Singaporeans and Singapore residents. Get those creative juices flowing!

So, the burning question is: What makes us Singaporean?? The food, the fun or the fines? ;p Feel free to post your comments on our brand new little tagboard.

- Miss L

Be like the Bees

Enjoy! One of the top animations for the N.Emation competition.

(You need shockwave player to view)

QUOTE OF THE DAY - INTEGRITY

"Living with integrity means: not settling for less than what you know you deserve in your relationships. Asking for what you want and need from others. Speaking you truth, even though it might create conflict or tension. Behaving in ways that are in harmony with your personal values and making choices based on what you believe, and not what others believe"
By Barbara De Angelis

Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right; decide on what you think is right and stick to it.
By Charles Caleb Cotton

ONE Advocate and ONE Class Advocate

On Friday, 2 March 2007, student leaders Class CEO Alan Lim (3E3) and Student Councillor Tan Si Hao (3E3) went up the stage and invited fellow students to be ONE Advocate or ONE Class Advocate. These advocates are confident, responsible and dedicated leaders who believe in togetherness and cohesion particularly among students of different ethnic groups. A ONE Advocate is a leader who helps to organise ONE activities at school level while a ONE Class Advocate is a member of a three-member committee from each class who will organise activities for his/her fellow classmates.

Hua Yians who are interested and believe in this cause are invited to join the Advocates. If you are interested to be a ONE Advocate, do approach Alan Lim, Tan Si Hao, Mr Amran or Mrs Lisa Kwok. If you are keen to be a ONE Class Advocate, inform your Class CEO who will collate your committee members' name and forward the list to Mr Amran.

For your information, there are teachers who are known as ONE Champions. They are Mr Amran, Mrs Lisa Kwok, Ms Agnes Kiong, Ms Chin Kah Ying, Ms Leyana, Mrs Heng-Loke and Mr Kuang LY.

Let's all make Hua Yi a VIBRANT and DYNAMIC place. Let's all be ONE!!!

War Memorial Service

On 15th February 2007, while the rest of the school participated in the IPP exercise, a group of 20 students led by ONE Champion, Ms Chin Kah Ying, attended a War Memorial Service at Beach Road. The school prepared cards dedicated to the war victims and heroes and presented the cards to the Service.

Here are some of the students' reflections....

Judith Tong, 2E4 reflects...

I personally feel that I was quite privileged to be chosen to represent my class and school to attend this War Memorial Service with the other 19 pupils. Before we attended this ceremony, we were asked to make cards that contained our gratefulness and thanks to those soldiers who fought bravely in the war for Singapore. I was quite impressed when my whole class cooperated and wrote their notes of thanks without fooling around; it really showed that they were truly grateful to those soldiers and civilians. Though it was a short one, it was quite an experience as more than 1200 students, religious chiefs, representatives of all races, government officials and the families of the victims attended the ceremony. I feel that this ceremony is very important, as we can be reminded that without those soldiers bravely sacrificing their lives, Singapore will not be what it is today.

Heng Li Ying reflects...

On 15/2/07, I went to the War Memorial Park, Beach Road. Together with other nineteen pupils and Ms Chin Kah Ying we set off in the morning from school.
It was the 40th anniversary. When we reached there, we saw a tall white Memorial Tower. The whole place was crowded with people. Many family members of the victims brought food and drinks to pray to the victims. Some brought flowers. Government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, religious chiefs, representatives of all races and representatives of organisations also brought flowers to offer their respects. There were also band performing there. Some soldiers were also playing trumpets and drums there too. The whole place was very lively. We also kept quiet for one minute silence to pay respects to the victims.
I felt sad for the victims but I also felt happy, because they could now rest in peace and remembered by many people. So war is harmful and should be stopped.


Lim Pei Jun, 3N2 reflects...

Before going to the War Memorial Park at the Beach Road, I felt very curious and I think that the place should be very dirty and it must be an old building. I also did not know how a war commemorate ceremony was conducted until I had a chance to attend such ceremony. Everything turned out differently, after going there. I know more about the war and throught this I felt so grateful to those hero. As they sacrifice themselves and let the future generation had a better and peaceful life. Their sacrifice had changed the fate of Singapore and this allowed Singapore now, to be a safe country. Although they had passed away during the war, but they will be remember in our heart. Without them, we will not be so fortunate to live in such a peaceful and safe country. Therefore, we shall not take it for granted. I heartily thanks them for making this huge different for Singapore.

NE Symposium at ITE Simei

On 27 January 2007, two student representatives attended the NE Symposium. Here's their reflections....

Alan Lim, 3E3 reflects...

Reflection of the National Education Symposium

National Education (NE) is developing nation cohesion. It mainly emphasize on the identity, pride and self respect of individuals in Singapore. It also tells Singaporeans about the Singapore story. For example: how Singapore succeeded to become a nation. It also tells Singaporeans about the challenges that the Singapore society has decided and what makes Singapore different from other countries. It also teaches Singaporeans the way of life and would ensure success and the well- being of Singapore.

NE in our school
In our school, we got a lot of National Education taken place. It includes: learning journeys, Community Involvement Programme (CIP) and the National Day Ceremony. In studies, NE is usually discussed in class during social studies.

Students’ idea of NE
During the discussion, we and ambassadors from other schools have concluded that NE among students in Singapore is boring, and usually the word that would come to their mind is ‘propaganda’. They would spread their opinions of what they think NE is to their peers and would most likely influence them to think that it is boring and ‘irrelevant’.

I think that there are a lot of things we can do about NE in our school especially during social studies as NE is part of the subject. For example:

● We can have more “out-of-textbook” case studies.
● Updated examples
● Could have more learning journeys that would engage the students: visiting historical sites in Singapore.
● teachers could let students take over the class and help them when they have a little trouble with the explanation or their explanation is not exact or not so well explained.

I would also say that it is good that the school has engage theatre groups like Act 3 International to perform skits during assembly sessions to deliver key messages about Singapore. The Singaporean rock band group that came to perform for the students was also a good as they told the students about the good and bad things in life.
In CIP, I think that it should not be quantity but quality. In most schools, one would have to work for 6 hours just the get merit points. I think that it should be measured in categories fulfilled by the students.

Most importantly, I think that teachers’ should not mention the words ‘national education’ at all when he or she is about to teach on the subject as it would probably make the students ‘switch their minds’ off. Teachers should keep the students awake by engaging them with questions, telling small jokes once a while to keep the students awake and that they would pay attention as by nature, many people like to hear funny things as they would make them happy.

Tan Si Hao, 3E3 reflects...

Reflections

National Education, NE, is a very important topic which we, Singaporeans, did not really take it into our attention. It is about knowing the Singapore story - how Singapore succeeded against the odds to become a nation; Understanding our country is also one of the purposes why we promote National Education in schools. As Singaporeans, having a sense of identity or pride is what we should observe.


The six messages of National Education are:
Singapore is our homeland; this is where we belong.
We must preserve racial and religious harmony.
We must uphold meritocracy and incorruptibility.
No one owes Singapore a living.
We must ourselves defend Singapore.
We have confidence in our future.


The purpose of this symposium was to discuss and give feedback on NE. It was thought that NE is boring and disengaging. Students have to interest or rather they do not recognize the importance of NE. A presentation was given about the holistic approach towards NE by the National Education Taskforce. After that, we had a group discussion of how and what your school had done about NE. This is some of the things we had shared about:
Having NE in the school but do not feel the presence of it; did not absorb the meaning of it
Having NE ambassadors in school – organize NE activities for schools
Learning NE without being known by students as they will ‘switch off’ their minds when the hear NE
Teaching NE through different ways to catch their attention or rather to get their interest
Finally, not only learning NE but also how to apply them.


I had learnt much from this symposium with the NE taskforce. It has enlightened me the importance and allows me to know more about what National Education means to us. As a Singaporean, had learnt to have pride for my country no matter where I go. Therefore, I concluded that it had gained much experiences and knowledge of what NE is.

NE with a twist

Students from secondary schools in Singapore are taking part in N.E.mation. You can view their animation clips over at the site! Cool stuffs, indeed!

NE.mation is now linked to the website on the left! Go ahead and check it out!

Total Defence Day

On 15 February 2007, the school commemorated Total Defence Day. Cadets from the Uniformed Groups namely the NCC, NPCC, Red Cross and Girl Guides participated in a simple but meaningful ceremony. Teacher officers as well as reservists teachers were also part of the contingents. It was really ONE@Hua Yi at its best!!!

On the same day, an In-Place Protection Exercise was conducted. It was a great learning experience for everyone.

After the IPP Exercise, there was a student forum which discussed on the topic 'Preparedness is...' . Students from various levels as well as teachers and even the Operations Manager participated in this forum.