Meeting with Principal of my Alma Mater

Yesterday I was back at my alma mater for the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration as well as to hand in the online petition I helped to start to the principal. There was another guy accompanying me and I was grateful for his support. You know lah, Singaporeans are good at complaining but when it comes to making their statements official in front of people, constraints will start popping up. However, I understand the reasons behind the reluctance in showing up but I was still disappointed nonetheless.

In the end, the two of us ended up in a conference room facing the principal, chairperson of the school board, and the chairperson of the alumni association. They gave a considerable amount of explanations as to why the schools have to merged, why the choices of the school name for voting, why the need of having to use a single unique school name and removal of the current school crest, etc. It seemed so logical at that time but it is always the case of now and then. After we left the room and on our way home, we felt that we are still not entirely convinced, especially on the point on the removal of the crest.

Anyway, we agreed that all we want is for the best of the school and shall work together towards that goal in the future, not to cause any negative publicity for the school. Having said that, what more can I do? I really wish I can do that something extra to at least help fulfill part of the wish all alumni and students have...

30th Anniversary of Hwa Chong Junior College

Today is the 30th Anniversary of Hwa Chong Junior College. It is also the last celebration for the school before the school goes into history after merging with The Chinese High School next year. A big carnival was held this morning which lasted till late afternoon for alumni to return 'home' and join in the celebration with the current students. The school logo is not going to be used anymore so I got myself some mementoes with the logo on them. I wish I could have bought more but I am without income presently so I can afford just a fraction of the items on sale. By buying more also means I could have raised more development funds for the school.

New Name for Merged School

My alma maters The Chinese High School and Hwa Chong Junior College will merge into a single school next year. I attended the voting of thenew school name today but unfortunately, my choice had been out-voted. The new school will be known in English as Hwa Chong Institution while the Chinese name is 华侨中学 (Huá Qiáo Zhōng Xué), name of The Chinese High School. I find the Chinese name especially unsuitable as the merged school is no longer a secondary or middle school. It is more of a college. Hence I voted for the choice of a name reflecting it. Too bad my choice was not the choice of the majority. I am both very angry and sad right now and am mourning the loss of HCJC forever.