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.Monday, April 30, 2007 ' 3:04 PM

it's not good at all to see self but not your face

I admit, I've been kinda wary when it comes to blogging, the feeling of pouring out my thoughts is always different, and one example of why I should be afraid can be shown in today's Newpaper headlines.

Anyway, I noticed that our juniors has been digressing since our batch left the main leadership positions and the school events just aren't what they used to be, be it in terms of school spirit, atmosphere, etc. I simply cannot condone their failures in attaining the standards that we have left behind for them to reach. Let me provide some case studies.

Case Study 1: Aphelion Night

It ended so damn quick, I had barely warmed up to the atmosphere. The whole Sec 2 level plus 3 out of 4 of the Sec 1 classes didn't perform, and only 2 Sec 3 classes perform. What the hell is wrong? Even if they start singing "Man Jiang Hong" (Whole Valley Red) in a nationalistic and even cheena tone, I will also appreciate the effort (that few grams of it). It speaks volumes about their ability to balance their social lives and academics. The whole Sec 4 batch gave excellent performances (perhaps 4A looked a bit shabby on stage) but at least, at least, we came up with original performances.

We had to devise our own entertainment, like going for night tours and criticizing the OT for screwing up possibly the best event that Aphelion has, apart from SMOPS, which also failed this year, sadly.

Case Study 2: SMOPS' 07

This is the EMB message posted by Miss Tong, the OS of SMOPS.

Dear all,

The Singapore Mathematical Olympaid for Primary Schools (SMOPS) was held on 21 Apr 2007 and had attracted over 3300 participants. It was a success with the recognizable contribution of:

Remus Tan who demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities as OS

Timothy Sng who capably fulfilled his responsibilities as AOS

Cai Yong and his dynamic dismissal team

Caleb and his impressive Registrars

Timothy Yong and his Logistics macho-men

Yang Yang and his vigilant Invigilators

Shuan Sng, Edwin Liang and the team of Refreshment energizers

Wei Ming and his leading Ushers

Jiawei, the former OS who models faithful service and encouraging support

Sec 4 Block ICs who provided remarkable supervision

Jeremy Chen and Samuel Huang who rendered their technical expertise with good grace

All Aphelion gentlemen who have helped to run this mega-school event
competently

NCC officers who assisted in controlling the traffic flow efficiently

ProEd students who rendered their assistance professionally

All students who conscientiously prepared the classrooms for the competition

And all unsung heros who had supported in one way or another.

A heartfelt THANKS to all who had risen to the occasion!

Sharing the success with you,
Ms Tong
OS (SMOPS)"

Come off it, I don't challenge Miss Tong's words, but looking at the people, I can question them, and vehemently deny that they have done a good job. Yes, they have put in effort, but whether it was a success, we can continue to wonder. For me, I can say that the invilgilation and logs department are screw-ups.

The inter commitee bonds is so low, they don't even know how another commitee is helping them. Yang Yang can call me to tell about mistakes in the paper that I reported, the Logs need to wait for me to ask for every single thing before giving it to me, making me seem like a crochety naggy old man, and the Refreshments can forget about giving the Block I/Cs food on prep day. And I don't call walking around on actual day "faithful service".

I am still angry that Wee Kian was left out of higher leadership posts. Yes, he never held an I/C post nor Admin post before, but he rises to the occasion, and gets the job done well. He also holds 1 year worth of experience that you can only just think about, but never have.

Just go reflect, and give me something to be proud of the 8th Aphelion Council.

Case Study 3: Lack of good council intiatives.

This is one of the useless council iniatives to involve the student body.

"Hey Guys!
The National Cheerleading Competition is back again, promising greater action and scale this year! A major event in the cheerleading calendar and supported by Singapore Sports Council for sports promotion, this is the 7th year Cheerobics is being held. Formerly organized by Nanyang Technological University Cultural Activities Club (NTU CAC), this is the first time Cheerobics is organized by the Cheerleading Association (Singapore).

Following the success of the open category held on March 24th, the secondary category heats will be held on 24th June, with the top three teams going on to compete for the top three positions at the National Indoor Stadium in conjunction with the Singapore Youth Festivals Celebrations on 29th June.

This year, besides the usual team category, secondary school cheerleading team can also take part in brand new group category. The group category consists of 3 – 5 members performing a 45 seconds – 1 minute stunts-only routine.

The prizes are as follows:

Team Category – Champion Champion Trophy + S$1,000 cash + Individual Medals + Challenge Trophy
Team Category – 1st Runner-up 1st Runner-up Trophy + S$600 cash + Individual Medals Team Category – 2nd Runner-up2nd Runner up Trophy + S$400 cash + Individual Medals Group Category – ChampionChampion Trophy + S$400 cash + Individual Medals
Group Category – 1st Runner-up1st Runner-up Trophy + S$300 cash + Individual Medals Group Category – 2nd Runner-up2nd Runner up Trophy + S$200 cash + Individual Medals

Registration closes on 13th May 2007. Do refer to the attached file should you want to find out more!
Form a group, appoint a group leader and sign up by clicking 'A' and typing in the names of your group members now! "

Very good joke, HSC, but I'm so sorry, haven't you noticed that we are an all-boys' school, or perhaps, everytime our dear president calls us dearly by "batchmates", he fails to see that we are not girls, or is confused with our gender orientation. Cheerleading, is a good sport, no doubt, but no girls, and the factor of having elegance is kinda lost.

So no thank you to your lame activities. And please, support Lijie's initiative to have a DOTA competition.

So are we digresssing? Judge for yourselves.