Sunday, April 15, 2007

For the VS WUSHU Team: Know yourselves, Sons of Victoria, Know yourselves

Last year in 2006, VS instituted the CCA leaders investiture as a combined investiture for all levels of student leaders. Every CCA was to design its own flag and insignia and all appointment holders: Captains, Vice-Captains, rank-holders, would be part invested in a ceremony where they were conferred their appointments.
As part of the ceremony, student leaders recited their pledge where they expressed their intentions to be role-models embodying the best of Victorian ideals.

I had the priviledge and honor of drafting that pledge:

Student Leaders’ Pledge

We hereby pledge that as Leaders,
We shall always be Gentlemen
who seek to do the right things
with integrity and compassion.

As Professionals, we will not be content with mediocrity
We will learn and strive to be the best in the classroom and on the field.
We seek to do the right things and to do things right.

As Sportsmen, we will constantly push our boundaries.
We will lose with pride and win with humility.
We will play the game of life and emerge Champions

As Victorian Leaders,
we hereby pledge to serve the school and our community in all that we do.
We will give the best of ourselves, in each and every moment of our lives.
We live neither in the past nor in the future but in the moment.
And our moment is is Now.
We will give of our best Now and always because we are Victorians
And Victorians are something more.


It was in composing this pledge and the preparation for the Student Leader's Investiture that led to the subsequent design of our VS WUSHU Team's Flag.


In designing this flag, I made a pun on the Chinese phrase "Wo Wu Wei Yang"-"I embody the Martial Values", replacing the Wei character for Magnificence with the Wei used in the Chinese spelling of Victoria School. I wanted the flag to be a reminder to all in the VS Wushu team that we, as a team, must be proud of our school and must in turn strive unceasingly to make our school proud of us.

In all that we do, in all that we are, we must seek to be more than mediocre and to make the best of ourselves. When you wear the the team t-shirt, know that you wear more than just a nice design. Look beyond the surface meaning of the pictures and see what lies beneath:


A young man, with arms extended, holding a halbred, stands against a patterned background of yellow, red and black (our school colours).
If you look carefully at the background, you'll see that it is the Chinese word for 'Light' guang
The young man holding the halbred with his arms stretched out, symbolises 'Protection' or 'Guarding', he represents the Chinese word bao.
This design is to remind you all whenever you wear the VS Wushu T-shirt, that you protect and guard the best that VS has to offer. You are the light that shines, that makes the school proud.
This design is also a tribute to my own 2 sifus, who to this day, are continually teaching me and giving me support by helping me train you. The 2 words for 'Light' and 'Protection' come from their names.

So boys, we talk of having 130 years of proud tradition in VS.
What is this tradition made of? What does it consist of? What do we preserve in our tradition.

You must be able to know in order for your tradition to be worth preserving. Otherwise, all our cheers, all our claims are just empty noise.

1 comment:

me said...

neil Brian...

SIR, WOW!
i was kinda wondering what the design meant. Amazing!
i really like it.

just dropping by. :)