Accidents and more accidents!

VS Boys, I've set 2 dislocated wrists this year already in VS- you boys are getting more and more accident prone. Please take care of yourselves and avoid putting yourself at unecessary risks like:
1) Playing football in the rain at the basket ball court
2) Pushing each other or trying to trip each other for 'fun'
3) Clowning around while travelling from VS to East Coast- especially at the underpass near the storm drain and crossing the pedestrain crossing.

For those in my PE Theory class, I've talked about how accidents happen even during highly regulated events in Track and Field. Remember we were talking about 2 reasons for having a 'scratch line' in the javelin throw- standardised measurement and safety.

So that's why we constantly emphasise safety to you all during PE. Look at this Javelin accident from You-Tube- "The incident occurred midway through the evening when Finnish thrower Tero Pitkamaki slipped at the end of his run-up, hurling the javelin out to the left of the landing area and spearing Sdiri in his right side as he crouched in the long jump warm-up section"

Sdiri's liver and spleen were pierced but he's expected to be ok.

If you guys feel that you need to test your agility and dexterity, then you you try doing what Chris Bliss does in this clip:


Here we see the two extremes of skillful perfection versus clumsy accidents happening to both professionals. So who would you wanna be boys?

National Schools Track and Field Finals

Yesterday marked the finals of the National Schools Track and Field Championships at Choa Chu Kang Stadium.

Despite our best efforts, 'C' Boys were not able to place in the top 3 for their division title but our 'B' Boys have managed to stay in the pack emerging 3rd in the 'B' Division.

Looking at the high spirits of the Red and Black shirts, it definitely showed that win or lose, the Victorian Spirit never dies.

To our honoured compeititors, we salute your achievements as you have really raised the bar of competition. We are inspired by you and will train harder to match ourselves with you next year.
Together, let us achieve greatness for ourselves, our school and nation.

Victoria Challenge 2007- Victoria, We Give to You

Well, after a gruelling 24 hours, we've all took stock of the work we had done. As you can see from the picture above, Sec 2A my form-class did quite well. Despite the constant mischeivousness of the boys and the frenzied nagging and scolding from Miss Lim and me, what started out as 'chicken scratches' eventually grew into the floor mural we had envisioned as a class.

Also, as Saturday is our Speech Day I had set myself a personal challenge to produce a new video compiling all the footage of themselves in action. It was with a great sigh of relief that I finished the final edit at about 6am. I left Windows Movie Maker to compile and publish the video and went off to pack up. To my horror, Windows Movie Maker crashed each time it attempted to compile the movie! Great! 24 hours of non-stop editing, filming down the drain because of Microsoft!

It was pure trouble shooting from then on: from reinstalling codecs, to finding conflicting programes to surfing forum support groups,- I was on the verge of really losing my composure. But through it all, I took support and heart from a group of boys that despite severe setbacks and failures, they continued to revise, revision and rework their Victorian Challenge such that they could deliver a project with pride (to Subra, Paul and gang- well done!)

We will not be overcome with defeat and we somewhere,some how, we will find a way.
So after an extended 'Victoria Challenge', I present to you the new, re-edited, re-compiled, new Xiao-Xiao Production Video "Our Very Best!"


Victoria We Give to You Our Very Best!

Victoria Challenge 2007- Projects

Here's a brief sneak peak at some of the projects for this year's Victoria Challenge:


Not forgeting my own form class, Sec 2A, which is attempting to do a chalk and sand mural on the walkway next to the Eco-pond.


Check this space later for more updates as well as 4F's Blog

Victoria Challenge 2007

Today, we kick start our Victoria Challenge- an event held once every 4years.
Started in July 1987, the Victoria Challenge aims to allow classes to identify task which will contribute tangibly to the school. This contribution can be either aesthetic or ‘atmospheric’. The Challenge is for classes to plan their task carefully and pledge to complete it within the time allocated. It is conducted once every 4 years and has always been regarded by students as a high in their student life in Victoria School. This year's theme is Victoria, We Give to You- inspired by a line from our School Song. It is our wish that we can give back to Victoria and to the community around us.

For information on Victoria Challenge through the years, see THE VICTORIA CHALLENGE website here

Also, since the fantastic pupils of Sec 4F will be doing a 24hr blog to cover the event, I won't attempt to undertake the daunting task of updating over 36 simultaneous projects at once. So I'll leave it in 4F's capable hands- you can see their blog at 4G Victoria Challenge 2007

Another note worthy, project is by Sec 4J, who in line with this being our 131st Anniversary, will be collecting 131kg of toys to donates to the Spastic Children's of Singapore. Check them out at Victoria We Give to You

More updates later in the day- but for the most current events, do check out Sec 4G's blog.

Inspiration for Victorian Challenge- Team Hoyt

Just as we are preparing for our Victorian Challenge, our boys are also taking part in the qualifiers for the National Schools Track and Field Championships, Sec 1 to Sec 3s are starting on the first legs of their NAPFA Fitness Test- so what do all this have in common?

Well, these activities all require us to have a CAN DO mind-set.
Take a look at TEAM HOYT, a Father and Son triathlon team
"Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.

It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk.

For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick. "
(Read more about TEAM HOYT here)
What WILL we do with our lives? What CAN we do with our lives?
Watch this video and see what 'CAN' really means:

As I watched this, I was touched and close to tears: how far are we willing to carry someone else? Boys, as we embark on our Victorian Challenge, let us ask ourselves what we CAN really do: for ourselves and others.
Nil Sine Labore

4th Asian Junior Wushu Championships

Our 2 Wushu exponents, Fung Jin Jie from 2C and Tan Xiang Ting from 1G, represented Singapore Wushu Youth Squad in the 4th Asian Junior Wushu Championships in Yeongju, Korea

Fung Jinjie managed to place 8th in 2 events: Changquan and Cudgel. Given the standard of the competition and the fact that it was an International event, this means that Jinjie is ranked in the Top 10 for his age group in Asia.
Tan Xiang Ting did Victoria and Singapore proud by clinching the only Gold for the Singapore Youth Team in his Spear event.

In your defeats, don't lose hope, boys; and in your success, always be humble.
And if we all keep working, I'm sure you and I will achieve more for Victoria.
Nil Sine Labore

Loo Yi Hao @ the IAAF World Youth Championships

Loo Yihao from 4F will be flying off to the Czech Republic tonight for a 2 week long stint to participate in the IAAF World Youth Championships.
Here will represent the Singapore Junior Athletic squad in 100m there.
I had a chance to have a brief chat with Yi Hao, before he left today.

I still remember when me and Miss Lim Inn Siew taught him in Sec 1. To think that in the blink of an eye, our quiet Sec 1 boy is now in Sec 4 and representing Singapore at such a prestigous meet!

What makes me really proud was that, despite being given such a glamourous opportunity, from the little interview that I had with him, it is apparent that what is most important on his mind is not his own individual performance; rather it is whether he can make it back in time to compete with fellow Victorian team-mates in the National Schools Track and Field's Championship.

Spoken with the heart and soul of a true Victorian- let us all send our best wishes to Yi Hao in his coming days. He will send pictures back to me of the days ahead and I'll update once I get news.