Boarders Supper & Drum Jam

Yesterday, Mr Su and I organised one of our regular suppers for the boarders under our charge.

We also had a small surprise for everyone. With the help of Harri and Kim Hwe from the band, we started a simple drum groove going as the boarders came in for supper:


Harri and Hwe (both drummers in the band) helped me by establishing simple bass lines for the rest to follow and we began by establishing simple patterns and echoes:


As more and more boys started to stream in, the rhythm settled into its own groove and I got out of the way to let them explore the beat while I met with other boarders to sign some administrative forms for the coming heath check


With more students coming in, I got those without instruments to engage in clapping (we keep the drums minimal for this session and had mostly hand percussions cos it was at night and we wanted to keep the volume under control) Once the clappers had joined in, the groove was quite mature and I begin a series of call and responses with them:


In the end, between we were able to keep a steady beat going which had some spontaneous variations arising on their own:


Having students from different countries coming together in hostel and creating a common beat and enjoying fellowship over supper was a great experience. It could not have occured at a better time because today we celebrate Racial Harmony Day in school. So Victorians, let us keep this unite together in our common bonds of friendship and share the spirit with everyone!

Singapore wins IODA Asian Championships

Singapore won the Overall Best Nation as well as secured the 1st Place.

Victoria School's Ryan Lo has done our school and nation proud by being one of the team members
Below is an excerpt from  Ryan's mum on the performance of our Singapore sailors

"It was indeed a great performance by our Singapore team. The first achievement was the silver medal for team racing (which comprises of 4 team members of which Ryan was one of them) and the whole competition ended with Kimberley winning it and having 5 of our sailors all in the top 10 positions. There were 103 sailors from Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Slovenia, Papua New Guinea, Qatar and Iran.

Ryan came in 9th and was the 4th best Singaporean with Edward our fellow Victorian coming in 14th. We also won the best trophy nation as we had the best score of 4 top sailors.
The Singapore-Thailand finals started just after 12noon in a light breeze and moderate current. Thai parents gathered at the viewing platform with telescopes and the beach support staff lined the beach. I sat alone armed with a canon zoom-lens that couldn’t zoom too far. But I still managed to capture some shots and here they are. To summarize the finals, Singapore won the first race with a 1,2,4 with Ryan doing a great job behind holding back two Thai boats. The second and third race saw the Singapore Team having a weak start and letting the Thais secure the 1,2,3 by the top windward mark. Their 4th man did the same as what Ryan in the early race and despite Kimberly breaking through in the last race, she could not catch the 3rd boat in time before the finish line."

"The best thing that martial arts gives is Heart, but it's the hardest thing to teach"

Five competitors train to fight against their toughest rivals as they struggle to become the next National Karate Kid Champion.

"The best thing that martial arts gives is Heart, but it's the hardest thing to teach"

"Shout"- Tears for Fears

"Shout, shout let it all out- these are the things I could do without
C'mon, I'm talking to you, c'mon"

"In violent times, you shouldn't have to sell your soul
In black and white, they really, really ought to know.
Those one track minds, they took you for a working boy
Kiss them goodbye, you shouldn't have to jump for joy"

Father and Daughter

VS Track & Field Championship- Rain out but

VS had our Track & Field Championships yesterday but we were rainned out!
The worst part were the primary school boys that had come for the invitational rally races, they had come early to warm-up and were eagerly ananticipating their races but the inclement weather had to disappoint them

Neverthe less, all was not lost...