S.I.O.W: (S)o (I)n (O)ther (W)ords

We do not return to you, Victoria; because we never really left

2010-11-16T16:15:00.000+08:00

Today, VS Junior Leaders and Senior Leaders return from our 3rd Veloci-T Camp.
With the completion of this year's Veloci-T Camp, I have come full circle in VS and this marks the culmination of my service to Victoria School.
I have spent 7 1/2 years here and these have been the best years of my life.

In this time, I have taught them lessons in theory indoors and camped with them to experience life's lessons outdoors.

We have trained together, hiked together, sung together, kayaked from East Coast to Changi, cooked dinner together over open fires, shot each other during Night Missions and even drummed together during the YOG.

Having spent the past years in VS is the best thing that has happened to me and choosing to leave was the hardest decision that I've made in my life.

This last Veloci-T camp has been a great way to say good bye to all students and colleagues. I was pleasantly surprise when some of the boys from our Emperor Tribe wrote a farewell song for me during campfire. Luckily, you all never make me cry :P

Next year, I will take on my new post heading the National Education Branch in MOE HQ.

It is a new post with new challenges but I know that the years spent in VS have given me the strength to forge ahead. It is a new experience with completely new challenges and a new environment but in the words of Robert Frost:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

and sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

and looked down one as far as I could

to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

and having perhaps the better claim

because it was grassy and wanted wear;

though as for that, the passing there

had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

in leaves no feet had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --

I took the one less travelled by,

and that has made all the difference

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To all Victorians: past, present and future, take care
Always remember that even when we leave Victoria,
Victoria lives in us.

Nil Sine Labore

Prelude to Veloci-T

2010-11-11T23:46:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow we begin Veloci-T 2010 "Legacy"
Veloci-T stands for Victoria Enhanced Leadership and Outdoor Camp Instructors Training.
It's the fusion of the Camp Instructors Course conducted by the PE Dept and the Student Leadership Course conducted by the Pupil Development Dept.

Through the year's, we've constantly sought to refine the camp and with Veloci-T in its third year as a unified training program, we've incorporated several changes. Last year, we introduced the Kouze and Posner, Leadership Challenge as a framework on which to base our training activities.
This year we have further refined the modules to bring out these themes.

We also brought back the coastal navigation element where the boys kayaked and rafted from East Coast to Changi Coast Adventure Campsite.

Today, we prepped for the camp by begining the intial phase by transporting the kayaks and rafts to VS to prepare for tomorrows event.

Many thanks to our partners and stakeholders from Griffin Kinetic Logistcs who generously supported us with their transport services to enable us to achieve this massive endeavour of 30 double kayaks, 2 dinghys, as well as the paddles and life vests.

Thanks to Mr Salleh from Griffin Kinetic for his patience and help.

Here's how we got it done:

This being my last year with VS, I'm sure the next few days will be a time to cherish and remember.

VS Class of 2010- Sec 4 Graduation

2010-10-08T22:28:00.000+08:00

Today marks the graduation for the VS Class of 2010

Let's see some interesting characters who have followed me through my years here!

Here's Fadzly, Kwek Daniel and Jinjie, whom I've taught since Sec 2

What are we pointing to? We're pointing to the blank spots on the honor rolls in hopes that one day their names will be there. Jin jie was VS first Wushu DSA candidate and he has grown from a small skinny boy...

But look at him now, look at all of them now.

All grown to men.
They took a bit longer than some of their peers but the time was well spent. No regrets, man; no regrets.

Of course, close to my heart are the wushu boys.
Here we have Ryan Goh, the Captain of the team who has learnt the most that I have to teach- Lion Dance, Wushu, Sparring, Balintawak...

You are a champion indeed Ryan.

Next is Tan Yuda, our dependable Vice-Captain, who complements us in all we do.
When Ryan is the Lion-Head, Yuda is the tail. When we spar, Yu Da is the ideal practice partner to match my size, when we do Wushu, he's always the dependable last member-- may not get so much glory, but without him, we couldn't pull it off too. (Imagine Lion Dance got no backside...)

Then we have Saw Eh Tha Khu and Kong Wei Chung:

Saw overcame the barriers in language to learn Sanshou from my own teacher and to gain a resounding win for VS in the SNWF Wushu Invitational Sanshou Free-sparring event. Proving that VS Wushu boys are not just about pretty moves and to top that, he's one of our top students!
Next to him is the one and only Mr Kong Wei Chung, our Malaysian scholar-who is the first overseas scholar in the VS Wushu team.
All members in the VS Wushu team unanimously agree that Weichung's roar can be heard all the way from Siglap to JB, some say KL even.
Next to WeiChung is Adrian Tan Jian Yang, one of the most outstanding NCC Cadets VS has ever produced.

Then we have Jin ZhenYu, who though academically weaker, has worked hard to receive the PSG Most Outstanding Improvement Award.

Keep it up, Mr Jin--- you'll be a global leader one day :)

And who can forget the scholars... it took me 7 years to have a daughter of my own cos all my time is taken up by these energtic 'sons' of mine!

First off, our neighrbourly Malyasians:

Malaysia BOLEH!

Then we have the silent, quiet but ever polite and diligent Vietnamese:

Also, the Mafia Wars gang from Bangkok, the Thai scholars:

And who can forget our Serious PE class of 2010

"Eng Lek, stop staring at your crotch"

Last but not least our various student leaders:
Ben and Laksman

The one and only Barry

The rest of the gang from 'The Climb'

As Mr Low our principal rightly put it today- a gift only has meaning when it takes on a life of its own.
Thank you boys for the gift of the best years of my life and in return it is a fitting final for us to give back. Every year, graduating Victorians pen down their thoughts in the Voices of Victoria journal, but this being my final year with VS I decided to collaborate with our Senior leaders and do a 'live' Voices of Victoria:

"The Climb"- Senior Leaders, Class of 2010

2010-10-07T19:37:00.000+08:00

"The Climb"- Senior Leaders, Class of 2010

A good way for us to say our goodbyes.....

Capoeira for Sec 1F PE

2010-10-07T19:35:00.001+08:00

As part of our partnership with Argola de Our, the first Brazilian Capoeira school in Singapore, VS was able to incorporate capoeira into our PE lessons for 6 sessions to provide our boys with some exposure to a new culture that fused dance, martial arts and song all together.

Here, we see the boys putting what they've learnt into the roda- the game:

Here we see U-wen and Sherman battling it out in the Roda.

As the sessions progress, the boys are able to string together more complex moves:

Although, the boys only had a few sessions and could only accomplish some of the more basic moves but they learnt to take on different roles and utilise whole body movements to gain agility and co-ordination.

I'm sure this new found agility helped during our last PE lesson when the boys went back to soccer!

Victoria School Wushu Team featured on CCTV

2010-09-30T09:36:00.001+08:00

In preparation for the Asian Games in Guangzhou later this year, CCTV has been sending its roving news teams to film interstitials on the development of sport and PE in various Asian countries.

The VS Wushu Team was fortunate to have been chosen to showcase the development of wushu amongst students in Singapore.
Enjoy!

Keep the flame burning boys and fight for your future!

Life & Death

2010-08-31T00:10:00.000+08:00

Take nothing for granted
Live life to the fullest in order to leave life with no regret.
Who we are today was planted in the seeds of yesterday
What we become tomorrow is built on the deeds done in the moments between 'now' and 'then'

When the race is run, when our deeds are done, when we lay down to rest;
Let our stories be told:
with tears and laughter and with fondness and sadness
and in the telling of our lives, we touch eternity.

Visit by YOG Zimbabwe Delegation to Victoria School

2010-08-24T17:34:00.000+08:00

Today, Victoria School was graced by the visit of the Zimbabwean YOG delegation.
Upon arrival, they were warmly welcomed by the Kompang players made up of students from the Regional Studies Program.

Next, Mr Low our Principal brought them into the Heritage Room to welcome them and give them an introduction of Victoria School's History

Zimbabwe's Chief de Mission, Mdm Busi Chindove also signed our guest book in the Heritage Room:

After that, the delegation was brought on a tour around the school and they had a chance to participate in a Biology practical session in the lab conducted by Mr Gabriel Pallai:
The objective of the lesson was to see how learning takes place through repetition and students were given a diagram to trace while looking at the arm movements reflected in a mirror:

After the Bio practical session, we had the assistance of Mr Amir to introduce our guest to a floorball- a sport that is gaining popularity in Singaporean schools. Here we see Mr Amir dazzling the crowd with his amazing stick work.

Mr Amir gave a brief introduction of the game:

After the brief intro, our Zimbabwean guests took to the court to try their hand at taking some shots at goal.

Mr Amir then proceeded to referee a short game for them:

After a robust game of floorball, we all met up in the Learning Studios for some light refreshments and exchange of gifts. We appreciated the kind gesture of thanks given by our guests who shared with us their appreciation in English, Ndebele and Shona:

Chief de Mission, Mdm Busi Chindove extended her warm invitation to all Victorians to visit them back in Zimbabwe and celebrated the start of a new friendship between our 2 countries:

It was a memorable experience and we also managed to take pictures with 2 of the Soccer players from Zimbabwe who were from Prince Edward High School.

Tapiwa Chikaka and Edward Mwanza are students from Prince Edward High School which is the Zimbabwean school that was twinned with Victoria School. Although Prince Edwards was not able to send a student delegation to Singapore for the YOG; nevertheless we were able to share a moment of friendship with their students through Tapiwa and Edward as they were part of the Zimbabwean soccer team.

We hope and believe that this is the start of a new and last relationship between Singapore and Zimbabwe; as well as for Victoria School and Prince Edward School.

Hostel National Day Dinner (and more drumming!!!!)

2010-08-23T10:13:00.000+08:00

Last Friday, Victoria Hall celebrated a belated National Day for Singapore for all our boarders by hosting a NE-themed dinner.

Boarders were asked to come in to join us for a dinner featuring local cuisine like Laksa, Dim Sum, and Satay.
There were NE quizzes, Chap-teh competition and most of all, more drumming!!

Hot on our heels from the Olympic Village, we figured that what we can do at the Olympic Village to bring the community together there, can be done in the microcosm of VS. So here we have our own Victoria Hall drum circle-- featuring Principal, Mr Low Eng Teong!

Dr Ng Eng Hen @ VS-Zimbabwe Booth in the Olympic Village

2010-08-22T20:56:00.002+08:00

Youth Olympic Games- Hosting the Zimbabwean Cultural Booth at the Olympic Village

2010-08-20T14:31:00.001+08:00

Over the duration of the Youth Olympic Games, different dates were set aside in the Games Village to showcase the life and culture of the various countries from all the different continents. From the 17-19 Aug, the Games Village showcased the various countries in the African continent. From 17-19 Aug 2010, Victoria School hosted the Zimbabwean booth at the Youth Olympic Village.

We set up the booth to share with athletes and visitors more about Zimbabwean life and culture. At our booth, we taught visitors to say simple greetings in the Shona language, engaged our visitors in simple activities.
Here we see Miss Shyamira getting finer points in Shona pronounciation from visiting Zimbawean athletes at our booth.

At our booth, we also had hands-on activity where we introduced African drumming to our visitors with drums like the Djembes and Congas. Here are some Track & Field athletes from Romania learning some basic hand drumming techniques and telling us abit more about themselves:

All the schools involved really pulled out all the stops to make this a happening event. Our hands-on drumming circle proved to be a great hit and generated alot of crowd interest such that I was hardly able to leave our booth during peak hours (more on that later). But in the lull moments, I tried my best to capture the other performances and activities that were taking place.

Here, a few booths down from us was the Tunisian booth hosted by Swiss Cottage Sec, which who brought down their dance troupe to enchant the audience:

Throughout the day, there were also lots of activities for visitors and guests to try out. One of my favourites (and the VS boys too) was the circus arts group that came to let our boys try their hands at twirling, juggling, plate balancing, diablo whirling:

Where Victoria captured the hearts of the visitors was in our ability to engage with them through our walk-in, hands-on drum circle. Right outside our booth, we had laid out some African drums which me and the boys took turns to lead and facilitate rhythm structures for the crowd to join in.
In previous posts, I mentioned how VS had conceived of this idea and prepared for this by sending me for a Drum Circle Facilitation course in Jun. The idea was use traditional african rhythms as a platform for visitors to engage in musical dialogue with each other.

We were most pleased whenever we saw members of Team Singapore drop by! With many present and old Victorians doing us and the nation proud by presenting the country in their respective sports, the VS booth soon became a gathering point for them to touch base with friends, teachers, juniors alike. Here are some Team Singapore Soccer players with us jamming away.

I loved the way we infused the African rhythms with a touch of beats the 'Jalan Besar Stadium' :)

Later on in the day, Team Singapore's Handball players came by. One of their players, Clement Choong, is a Victorian who graduated last year in the first batch of students taking GCE PE. Their solid drumming and team-work caught the attention of Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister of Education, who was touring the booths on that day.

Soon the beats and vibrancy of the drumming started to catch the attention of athletes whose own cultural heritage had infused them with a strong sense of rhythm. This soon led to opportunities for rhythmic dialogue across various cultures. In this session, the Brazilian athletes had infused a strong samba flavour mixed with strong pounding bass lines from the Argentinians:

For others, they just took this as an opportunity to jam with each other and have some fun. Here we have the Egypt team, who just came by and asked "Hey, give us 5 mins and we show you some of our music" So I said "OK." And they proceeded to rock:

The beauty of the drum circle concept is that it allows people from different walks of life to gather together and achieve a common understanding through rhythm. And the secret to this is in being musically trained, the secret to each sessions success is the ability for us to listen to each other and try and engage in meaningful dialogue with each other using a spontaneous rhythmical language which transcends the limits of speech. Here we see the boys from Montenegro gather with us to talk about their upcoming football match and just jam with us. In this clip, we can see that we are all trying to sense each other's rhythms and timing and learning to find a common way to play with each other:

However, we were not the only group to move the crowd with our groove. During the afternoons, a shrill whistle would pierce the air and the Stompers from Punggol Sec who were hosting Swaziland who take their turn.
Using trash cans, bins and other recycled materials, they took their inspiration from the performance group STOMP to churn out some awesome beats. Where VS african drum circle was free-flowing and spontaneous, Punggol's Swaziland Stompers were precise and spot-on with their sharp stop cuts, timing changes and sheer energy!

When our boys saw them, we were awestruck. In fact we felt a bit intimidated that we would be performing and playing next to such a tight group. But the true Olympic spirit shone true. Each time our groups passed each other, we would wave and nod. At first we were quite shy...ha ha. But each time they perform, some of our boys would go and watch; then when we perform, they would come over. Then suddenly the magic words were spoken- "Er... Excuse me, can we join in?"
And then what followed was magic:

2 groups of boys from different schools and different back grounds meeting together to find a common understanding. As hosts for visiting athletes from different nations, I believe that the example we set is crucial to showing our committment to Excellence, Friendship and Respect. It was truly a proud moment for the teachers from both schools when we saw our boys spontaneously develop friendship and respect for each other and unite to give a great drumming performance without any prior rehearsal. On Thu 19th Aug, which was our last day at the village, the alchemy achieved by our 2 schools had attracted members from other booths which had brought along their own percussion instruments.

So at 5pm, we faciliated a massive jam for all the student percussionists involved in the village booth presentations. I tried to facilitate the session by assigning parts and show casing different sections of the circle.
The chemistry was so tight by now that I could insert calls and responses with no problems as well as vary and improvise the rhythms by introducing accent beats and ended with a superb stop-cut.

At the end of the day, that what Olypism is about.
Sharing and giving of ourselves. When the crowd had dispersed, the VS boys and the boys from Punggol sat down together to try out our african drums; we on the other hand we so impressed with their self-made instruments. The boys explained to me how they used ballon sticks as drum sticks, how to drill holes in the trash bins to attach drum skins and tuning lugs.

Seeing them seated with each other, learning from each other made the effort and exhaustion of thse 3 days all worth it.

Each and everytime I undertake student projects for the school, I'm always reminded that it is through events like this that Victorians come through and truly make ourselves something more- Empowering ourselves and others in the process.

I am glad that in my time in VS I have had so much opportunity to discover myself and growth together with the students. I have given you all my best and gotten so much more in return.
Wherever we are, wherever we go, may we carry Victoria's fame and our intent to keep her flag unfurled.

YOG Soccer: Singapore vs Zimbabwe @ Jalan Besar Stadium

2010-08-14T13:19:00.000+08:00

Friday night was a memorable occasion for all Victorians. For our inaugural YOG in Singapore, Victoria School had been paired with Zimbabwe as their hosts in Singapore.

Through the support of generous donors, alumni and other well-wishers, Victoria School managed to get tickets for the ENTIRE school population to watch yesterday's soccer match where Singapore played Zimbabwe. The match was all the more significant because it brought Victorians back to our old campus in Jalan Besar (Tyrwhitt Road)

For such a large outing, we wanted to make sure that Victorians upheld themselves well and since the majority of students had to take public transport there, we wanted them to be safe in their walk to and fro from the stations. So with typical characteristics of Victoria School, we see our Red Shirts and Black Shirts in action stationed along the way to the stadium:

As our boys filled into the stadium, we could feel a strong sense of both national and school pride. Seeing the entire school fill the upper grandstand to support our Singapore team, captained by Jeffery Adamn Lightfoot, our very own Sec 3 Victorian, gave all of us a burst of pride and exhiliration in anticipation of the game to come.

In our distinctive 'bumble-bee' PE attire and our clappers, we definitely rocked the stadium:

As the national anthem was played, the boys sang so much louder then they did during morning assembly.

Anticipation was high and spirits were roused as Zimbabwe had laid down a hefty challenge in their pre-match press interviews.

When the match started, Singapore surpised everyone with a quick and decisive early goal

The cheers of jubilation rocked the very foundations of the stadium.
We quickly followed it by a second goal and by the end of the first half, Singapore, led the game 3-0.

As we watched our nation deliver success beyond expectations, focus was also on Jeffery our own Victorian hero. Media coverage for the YOG committee was so impressed with the show of support of VS for Jeffery that that wanted to interview his classmates to see what truly makes a Victorian something more:

Baik lah, Jeffery!!
We are so proud of you.

At the close of the first half, Zimbabwe was awarded a penalty and managed to bring the score to 3-1

However, it was clear that Singapore had dominated the night's game and
in the 2nd half we mainted the 3-1 score to win the game.

What was apparent was the way in which the boys from both teams hugged and clasped each other when the game was over. Despite the hard fought game and heavy expectations on both sides, everyone truly enjoyed the experience of a well fought match that brought out the best in everone.

Next week, VS hosts the Zimbabwe cultural booth at the YOV. More updates then!

YOG Torch Relay- Cheering the Torch!

2010-08-08T17:21:00.000+08:00

Today has been an eventful day, having started at 8.00am when our VS Wushu Team went down to Kallang CC to perform for the National Day Observance ceremony.

At 2pm, we brought our drums and instruments down to the junction of Siglap Road and Marine Parade Road to cheer the YOG torch as it passed by from St Patricks to ITE.

The ASEAN scholars had practiced with me some drumming as we are twinning with Zimbabwe during the games period. So we brought our tribal rhythms down to the road and infused it with the unqiue VS Spirit!

We were very well received by the various contingents and delegates as they went by in the buses. The waves, smiles and cheers were just fantastic. Even the general public in their various modes of transport stopped to take pictures of us :)

Best of all, was when the we found out that the torch was approaching, carried by our Head Prefect, Surya-- it was then that we pumped up the volume and all gathered together to cheer with pride for VS and for the nation!

More to come when I update this blog with further YOG events that we are involved in!

VS Wushu Performance @ Kallang CC

2010-08-08T17:05:00.001+08:00

Today, the VS Wushu Team was honoured to be invited to perform as part of the National Day Observance Ceremony.The occasion was graced by our guest of Honour was Dr Lee Boon Yang.

So here's a clip of the VS Wushu Team in action:
First up was a slow event with Samuel Tan from 2B doing his Free-style Taiji:

Samuel has really improved from all his hard work and training and I'm sure he will do well as he moves into Sec 3 next year.

After Samuel's graceful Taiji, we had the entire gang of fast moving Chanquan and Nanquan athletes come up to dazzle the crowd.
First, we had Lee Jing Wei performing his Spear.
Jingwei reccently returned from an invitational competition to Beijing representing the Singapore Wushu Youth Team and garnered 2 Silvers!

Next was Hui Dhar who just joined wushu last year. Hui Dhar had no prior wushu experience and has just finished learning his Changquan routine. Despite this, his hardwork and diligence is seeing him improve day by day, bit by bit.

After that was Bernie Ang, who did his Sabre. Bernie was plagued by a series of injuries last year and we saw little of him but this year he's made a fantastic comeback, representing the school in 3 individual events. He's also more seasoned in competition and performance.

Then we have our 3 Macho men- Wei Chung, Darren and Jec.
All performing free-style variations of Nanquan and cudgel.
I must say with the 3 of you, the 'Yang' energy in the team has certainly gone up! You are the future boys, my hopes rest in you.

So enjoy the following clip:

Old School with New School twist

2010-08-07T20:35:00.000+08:00

Last year, during the weeks when I was preparing for submission of the GCE PE Coursework, I spent the weekend stuck in the PE Dept compiling video footage of coursework, printing labels, cutting DVD, etc.

Lucky this year got Miss Sheikha helping to do the documentation of marks and coursework logs.

But it's crunch time again, so gonna be stuck here again compiling video, printing labels, cutting DVD, etc.

What do you do when your weekend burn and you need to lift your spirits?

Well, for me it's loud old school rock :P
So here's some old school rock with a new school twist

Boarders Supper & Drum Jam

2010-07-23T10:22:00.005+08:00

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

2010-07-11T12:08:00.001+08:00

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"

2010-07-07T11:41:00.000+08:00

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

2010-07-07T11:08:00.001+08:00

"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

2010-07-04T13:12:00.000+08:00

VS Track & Field Championship- Rain out but

2010-07-03T19:56:00.000+08:00

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...

Crossfit Games

2010-06-30T13:13:00.001+08:00

Think skipping and juggling balls to raise funds for milo is tough?

Check this out:

Milo Challenge!

2010-06-28T13:38:00.000+08:00

Today is first day back at school.

Milo Singapore has agreed to sponsor a milo gift package for needy students for every 100 skips and 3 soccer ball juggles :P

So today, during PE, Sec 1F began with to see how much we could do to raise funds for our need students

Nerf Mission Zone

2010-06-27T20:36:00.001+08:00

This being the last day of the holidays, I decided to make the best use of my time and recharge. So big boys play with big toys
I signed up for the Nerf Mission Zone challenge at Plaza Singapura -supposed to go with Red Shirts but you boys pang seh me and never show up:(
The site was set up with the large playing zone and a host of new nerf products

Can see more details on the site set up at SG NERF

Basically, players go in pairs into an obstacle course filled with assorted targets You are given 7 mins to shoot down various targets using a variety of Nerf guns. Top 5 scorers each day go on to the finals

Here we see one pair of players going through the last station:

Well, how did I fare?
I did my course in 3min 23sec and score 1100 pts to place squeeze in the 5th position for top 5 for the day! Woohoo

Unfortunately, after taking some time to shop at Plaza Sing, by the time I got back to the leaderboard, I had been edged out by some kid with 1110 pts.
*sigh* relegated.

But man, it was good fun!
Now I have to figure a way to hide the new CS-6 Clear Deploy Blaster I bought there from the wife..... sssshhhh.

Ah, I know... I will say it is for baby....

Hard to say no...

2010-06-22T20:13:00.000+08:00

Drum Circle Facilitation

2010-06-20T15:17:00.000+08:00

As part of our preparations for YOG, I attended a drum circle facilitation course conducted by Arthur Hull (held at Kallange CC in conjunction with One Heart Beat and the Asian Trainers Bureau)

So on Sat, after all the facilitators graduated, we had a huge drum circle at Boon Keng MRT station.

This is my first public facilitation of a drum circle:

I'm 1 month old!

2010-06-16T07:37:00.000+08:00

How to tire your baby after feeding so that she falls asleep...

2010-06-11T00:34:00.000+08:00

Who's your Daddy, girl?

2010-06-08T21:47:00.000+08:00

VS Wushu Team Holiday Training

2010-06-06T20:34:00.000+08:00

VS Wushu Holiday training

Liquid Mountaineering

2010-06-03T22:29:00.002+08:00

Swee Char Bor

2010-05-23T18:24:00.003+08:00

What does a Baby do after her 2nd bottle of Heineken?

2010-05-21T20:20:00.000+08:00

Siow's little hiccuping machine..

Pepsi 2010

2010-05-20T09:25:00.002+08:00

I want to ride my bicycle

2010-05-20T09:21:00.002+08:00

Labour of Love

2010-05-19T12:17:00.003+08:00

What do expectant fathers do while expectant mothers rest and prepare for delivery?

Yup, we keep our hands busy!

Sleep tight, baby!

See the resemblance?

2010-05-13T11:38:00.001+08:00

Nothing without Labour

2010-05-12T23:24:00.003+08:00

Although there were initially No Signs of Labour, my wife has started her first series of contractions. Bearing in mind that there is Nothing Without Labour- I'm now prepared to take the step to be something more- I gonna be a father :P

Baby Grace was born at 6.16pm, 3.5kg 50cm
Mother and Daughter all doing well

Corporate Retraining

2010-05-11T18:31:00.000+08:00

Community Drumming @ Kallang CC

2010-05-09T14:53:00.002+08:00

In preparation for YOG, various teachers from the PE Dept and other departments have been working with students and other school partners to come up with a good way to represent and promote our twinned country, Zimbawe.

During the YOG season, VS will partner the athletes from Zimbawe and lend them the indomitable spirit and support from our might VS cheering contingents of Red and Black Shirt student leaders! We're also setting up a cultural booth at NIE to celebrate and showcase the rich cultural diversity of African nations, particularly our new friends from Zimbawe.

African drumming has a strong presence in the world music scene and Zimbawean drumming also has its own distinctive style. I once joined in a drum circle during our VS Arts DAy and after doing some research on the web, I found out that Kallang Community Club had a drum circle that met on Saturdays. This would be a good point to start learning about drumming in general and see if there were any way we good get insights into African drumming.

I touched based with their Chairman, Miss Soh and was generously invited to join them on Sat. In my mid-30s, I make a conscious effort to still stay relevant and 'cool' so that I can still connect with the young people but the one thing I realise is that most 'cool' activities are very niche- they don't appeal to everyone.
For example, check out the paintball excursions in my previous posts- I love it but even some of my more outdoor friends don't go for it cos they don;t like to get bruised; then scuba diving- again, not everyone wants to go for it.
But when I stepped in to the drum studio on Sat at Kallang.... it was the coolest thing I've seen that is so inclusive. Take a look at the following clip and see what I mean:

Most of these participants have no music background, but sounds good, right? Best of all you got housewifes, elderly, kids, working professionals- all playing together! I bet you're hard pressed to find another way to engage such a diverse group of people at the same time.

During my conversation with the lovely people from the Kallang CC Drum Circle, they've kindly agreed to work with our students and support us in our cultural presentaion for YOG. This means that our booth will be able to provide a interactive hands-ons experience for visitors by allow us to engage them in a communal drumming activity where we can showcase African rhythms.

As we left, my wife made an observation- she said "Look at the senior citizens- they're happy and engaged!" And it's true- most of the time when we plan activities for senior citizens or are engaged with them, I realise we subconsciously relegate them to passive spectators- we put on a show, give them some gifts, shake their hands and then send them on their way. But standing there watching the intensity and feeling the pulse of the group, I felt a strong sense of purpose in everyone there.
And this I believe is the Olympic spirit!

Joo Chia Youth Cycleabout and Racial Harmony Walk

2010-05-09T13:11:00.004+08:00

Today VS served as the flag off point for the residents from Joo Chiat Constituency's Cycleabout and Racial Harmony walk.

Youths and other residents would cycle or walk from VS to Joo Chiat CC. Today's event was graced by Mr K Shanmugan, Minister for Law & 2nd Minister for Home Affairs
Our Minister was there at the start point to flag off the participants.
Our VS Scholars staying in the hostel and our Sec 3 Prefects were gathered to lend support to this event and take part in both the walk and cycleabout
Here we see the participarts gathered for the Mass Walk:

The start point for the Cycling group was at just under the ISH. Here you can see the boys collecting their bicycles:

Our very own Principal, Mr Low was also there to join in the fun and cycle with the boys:

East meets West; Traditional meets Modern,

2010-04-28T14:32:00.001+08:00

JK Rowling Commencement Speech @ Harvard- The Importance of Failure & Imagination

2010-04-27T08:19:00.003+08:00

JK Rowling gives a commencement speech to Harvard Graduates
She talks about the importance of failure and the power of imagination
(Thanks to Amos for the heads-up)

This is what education is all about.

National Inter-school Wushu Championships: Group Finals

2010-04-16T22:12:00.004+08:00

So the day of reckoning has arrived.
Our first event was the C-Div Group Quan:

The C-Boys have always been a bit lacking in this event compared to their seniors in B-Div. Essentially, the routine is the same but the C-boys lack the tightness and 'ooomph' the seniors deliver.
But today, we can see from their performance that they have worked hard to tighten their act and movements are crisp and tight now. Many eyes were on VS definitely.
I'm sure our improvement was such a big surprise even to the judges that for the first time participating in the National Inter-school Wushu Championships, I was hauled off to the Head Judges table immediately after our C-Boys performed to explain our choice of music to them.

Yup. They wanted me to explain why our music violated competition rules of not having any lyrics in the music- for which there would be a penalty deduction of points. By then our C-Boys were waiting nervously for their scores to come out but I told them be steady. My years teaching Literature and helping to launch the VS Debate team in 2004 must have paid off because I explained that the definition of 'lyrics' must be in a recognisable language. The evocative female hum in our opening sequence (0.00 to 0.16) can hardly be constituted as lyrics right?
I mean, if you can subtitle that section for me and tell me which language it is sung in, I would gladly concede that point.
The judges took awhile to deliberate the merits of my thought provoking thesis and finally agreed- the C-Div boys only had to wait for about 10mins standing still before I was informed that there would be no penalty for us.
Incidentally, the fact that the immediate previous school before us had, by sheer coincidence used the EXACT SAME piece of music and immediately been given their score without protest or query seemed to slip the judges minds.
It is perfectly understandable that in the long arduous competition, you might have a temporary episode of short-term memory and in our tropical climate, it might be contagious and infect people around you.
When I mentioned it to the advisors and convening authuourity, they agreed that spontaneous memory loss was an issue that I could legitimately lodge a protest against. I declined cos I believe that I made my point, the C-Boy's didn't get deduction of their points and also by that time I was seriously confused whether I was teacher-in-charge at a Inter-school Wushu Championships or teacher-in-charge at Inter-school Debating Championships.
For their efforts, the C-Boys managed to get a 3rd place in this event.

Having seen their juniors go through the judging fiasco, the B-Div knew that they would be severely scrutinised. To their credit, they pulled-off their Group Quan with aplomb. In the clip, you can see that many of their slaps and strikes were able to echo with just one single sound. While our other competitor teams strove for mastery over technical and acrobatic movements, we strove for unity and togetherness:

Nevertheless, B-Div were not able to place as there were 3 ties in 2nd position at 8.11. VS just happened to get 8.1 and was relegated to 5th place, so we were unable to garner any points for B-Div in that event.

In the C-Div Group Weapon, our C-Boys were the first ever group in the Inter-School Championships (and as far as I know, in National Championships) to do a Group E-mei Needle routine. It was a challenging routine to choreograph because prior to this I myself never learnt that weapon; but we discussed it and agreed as a team to try something new and challenge ourselves.
The main problem with this weapon is getting it to spin consistently and we knew that it would present opportunities for multiple point deductions; but heck, it's a damn fun weapon to practice with and despite small mistakes today, the boys did manage to pull off most of their spins successfully:

Our Sec 1s are just so adorable-- when they reach Sec 4 and still run around like that spinning needles, then I'm going to get worried :P
After the event, we were tied in 4th place- however after moderation of scores, we were relegated out to 5th and C-Div did not place in this event.

Having not placed in the previous Group Quan, the B-Div boys needed to secure at least a 2nd place in this event in order to earn enough points to contend for Top 4 Divisional placing. We were the last to go in this event and from the moment our boys went up, we definitely caught the attention of the crowd. Friends, fellow supporters and even our competitors were cheering us on. We delivered a tight routine and I felt my hopes soar....

I don't know whether the audience members close to me were more shocked by the fall or my loud groan while filming.
Understandbly, the boys were feeling down and I rushed over to them. My main concern was if anybody had been injured because I overhead some audience member say they saw one of our guys limping. Thankfully, no sprains were evident.
While I vehemently questioned the motivation behind certain procedures invoked against us today, this mistake me and the B-boys gotta take it on the chin.
Because in this instance, it was through our own mistakes that we let our chances slip away. Any major fall in an event is a deduction of 0.5point. Given our final score of 7.66, if we had not made that unforced error, we would be tied for second in the event with 8.16 points.
With that , VS B-Div stayed at 22points and was relegated out of Divional Top 4 placing.

Now, before we all go pointing fingers in the team. Boys, it is a Group Event so there are NO such thing as individual mistakes.
Would I scold you guys if it happened in training? You bet your life!
But I know you've been training hard and in this event you all gave your best- How can I bear to reprimand you all when I feel the pain and disappointment for each of you too?
For the boys who have not done as well as they have expected in the Individual events, especially when they end up getting getting 2nd or 3rd place after a close fight; I've been telling you all
"Don't turn your minor victories, into major disappointments"

Look at us receiving our C-Div Group Quan 3rd place today:

We got a chance to go on stage and bring the Victorian flag with us- only the top 4 schools out of the 17 schools in that event get a chance to do so.
Isn't that in itself something for the entire team to celebrate?

Look at our total number of Individual medals this year:

Isn't that cause to still celebrate?

Whatever our results today, we went in knowing that at the very least, C-Division had cemented itself for C-Division 3rd Place.
Isn't that cause to still celebrate?

So although I felt the pain in each one of you, I wanted you all to pick yourself up and celebrate with pride what you all have accomplished as a team and still sing the Victorian Anthem at the end of the day

In one of our classic cheers, we say:
"We walk from the game with pride and fame; we feel no fear and we feel no pain"
Where does that pride come from? In doing our best!
Where does the fame go to? The fame goes to Victoria- the school that watched us grow!

Grow into Gentlemen, Professional and Sportsmen!

So I saved the best video for last.
So this morning, while you all were warming-up before going off to competition grounds. I sat quietly in the corner, sipping tea, just watchin you all. To be honest, I myself totally shack out liao.
But watching you all take ownership of your own training- peers leading peers, seniors guiding juniors, that made me feel that the seeds I planted back in 2005 have not only taken root but are bearing fruit.

As always, I am proud of what you have become.
And yes, I will still scold you and be hard on you so that YOU will be proud of yourself in what you will become in the future.

VS Wushu, Jia you!

National Inter-school Wushu Championships- Behind the scenes

2010-04-16T21:46:00.003+08:00

Finally, after an agonising 2 weeks- we have reached the Group Finals.
At this stage each of our divisions has 2 events: Group Quan and Group Weapon.
The C-Div boys were currently ranked 3rd in Division standings- We were secure in it as 4th place was about 30pts behind; but Chung Cheng and Anderson were leading at 65 and 61 points respectively, so it would also be hard to catch up.

For B-Div, we were 5th with 22 points currently but 1st ranking school, Beatty only lead by 6 points with total of 28- so there was a real chance for B-Div to contest for Top 3 placing. With so much at stake, it was an intense 2 weeks for all of us.

How intense? First of, let me show you the HARD CORE training that the boys went through. M18 audience only pls.

We were actually inspired by the hardcore training the Floorball team undergoes from Mr Amir during the afternoons- so on a hot sat afternoon after morning training and then lunch, the boys decided go 'commando' and do it bare-bodied! That's the Victorian Spirit for you!

Then last night, the senior boys stayed back to work with me to refurbish and 'upgrade' their halbreds. The weapons they had been using were rusted through constant contact with skin and sweat so they looked really bad-

but we couldn't do anything to them earlier cos then the rust would set in again, so can only work on it the night before:

Check out the finished product, man!

Check our next blog post for coverage of the final days events.
Stay tuned- video files uploading, will be done by 10.45pm

Since we are on the topic of wushu...

2010-04-15T09:15:00.000+08:00

National Inter-school Wushu Championships- Day 6

2010-04-13T17:42:00.002+08:00

Today is the last day of our Individual events, in both C and B Divisions, VS and our fellow competing schools are neck to neck in the divisional standings- thus every point garnered today is a crucial one.

Today we had Samuel Tam from Sec 2B taking part in the C-Div 5-Duan Spear event:

Samuel managed to hold on to a 4th position till the middle of the pack but was edged out when the later athletes delivered their well-polished performances. Nevertheless, Samuel proved that he was not a one-trick pony and that apart from his Taiji, he was equally competent in other wushu disciplines. His hard work has definitely made him a versatile athlete able to be deployed in many ways for the benefit of the team

Where Samuel failed to placed in his spear event, fellow team-mate Lee Jingwei from 2H took part in the C-Div Spear 1st International Routine.

Jing came back from the set-back he faced in the Changquan routine the previous week and gave us a much needed Gold medal to boost our divisional standings.

The 'dark horse' of the C-Division was Chee Jay Sian from 1A. Jay had set his sights on Victoria School since Pri 6 and made it an effort to work hard both in wushu and his studies to make it here. Ever since he has stepped into the school, he has pushed himself hard and worked quietly to improve himself.
In the heavily contested C-Boys 4-Duan Cudgel event with 30 plus participants, Jay would have to really distinguish himself just to make it into the top 4:

With his never-say-die attitude, Jay proved that even the underdog has it's day. Jay managed to clinch a Bronze in 3rd place and added some more points to our C-Div for our divisional standings.

The C-Division overall standing is tight this year, with VS and many other teams running head to head with 40 plus points. So not to be out done, our pioneer 'recruit' Fung Jin Jie made it a fantastic swansong in his graduation year. Jingo competeted in the B-Div Cudgel 2nd International Routine and despite a costly deduction of 0.2 for an extra step, he achieved a personal best by bagging his hat trick of 3 Gold Medals in one competition.

Do ignore my sudden outburst- when I heard the cudgel hit Jingo from the extra rotation, I feared that another similar situation like 2008 would happen again where a single error cost him dearly. Maybe it's my scolding, maybe it's my nagging or maybe Jingo finally grew up- he ignored the error and we could see him pushing himself harder to ensure that he impressed the judges and make up for it. The crucial moment was the butterfly jump but when Jingo nailed it flawlessly, I knew he had not given up and was still in the game.

Boys, (and parents- whom I'm sure are reading) and fellow Victorians, that is the purpose of learning martial arts and wushu- it is to make a resounding comeback when we are faced with defeat. I'm sure everyone will be talking tonight of the number of medals VS and our various competitors have and that is only to be expected. After all, it is a competition and we all want to strive to be the champion.

But Victorians, always remember it is who you are, what you do that gives value to the medal that you wear round your neck and not the medal that defines who your are.

We are going to battle against some very strong teams on Friday for the Group Events. My goal and instructions for you is not to go out there and win me a medal.
My goal and desire for the team is to go out there and share your hardwork this last years with your friends and fellow competitors from other schools, win their recognition and respect by showing them the results of your hardwork in our own Group Events.

If you do that, win or lose; medal or no medal, you will walk away from the carpet with pride and satisfaction that no one can take away.
Believe in that.

National Inter-school Wushu Championships- Day 5

2010-04-12T19:55:00.002+08:00

After an intensive week of competition, the boys still met up with me on Sat for practice from 10am to 3.30pm. They've been working hard and the efforts are paying off.

Jeconiah Tan How Ruan from Sec 1F scored first-blood for VS today and achieved his hat-trick in this Championship by getting his third individual medal for VS in the C-Div Nan Gun.

With his vigourous performance, Jec mangaged to achieve a Bronze in 3rd place-- just narrowly losing out to the second place athlete by 0.01 point.

In B-Div, Fung Jin Jie from Sec 4B dominated his event, the B-Div Broadsword 2nd International Routine with a score of 8.66, 0.5pts higher than his closest competitor, to come in first with his second Gold medal for VS:

However, it was the Taiji duo of Samuel Tan and Ho Mun Yong, both from 2B that continued to establish our strong hold in the Taiji events. In the C-Div 42-step Taiji Sword, Ho Mun Yong took a Gold in first place with Samuel Tan coming in a close second for the Silver:

Our B-Div boys also competed in the same event, the 42-step Taiji. Ang Kang Jie from Sec 3C showed his progress in taiji compared to his performance in Sec 2. With his score, he was able to hold on to 4th position for a moment, however the seasoned veterans in this event soon over took him.

However, Kangjie remained undaunted and was the first student to return back to school to join his school mates back in training. A fitting example of how our incoming Vice-Captain should behave- Kangjie leads by example. Well done!

The intense competition was enlightened by John Png from Sec 3B. Participating in the same event as Kang Jie, John stunned all of us with his marked improvement- especially since he had just completed his routine.
What stunned the entire crowd of audience, judges and fellow competitors was John's total immersion in his routine until he stepped right out of the performing area.
(You can hear my scream of anguish at 2.19 kekeke)

It was obviously mix up in direction and confusion in routine; but wait... there's more!
This is where John showed the true Victorian spirit of 'Never Say Die'
Despite an error in direction and stepping out of the performance carpet entirely (an incident I have never ever seen before in any Taiji event-- and something which I doubt any of the judges have too!), John kept his cool composure and continued his routine calmly and managed to finish his routine and reface the correct direction!
(See clip at 3.01)
I couldn't help but smile as I watched this episode :P and indeed, while 2 wrongs don't make a right, in John's case negative x negative got him a positive.

And I guess that is the lesson worth learning for all of our boys training wushu- in life, we are bound to make mistakes and step out of line. Some of our mistakes may even be unthinkable and unexpected; but it is the ability to find your way back that makes a man out of you.
So if I may wax philosophical here, let us realise that often in life,"the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong... but time and chance happeneth to them all."

So In Other Words..... none of you athletes control the score that you get on the carpet; but for that brief minute or so, you control the time, the space and the attention of everyone there. It is how your use that time, that space and the attention that everyone has on you that gives your wushu training purpose and value.

The medals, well... they are just (im)material.

National Inter-school Wushu Championships- Day 4

2010-04-09T17:03:00.003+08:00

After a long week of competition we reach the end of the week. Today we have Lloyd Teo from Sec 2A competiting in the C-Div 5-Duan Nanquan Routine:

Despite showing improvement, Llody missed out some movements in his routine and was penalised 0.2 points.

Next up were our Taiji boys. When the taiji events were first introduced into the wushu competition, there were relatively few competitors. Now, the level of competition in the taiji events has gone up tremendously and the 24-step Taiji Quan, 42-step Taiji Quan, 42-step Taiji Sword are all hotly contested events:

Here we see our B-Div boys Tan Yu Da from Sec 4I and John Png from Sec 3E competeting in the 42-Step Taiji:

Although our B-Boys were not able to place in top 4 in the Taiji events, our C-Boys did us proud and achieved 2 more medals for the C-Div

First up, we had Samuel Tan from 2B representing the C-Boys in the 24-Step Taiji:

Samuel has been training intensively since last year and his hard work really paid off. His improvement in his flexibility and strength comes from his willingness to listen to the advice the coaches and I give him. Samuel gave the C-Div it's first Gold medal of the season.

Next up, we had Ho Mun Yong, also from 2B. Munyong represented the C-Boys in the 42-Step Taiji.

Munyong's smooth delivery of his polished routine gave the C-Div its second Gold Medal.

It has been a tough week and it's still not over yet. We can see the boys competition getting closer each year and the hard work put in by our competitors.
Tomorrow, will be an intensive practice session again in school and we must push through and perservere through to the end.

Push on boys!

So Cute...

2010-04-08T19:54:00.003+08:00

While updating the blog on the current Wushu Competition, I was trawling the net and guess what I saw...

Guess who the cute boy in glasses is... (the one in the centre)

Wah, so cute...

National Inter-school Wushu Championships- Day 3

2010-04-08T18:38:00.002+08:00

In Day 3 of the National Inter-school Wushu Championships, we saw our B-Boys taking part in the Nan Dao event.

Here we have Darren Tan from 3I:

Darren had a good opening segment and maintained his poise, however a shortage of one advancing step caused a penalty of 0.1 and that proved to be a costly deduction for him.

Next up, was Kong Wei Chung from 4D:

Wei Chung's earth shattering roars reverberated around the entire hall and managed to garner him an 8.05. It allow him to maintain 4th position for a brief moment. However, with several veteran athletes still to take this place on the carpet, Wei Chung was eventually relegated beyond the top 4.

In the B-Boys Broadsword 1st International Routine, we had Bernie Ang from 3G:

Last year, Bernie competed in the Formulated Events in C-Div. This year, moving up to B-Div, the challenge of learning 2 new International Routines indeed made it clear that the stakes were much higher in B-Div. After reviewing the footage and assessing the shortfalls, I was impressed with maturity when Bernie was able to analyse how he needed to step up his training to make up for the time lost last year while recuperating from an injury. In fact, the set back in this event seems to have allowed him to have the determination to push for full participation in the 3 Individual events next year. Bernie told me, "Don't worry, Sir- I still got next year!"
The way Bernie said it, I could hear that it wasn't to console me and the team; but rather it was his determination to overcome his personal barriers.
Bernie, for that, I am proud of you and proud of your amazing come-back to the team.
That is the champion spirit that I wish for all of you.

Despite our various set-backs, we didn't leave empty-handed- our gentle giant, Jeconiah from Sec 1F blazed his way through the C-Boys Nan Quan 1st Intl routine to emerge with a 2nd place Silver for VS

National Inter-school Wushu Championships- Day 2

2010-04-07T17:56:00.003+08:00

Today, is Day 2 of the Inter-school Wushu Championships.

First up, we had Ryan Goh (Sec 4A) and Darren Tan (Sec 3I)in the B-Div Nan Gun event:

It was great to see our out-going Sec 4 Team Captain, Ryan Goh, competeting side-by-side with our incoming Sec 3 Team Captain, Darren Tan. It was a tough event with many season competitors and to be honest, the boys and I knew that our hopes were not high in this event. Nevertheless, they gave it their best and sometime after the event we received clarification from the officials that Darren Tan had actually managed to achieve a tie for Bronze in 4th place after all the moderation of scores!

Next for the B-Boys, we had Bernie Ang from Sec 3G in the B-Div Broadsword 1st International Routine:

With 40 over competitors, it was a tough fight for Bernie. He gave it his best but was unable to place in the event.

Next we had the C-Div Boys Changquan 1st International Routine.
First up, we had Leonard Tan from 1F:

Despite a few fumbles, Leonard was in high spirits and is looking forward to pushing himself in next year's competition.

In this even, we also had Lee Jingwei from 2H:

Jingwei gave a good and stable performance- however, the competition for this event was overwhelming and Jingwei was not able to place within the top 4.

As I shared with the boys and their parents, in life there will be people whom you surpass and they will also be others who surpass you.
Do not be arrogant when you have triumphed over your opponent- for only a worthy opponent can bring out the best in you.
Also, do not be dismayed when the efforts of others surpass your own- it does not diminish your own capabilities; rather it gives you a target for your future endeavours.
It may seem to be a profound concept, but when I looked into the faces of the 2 boys I spoke to, I was confident that they understood my expectations and philosophy in training.

The highlight of the day came from Fung Jin Jie from Sec 4E in the B-Div Changquan
2nd International Routine:

'Jingo' as he is affectionately known, put on a stella performance and delivered VS with our first Gold of the season. It was a tough and close fight as all the competitors were seasoned veterans and Jingo narrowly edged his way into first place with a lead of 0.03 pts to get a total of 8.66.

Tomorrow is a new day! Rest well boys, for a new day brings us a new challenge!

National Inter-school Wushu Championships- Day 1

2010-04-07T10:59:00.004+08:00

Tue 6th Apr was the first day of the Inter-school Wushu Championships held at Chung Cheng High School.

Our C-Div boys were first up in the Sword 1st Intl Routine.
Here we have Leonard Tan from 1F:

In the same category, we also have Lee Jing Wei from 2H:

Jingwei put in a great performance to achieve a 3rd Place Bronze Medal- our first triumph of the day!

Later, we had our B Boys taking part in the Nanquan routine. First up, we had Darren Tan from 3I, our incoming Team Captain. Darren has matured greatly in the last year to become a pillar of the team:

Next we had Kong Wei Chung from 4D- Wei Chung is an ASEAN Scholar and although he just joined the team in Sec 3 last year, he has shown tremendous spirit and determination to contribute to VS:

Despite their best efforts and solid performance, luck was not on our side and together with several other crowd favourites, our boys fell short of the top 4 placing in the event. Nevertheless, they remain undaunted and will strive to work hard for their subsequent events

Our final competitor for the day, was Jeconiah Tan from 1F. Jec gave us a solid performance in the C-Div Boys Nanquan:

For his solid performance, Jec won for VS our second medal and garnered a 2nd place Silver in his event.

Well done boys! Let us not let the minor disappointments eclipse our triumphs in our first day and work hard to push ourselves onwards!

National InterSchool Wushu Competition: Day 0- The Eve of Battle

2010-04-05T14:28:00.004+08:00

Tomorrow, the VS Wushu Team will be competing in the National Inter-School Wushu Competitions.

For the boys in the team and myself, this is what we live and breathe for- the passion for martial arts that allows us to push ourselves to achieve mastery and perfection in mind, body and spirit.

This year, we have a mature team and are fielding a full turn-out of competitors in both divisions for Individual and Group events. Every year, the competition gets tougher and tougher because teams get more proficient, more experienced and more creative (especially in the Group Events).
To make sure that we do ourselves proud and prove worthy of the challenge, our VS Wushu Team has been working hard and the boys have sacrificed their long weekend on Good Fri to give an awesome 3 day intensive workout.

We had regular training on Thur 1st April, then on Fri 2nd Apr and Sat 3rd Apr, the boys had a full day training session with me starting at 10am and ending at 4pm.
(with lunch break and nap time as well :P)

The boys took turns to work on their individual events:

It was good to see the senior boys cheering their juniors on and giving them pointers and tips.

We also took time to work on the crucial Group Events to tighten up on our timing, transitions and poses:

Apart from that, we also got the boys to do some relays and fitness training to raise their spirits and enhance their endurance:

Tomorrow is the big day! Jia you! VS Wushu- power, PoWeR, POWER!

VS Boarders 2010

2010-03-31T16:15:00.001+08:00

Here's the new Mafia Gang for 2010

"Shooters watch your front! (and rear too!)"

2010-03-28T23:50:00.003+08:00

Got my new toy just the other day-

Multi-cam battle belt & harness with 4 pod mag holders and 1 dump pouch

Couldn't wait for today to try it out at Austin Hills Paintball field in JB
Adjusted the entire rig to fit first and it felt good.

Enough compartments to hold 4 pods of paintballs (about 400 rounds), 1 dump pouch for misc items if needed in the scenario
Some of the guys had more elaborate rigs- with camelbak hydration pouches and comms gear attached. I'm still relatively noob, so this lite-weight set-up good enough for me without sacrificing mobility

With the top on, the harness blends in with the rest of the multi-cam pattern and I'm good to go!

Today was a tad less satsifying because our first warm-up Elimination game ended in draw for both sides
Second game, Capture the Flag game had my O2 tank purge completely in the middle of the game cos of a ruptured O-ring. Sian... caught in the middle of cross-fire right insight of the flag with a fully loaded marker but can't shoot cos got no air in the tank. No choice but to hunker down and dogdge bullets.
Third game, every one shack-out liao.
So we did a small-sided 3 on 3 elimination.
we played 2 rounds- Round 1, my 2 team-mates got shot while running for tree cover in the opening 10 secs. With 3 expert speedballers from the opposite team aiming at me, it was only a matter of time before i got hit. Longest 30 secs of my life.

Second round, our guys took revenge! We eliminated 2 of the opposing team early with 1 loss on our side. With 2 to 1 advantage, we had their last member pinned down.
After laying suppressing fire, I sprinted to flank him while he sought to engage my team-mate.
Then suay suay, Phoenix, my team-mate mistook my sudden sprint as enemy movement, shot me from behind. wah liao
PK'ed by friendly fire *sigh*
The last remaining opponent took this opportunity to close in and then we were all out.

Not exactly triumphant but still, it's the spirit of the game that counts.
The small triumph I take back this weekend is I know the cough that's been plaguing me this week is breaking. Should be on my way to full recovery by next week, just in time for VS Wushu team to enter National Inter-school Wushu Championships.

So time to get ready for another battle, on another battle field!

What do big boys do to have fun ...

2010-03-27T15:20:00.003+08:00

Big boys, small boys- all of us like to play with guns :P
The most realistic way to shoot each other and make it back alive is by playing airsoft- the airsoft scene is really big in Manila where I sometimes go to play and train. But closer to home, next door in Johor- there's a great paintball field where Singaporeans and Malaysians gather to play scenarios paintball aka woodsball.

Since 2009, I've played a couple of games with the Wargh crew (they've even help us set up a laser tag mission for Veloci-T Camp in 2009)
Here's footage of the Wargh crew and what mischief big boys get up to on the weekends!
Watch RazorTV as they interview 'Master Chief' Andy and the rest of his crew at Austin Hills , JB.
We'll be heading down tommorrow for a great shoot out!

Keep the Faith

2010-03-25T19:12:00.002+08:00

KEEP THE FAITH, VS! KEEP THE FAITH!

National Schools Cross-Country Championships 2010

2010-03-25T08:10:00.004+08:00

Yesterday marked a triumphant return of the C and B Division Challenge trophies to Victoria School in the National Schools Cross-Country 2010.
We see our Principal, Mr Low, sitting proudly with the 2 Challenge Shields- back where they belong!

As all true blue Victorians know, no other school has ever won both Division titles in cross-country event for boys in the history of the event in Singapore. Largely this is because, for an almost unbroken stint of 19 years, VS has captured at least 1 title every year: i.e. winning either the C or B Division titles.
Where we have set our mark in history is that in several landmark years, we have won both C and B Division titles-- the only school to have done that for the boys event. We won both divisions title in 2006 and this year's double whammy brings our tally up to 31 combined team titles in the history of the event!

This year our budding crop of talents in the C-Boys have shown that they are proud inheritors of the legacy passed to them by their seniors:

Our C-Boys Top-4 runner's results
1. Marcus Ng, Victoria School – 15:41.66
5. Mahesvaran S/O Selvan, Victoria School – 16:56.54
8. Sean Yeo, Victoria School – 17:31.06
15. Branson Chua, Victoria School – 18:02.98

C Division Boys:
1. Victoria School – 29
2. Catholic High – 37
3. Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) – 40
4. Raffles Institution – 72
5. Bartley Secondary – 151

As for our B-Boys, they have proven without a doubt that team-work and humilty and gratefulness are what makes a champion team. Despite facing various set-backs, they have perservered and emerged champions by encouraging it other and working as a united team.

Our B-Boys Top-4 runner's results
4. Venuraam S/O Selvan, Victoria School – 16:20.22
5. Joel-David Wong, Victoria School – 16:27.01
6. Bryan Yong, Victoria School – 16:28.47
18. Hieng Pheak Kdey, Victoria School – 17:06.44

B Division Boys:
1. Victoria School – 33
2. St. Joseph’s Institution – 52
3. Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) – 53
4. Catholic High – 72
5. Singapore Sports School – 95

Of course, none of these would be possible without the passion and dedication of their devoted Cross-Country teacher Miss Sheikha Fadzleen and her partner in crime Mdm Ernie. Day in, Day out; rain or shine- Sheikha is with the boys giving of herself to train them to be the best they can be; and when the boys return to school after their training, Mdm Ernie stays with them to help them catch up on their school work.
Thank you teachers, we couldn't have done it without you!

(Photos courtesy of Mr Eeson Tay)
Information on timings taken from Red Sports- For more coverage of the event, please see the article at redsports.sg

Passing the Torch

2010-03-24T11:12:00.001+08:00

VS Sec 3 Overseas Advenutre Camp @ KOREF

2010-03-15T23:40:00.004+08:00

Every year in March, our entire Sec 3 cohort goes overseas to Kahang, Malaysia where we spend 4 days at the Kahang Organic Rice Eco Farm.
There the boys get a chance to do a variety of Outdoor Activities as well as get to know more about Ecological Awareness and our relationship with the environment.

Let's take a look at some of the activities that allow our students to
Challenge the Process of learning, leading and collaborating:

Throughout the various events, our various student leaders i.e. the Red Shirts, Black Shirts, Class Monitors, Peer Leaders, etc all sought to Enable Each Other to Act by reinforcing our common values as Victorians:

Soon it became apparent that each one of us contributed to this shared experience; that the Victorian Spirit that we talk about, cheer about and fight about is built from the shared dreams and hopes that we inspire in each other. We learn that our actions have a wider impact on the Victorian family and that each and every step we take for ourselves also allows us to Inspire a Shared Vision with our fellow Victorians

When we faced the challenge of climbing Mount Lambak, we knew it was a daunting task that would test not only our physical endurance but our mental endurance too. But Victorians leave no one behind and it is this belief that allows us to be willing to carry each other's burdens, to lighten each other's load and to Encourage Each Other's Hearts:

We believe that a Victorian is ultimately a Gentleman, Professional & Sportsman. Ultimately, that is the model for every Victorian to follow. From students, to teachers, each and everyone of us seeks to Model the Way for future generations of Victorians to follow:

(The theme of the above videos has been structured according to the Kouzes & Posner framework which VS has adopted and incorporated into our Student Leadership Framework)

Innergy Awards 2010 and MOE ExCEL Fest 2010

2010-03-05T22:52:00.006+08:00

Well, not often that I get to wear tie and formal dress, so this morning, bright and early, I got changed up nicely and set out to Suntec Convention Centre.
I had received notice from MOE that I was given a Commendation prize for the MOE Innergy Awards!

What had started out as a shot in the dark, had turned out to garner us a Commendation prize in the MOE Innergy Awards. Since 2006, we had started having a 'live' blog for our Sec 1 EDGE Orientation Camp. So last year, encouraged by Mr Low, I submitted an entry for the Innergy Award "Educating Students Outdoors, Engaging Parents Indoors- Using Mobile Content to Connect Teachers, Students and Stakeholders Beyond the Classroom"

I was shortlisted by the panel and gave a short-presentation on how we used mobile
3G phones and streaming content to allow parents at home to have 'live' updates of photos and videos of their child during our Sec 1 Camps. We demonstrated this by showing the panel a 'live' stream of CCA training at VS conducted by student leaders.

So it was a pleasant surprise to be notfied later on that our pet project that we had developed to engaged parents, had actually won a commendation award

Later in the day, our team of teachers headed by Mr Maran and comprising of Miss Tang Waiyue, Mr Chen Zhongyi, Mr Munir and myself, presented a concurrent sharing session to teachers attending the MOE ExCEL Fest on the VS Student Leadership Framework.

For the first part of the programe, we got the teacher participants to role-play and imagine that they were Sec 1 Victorians participating in our VS Sec 1 Orientation Camp. They would play the part of new Sec 1 students and we got some volunteers to be home sick, to be negative and some to be mere observers. We wanted them to experience for themselves how our VS student leaders would exercise leadership by conducting the team-building activity and managing them at the same time. The boys did really well and here's a clip of them in action:

Later on, Jia Lok and I did a small role-play to show the participants how we use our leadership passport to help our Junior and Senior Leaders take stock of their personal growth as leaders:

It was a long day but a fulfilling one and after we finished, several participants stayed back to chat with the boys and us to find out more. To me, that was a more tangible reward than the trophy we got in the morning- becaue through our presentation and subsequent dialogues with the participants, we did indeed show that Victoria is something more.

Nil Sine Labore

Athletic Standard Test- Sec 1F

2010-03-04T10:50:00.002+08:00

We're coming to the end of Term 1 and our Sec 1F boys have been running, jumping and throwing their way through the various PE lessons!

Like all boys, they can be really mischievous-- Just take a look at Maverick in his High Jump attempt today:

But their class spirit and enthusiasim is contagious- you can see how they cheer each other on to reach greater heights!

They also constantly surpise me with their never say die attitude when even the heavier boys give their 110% and successfully clear heights that other Sec 1 classes can't. Here we see Qi Long proving that size does not matter, rather it's the never-say-die spirit that conquers all:

Inspired by Qi Long's success, even our smaller boys were determined to challenge themselves. Here we see Leonard proving this height is no obstacle for him too!

CNY Lo Hei for Asean & A-Star Scholars

2010-02-26T19:40:00.002+08:00

Today, Mr Su Ronghua organised our own very special Lo Hei session for all our ASEAN and A-Star scholars in Victoria Hall.

Having students from various countries and nationalities, we had to take a few rounds to really 'Lo Hei'!

Huat ah!

VS Wushu Team CIP to Assisi Home

2010-02-22T14:22:00.001+08:00

For pictures of that day's events, click here for Calvin Cheong's Facebook Album

Upper Sec PE

2010-02-22T14:21:00.001+08:00

CNY Performance @ VS

2010-02-12T14:39:00.004+08:00

Today VS had our Chinese New Year celebrations, last year due to scheduling clashes and last minute changes, our VS Wushu Team performed for 2 Primary Schools but was unable to perform in VS itself.

This year, we were determined to make up for our absence and practiced hard to wow our home crowd. Our season due of Lion Head and Lion Tail- Ryan Goh from 4A and Tan Yuda from 4I are graduating this year and this would be a great way to celebrate their coming of age in the team.
You can see how seasoned they are now:

Even better this year, I finally handed over all aspects of the performance to the boys. John Png from 3B took over the helm for drumming with the cymbals played by Kang Jie, Saw, Hui Dhar and Zhenyu.
We had our 'gong specialist' Liu Weilie come back from NS to join us today even! Weilie managed to earn a day off for attaining a Silver in his IPPT test! Well done!

After our Lion Dance, we had our wushu performance by the team.
With many of our veteran members graduating this year, we showcased some new talent in the C-Div:

I believe that Kong Wei Chung from 4D made the biggest and loudest impression on everyone.
It is this passion and ROARING love for Victoria that I feel deep in my heart and wish to share with all staff and students this Chinese New Year.
In the year of the Tiger, may we fight tooth and claw to surmount all challenges that come our way;
may we hunt out opportunities to make ourselves something more;
and when we after we crest these seemingly insurmountable odds, may we ROAR our name for all to hear- we will ROAR out loud that WE ARE VICTORIANs and WE WILL ALWAYS BE SOMETHING MORE!!!

RAWR!

5th VS Student Leaders Investiture

2010-02-08T21:03:00.003+08:00

Today marks the 5th Student Leaders Investiture in VS.

In my opinion, this year's pledge was the best recital I've heard in all the years.
Finally, it sounds the way it was meant to be said:
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 Now.
We will give of our best Now and Always because we are Victorians
And Victorians are something more.

Beijing Wushu Team vist to Victoria School

2010-02-06T15:52:00.003+08:00

On 7th Feb, 3 boys from Victoria School will be part of the performance team comprising of members of the Beijing Wushu Team and Kuen Wushu in during the Wushu performance, "The Champion" at Victoria Theatre.

The 3 boys are:
TAN JIA SHENG DARREN 3I
FUNG JIN JIE 4E
KONG WEI CHUNG 4D

Victoria School was proud to play hosts to the Beijing Wushu Team who visited us on Thu 4th Feb to mingle with the boys and have a joint training session to acclimatise themselves upon arriving in Singapore
First all, we had a brief introduction of the team and our VS boys and then both groups, began to do their warm-ups and basic exercises:

It is immediately apparent that the level and proficiency at which the Beijing Team members execute even the most fundamental movements set themselves in a whole new level of skill:

Even casual warm-ups are executed with a crispness and fluidity that are the distinctive hall-marks of true professional athletes

Later, when the team started to do their more complicated aerial movements, the VS Team gave way to the Beijing Team and watched attentively as these professionals pushed the boundaries of excellence.

In this session, it was obvious that the Beijing team was not training at their regular intensity but were just limbering to acclimatise to Singapore's hot and humid weather after their arrival here.
Yet, we can see that behind the casual execution of each jump, flip and turn; there is a huge difference in the way their air-time, fluidity and technical poise.

It is not often that student athletes are priviledged to have an inside look at how professional teams train; so for the boys they were thrilled and awestruck by the performance of these highly skilled athletes.

So for those who haven't got your tickets yet, there's still time!
Don't miss the Beijing Wushu Team (not to mentioned JJ, Darren and Weichung from VS!) in "The Champion"

Extreme Skills in Action

2010-02-04T10:40:00.004+08:00

This post is for the GCE PE 6080 class.
Here are some clips of awesome skill display.
Take a look and determine:
- what aspects of skill-related fitness are displayed
- what type of skill continuum can they be classified under
- what are various factors affecting the performance of the skill

1)Cristian Ronaldo

2)Human Tetris

3)Unbeatable

4)Slamball

5)Ninja Warrior

6)Parkour

More Athletic Standard Tests

2010-02-04T08:50:00.002+08:00

Today, 3B is doing their Athletic Standard Test.
In Term 1, the various levels will be under-going this as part of their PE lessons.
Each point scored contributes to their overall house standings for our Track and Field Championships later in the year.

Today, we have 3B doing Long Jump. Here we see them measuring their steps with their inital take-off.

After taking their pacing and distance for the run-up, the boys begin their attempts.
Here we see some astounding tries from 3B

Allied Educators- working hand in hand!

2010-01-29T11:05:00.000+08:00

Youth Olympic Scholarship

2010-01-27T09:34:00.000+08:00

Youth Olympic Scholarship

Jump! Jump! Jump!

2010-01-25T15:37:00.001+08:00

Here's 1F during our afternoon PE slot.
We went back to basics and explored stuff that kids used to do back in the good ole Kampung days!

If you say jump, I'll say how high!

2010-01-21T12:52:00.002+08:00

With the Youth Olympics round the corner, we're all gearing up in full swing to break records of our own.

Here is Sec 3B trying out their athletic powers in clearing the High Jump for our Athletic Standards Test.

You can hear the 'ooohs' and 'aaahs' from the successful clearances as well as the dynamic crashes :P

Back to school! 800m during PE @ East Coast

2010-01-20T10:13:00.003+08:00

Well, it's back to school in our third week of Term 1.
Things are rocking in full swing and today we are doing 800m testing for the boys at East Coast Lagoon

The 800m is part of Victoria School's Athletic Standard Tests and we are using the data gathered from it as part of the PE Department's Educational Research project.

Each level is assigned specific score tables for various athletic events and we try to establish a norm for them.
This year's point scoring for the boys will also contribute to their Sports Day House ranking score.

EDGE 2010 Sec 1 Orientation Camp

2010-01-04T16:01:00.002+08:00

Hi all,
currently in Jalan Bahtera with Mr Amir and the rest of the PE Dept running the Sec 1Orientation Camp.

For updates on the camp, go to http://edge2010vs.blogspot.com

25th SEA Games @ Laos * Updated with Video

2009-12-23T11:17:00.004+08:00

Fung Jinjie from Victoria School represented Singapore to participate in the 25th Seagames in Laos this year.

Jinjie and his team mates did Singapore and their schools proud when they emerged with the Silver in their Group Sparring event.

A triumphant Jin Jie said :
"The 25th seagames at Laos was really a very good experience to me. I am only 16 years old, so for me to participate in his major event and do singapore pround by winning a silver medal, is really a honour and a very good lesson for me."

"With 2 days of rest, on the day of event I felt really fresh and fit, I was really able to focus on my event and was confident that i would be able to do really well. The moment I stepped on the carpet, I told myself-" This is it."
I was really focused on performing the routine well and did not think of the outcome."

"At last, we did a perfect routine and got a score of 9.4 currently first position with only the Vietnam team left for the event. They too, did a perfect routine and their score was 9.5. They won us with a score of 0.1. I felt really delighted with the result as we got second place. Overall, I felt that the process of the competition was really good and it is not any usual competition that we would have that type of feeling. The 25th SEA Games at laos taught me alot of things and was really a wonderful journey and experience for me."

Well done, Jin Jie
We are really proud of you.

You have placed Victoria School and Victoria School's Wushu team on the map!
Nil Sine Labore

For all my Paint-ballerz brothers out there

2009-12-16T23:46:00.004+08:00

New ideas for PE

2009-12-16T00:00:00.002+08:00

Time-out for me

2009-12-06T23:31:00.001+08:00

Students, parents, colleagues- I'm off!
See ya all after Christmas!

Veloci-T 2009- The PULSE of Victoria

2009-11-22T09:42:00.005+08:00

At the end of every year, VS runs a leadership camp aimed at training Sec 2 students that have the potential to take up leadership appointmentsin Sec 3. Over the years, seperate programs like the CIC (Camp Instructors Course focusing on Outdoor Adventure Skills) and LTC (Leadership Training Course focusing on Leadership Experience) have merged into what the current Veloci-T camp (Victorian Enhanced Leadership Outdoor Camp Instructor Training)
This year, we have evolved yet again to welcome the Peer Support Leaders as part of our training framework. This year we have also revised our training methodology to incorporate the Kouzes and Pousner's framework for effective leadership.

Our camp began with in-house sessions in VS conducted by TRYBE.
The boys began their modules on 'Modelling the Way' and on effetive public speaking.
Here we seem them role playing how to deliver effective team-building instructions to future camp participants:

Our leaders were given topics for public speaker in which to engage their audience- such as 'marketing' a different CCA from their own:

You can see that it is a challenge for boys to speak confidently about areas outside their immediate experience. However, it is necessary to overcome this to become an effective leader. And we see how Matthew and Christopher attempt to convince the audience to join Concert Band and to overturn some common misconceptions about it.

Our boys also worked through the values that they felt were essential to be effective role models and to discover for themselves what they were their core personal beliefs and value system:

Handling young teens and maintaining their attention is always a challenge, so our trainers from TRYBE shared with our prospective junior leaders some tips to manage large group dynamics:

In the afternoon, we headed over to Changi Coast Adventure Campsite. Despite the down pour that started upon arrival, we still managed to proceed with out pre-liminary briefing and belay school. Here we see our instructor Mark emphasising the correct wearing of safety harnesses- and the consequence of not doing so :P

After that the boys practiced both their climbing and their belaying skills (supporting the climber via safey rope and belay system)

With proper belaying skills even smaller boys can belay bigger ones- like David and Songyu here

(But David you must remember to keep both hands on the belay rope at all times! Good reminder to all our leaders as you gain competence- always keep going back to your fundamentals.)

In the evening, the boys explored another K&P competency "Encourage the Heart" under Mr Chen Zhongyi. Mr Chen is our new inductee into the Veloci-T planning committee and made a great impact with his facilitation of this module.
The boys were given a series of obstacles to cross while blindfolded. They relied on the instructions given to them by teachers and seniors. Teachers and seniors 2 different approaches to facilitate their progress- affirmative encouragement versus critical commands.

The students got a chance to experience the powerful reinforcement of language and tone of voice and during the post-activity reflection, many stated the realisation of how much better it felt to have simple words of encouragement in order to overcome a daunting task. Whereas sharp, critical and bossy commands only kept tensions high.

The next day, we carried on with our various High Ropes Activities- rock climbing, abseiling and CRC

And who can forget, the one and only Sanjeev

One of the more challenging obstacles that our leaders got to try was the Wild Woozy, which require 2 participants to cross the obstacle supporting each other.

After 2 days in Changi Coast, we all head off to Mawai Eco-Camp in Malaysia for the second leg of our training. There we went jungle trekking, climbed Mount Arong, played volleyball in the mud paddies. The camp is a back to basics nature environment, so there was no electricity, thus I only have 2 videos to show from there- here our boys are attempting the Asli Water Obstacle course

It was a tiring but rewarding experience (it always is...)
I asked our students what it is that makes education in Victoria School unique, what qualifies our existence in the face of a fast changing educational landscape.
Well, I guess the following clip says it all- the all-pervading desire in Victoria School to be something more. I first encountered Mustaqim in Sec 1 during the Orientation Camp and I was concerned whether he would be able to participate in all the activities. When I mentioned my concern to him, he gave me a puzzled look because to him, he say himself no differently from any other Victorian. Over the years, we the teachers and his peers have indeed seen it to be so. Mustaqim is as mischievous, cheeky and rowdy as any other Sec 2 boy and he is as indomitable as any true blue Victorian.

(During the climb, instructors and student leaders were always on hand to provide additional support for him and maintain safety)
Just look at the amount of cheering, support and spotting given by all his peers and seniors during his climb!

Well done Mustaqim, your actions have allowed many of your friends and peers to re-evaluate the god-given gifts they have in life and not to take things for granted.

I asked you all during Veloci-t what makes Victoria School unique.
This is what makes VS unique.
While life and circumstances may handicap us; they will never disable us and stop us from being something more.

New boarders and our volunteer hosts families

2009-11-21T17:17:00.003+08:00

We've just welcomed our new batch of ASEAN and A*star scholars for 2010.
Me and Mr Su are getting to know them gradually. This year we are really fortunate to have another group of volunteer families to assist them in integrating in Singapore.

The volunteer host families aim to help our boarders get a glimpse of daily life in the average family in Singapore as well as to provide them with additional support and company.

One such volunteer family is the Koh family who took our Indonesian scholars: Gregory, Eric and Steven out to visit various sites and especially try out local cuisine!

Nothing breaks barriers down quite like steam-boat!
Welcome to Singapore scholars!

Veloci-T 2009 Schedule

2009-11-09T14:38:00.001+08:00

Post-Exam Activities (Floorball)

2009-10-23T11:55:00.001+08:00

Exams are finally over for Sec 1s to Sec 3s
Woots!!!!
So now it's time to let our hair down and allow the boys to have a well-deserved break.

Today it was Inter-Class games
Here we see our Sec 1s playing Floorball as part of the Inter-Class competitions.

VS Roadshow @ Gongshan Primary

2009-10-16T13:41:00.003+08:00

Today, VS visited Gongshan Primary for their 'P6 to Sec1' presentation. Many schools were present to introduce themselves to the graduating batch of P6 students from Gongshan Primary. VS was honored to be there

Today with me were boys from the RSP and AEP classes, impressed the parents and P6 students alike with their clear articulation and passionate delivery of what it means to be a Victorian:

But the one who captured the most attention was soccer player Faris from Sec 2E. To show that Victorians are well-rounded individuals, excelling both on and off the field, we had a sports challenge where students who could juggle the sepak takraw ball were given a prize.

This proved to be a hit with the P6 students- especially with the infectious humor and agile skill demonstrated by Faris:

We hope to be back next year to share more about Victoria School with students from Gongshan Primary!

Graduation Day Videos 2

2009-10-12T12:28:00.003+08:00

Here is a video that we did not get to see on Graduation Day due to time constraints.
Again, it is another Serious PE Production from the bunch of horrigible but 'swee' boys in Sec 4B.

Where the previous video made many of us howl with laughter; this one nearly made me cry. Serious.
Why? It made me proud to be a teacher in 4B. D@mn proud.
See it and see what the 4B Serious PE boys are seriously capable of doing.

Some people subscribe to the belief that sportsmen are not academically inclined.
Some people feel that sportsmen themselves do not believe they are capable of academic excellence.
But the teachers in VS have always believed in you and after watching the pride you have exhibited as Victorians in this video, we know you believe in yourselves too!

I believe you boys, I know you will value-add and give us "SWEEEEEEEE" results
Har le, boys...; Har le

Graduation Day Videos 1

2009-10-12T12:25:00.001+08:00

Some of you have been requesting for footage of the Graduation Day presentations and videos.
As I only have those from 4B, I'll post them here.
Here is the brilliant spoof done by Jeremy

Must say that Jeremy and gang fooled us all with your 'fake' interview; but it was indeed the most hilarious video I saw and each time I watch it, I can't help laughing.

2009 Sec 4 Graduation Ceremony & Farewell Dinner

2009-10-10T11:04:00.006+08:00

Fri 9th Oct was Class of 2009's Sec 4 Graduation Ceremony and Farewell Dinner.

The ceremony began in the auditorium with Mr Low's address to the cohort.

Next came the various prize presentations for academic excellence and improvement.
The Serious PE Class of 4B was proud to annouce Jaren Thun as our best student:

Next came the CCA awards for achievement and service:

Our Victorians showed us that they had class as well as they celebrated their achievements in song. And it is heart-warming to see that your talents span both academic, literary, musical and sporting pursuits!

With the ceremony over, we proceeded to the hall for a formal sit-down dinner.
After 2 years of nagging, it was with a sense of pride as we sat down formally as a cohort of teachers and students for the last time to toast our triumphs in overcoming all our adversities:

It was a great-time for photos and I will cherish the memories of your batch. See my first batch of Serious PE students graduate fills me with strange sense of emotion. No less heart-warming are the handshakes, photos, hugs and thanks from the scholars, the student leaders and various other students that I have had the chance to come in contact with.

Stay strong and focused boys- we will finish this race together!

Serious PE Revision Schedule

2009-10-07T17:23:00.003+08:00

Revision schedule for GCE PE (UPDATED)

Thu 8 Oct: 1.40pm to 3.00pm
Sat 10 Oct: 4.00pm to 6.00pm (Desmond to confirm if session on)
Mon 12 Oct: Need to reschedule, will update
Tue 13 Oct: 3.00pm - 5.00pm
Wed 14 Oct: 3.00pm - 5.00pm
Thu 15 Oct: 3.00pm - 5.00pm
Mon 19th Oct (Deepavali Holiday): 10.00am - 12.00pm
Tue 20th Oct: 6.00pm - 8.00pm

Schedules here will be subject to change depending on turn-out.
If there is any confusion or queries, call me boys.

Push on ok? Couple more weeks left.
Push On With Excellent Results: POWER !!!!

Space Hulk Minatures

2009-10-05T09:14:00.007+08:00

After 20 years, Games Workshop finally released an updated version of the minature boardgame, Space Hulk. I loved the game as a kid and it was what got me hooked on the Warhammer 40,000 Universe.

The Warhammer franchise is basically a minature table-top gaming series which allows collectors to build their own army of minature figurines and then to battle it out on various terrains modelled on table-top (kinda like a diorama) The Warhammer 40,000 story line is one of the few flagship titles from Games Workshop- they've got minature games for Lord of the Rings, Warhammer fantasy (set in medieval times), Epic battles, etc.
See here for their official website

So when I first heard that Space Hulk would be re-released, I was estatic- a blast from the past. However, the website said that all stocks world-wide had already been pre-ordered! Luckily, I managed to secure a set from the great guys at Paradigm Games in Orchard.
Here's a link to Games Workshop's intro on Space Hulk and you can see why we Gen-X fanboys are so hooked on it. Click here for Space Hulk: First Contact

Well, one of the best but most tedious part of minature gaming is having to paint your own army-- sure you can play with it unpainted, but where's the fun in that?

So here I started with the models still unassembled:

These are the Space Marines 'Blood Angels' models. You can see that on the left, I've just coated all the pieces with Bone White primer and on the right I've started to lay a foundation of Blood Red to the pieces.

Here,I'm starting to paint the more difficult pieces in smally details as well as to use paints that are mixed in batches. For the weapons, I mixed silver, with foundation of Chaos Black as well as Badab Black wash to give it a dull metallic glint so that the weapons look more aged.

Since I was a relative newbie to minature painting, I decided to start with the alien Tyranids first (after all if I mess up, I can always claim that this is how the aliens look :P)
So with a coat of black primer laid down, I proceeded to give a base coat of Leviathan purple

I then proceeded to fill in the highlights and detailing. Here is the work in progress for the 'Boss' Tyranid, the Brood Lord:

I washed the model with various shades of blue and purple to create a ripplied effect. I did the same with the skulls- originally they were all bleached white but that did not give them any depth, so i washed them with sepia to make them look aged. I liked that effect more.
This is my finished Brood Lord

The new edition box set has much improved models compared to the original I play as a kid- you've now got tyranid aliens in various poses: emerging from the floor, scuttling down the walls, etc.

With some experience with the Tyranids, I proceeded to paint the Space Marine 'Blood Angels'

The detailing here was more complicated since each marine was outfitted with different gear and many had specific heraldry and insignia to be painted.
The various shoulder pads, banners, skulls, amulets to be painted required me to work out a scheme. Basically, what I did was paint all the armour Red, then all the weapons, then all the skulls on each model-- in that way, I worked through methodically from color to color and touching up each model as I assembled it towards the end.

I had problems with the Bone White primer as it gave a powdery finish, but it worked well for the skulls as the powdery texture made them look more organic as opposed to the smoother surfaces of the marines armour. More of a chance happening than by intention.

However, my two personal favourite models in terms of their moulding and painting, were the 2 I had saved for last. By this time, I seemed to get the hang of things and my hand was more sure in coloring.
So here's the Dead Marine on Throne and the Blood Angels Librarian:

It was an enjoybale experience painting these during the last 2 weeks as it help me to unwind and destress after the series of mock exams and prelims for the students.
Now, back to the grind to prepare the graduating class for their final O-Levels and finish up for planning for Veloci-T Camp in Nov.

Will update samples of Space Hulk game play for interested readers. Hope this entry sheds some light on what I do and enjoy in my free time as well as to give some of you boys an insight into a fascinating hobby to take up during the holidays :)

3-3 Basket Ball

2009-09-25T12:38:00.002+08:00

Having been doing basketball for the last 3 weeks, today our Sec 1C class had a 3-3 mini-league.

The boys played 3 on 3 for Basketball.
The rules were simple- each team plays for 1min 30secs
Winner stays, loser out
Draw both teams out.

I tell you, sometimes it's just so enjoyable teaching Sec 1 Classes- they are so energtic, vibrant and youthful!

Yet despite being Sec 1s, there are some who are really competent in basketball and have really good sense of space and ball control

Well done, 1C!

2009 Evening of Music & Drama

2009-09-19T20:05:00.002+08:00

Fri 18th of Sep, many of our boys rushed back from the Colors Awards to get back in school in time to watch the myriad entertaining performances from our VS boys for this year's Evening of Music and Drama.

The night's event kicked off with a hilarious tribute to Michael Jackson by our emcess Kym Hwe and Sanjeev

Next we had great acoustic performances from the E-Z Band featureing Hadi, Jason and Daniel with a cover of Howie Day's "Collide"

They followed this with a great rendition of "I will follow you into the dark"

Then it was magic show-time when Joshua Chin, our very own Sec 1 Asean scholar from Malaysia, entertained us with some close up magic:

Cool right? At one point he even got Mr Low, our principal to participate by shuffling an imaginary deck of cards. hmmmmm.... maybe next year, Joshua you try and saw him into 2-- but must make sure can put back together again arh.

Our next item was also by another ASEAN scholar- this time it was Alex (Mai) from Vietnam who sang "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban

Well done boys- looks like this year we have a lot of talented performances in the Siow and Su gang :)

After that we had the Chinese Orchestra performing for us. Their rendition of Pachabel's Cannon in D gave a nice Oriental twist on a Western classical piece

They even did an evocative cover of Jay Chou's "菊花台"

Not to be outdone, the Concert Band gave us a rousing piece from "Pirates of the Carribean" :

Next Shahrizal and Vignesh showed us that old skool b-boy beatboxing is never dead.
They gave us "Jump" from Kriss Cross (yes, with Hwe and Sanjeev as back-up dancers)

Finally, the suave, smooth and polished voices of the choir gave us "Come go with me"

Well done boys! Hope to see these talents blossom even further next year!

Focus Group Discussion for YOG Arts Program at the Esplanade

2009-09-18T19:28:00.003+08:00

On Thu 17th Sep, Ryan and Benjamin, 2 of our student leaders were invited down to the Esplanade to be part of a focus group discussion on upcoming arts performance events that would be held at the Esplanade next year in conjunction with the Youth Olympic Games

Wah, see Ryan and Benjamin in animated discussion here :)

39th Schools Color Awards

2009-09-18T18:58:00.003+08:00

Today, was the presentation of School Colors Award at Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School.

VS showed our strong presence today and we were happy to have many of our parent's join us for the award presentation today!

Also, I felt proud and priviledged to be with our first graduating batch of GCE PE candidates- the "Serious PE" Class of 2009 to share in their pride in receiving their awards.

Of course, not forgetting our VS Wushu Team.
This year, our C-Div managed to achieve National 3rd Position.
Also, we had Individual medal award winners:
Ho Mun Yong (Sec 1B):
42 Taiji - Gold

Bernie Ang (Sec 2F):
4 Duan Broadsword - Silver, 4-Duan Cudgel - Silver

Fung Jin Jie (3E):
Changquan 2nd International - Silver
Cudgel 2nd International - Silver
Broadsword 2nd International - Gold

Congrats to all award winners- Let the Victorian Spirit fly high!

Rock never die....

2009-09-17T18:39:00.001+08:00

Fitting Tribute to MJ

2009-09-06T19:49:00.001+08:00

Thanks Boys!!!

2009-09-04T11:40:00.004+08:00

It's been a trying few weeks coming to the end of Term

I've been setting and marking Pre-Lim 2 papers for the GCE PE class, had to submit their coursework on time, had to weather some trying times for my family.

But when I came back on Wed, I was pleasantly surprised to see the layout of the rock garden changed. We've had the rock garden in the hostel for awhile now and every now and then I get different groups of boys to landscape it to add colour to our 'turf'

But Wed's layout was a sweet surprise for me:

That was so touching- especially coming from boys. That the 'gang' actually bothered was a heartwarming sign.

But that's not all, plastered to my door were some really well-made cards:

One of them was made by the Vietnamese scholars and it seems that my birthday is the same day as Vietnam's Independence Day! Hahaha

The other card was made by the rest of the 'mini Mafia' gangsters under me:

Ok before you all go call the police and report, we're talking about Facebook's "Mafia Wars" application here.
Yup Don Siow's Mafia gang in facebook is growing day by day and we are set to take over New York, Cuba and Moscow soon!

Thank you all boys, really.
Da Boss is very touched

Happy Teachers Day

2009-08-31T13:17:00.002+08:00

Today, we celebrated Teacher's Day in VS

Of the many performances, the most outstanding one was the Thriller tribute by the Prefects.

It was absolutely hilarious.

I was waiting happily at the end of this clip to film so of our teachers that kena sabo to come up on stage; but life is unpredictable. You know why there is no video of that? Cos I also got chio-ed by the boys to go up.

Despite my protests that the only form of dancing I knew was Lion Dancing, the boys persisted and I ended up on stage clowning around.

But hey, life is short; let's enjoy ourselves while we can.
So altough I gamely strutted around and flail my limbs about enthusiastically, you'll find no clips of me dancing on stage-- (if any of you boys snuck out your handphones to capture my embarrassing moment, for the love of god and all that is good, please delete it)

But kudos to Mr David Lee and Mr Daniel Tan- Man, they Rock the house cos they got the moves!

50th National Inter-School Chess Championship

2009-08-30T23:48:00.000+08:00

Just got an update by one of our parents for the 50th National Inter-School Chess Championship which Victoria School participated in yesterday.
Amongst the participants from VS was Nicholas Lee, one of our ASEAN scholars from Malaysia

Nicholas and team played in the Secondary Open category and won the East Zone championship as well as tied 4-6th placing with Yishun and Nanyang Girls with 15 points each. This is very good placing given that they were ahead of RI Team 2 and RGS who are strong teams.

Here we see our boys competing hard:

Compared to being in 12th position last year, we have made a marked improvement this year!
Well done boys!