Matthias Ho - VIP Student

No doubt i'm in the VIP now, what do I feel? Daniel fret not, you’re not alone.

First I entered VS a kid. A child. I remember the very first cheering session we had, when they taught us the cheers. All I did was stand right at the back. Thinking all these was stupid. And then came the sec one camp, where I thought all the brotherhood was rubbish.

As the days progressed, I changed. Drastically. I never felt that I would love the school as much as I wanted to get in before. But then, since March onwards, I felt this thing building up strong inside me, I wanted desperately to play a part in the school.

Sec one passed quickly, from a weak body to a strong one. From a boy to a teen.

Sec two. A trainee prefect I was. I felt achieved. Being in VS never felt so good. Not because I was a prefect. But things took an even bigger perspective. My class got more bonded together. Friends became closer. Brotherhood, now I understood. There were no friends or buddies in VS, only true brothers.

The PB truly taught me many things. Of which I would never have dreamt of learning. Yes the PB transformed me into a man. A Gentleman, a Sportsman, a Professional.

It came a time for me to leave, I almost couldn’t bear to. It was hard. But I had to. Two years. It’s not enough. Victorians out there now, treasure it, and make full use.

As a student in the VIP now, I do miss VS. I’m not saying that the VIP is not good. The VIP is good. The programme now does allow us to have more opportunities. But till now, it has never replaced the place of VS in my heart. Yes VJC has the Victorian Spirit also, but what is it compared to VS?

For other’s came before and went
And carried to the world,
Victoria’s fame and our intent
To keep her flag unfurled.

Now is the time for us to continue to fly Her flag up high for those who have graduated.

Let us not mix our own emotions into it, let it not become some intentional fallacy. No doubt we all miss the good ol’ days in VS, but let us take a look at its stand.

Personally I feel that as true Victorians we would want the best for our school. We sure have a rich tradition of 129 years behind us, which is a great number. As true Victorians, if the School becomes CO-ED it’s quite alright, only if it’s for the better for the school. Our interest is not the emotions and what feelings and experiences we hold in us, but for Victoria, the school itself.

Let us evaluate why we want VS to remain VS as a boy’s school. Is it just our emotions? Do we really care for the school if so?

As it is now, I am against VS being CO-ED as I feel that the decision is too rush. We can’t deny the fact that the results of VS has been going down, yes. I feel that the school should at least discuss with the student population first, at least that is going to be done on Monday, I hope it is done.

So now what can we do as true blue Victorians. We have to stand our ground, and make sure that its firm. Let us not mix out emotions into it. Let’s fight this like a professional like others have said.

For those going out today and that if you are wearing the VS PT kit, I hope you know what you are doing, and that no nonsense would appear. If such nonsense appeared, it would only affect all that we have done so far.

The petitions have been up, the blog has been up, and the forum is up. These are great movements, let us not affect it. We all surely want the best for the school.

As the cheer goes,

VS unite we’ll show our might,
We’ll show them how Victorians fight
… …

We’ll fight the sun we’ll fight the rain
We’ll fight to give our school a name.
We’ll walk from the game with pride and fame,
Cause we feel no fear we feel no pain!

Let us not give up. Surely all is heard, the whole country knows what is going on.

Even if VS does become CO-ED, let us know that it’s the authorities’ decision and we should know and believe that it would be best for the school.

Victorians, let us do this with pride, without shame, all for the school that has watched us grow.

VS UNITE!!

-matt ho

Some activities...

Well there are quite a number of Victorians studying in Meridian Junior College currently, and many of them have taken steps to show their support for us, and they have their own way of showing it.

A number of Victorians have printed the VS badge as shown with a black background on earlier posts, and added the words "No to Co-ed", and have stuck that sheet of paper on their files or bags, which they carry around in school. Notice that this is not a violation of the dress code of most Junior Colleges, thus an idea similar to this can be adapted.

Another form of support that a number of students have done is to set the wallpaper on their handphones with the VS logo, which can be obtained from the VS website, or below.
http://vs.moe.edu.sg/public_images/
sch_logos/sch_logo__gif_small.gif
The wallpapers can also be sent as images via Bluetooth, MMS or infra-red devices.
This is to unite all Victorians in the ultimate goal of keeping our tradition, and acts like these, initiated by Victorians themselves, show that we have the right initiative and make sound decisions.

These are a few examples of ways we can reinforce our beliefs, and although they may not show much, it could be a form of encouragement to one another.

Once again I would like to stress that every action and word we speak will show how we carry ourselves, and that will be an evidence when people judge us. So carry ourselves like true, blue Victorians.

A Childish Stance

Dear Victorians

It is with great regret that I admit that thus far I have been acting immaturely in the face of this great adversity.

I was first alerted to this by Bertrand, who was yelling at me over MSN to get the New Paper. When I finally got it and read it, I was stunned into silence. The first thought running through my head was Ang Pow Chew will die for this. When I got back home I sat in still silence for awhile, not sure of what to do. I changed my nick to Victoria thy sons are we and we cannot forget. My subnick was For the school or for your sorry ass? (pardon the language). All afternoon, all evening, all night, I went around MSN whining to my contacts about the worst principal I had ever seen.

Some thinking and a couple of posts by Bertrand and Jafnie sobered me up. It might have been that Mr Ang was selfish enough to submit the proposal for his own cause of climbing up the ladder. It might have been that he was pushed into the corner by MOE. It might have been an informed, thoroughly discussed decision. We will never know, nor should we waste time digging up the truth. The cause for which we are fighting for right now is not for Mr Ang to step down, but to keep the searing flame of Victoria School's heritage alive and burning brightly. Realise that if our petition wins the authorities over, VS will have to work harder than ever before to pull its socks up into the Ivy League of schools once again. And if ultimately it fails, it will be our fault for prolonging their suffering. If ultimately it fails, VS will turn co-ed all the same. And its fall then will be greater than ever before.

Therefore my dear Victorian brothers, looked beyond the surface of anger, and see the true cause of our fight. Your instincts have served you well in urging you to participate in this battle, but find the true meaning in this war, not just to vent your anger on whom you might feel is the most disgraceful principal VS has ever seen, but preserving the VS Spirit, that more generations to come will know why we have so willingly plunged into putting ourselves in the frontline against this great adversity.

John- First suggestions

I agree that maybe without this IP, VS might end up as another neighborhood school in a decade, but look at other schools. Look at TKGS, look at SCGS, look at Cedar. All still going strong without an IP, the latter two were even in band 1 of the schools ranking.

So far all the suggestions put forward are all passive. Teachers should teach better. Victorians should be less slack. Petitions and protests in order to influence someone else to act on our words. I propose that to save our school, we be more proactive.

Older victorians can contribute material and resources and help in a million ways. The avenues are just about unlimited. Younger Victorians who might not have the gift of money or material can volunteer their time. They can give tuition, offer advice, be a role model for the younger victorians to look up to.

If we really are that passionate about VS, let us start making a difference that will SHOW. For one, we can revive the mentorship programme. The one that everybody seemed to drop out from sooner or later.

This is what will save Victoria. More suggestions anybody?

The Petition

Please take the time to read this.

You should know what you are signing.

Everything written here is factual, and based on input from one of the members of the VAC/VEC, that is, the Victoria Advisory Committee. The basic premise for the switch to Co-ed is to keep VS sustainable, as an academic institution, since you all know we’ve been going down consistently over the last 5 years.

The Need?

An evaluation done by a team of educational specialists predicted academic trends in VS over the last 5 years; apparently the school is on a downward spiral, and ultimately unsustainable. Typical slippery slope argument; our last batch pulled us back from band 3 to band 1 in the rankings, but this has been declared inconclusive evidence of a trend reversal by the VAC. But what is has done is buy us some time. The details on how, when and at what level of detail this prediction was performed at, is currently unknown. Amongst those who did this review are Mr. Ang, Mrs. Chan (principal, VJC, and thus VAC secretary), and experts from Hwa Chong Institution.

The Argument

Mr. Ang posits that we need to bring in girls into the school because 1) girls will raise the academic standard of the school in and of itself (statistically, it is true that girls do better) and 2) bringing girls into the system is the given pre-requisite for IP (integrated program) to continue, or VJC will not accept partnership in IP with VS since it is deemed to be the ‘weaker partner’. This move is supported by Mrs. Chan, who does not support IP with VS, but in her capacity as secretary of the VAC, advocates that we bring in girls into VS anyway because she is concerned for our welfare. Mr. Ang also advocates IP as imperative to keep us sustainable.

The move for Co-Ed is spearheaded by Dr. Ong Chit Chung, Chairman, Victoria School & Victoria Junior College Executive & Advisory Committees, and MP for Jurong GRC. He has also indicated that a joint-IP with TKGS or Cedar (the way TCHS and NYGH are doing IP with HCI) is out of the question and MOE has told us not to interfere with them, because it would be unfair to force them into a union under VIP just so our IP programme can take off.

What we need to do

Hence, the crux of the issue is how to keep VS sustainable academically. The proposal to become a co-ed school is premised upon the evaluation that VS is academically unsustainable.

We posit that we not only need a mass petition to signify to the school administration that there is no ground support for their proposal, but also that we know what the problems with the system are, are what can be done to make VS sustainable ultimately. Be it school culture, teachers, better attitudes or a more efficient administration, speak up.

Hence what we are looking for is a counter-proposal, an evaluation of the problems and how to solve them, to deal with the very roots of the issue. Co-ed is the thing that made us all worked up, but do not lose sight of the chief issue at hand. We need to make it clear that we have a culture to preserve, that it may be intangible but not worth any less than the tangible aspects just because we cannot quantify them. We need to tell those who say they want to preserve and save the school to know that they save nothing if they rob us of identity. Without results we would be Siglap Link secondary; we’re agreed that that’s unacceptable. With results but as another anonymous mixed school, we are nothing.

To all Victorians; you know what is good about and what is wrong with the system. Email comments and ideas to the webmaster. The Review Committee meets within 4-5 weeks time, to discuss the OVA’s official stand on the issue (no statement has been issued so far) if you have something productive to contribute, if you can stand in front of the VAC and tell them why Co-Ed is a mistake, you should let us know. Again, email the webmaster.

Victoria Thy Sons Are We.

Lin Hong Xuan, 4C
Graduated in 2003

voices of her sons.

There HAVE been studies done before to prove that
single-sex education is much more beneficial than co-ed experiences.

http://www.singlesexschools.org/evidence.html

http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/article442.html

This is for those skeptics out there who think us Victorians are only
railing and shouting mindlessly. We aren't dumb you know. We know what works
for us, that's why we love the current arrangement. I'm not advocating
blindly following tradition, but more often than not, traditions are
traditions precisely because they work and have some truth in them. Being in
an all-boys school has been essential in my formative years. Of course being
exposed to only one gender won't do anyone good, but it is truly more
rewarding to go through a single sex school during your teenage years.

Cher Li

Forum for Discussion.

Fellow Victorians, a forum has been set up for you guys to air your views.

http://vsforum.jonaize.com

please sign up before you post so we know who is who.
do spread the word, and may the victorian spirit live on




-nilsinelabore

voices of her sons

To those who wish to share their views and air their opinions, please leave your comments here, or email your post to wewillnotforget@gmail.com and I will post it here in your name. I'm sure most of us are outraged or upset, but please air your opinions like the gentlemen and professionals that Victoria has groomed us into.

Thanks guys.

-Farand

let's show others who we are.

Hey peeps. At this point in time, what matters is not just how we feel as Victorians, but also letting those around us appreciate and understand how important VS is to us.

show our unity by putting [son of victoria] right in front of your msn nick. Seeing a whole list of people having the same nicks would surely reflect something.

A little something that can be used if you need or want. Created for your convenience.




-Farand