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On 23rd July 2010, we held our 71st Prefects Commendation at St Andrews Cathedral. 350 students witnessed the ceremony where 7 senior prefects and 7 school prefects were commended. Each of them renewed their commitment to preserve the tradition of the school and exercise their given authority to maintain order and discipline in the school.

71st Prefects Commendation ServicePanel Of Prefects 2010/2011

The Board 10/11School Captain Russ Hoe Ke Fan School Vice-Captain Clarence Lee Jia AnHonorary Secretary Shawn Koh Ern YiSenior Prefect Jasper Goh Jun XiangSenior Prefect Wenceslaus Tan Jun Jie Senior Prefect Barath GopalSenior Prefect Adriel Toh Xin AngSchool Prefects Mohammed Fahadh s/o Jahir H Kyran Chew Jie Jun Andrew Teo Yen Chuen Prabu s/o Ravinthiren Jereme Tan Shin Chieh Hong Yuan Ming Muhammed Danial Iskandar

The Student Government (SG) is one of the strategic thrusts of the school and it aims to raise the leadership standards among the students. Student leaders will serve the school, lead the student population and inspire their juniors to do the same. The SG includes the Senior Prefects, Uniform Group Leaders, CCA leaders, Upper Secondary Class Committee, Junior Leaders and Lower Secondary Class Committees. The Panel of Prefects, being at the top of the hierarchy, sets the tone and bearing for the various groups in the SG.

71st Prefects Commendation

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Celebration of Youth is the second photo competition in loving memory of an old boy, Mr Tan Teck Meng. The theme was in keeping with the spirit of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, which brings together youths of different races and backgrounds to celebrate true sportsmanship.

Participants of the photographic competition had explored different interpretations to this years theme, Celebration of Youth. All winning entries embodied the energy and spirit of youth, or simply captured a photograph of the Generation Next in action. Ms Chua Xin Yuan, Head-of-Department for Craft & Technology, had this to say: I am most pleased that the various partners have continued to support us in this event for the second year running. It was wonderful to know that our partners like the National Geographic Store and Canon acknowledge that it is important we nurture the youths of today with a keen sense of observation, creative experiences, and the desire to develop appropriate technical skills through the medium of photography.

The winners submitted very good entries and some were expert photographers while others were rank amateurs who found a good shot. One of our winners, Ryan Foo Yi Chern, who had captured an amazing snapshot of a rugby match between Anglo-Chinese School and St Andrews Sec, said: I was actually very surprised. I didnt expect to win anything as I felt that my photograph was not up to the standard after seeing last years prize-winning photos.

His inspiration was a shot of his friend, Matt Joosa, who showed a tremendous lot of enthusiasm and support for St Andrews throughout the rugby match. Ryan managed to capture his winning shot of Matt bursting into another round of cheering at just the right moment.

Another winner, Isaac Tang En-De, an aspiring photographer, had a moment of inspiration. Quoting him, I usually check out photos on Flickr to fi nd out how good photographs can be. During the rugby fi nals last year where we were triumphant, I saw the scene right in front of me and managed to capture it in the wink of an eye! Isaacs passion for photography grew in 2008 when a close friend of his would constantly take pictures when they hung out together. That really got him interested and so he decided to use his fathers photography equipment to try it out, since he was a bit of a photographer himself.

Other winners, like Category A second prize winner, D Sri Laakha from Canberra Primary School, took her photo, Get Set and GO!, on a spur-of-the-moment. Infl uenced by her school in 2010, she currently has a big interest in photography and wishes to improve. Her win has encouraged her to aspire to greater heights.

On the whole, many of those who won had not expected to win and were most pleasantly surprised. To me, this is a wonderfully joyous occasion to celebrate another kind of talent in our midst. As they say, A picture says a thousand words I couldnt agree more!

Celebration of Youth Photo Exhibition

On 21st July 1964, 25,000 Malays gathered at the Padang to celebrate Prophet Muhammads birthday. Because of a tussle with a policeman, this led to a mass riot between the Chinese and Malays.

Every year, Singapore celebrates Racial Harmony Day to reiterate the importance of trust and tolerance amidst the diversity that is Singapore so that we may truly be Singaporean, regardless of race, language or religion.

At Saint Andrews, the spirit of Racial Harmony was felt by all on 21st July. Our

principal, Mrs. Charles, gave an inspiring speech in the morning assembly to begin the day. Many staff members turned up in ethnic attire to add to the aura of the day. Our young Saints had some interesting lessons followed by some interactive games - on the ethnically diverse food in Singapore!

RACIAL HARMONY

Reported by Julian Chong Geng Wen (2A)

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UP AND ONA play written by a Saint, Mr Ian Loy,

was put up by Saints Drama Club on 30th and 31st July 2010.The play showed an old boys almost intuitive understanding of what it means to be a Saint. The play The play showed an old boys almost intuitive understanding of what it means to be a Saint. The play

about a newly-admitted student who felt he did not belong and the exasperated responses of his about a newly-admitted student who felt he did not belong and the exasperated responses of his

seniors, was an interesting ensemble of all the mischievous antics boys could get up to. It offered seniors, was an interesting ensemble of all the mischievous antics boys could get up to. It offered

an insight into the world of a Saint and the play had the audience laughing out loud at some instantly an insight into the world of a Saint and the play had the audience laughing out loud at some instantly

recognisable Saintly behaviour.recognisable Saintly behaviour.

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The Youth Olympic Flame which arrived in Singapore on 7th August

2010, arrived at St Andrews Village on the second day where it

was lit using a fl ame from a lantern holder which transports it from

continent to continent.

This Ceremony at St Andrews Village was

graced by our our Guest-of-Honour, Senior

Minister Professor S Jayakumar. Accompanying

him were the Chairman of the Singapore

Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee, Mr Ng Ser Miang

and our Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports,

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan. Mrs Belinda Charles was present together

with the principal of SAJC, Mrs Lee Bee Yann,

and the principal of SAJS, Mrs Wai Yin Pryke.

In the words of Mrs Charles, Principal, SASS, It

is a privilege for us today to host the Journey of the

Youth Olympic Flame and what more in the worlds

First Youth Olympics. I cannot imagine an occasion

Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame

more special than this. She also added, For us, it symbolizes

how connected schools are with their community who give them

the support and the encouragement.

The Senior Minister Prof Jayakumar observed, I am not an old boy

of St.Andrews but today I could see the spirit and the dynamism of

St. Andrews. The singing, dance, sport, energy and the band give

us a good idea of what St. Andrews is all about

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The Historical WinWhen our Saints defeated the

Jurong West Eagles on 30th July 2010 at the

Delta Hockey Stadium, it was the fi rst time in thirteen years

that the Saints had won the C Division Hockey

tournament.

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Our counterpart from Suzhou New District No. 1 Middle

School (China) who visited us on 12 July had this to say:

The education system here is an open and co-operative one. In the classrooms, students are active, happy and independent. They have their own unique personalities and are very proud to be Singaporeans. This is a nation full of enthusiasm and hope.

Chinese transcript translated by

Mdm Chong Kin Yan (Mother Tongue Dept)

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SAPTA (St Andrews Parent-Teacher Association) organized a food fair on 30th July 2010. The students of Sec Two Normal Academic took part in it with great enthusiasm and helped raise funds. The parents were there to show their support and to help the Saints in their endeavour. With extended recesses for both lower and upper secondary classes, the canteen fast became Makan [eat] Street, with our boys strumming a guitar or hooting their vuvuzelas in their attempts to lure customers to their stalls. It was just as much fun as it was a learning experience for our budding entrepreneurs, under a new programme called Jacobs Ladder for our Normal Academic students.

Our class 2A was privileged to go on a learning journey to Vietnam from the second to the seventh of June. We landed in Hanoi after a short fl ight, quite uncertain of what to expect in this country largely unknown to most of us.

We passed the fi rst night in a train which hardly felt like one as all the carriages looked like hotel rooms! Perhaps the most memorable part of the trip was the various treks that we undertook along the way. On our fi rst morning, we reached a village called Sapa which was located high up in the mountains. Although it was cold, we enjoyed it as the weather in Singapore is always so very hot! We changed into comfortable shorts and T-shirts for our treks, trudging along with our trusty backpacks fi lled with water-bottles to keep us well-hydrated. If anyone of us had thought the treks were going to be boring, we were proven wrong when we stepped into muddy or wet terrain and had to hike up steep slopes from one village to another. A careless slip would have meant a bad fall, and it was really good class bonding that we experienced

when people whom we rarely mixed around with stood close by to lend a helping hand to pull us up or to push us on further when we got tired. On one of our treks, we had to make a tricky descent down a mountain boy, was that dangerous but really fun! We probably trekked a total of 10 km as a class on all of those days.

Other than enjoying ourselves on our treks, we found signifi cance in bringing along various books

and sports equipment for the students in one of the village schools that we visited. It made us feel good to be able to contribute towards others growth. It was also quite exhilarating playing in a 5-aside soccer match with some students from the village school.

A trip abroad is never complete without some shopping, and that was no exception for us as most of us bought little souvenirs to remind us of our visit there. Patches of the natural

scenery of padi-fi elds, the setting sun and bullocks or cows grazing in their pasture were a common and oddly beautiful sight. Another common sight in Vietnam, however, is dog meat, which was thankfully off-limits to us.

Vietnam a country we went to half-heartedly, but also departed from half-heartedly after our enriching experiences there. May God bless the land and its people!

Vietnam Trip, 02/06/10 - 07/06/10 A personal refl ection by Gugan Sandran (2A)

SAPTA Food FairFood Fair

Acknowledgements:Many thanks to all teacher and student contributors for their efforts in making this newsletter possible. Special thanks to Mr Lim Yang Cherng and his team of

photographers for their wonderful compilation of photographs for the different school events. - The Editor

Viva Creative Lithographers Tel: 6273 8032 | www.vivacreativelitho.com

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