Nobody respects St Thom for our academics.
Let me repeat that, but with a different twist - since academics is the core business of schools, then ...
Nobody respects St Thom.
I hate that perception. In almost all tuitions i go i'm the sole ambassador for my school. I get ridiculed by Mr Lee in physics tuition. Paul gets belittled by Green Road Idiots (GRI? Hmm.) and he makes them all hate him when he beats them (haha!). Lately the only person to slowly change that perception is Genius Aldrin. He actually makes me proud in the way his name commands respect amongst some tuition teachers and students (not so nice is the way every other thomian has to match up to him - an impossible task). Otherwise, like Mr Lee says ...
"2 straight As! Hah! Sekolah di Bau pun ada 2 straight A!!"
*Class laughs at me*
We live in a society that places too much emphasis on academics. You study, you fight for a scholarship (which everyone knows is based on race and skin colour, not brains), you climb the corporate ladder. How sad. If you're lucky you break away and do business, but so what? Our politics and business spheres are interwined, corrupted to an extent and also very much biased by skin colour. We are proabably the only country where dark is better.
Welcome to Malaysia, third world country.
I love it and pray for it everyday.
Now you know the setting for this post. I am going to talk about a funny paradox in my school, and i wonder why i didn't write about it sooner.
The teachers want to push our academics. They are dedicated. The best students are usually prefects. They become better (responsible ... etc ...) under Ms Chong. The teachers resent the prefectorial board for eating up our potential to be superb students. And yet they themselves rely on us so much. A friend of mine, for example, has to organize English club activities, do websites for science labs, is delegated duties from under-managed teachers, and worst is that most of them only worry about deadlines. Selfish, selfish. And yet he still doesn't want to say no. The teachers thus resent the Board even more, coz now our academics are like long-dead flowers, choked by the thorns of teacher duties, competition and prefect stuff.
So let's take a look at the priorities -
1, Academics - Non negotiable. Must do well.
2, Prefectorial Board - If we drop this the famed discipline in St Thom dies out. Then we don't have disipline, and we don't have results. Might as well blow up the school, yes?
3, Competitions - No choice. This is both for the school (honour and glory?) and also for personal development, even if it turns you to an emotional wreck and gives you nightmares for weeks after.
4, Teacher projects - they delegate to you, it chokes you. Can someone please explain to me why the hell they don't ask non-prefects? Instead they ask us and then blame the Board. Seems to be a popular trend these days - blame the Board.
And i agree. It is not a baseless claim. A friend whose dad is in the education ministry says it is widely known we are a show school. We are all fireworks and beautifully kept lawns, but we suck where it matters. On the other hand, our feeder schools are as good as the mud from the Sarawak river (read:milo water) and we do a pretty good job considering, since we manage to get good passes every year (note: passes means Ds, so more Ds means more happy Datuks ... ^_^) But we can still do better - our top students are being choked. Admit it guys, our results sucked for form 6 last year. It could be the students' own fault, but to completely rule out the prefectorial board as being responsible is just plain dumb. For something as mundane as a form 6 orientation we have 2 rehearsals. For the teachers day we plan two months (or more!) in advance. Not to say it wasn't great - it was akin to the opening of the commonwealth games. I was very proud to be a part of it, as the master of ceromonies. But my god, one WHOLE WEEK spent staying back after school, and the SPs and SSPs staying until 11 the night before to do the helium balloons.
Ridiculous.
14 comments:
1. Scholarship/University Entrance!
Deal and fight for it or die for it! I don't know, it seems to me that GERKO really plays a role there till forcing people to drop prefect for GERKO. Don't they know that it St Thomas, there is always a 'clear cut' for GERKO?
2. Teachers's tasks
You know what? I wasted my 30 mins talking to teacher after the extra class. She wants me to do a FREAKING physics website for the school! My goodness sake! Of course I DECLINED as she was one of those that always complain about me! I would do wholeheartedly if she doesnt!
3. Prefectorial board
I'm not sure. Seems to me that this batch Top 13 are really commmitted in doing their things. Yes, unlike the past years when we were dumped and do all by ourselves. This year we really bring the coming batch and care them. We really think for them until most of us try to convince and reason to every single prefect. No doubt, the commitment that we learn will help us later in the study. I'm very positive about this!
4. Importance of delegation
You said the prefect stayed up till 11pm to do the decoration? That's really something to do with delegation of work. Do you actually understand well of the situation? They didn't plan properly. They did all the decoration on last minute and spontaneous ideas. They started late and everything only focus on certain and same prefects. Where were the other prefects? I don't know, so far I don't feel anything. I think I've delegated my job well and under Ms Chong training (for instance PRS), although most of us hold high posts, we really did not much because we delegated our job well and everyone play their role. We don't have a 'one man show'.
Well, delegation is part of the things that I listed our an hour ago which will be used in my talk to the prefects later. No doubt, I express better through talking than writing :D
Hello Kenny? They had to do it at 11pm coz the helium baloons only last 12 hours (less?) tops. And they DID plan well. Take from me - the teacher's day was one of the best planned, most time consuming events i have ever seen. Even the bible camps i helped organize was not as demanding in terms of showmanship, preparation and stress levels. And this was two full days, mind you, not some 2 hour show.
They did very well, and you can't deny it wore everyone out. Both me and Aidan shared exhausted, relieved high fives after bringing the entire thing perfectly into completion - the backstage was frought with unseen problems, and both me and him had to do impromptus, with fingers crossed the teachers do not know what was going on.
Oh yeah, one other thing - where were the other prefects? Hmm. I'm sure its very reasonable to say:
"Gee, can you guys stay back for decorations till late? Its pretty okay, yes?"
One cannot work in prefect situations where everything goes to plan. I don't need to elaborate further - we've both been involved in too any events for our own good. The unexpected is always expected.
I do not mean that they werent planning thoroughly. Yes, I praise their SSP and SPs and with some prefects for their commitment.
Do you actually realise that the helium baloons plan were done on last minute? They didn't plan that ok? ... and you know what? Only one prefect solely assigned to do the decoration (I don't mean the stage) for the entrance and the hall. But she had the stress! And the rest were called in last minute to do the decoration. Imagine Ms Chong was there and questioning "Why aren't the decoration up yet?" when we were there around 5pm!
But anyway, they did a good job! But to some extends that it really affect the studies, I don't beliv so. If you say that to Ms Chong, I'm sure she will ask you to do a timetable, and write down the time you spend for those activities and the time you have for other stuff! Only then you will realise how many hours you spend on those stuff and it doesn't really all from prefect's activities!
u're right... NOBODY respects thomians. Pity u guys lar, but then again, that's why i didn't apply for the perfectorial board. Sorry Kenny, u'll probably label me kiasu after this comment. Bwahaha
Hehehehe. Your first sentence is guilty as charged. But there were two certain smart asses who made it into some papers last year, sure you can repeat that this year right?
You know Cedric....if teachers were boggarts, your misspelled "ridikulous" would have banished them all...with that laughter needed...
*sot*...eh, I thought you were stopping from blogging, not coming online++?
Not entirely the teachers. Its also the Board. In situations like this no one side is completely right.
Kenny, i would like you to read both of your comments and compare them side by side. There are some ... holes in your reasoning. FIrst you say they didn't plan properly, then ... well you go read yourself.
And please do not keep on appearing to belittle my understanding of the situation. If you wish, i can always ask Paul to provide a running commentary on the preperations, or even Goldon's first few stage decoration drafts.
If you recall, the teacher's day preperations took up a week in our study timeline before exams. I don't know about you, (high iq and all) but one week is a looong time to not study, escpecially when its only a matter of days to the first paper. It definitely affected my performance.
Oh, and one more thing. More than a month before the actual event Andy randomly voiced out to me his frustration in not being able to find a suitable helium balloon provider. I joked to him to create his own.
From that conversation in mind, i don't see how exactly it was a 'last minute idea'.
Kenny, if you seriously want to be a lawyer please understand that subtle attacks is often better than a full on confrontation. Everytime a trainee prefect expresses his or her opinion to me that he/she wants to quit, i lay down the basics: the good side, the bad side, and then i say "You choose."
They're Form 6, and i trust they have grey matter between their ears. If i constantly drill them (very direct, as i would say) then sooner or later they'd lose interest.
Sam, our teachers are not boggarts. They unfortunately have form. sigh
Well, come to me orally and I'll do better :D I'm not good in writing out my argument or thoughts.
Anyway, you cannot simply hear from one side my friend. Don't tell me to ask goldon and paul :D Hearing from one side would be too bias...
If you're going to talk about Andy, I tell you wad, Andy is a kind of person that like to talk and say but nothing come out :D There are certain people you need to understand them before you trust their words :D
Anyway, I do voice out the negative and positive points whenver the prefects came to me and told me their desire to quit. You know what? I told them the negative points but I provide them with the solutions they can do to help ease the negative things. You cannot simply list down all the things without solutions :D That's another level of thinking my dear... don't just tell them the surface and let them die for it...
Simply hear from one side? Hehe. I'm hearing from you too, and its not rubbing in with what i know first hand of the preperations, what i know from Goldon (who didn't delegate), from Paul (who did) and from Andy, Suh Hui, Exz (yeah, they did delegate too - all of them were in charge of something and i knew who to approach at all times through out the event)and the various group 2 meetings.
I still find it infuriating that you keep on insisting that 'i don't know anything coz i'm an OP and you know everything coz you're an SP'-type of mentality.
Stop that, Kenny - it's not helping your image, especially since i know for a fact that the helium balloons were part of the group 2 plans since last year, at the first meeting on the Teacher's Day they brought up. And it wasn't Andy, who was seriously pissed and looking for a proper helium supplier. He told me there was no way they could make their own - since the hydrogen stage before the helium stage is too dangerous.
The issue is simple; it is clear: The prefects go way overboard sometimes with our projects. Why can't we follow other schools' way of keeping the celebrations low-key and meaningful, and concentrate on being respected, via academics?? Why do we have to hold so many rehearsals for something so unimportant as the orientation? My parents were pissed, you know, at the fact that it ate away at study time, and they had to bring back and forth, back and forth. The events we (and here i mean a dedicated team of just eight teens, plus teachers) manage to pull off a two day camp in church with less fanfare and stress as the prefects! It makes no sense!
Well whatever. Nothing i say, or do is going to change anything, least of all your opinions, ro the prefectorial board. I'm going to shut up and not say anything more.
And it doesn't matter anyway. The education ministry is already on the case. They know what's wrong with St Thom, and either they step in, confrontation style (which i highly doubt) or they just give subtle reminders.
Sooner or later. Sooner or later.
Read the News Strait Times today :D
No matter what, you're right for certain points and the same for me. In this judgement, no one is right. That's the way of debate.
Perhaps, we are trained debaters and we often try our best to keep our mindset from deviating away, it will affect our argument and making us into agreeing with our opponent which lead to failure.
There IS and MUST be a reason behind everything that happens. Be it for the celebration or for the commitment. But if anyone ask me in daily life why we have to be so committed in all those things, I'm very certain I'm able to do so.
Sometines, don't just think all the negative thoughts. When you imagine and think positively and the beauty of everything, you will realise how amazing things are...
I see another mention of my name used by Cedric as a means of furthering his mysterious agenda. Hmpf! =P Maybe I should be kau bin phoi a bit and thank you for saying that I am a genius. Haha...
By the way, there were THREE straight A students from St. Thomas last year. Poor Anthony, always gets left out.
Oh and just for the record, I've given up hope for the government's policies in awarding scholarships.
Frankly, the reason why St Thomas shines in Form 6 level is mainly because of 'migrants' from other schools such as Green Road, Kuching High, Stampin etc. On the other note, The students have to aim higher and not to limit themselves with their current achievements.
Yep, everyone knows that. For years now, in fact.
Drin, no secret agenda, and i understand the frustration at M'sian scholarships. Too bad, really - but we do live in a third world country, don't we?
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