During the first assembly for the Lower 6 today I couldn't help but make snide remarks at the prefectorial board. It was horrible: students in messy arrangements, fans that had no effect, Form 6 classes merging with the Form 4s and 5s. The first assembly we did two years back was equally chaotic, and we had an earful from the powers that be then.
Shirley (Tan) commented: "You're being very sarcastic today ..." and it made me realise that what I was doing wasn't at all helpful.
Alright, so what's the big deal? St Thomas's prefectorial board is one of the best in Kuching (if not Malaysia), and it changes all those who goes through it. We come in boys, we go out men. We learn to think outside the box, and look at our flaws objectively. We don't become leaders through the board, but sure as hell do we learn how to interact and plan and manage events.
St Thomas's prefectorial board turns us into the party planners of the future.
There are no prefects in my class. I told them the truth about the board: what they're likely to face and what they're likely to learn. And while I may be biased against it (since Ms Chong left it has deteriorated) others chime in: they've heard from their seniors how those that enter the board don't get good results ... how their teachers complain about their academics ... how the head prefect sleeps in her class.
Some may argue that there are prefects that do well academically, that learn how to manage their time. The key word here is some. Of the whole board how many are top scorers? For the STPM Kian Cheng, Chin Kai (Wen Qi and Tih Shyang) and Sze Chin are the sole stars (I'm not going to talk about the SPM because 1, the standards aren't as high, 2, the good students automatically become prefects, 3, the other classes (with little or no prefects) have academics of negligent value). Statistically this is like playing the lottery: you go in with a 6 (?) in 50 chance of getting good results (there are about 50 form 6 prefects in my batch). Is that worth your academic credentials?
A more important question that needs to be answered: how many of these prefects are scoring at their full potential? Chin Kai told me that he was doing miserably at the start of 2006. It was only after he retired that he picked up the pace, regaining loss ground and just managing to achieve respectable results. That wasn't his potential. He, like many others, would've done marvelously if the prefectorial board would just tone down its activities ... but no such luck.
We went to Sabah.
Juniors went to Singapore.
They plan to go to Australia.
The issue here isn't that the prefectorial board is a horrible operation - there are many good qualities (at least under Ms Chong) that justifies the miserable ratio ... the issue here is that the prefectorial board has lost focus. It is no longer a guardian of the school's discipline: it is the organizer, janitor, grapevine, genius camp, elite squad, dating agency, fundraising authority and social platform of the school.
And while we can boast an amazing board, impeccable discipline and an ever ready supply of raw muscle to cart chairs and clean halls ... what price do we have to pay?
I will no longer shoot sarcastic comments at the prefects: they deserve respect for doing such a thankless job (and suffering the pressures of an academic orientated society at the same time). I of all people should understand that: my SPM results are average, and nowhere near what I know I'm capable of. As a trade-off I have grown much, learned much. But do I wish such a gruelling experience on anyone else?
No. I do not. St Thomas's has to regain its focus - its prefectorial board should go back to being a guardian of our renowned discipline ... and stop there. No more midnight preparations for Teacher's Day celebrations. No more outlandish trips to far-off places. No more substandard academics.
It has to change, and it has to change now: there are only 60 probation prefects, as of press time.
They are not enough.
Note: the statistics in this post are not an accurate representation of actual events (which basically means I don't have the time to prepare a thesis on this *sorry*). This is meant to be taken as an opinion piece: you may agree or disagree with my points - I don't mind which.
