Voyagers: Third Student Leader’s Investiture

Written by: Aloysius Tng (19-U4), Beverly Tan (19-E3) and Lee Keng Yan (19-U1)

Designed by: Athena Lim (19-A4)

May 24 was undoubtedly one of the most significant days of 2019 for Eunoia Junior College, as seniors and juniors came together to finally carry out the long-awaited handover ceremony and introduce our fledgling young student leaders to the school. It was an eventful day filled with many beautiful performances by our students and the highlight of the day, the handover ceremony where our J2 seniors stepped down to prepare for their upcoming ‘A’ levels and the J1’s stepped up to fill their roles. Other than Eunoians, students from other schools were also here to witness this moment and some of our alumni came back as well.

The first performance of the day was a stunning performance by our very own EJ Rock Band, a newly formed student interest group, in the Atria. Covering many popular songs such as “Cake by the Ocean” and “All Star”, the young band drew a large crowd with its energy and sound. Their crown jewel that day was arguably their arranged rock cover of the school song, which deserved all the applause it drew. The students were then ushered into the hall where the official ceremony began with a bang – String Chamber, another student-initiated interest group, performed an overture from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. Some of the instruments featured were the violin, viola and cello.

Our principal Mrs Wong shared a few words, reminding our future leaders to live with integrity and to be truthful to themselves and others when serving selflessly for the school. Rebekah Seow also shared her experience as the 2nd Student Council President, recounting the good, the bad and the ‘perfect’ times she experienced merely a few years back. She also expressed a lot of hope for the school and its future while advising the future leaders to remember the perfect moments they will undoubtedly experience in their journey of leadership.

What followed was the main event, the handover ceremony. The house committee was the first to take their place on stage, coming in loud with the new house songs and house cheer. Next was the class directorate, comprising of the chairperson and vice-chairperson of each class. 19-I1’s Chairperson, Wan Xin, gave a short talk on the chairperson’s role, and that while it may seem minute, is still a valuable and crucial cog in the wheels. This was followed by the new head and vice-head of each CCA exchanging heartfelt farewells with the outgoing heads and were presented with items symbolic of their CCA; Band’s fire extinguisher remains a mystery. Council was saved for last, its incoming members taking the stage, dressed smartly in the school blazers, to officially take over their duties and receive the clips from their seniors. Wan Tong took over the reins from Rebekah as President, while Zachary and Guan Fong also succeeded Chong Yu and Sanchana as Deputy Presidents. All the councillors then recited the school pledge and the student council pledge as one, reaffirming their dedication to serving the school. Wan Tong, now officially the incumbent President, then made a short speech, sharing her hopes and aspirations for the school while emphasizing that everyone must work together to make Eunoia history and hoping to gain the encouragement and support of everyone.

The speech was followed with yet another performance, this time by Street Dance. They certainly pulled no punches, busting out their best moves yet to the now-familiar beats of “I want it I got it”; their vibrancy and life shone brightly in their physically demanding yet coordinated movements, showcasing their athleticism to the fullest. Evidently, their energy was infectious, because the newly invested student leaders spontaneously began the batch dance right after, this year’s being “Shut Up and Dance”. The sight of all the houses, all the CCA’s, united by a common song and dance was undeniably heartening.

There was no other way to end off this moment in school history without singing the school song. As the school stood as one, for a glimmering moment in the afternoon sun, the book of destiny opened a new chapter. This gleam remained as each house began their house cheers, followed by the Team EJ cheer. The day ended with Eunoian voices soaring, raised in unison.

To shed more light on the way ahead, we interviewed the newly elected Student Council President, Lum Wan Tong, regarding the Investiture after the ceremony.

Since April, the Student Council had already started planning the Investiture and the Student Council presidential candidates were in charge of conceptualising. It involved a lot of collaboration among fellow councillors, CCA leaders and class chairs.

To Wan Tong, “the investiture is the most meaningful way for us to formally start her (our) leadership journey”. It was also the first event she and her Vice Presidents planned together. Besides the Investiture being significant to her as her first event as the Student Council President, the event enabled her to understand the working dynamics of her committee.

Perhaps some of you have seen unfamiliar faces donning blazers during the Investiture. Those were student councillors from other schools who attended the Investiture. As hosts, the 3SC student councillors interacted with the delegations from other schools and chatted with them about council duties. Coincidentally, Wan Tong met her primary schoolmate at the Investiture. “I think it’s really nice and important for all of us to visit each other and to establish connections, and also learn from each other. When you go to different events by different schools, you can always see how you can improve, and also how other schools execute their ideas,” Wan Tong shares, with a smile.

“We also drew upon our secondary school experiences in the Investiture, and thinking about how we can build upon it and make it bigger,” she continues. “So it was really just a collaboration of different ideas we got from different places.”

To end the interview, we asked Wan Tong what her greatest takeaway from the Investiture was. To Wan Tong, her greatest takeaway, and the part she enjoyed the most was the batch dance. “I think that really is what Eunoia’s spirit should embody – the vibrancy and energy that we really want to bring across in everything that we do. I really hope that that is something that will carry on for the rest of our term, and also that we will leave with our juniors for the coming years,” she concluded.

The Origin* would like to congratulate all newly elected student leaders and wishes Wan Tong, Zachary and Guan Fong the best of luck for their terms as President and Deputy Presidents of 3SC.  

Light the Way: Kaleidoscope

Written by Aloysius Tng (19-U4), Athena Lim (19-A4), Dillon Phang (19-I4), Lee Keng Yan (19-U1)

Designed by Athena Lim (19-A4)

Interviewer: Athena Lim (19-A4)

Photographs by: Ang Wei Ning, Asher Tan, Goh Jun Xuan, Lee Shao Yeap, Yau Yu Hao from EJ Media

Five torches came together to create a resplendent light, a majestic performance as one Eunoia. The Performing Arts CCAs truly outdid themselves.

On 11th May, Eunoia Junior College saw our third College Day, at the University Cultural Centre (UCC). The ceremony itself began at 4pm in the afternoon, the proceedings graced by the guest of honour Mr Christopher de Souza, the school administrative board, and of course the freshly minted alumnus. As the next batch of Eunoians looked on, the alumnus received their due awards, Eunoia Shining on a much grander stage. But the true highlight was arguably the performance that came after, showcasing all five of our Performing Arts CCAs: Chinese Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Dance, Drama and Choir. They came together both onstage, to present a performance that wowed the audience, and offstage.

Right before the start of the concert, our interviewer, Athena Lim, met with Arethea Lim (18-U2) from Drama, Lim Yuling (18-A1) from CO, Karis Goh (18-A3) from Choir, Rachel Lim (18-I3) from Dance, and Leslie Yip(19-I4) from Band, representatives from each CCA to find out more about their thoughts before the performance and to uncover the long road each CCA travelled to finally reach here.

The performance certainly contained several unforgettable moments, for the audience and for the performers themselves. When asked about her favourite part of the performance, Rachel from Dance said “My favourite part of the dance performance is the mass jump, where all the J1’s,  J2’s and the teachers are dancing together.” She felt that it was in this moment where she could feel the interconnectedness in every dancer, teacher and student alike, and this interconnectedness is what she had hoped to bring to the audience through her dance. Karis, on the other hand, said her favourite moment was the curtain call. That moment, when all the performers and stage hands came together as one family, was to her the most heartening and memorable moment, which she hopes everyone will keep close to their hearts.

Light the Way certainly held a lot of meaning to the CCAs who had to ensure that their performances fit the theme of the concert. While Leslie felt that their performance items did not link to the theme directly, he certainly felt that the process leading up to the performance did, with every member having the determination and perseverance to push through, his claim that it “really embodie(d) how we push(ed) through despite all the hardships to light the way”. Karis concurred, feeling that it was the process that mattered as they were a small orchestra and had to push themselves and persevere to the very end.

To many of them, this performance also offered a kind of closure, as it would be the last time that both batches would be performing together before the J2’s start preparing for their ‘A’ levels. Yuling also wished to convey a feeling of inspiration to the audience as this College Day did not come easy to all the Performing Arts groups, and hopes the audience will know how much this performance means to each and every performing arts CCA. Despite being a relatively new junior college, she wants to put Eunoia and Eunoians on the stage, and was extremely proud of how far they’d come. Leslie agreed with this, wanting to prove that Eunoia is more than able to stand, even though it is a new school.

She also hoped that the audience will be able to be engaged in the performance and receive the emotions of the pieces. With how much hard work the orchestra has put in over several months, she hopes that the audience can see the fruits of their hard work and appreciate the performance.

Karis mentions that the favourite piece she performed was O Sapientia. One reason was because of the sentimental value within this piece, as the very last piece she performed after her 10 year journey in Choir. It is also a very unique piece as it involves percussion noises on top of singing. She says, “We have parts where our hands will be clapping or shuffling to make percussive noises to add to the music, and it adds a lot to the mood and meaning of the song.”

Before we concluded the interview, we asked them how they felt about working together in one performance. To them, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to work together, in one common setting, with so many other performers and performing groups. This performance provided them with a platform to showcase to the rest of the school their hard work and passion, and possibly for them to show greater appreciation for the Performing Arts.

Though the day has passed, the performers truly did Light the Way. Blazing the trail for their juniors, their contributions and their day in the spotlight will never be forgotten.

To everyone who came down to UCC to support your fellow Eunoians, thank you! See you at next year’s College Day!