Welcome to CHR councillors website

First Monday Morning Meeting for Sec 2 and 3 @ 7am in Hall

2009-06-28T15:09:00.002+08:00

Dear all,

our first Monday Morning Meeting (29 June) is as follow:

Time: 7am
Venue: Hall

There is a change in our meeting venue as the Plaza has been used as Infirmary.

Do be punctual for the meeting.

Mr Hu

Welcome Back From June Break!!!

2009-06-28T15:05:00.002+08:00

Dear CHR Councillors,

Welcome back from your June Break. Do hope everyone has a good rest.
Semester 2 is going to be a very busy semester for all of us so do work hard and play hard!!!

See you guys in school!!

Mr Hu

Consent forms for March camp 2009

2009-03-16T15:22:00.002+08:00

Dear all,
As of today, I have received 54 Notice of Activity (NoA) forms. Thank you those who had submitted your NoA to me. For the rest who have yet to submit, you can submit to me on Tuesday from 0800-0845 at PE room.

For those coming for the camp, please meet on Friday at 0800 at the plaza. Do be punctual.
Mr Hu

Meet the Parents Session on 14 March 2009

2009-03-16T15:16:00.002+08:00

I would like to thank the following councilllors for helping in the Meet-the-Parents session on 14 March.
1 Minny Wong Mun Yi
2 Lee Yeow Chung Xavier
3 Rachel Thng Jing Wen
4 Seah Yong Teck
5 Lemuel Koh
6 Aldrich Leow Zi Hui
7 Lim Rui How
8 Neumini Raaj
9 Tan Si Hui
10 Toh Wan Sin
11Nerine Chua Wen Shan
12Rachael Toh Hui
13 Tan Pei Jia
14 Niew Yi Min Jolene
15 Taufiqah Amany
16 Querise Angelica
17 Nurul Ashikin
18 Lim Yi En
19 Dhiviya
Although we requested 35 councillors to help, only 19 turned up but we still managed to tide over. Good job guys!!
Mr Hu

Bring your Student Handbook for the Camp

2009-03-15T18:00:00.001+08:00

Dear all,
please bring along your Student Handbook for the Councillor Camp.

Thanks,
Mr Hu

Councillors March Camp 2009 Notice of Activity form

2009-03-15T17:50:00.002+08:00

All Councillors attending the March camp are suppose to submit your Notice of Activity (NoA) Form to me latest by Monday (16/3) between 0900 to 1300. You can find me at the PE Room or Conference room.
I need your NoA form to determine the actual number of students attending the camp and indent your food. Pls also indicate in your NoA form if you require any special diet (eg. Vegetarian) and whether your parents will be attending the talent night on Saturday evening. I will also pass you the packing list in exchange of your NoA. For those of you who have read this post and know of your friends who are not aware of the submission, pls help to spread the instruction.
Thank you.

Mr Hu.

2009-03-01T18:26:00.003+08:00

Please note that councillors meeting from now on will be hold on tuesday instead of mon. Location will be in plaza at 7:00am sharp. Thanks!!!

2009-02-22T16:52:00.001+08:00

There is no morning councillor meeting tomorrow . :D

Janice :D

2009-02-14T11:30:00.001+08:00

HAPPY VALENTINE TO ALL! :D

Ok , just came to remind that there will be a morning councillor meeting on this coming monday ,usual time and place .

Please be punctual .

Janice

2008-12-30T19:15:00.003+08:00

Dear all,

This will be my last post for this year and 4ever. I want to thank all councillors who has been giving me support and also not to forget those councillors which I have scolded you for the past 6months. I am sorry if sometimes I am quite or very unreasonable. :) No offence. Is for the good for the sake of Councillor Board. It's been an enjoyable with you all especially the councillors camp. I will miss these memories. Please do give your support to Mr. Hu who will be guiding all of you. I am no longer in Councillor Board and has been tasked to take over NPCC.

Mr. Alan Ho

RE: Gathering.

2008-12-26T13:29:00.002+08:00

Hey people, yeah I know its pretty confusing about the gathering details and stuff. Please try to bear with it because I'm trying to get maximum turn out it'll seriously be redundant. The final details are set on Jan 2nd which is your first day of school. It'll be in seoul garden at CWP. It starts around 6pm. Its very tentative because its hard to confirm the timing of when the S1 orientation 2009 will end. You only need to bring your ezlink card,and sufficient cash that is required. Those who are coming down from home you can meet us outside the restuarant, I'll try to ask the manager if you guys can be seated first. Dressing is up to you. No dress code. Its evidently not compulsory. But it is encouraged. I hope to see all of you soon! If you need further clarification you can just gimme a call, please dont text me. thanks loads!

----Isaac L.

2008-12-24T12:54:00.002+08:00

Here to update on one of the stuff on the orientation day itself ,which is the attire itself . There are some changes made ,but mostly it only affect the sec 4cs next year . Those councillors involved have to take note :

Sec 3cs next year you are still sticking to the attire of GREEN colour camp tee and p.e short .
Sec 4cs next year and current ex-cos will change to COUNCILLOR tee instead of dark blue tee and wear p.e shorts .

P.e shorts is for ALL gender .
STRICTLY not FBT shorts for girls .

These are the changes that is made . Sec 4cs and ex-cos will wear COUNCILLOR tee.

Those involved in orientation may come in their attire BUT those who had morning duties like gates,flag pole and national anthem have to come in their unifrom .
The duty list is not out yet so those duties ,councillors are to stick to last year list.

And please report at plaza by 7am ,try to wake up early on that day .

And lastly , enjoy your holidays and a MERRY CHRISTMAS to all councillors,mentors and teachers . :D'

Any questions may contact Benjamin .

Janice here .

GATHERING!

2008-12-23T22:10:00.002+08:00

Hey guys! Since many of you arent free over this holiday and festive period, I've decided to place the gathering on the evening of the first day of school! Its a friday night too! So no worries about late night or homework alright people? =D I'm really hoping for a good turnout and I'm sure you people are all looking forward in spending more time together as one bunch of cool people eh! So let me, Jeevan , Cara , Edwin know if you're going alright? latest by next tuesday people! thanks a million!

------ MERRYYYYYYY CHRISTMAS
ISAAC L.

2008-11-28T14:34:00.002+08:00

19 december ,which is sec 1 registration day , sec 1cs councillors this year need not come and help out because there is too many councillors .
Even if you had handed up the form, you do not need to come .

Janice :D

LTC BINTAN 08

2008-11-19T22:12:00.003+08:00

Somehow or rather our end of year council trip has been "changed" to be known as LTC. Leadership Training Camp for those who are unclear. Well, it has always been a leadership training camp,its just that we always tell ourselves its more ENJOYABLE.

Just to summarise we've learnt in the LTC 08 for benefit for those who were'nt here.

1) Perserverance, is the attitude for us to build discipline to achieve our targets.
2) Humbleness to ask when in doubt
3) In ALL SITUATION, SEE, THINK, ASSESS,ACT. --in short, use your brains. =x
4) Reflect and bring back what you've learnt and apply it to daily practices.

Hope those who had gone for the trip found it really meaningful. Its really nice to see those S1s and S2s really bonded together. May we all encourage one another to finish the race! Come on, what's worse then those super-itchy sandfly bites you've got man! Dont forget we all WORK WELL UNDER PRESSURE.

Merry christmas in advance, well, alittle too advance.
Isaac L.

COUNCILLORS GET TOGETHER! -- sorry! students only! =x

2008-11-17T23:25:00.004+08:00

HELLO PEOPLE! I'm trying to create a get together for all of us during the December Holidays! it will most probably be on the 24th 25th 26th or the 31st of DEC! Please do try to make the dates available!
We'll have either of the following :

1) Chalet ( cancelled )
2) Dinner at a resturant
3) BBQ at school + stay overnight!

So yeah, please do try to keep the dates available! Since the S4's will be off from 21st to 27th, Cara and the respective level ICs would be in charge. Thanks. Any queries refer to them.

HAPPY HOLS!

-- ISAAC LIU
going older each day, SIGH.

2008-11-01T21:54:00.002+08:00

On behalf for Germaine,

Like Issac, I've also read the tags. I see no reason why you guys spam on the Councillor's blog about Gowri. I've heard ALOT of things about Gowri. She became president fair and square.

She was voted by the some of the councillors example Benjamin. And at this time, She
needs encouragements, not sarcastic comments about her. \

"shes is gerals sis rite??" This phrase is a redundant set of words.
Just because I'm Geraldine's sister, That does not mean I've whatever my sister has. We're different. I'm in NA, she's in Express. We're 2 different things. Please do not compare me and my sister together.

As for Rachel, I've no comments. She is a good candidate. But it's not up to us. It's
be on her attitude and likewise, her leadership. Like my sister, Please also
do not compare me and Rachel.

Mr. Alan Ho

Going Solo

2008-10-31T20:27:00.004+08:00

Hello people! After reading up on the tagboard, I can really sense some familiar discontenment and strong feelings form the message. Let me offer you an anecdote before I go on. A man who was once very angry with his current happenings in his life decided to find some solace alone. Without his friends and those close people he knew. He took his knapsack packed a few stuff and left on a trip up a mountain. As he climbed up, he found his trek very boring, tiring and emotionally discouraging.When he had successfully reached the top of the mountain where he could command the glorious view of the majestic world under his vision, he screamed and cheered to the top of his voice, but sadly no one was there to share his joy.He was so sad, and felt so wasted, that he simply went back down and became a lonely person for the rest of his life.
What then are the learning outcomes for the story?
1) Things can never be achieved alone.
2) Simple things can be amplified to be a emorional fear and mental barrier.

Gowri being the President of the council, does mean that she has some rights and special previllages. Like the man who stood on the mountain top when he commanded such a beautiful view. But, like the man, she too needs your support. She isnt going to learn things overnight and POOF! become someone thats a superhuman.She needs time to learn the ropes for the job. We should point out to her where she can improve on constructively instead of going " hey man, i think so and so is better" Its simply discouraging! Put yourself in her shoes!
I've been through what she is going through now, and its not a plesant thing. No one likes to be pressed down. Its like a pointless if a teacher keeps telling you the answer to the question is wrong but doesnt show you the right steps to get the correct answer!Coming through a full circle, I really urge us to look a things objectively and from different views before we give out such strong comments. I believe that we should do our part to the best of our ability before pushing others to do the same. No one warrants the right to put others down for their own comfort.
Likewise, I think its a selfish act that we push others for Presidency. Its only a few months since Gowri took over, what's the rush about all this? Post-investiture fever? Come off it! Who are we to know if that person is the right choice of candidate? Who are we to say that our voice is definately the voice of the entire student council board.
Since its the holidays, why not spend time thinking on how we can improve imstead of deploring and offering scathing remarks to others?Why dont you give people your views?Who knows if its something that can be compromised? I think its time for the board to look on group achievements and motivation instead of personal track records and achivements. It has always been about being a team-player. Leadership comes in many form, let's take it as a new journey and trust the people around us.

Always trying to keep in date,
Isaac Liu. =D

2008-10-16T17:20:00.001+08:00

I am here to update again . :D

Just to add more information on today morning meeting ,those who are going to mdm yati's house this saturday 18/10 ,please give your reply latest by tonight .
You can give your reply in the tagboard .

Janice :D

2008-10-09T12:44:00.002+08:00

I am here to add some details to the morning announcement being made today because it seemed unclear. :D

Tomorrow is sec 4cs councillors graduation day ,so the photo-taking is to gather all councillors together for the last day of the sec 4cs . The photo-taking is at 1.30pm at the plaza .And you all are to bring your own camera .

Hope to see you there .
Janice

May the our devotion light your way.

2008-09-20T20:03:00.002+08:00

On behalf of all the graduating cohort of councillors, I would like to extend the warmest thanks and congratulations to all the councillors that has been official recongised as a Student Councillor in this year's Investiture. I hope that you will enjoy your time as much as I do, and will finish the journey with gusto and pride like we did. That one day, you can walk out of the school gate during your graduation ceremony and be proud of yourself, and knowing that you did not let yourself, your family, your loved ones down. Not just the S4 Ex-co, but also all the secondary 4 councillors, I'm sure have enjoyed the journey with you guys being their laughter and joy.
The hardest test, would be for the S1 and S2 as you continue this walk to work under the leadership of the S3 who will no doubt push you to greater limits than they themselves had achieved, just as they surpassed my batch. We all, being in the council body, should extend the best hand forward to each other, regardless of it being in school-related or non-school related stuff. Tough times are there, but remember that once we all weather through this storm, there will be better times ahead. Ever cloud has a silver lining. Take heart.
My piece of adivse is that " What cannot kill you, only makes you stronger."

---- In best wishes
Isaac Liu
council mentor =X

2008-09-17T20:01:00.002+08:00

Student Investiture was a great success. I would like to thank this opportunity to thank my Sec 4 councillors for providing valuable advice to the present councillors cohort.

I received Gowri's sms to all last night. This Investiture is not about present Sec 3Exco. Is about all the people in it. Without the Sec 1,2 and Sec 3 (non-exco), the Investiture will be useless. This Investiture is for all to feel happy for one another, to affirm one another for a good job done for the past year and a recognition for all to be standing on the stage. For those who did not go up to the stage to collect the Exco badge, please do not be sad. This is not end of the world. You can still contribute to the Councillor Board to your best of your ability. The red or purple badge mean nothing if you really love being a councillor job. Whether you are just a normal councillor or Exco members does not matter to me. What matters most to me and I want to see the most is your enthusiasm in everything you do for the school and study hard for yourself.

I must congratulate Gowri and her peers for a good job done for the past year. The ball is in your court now and to make the Councillor Board a much better place to "live in". I can see the teamwork and camaraderie in this team. Continue to build up this strength and pass this zest to your Sec 1/2. Just now I clapped very loudly for all my councillors who went on stage. Haha, hands a bit sore.. :) But is worth it..

To Issac and team- I really appreciate your guidance to them for the past years and helping me to groom them into better councillors. Hopefully you are able to continue to give us your fullest support when we have any Councillor Activities. Remember what Mr. Koa say about your "sponsorship"? Haha..

Mr. Alan Ho (A man of few words) :)

2008-09-03T21:23:00.002+08:00

Sorry for this very late post. Not sure why for the past few days I cant log in. My main aim is to thank all councillors who have help in some ways for the Teacher's Day Concert. It was a great success given that most of you are 1st timer in organising the event. I believe these experience in organising will make you better prepared for anything when you leave CHR to pursue your further studies.

I would like to mention a few councillors' name who has been largely actively involved in it.

1) Samantha
2) Edwin
3) Shi Min
4) Sharon
5) Rachel

I am sorry if I didnt mention your name and I really thank you from the bottom of my heart for those councillors I have left out (Suffering from serious STM). The next important task will be the Student Investiture on 17 Sep..

There will be a compulsory bonding session on next Fri (12 Sep) from 1400 -1700. It will be a chance for the Sec 2/3 to mingle around with the Sec 1. This is also the chance for me to know more about my Sec 1 and Sec 2.

From Mr. Alan Ho

2008-07-21T21:44:00.003+08:00

Congratulations to the new Ex-Co members. They are as follows:

President : Gowri
Vice President : Benjamin Tan
Secretary : Janice Lim
Head of Discipline : Hui Zhen
Asst. Head : Fabian
Head of PR : Jia Ming
Asst. Head : Daniel Chow
Head of Welfare : Shi Min
Asst. Head : Felicia Lim
Head of Function : Yi Juan
Asst. Head : Rebecca
Asst. Head : Edwin

Like Jeevan say in the tag, we need to give full support to these Exco.

2008-07-20T12:39:00.004+08:00

There will be an IMPORTANT announcement to be made tomorrow morning meeting. Please be punctual as we have a lot of items to settle. Also all Sec 3 councillors are to attend an important meeting on Mon 230pm in 2/7. Attendance is compulsory...

Mr. Alan Ho

Address Re : Concerns of the concerned students.

2008-07-18T19:14:00.014+08:00

To the concerned student, I recongised the fact that you are not very pleased with the performance of the students' council, which ( please do correct me if I'm mistaken) that such incidents has been appearing for a long period already. I do not know how did you stumble by our blog's name, but I do hope that you will not give it out as this is our council's personal blog. We are looking into the matter of starting up a forum for the Student Population to voice out your opinion.

Alright, back to the main issue. Firstly, I will not and shall not deny that the councillors are very playful at times and like all natural human beings, we falter. What I have written on the blog are INTELLECTUAL advise for them to learn and pick up they are NOT PRACTICAL FORMULAS where it can transform one drasctically overnight. Therefore I wouldnt really conclude that the things posted inside here are ironic,unless I am the group of councillors you are refering to. I'm sure you would face situations where you will still forget your homework even when your teachers remind you to do so. As they go, to err is human!

I am most comforted that you have managed to recognise the fact that being a councillor means to undertake heavy duty, and it comes under scrutiny of the student population, people such as yourself. Therefore, before I can explain and give you a satisfactory answer, I do hope to seek for your understanding in giving the councillors room for error before you judge ever so swiftly.

Moving on, no one is perfect! As I've rationalised with you earlier, that this posts written by myself, cannot assure anyone of being a perfect leader! I'm no perfect leader by all means. I do lose my temper pretty often. The s3s are very willing to testify on that. But lets not squabble over such puny matter shall we? At your next post in our tagboard, you speak of the fact that there is a rampant scenario where students are cutting queue frequently. Let me ask you one thing, lets just say that there isnt any councillors there, will the students in the queue themselves voice out that. hey! please dont cut queue? Will you? If you are not prepared to do so, then it will bring me to my next point. How then can we, as a student council, as a student representative and leader go on without the support of the very people we pledge our allegiance to? Concured? Okay, maybe You would be able to do that, I beseech you to put yourself into their shoes. They are SACRIFICING their own recess to help out in this duty. I therefore must disagree with you that they should specially forgo some time of their recess to help out as there are sufficient man power depolyed for the work.

Everyone's hungry during that period of time! Being so, it seems to me that it is very normal and within the limits of humanity that they speak to their friends in the queue, although it is very much discouraged so.

I feel for the fact that they might sound a little arrogant and very irritating when they told you " What can I do?" I do hope you can take the time and efffort to tell me the names personally? You should know who I am. If you dont feel comfortable doing so, you can get your friends to pass the word by mouth. I am of upmost regret to inform you that such problems CANNOT be diagnosed and cured at its roots given the current situations that I've listed to you. I'll just summarise for your sake,

1) The gangsters are too intimidating for some of the councillors

2) Students's support isnt strong enough to project the message out.

Therefore, as you may have now realised, we have managed to extend the recess timing for the sake of those innocent students and we strongly urge them to step forward and cast shadows of embarresment on those who do jump queue.
Yes, as councillors we do help the teachers, and all school staff to mould the school into a better shape, but that can only be accomplished if the school sees the flaw the way we do and are willing to go through changes, which might not be very popular. Unless there is such a situation, I implore to you the fact that we can only do our best to make it a SLIGHTLY better place. With that I must also draw you to that fact that the Students' Council isn't as bad as many people percieve us to be! There are many achievements that we are very proud to show to the school, but the reason that we would not revel in our own glory and achievements is that we know that unless we compel ourselves in situations where cannot be proud,we still stand a chance in basking ourselves in our pride which, eventually will lead to our downfall.

Finally, I would like to thank you for your very candid feedback given to us, but on that note, I do hope that you will not continue to publish your thoughts onto our tagboard as like I have mention, this blog is strictly CHR councillors' communication network.
May the peace of the Lord be on us all.

If there's still any queries,do email me @ allied_axisliu@hotmail.com

Yours Truly,

Isaac Liu
Current Students' Council President

Intentional Discipleship -- the spark of revival.

2008-07-03T18:15:00.006+08:00

Recently, I attend a seminar on Discipleship. A sentence that can conclude what I've leart is that "There can be no student without a teacher. No master without an apprentice, and of course no mentor without a mentee, no leader without a disciple". I've decided to challenge all you Sec3's there who have read my previous post and feels that they have to a high percentile complete the few areas which I mention, with a brand new exprience. Get yourself a disciple.

Not those disciple who does your beck and call. But those who are willing to learn from you. Those who look up to you. Those who are keen to better hone their qualities. But first before you start off with this gigantic mission of yours. YOU need to be quipped by several main issues.

There are several CORE VALUES you need to know before even thinking of embarking on this journey.Differences between Convetional Values and Core Values.

CONVECTIONAL VALUES

Forcing followers

Succesful end-product are valued

20% do 80%'s work

Laity Led -- Clergy Driven

( led by popularity not by principles)

" How many do we groom?"

Set expectations

Core Values

Attracting and persuading followers

Successful process and maturing products are valued.

20% inspires 80% to do the work

Clergy Led -- Laity Driven

( Population respects the leaders' choice )

"What kind of people are we grooming?"

Believes that the potential one has will drive him/her up.

Clergy leading or Laity Leading remains to be one of the hardest thing to achieve in our society be it economically or our own school context. Its hard as a leader to implement changes or policies that unsettles the population morale or faith, as many always find a compromise between it and the compromises mostly leads to disasterous chain event. As for the minority inspiring the majority, it doesnt mean that the minority is slacking or whatsoever, it simply means that they always focus on a much more difficult issue then the minor ones.

By searching for the "someone" to teach, we first have to also know what we are IMPERFECT in nature. We are all striving towards perfection or improvement. Therefore, you should not only tell the person who is following you to tell you of your faults but remind him or her not to learn from your faults.

How then can you guage your commitment? By commiting yourself to:

--Reduce the gap

--Concentrating on PERSONAL GROWTH

--Getting over Life's Transition ( problems )

--Getting the person to multiply after you.

As a parting shot, I'll give you guys 3 last phrases to start of your own conviction and personal changes before you go on and influence our school's population for the years to come

THINK BIG! START SMALL, BUT KICK OFF DEEP -- do it with conviction.

--Isaac

Running eternal gasoline.

2008-07-02T16:13:00.003+08:00

With the recent increase of oil price hikes, I saw some similarites among the dire economic situation and people like us as leaders. When prices of the oil increases, it brings forth many problems such as inflation and increased cost in almost EVERYTHING. Being leaders, we too just cant keep on running the race without out own supplies! We need the gasoline that keeps on fueling us and giving us that kind of incentive to pursue greater heights.

During the June Holiday camps, when all of you were asked some cheem questions by the teachers, most of us presented the idea of seminars and talks. In short, you guys covered loads on PREPARATIONS for your journey. Which is a good thing! It means that you're looking at the subject now heads on. But you're not looking in depth enough. Seminars and talks are wonderful stuff to get us have the right amount of ignition to start off the race. As they say a good start is half the battle won. But a good FINISH is then a full battle won. At the end, people will want to know and remember how you FINISH the race! Not how you started out.

A leader's future is shaped by the people closet to him/her. A leader's personal network is his emotional fuel : his models, heroes, mentors, inner-circle and accountability partners!

We, being TYPICAL SINGAPOREANS (i'm kidding) always want to make use every single bit of the things we have. Or sometimes we're just plain lazy. We wont do our assignment till the due date is the next day. Come on! admit that! I'm guilty of it too! Anyway, that is a really bad thing! Espescially when what you need is something that need loads of time to attain! Take the oil industry for example, to get barrels of oil, isnt something thats achievable over a day or two! Oil comes from fossilised bones, burried under the ground,under immense pressure bla bla bla. After hundreds of years, they slowly transform to oil! Its the same as for us! Our emotional fuel is extremely important yet,its something we always overlook.

You dont have to be all popular and awesome to have a wide range of personal network. Whoever told you that a larger network may even be a good thing! What you need is close and tightly knitted network. This is something that can only be known after it stands the test of time and proven itself to be of high quaility use! We cant just delude ourselves that we're good and then run on our own fuel! It'll just kill us. We need leaders who are FILLED UP with emotional fuel to run the race! So that they wont have a bias desicion that will feed their own fuel. If a leader is using his target audiance to achieve that, then, with immediate or swift effect, he must step down from the leadership until his emotional fuel is filled up.

It isnt easy to be a perfect leader. There are bound to be people who will take you down for a reason or another. This perfectly reasons why the need for a close and tightly knitted network is needed! As some of you might have noticed that during the last one year, I did not mention any vision for the board. Nor did I seem to run towards any visible goal. Because I believe that after my era, you guys have the chance to start a revival for the school. You guys can start something extraodinary to make a difference. My vision was that YOU get YOUR own visions! For the s3s', that when you take over you will be able to deliberate out your own vision which I believe that I was not able to implement.

Look into yourself. Who are the people who falls under your category of :
1) Role Models
2) Heroes
3) Mentors
4) Disciple (I'll explain this next post)
5) Inner-circle
6) People who are close and hold you accountable for your actions

You may not fufil ALL the 6 spaces but be true to yourself and see what are you lacking in, and ask yourself how can I further improve? Not to be religious or anything, but there's 2 verses I would like to share:
" Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" Proverbs 27:17
" Where there is no guidiance, the people fall, but in the abudance of counselors there is victory"
Proverbs 11:14

Hope you will meditate and think about these two verses. I believe in which it applies to anything and anyone.

--Best regards, Isaac Liu.

The Oversized Gift.

2008-06-27T21:21:00.004+08:00

You've just entered secondary school, your mum decided to get you something special, to mark your milestone in life. They throw you a party! They got you a very popular club downtown, and booked it for the day. Drinks,music,LOADS of good time, the list goes on and on. You are being envied by all your friends. YOU are THE one. Not just SOMEONE, but THE ONE. Something like Matrix's Neo. Nearing the end of the party, your parents brought you outside and showed you a brand new BMW 7 series car! Carefully moderated and altered to achieve optimum results. NOW THATS LIKE WAYYY COOL. Totally AWESOME. WAIT! hang on. You're only 13?! BMW's are sporty and cool, hitting the roads at like 120Km/h, impressing people around you. But you need to be 18 before you can even TOUCH that pedal and groove off in that snazy car!

Leaders are gifted people! No qualms about that! They lean on their gifts to achieve success. Yet, it is during this process that the character inside them dont have a chance to develop. They shoot themselves in the foot by depending on this gift that can run out (I'll explain that in my next post) and not dedicating time to nuture character that can last much longer or rather FOREVER!

M.J Sounds familiar? No, it isnt Mary Jane Watson from Spiderman! Its Michael Jackson! People know him as the King of pop and rock and roll, well thats if you are old enough. However, people my age or younger will know him as the person who went for plastic surgery till his face, well, just look like anything else but a face. He dominated the world's music as young as 6 ( i think ) there was like a big party when people discovered his talent! He roamed around all the world to give performances,flim his music videos, interviews and did EVERYTHING---except nurturing his character. If you've kept with his postings, you would realise he was found out to be accused of child molestation. Why is this so? Well, thats cause he just simply has MATURED. He didnt get to go through proper life stages! He was either on stage singing away or grooving on the next music video! Emotionally, he was very fragile! This is an example of an oversized gift.

Let's focus the scope back onto ourselves,we all have different talents! Some does writing better, others are much more skilled as an orator. But the main purpose is that we COMPLIMENT one another's skill and talents to bloom together. Even if both of you may have the same talent, the one with a greater depth of knowledge need not be the person in the front! He may be the person leading from the back! Leaders need not lead from the front all the time. There are times where you have to step back and be the middle person inspiring them, other time you may be at the back encouraging them!

Unless you make the effort of uniting the people around you. Not just your superiors,but your equals, and those you feel that may be inferior. What is important is that you should extend that warm and genuine approach to your friends,and your juniors,and your seniors. We may not be very comfortable in the council doing the "goodie good stuffs" but, as I have written in my first post, we all must have the burdern of ownership that this council board is OURS TO MAKE, and OURS TO WRECK. You choose the route. Ownership is never a good feeling. You'll always have to make sacrifices for it. Thats why I call it a burdern. I wasnt as "good" as some of you are right now! It takes time to accept your status and change accordingly.

You ask " Wait, so how do I know what's my gift? How can I use it or hone it?"

Here's the answer. What do you do best? Why do you think you're in the council? What are the contributions you feel you can give to this council? If you dont have any contribution you can give to the council board, then I'm here to tell you that you can leave it. There's no point being a passenger. There's no point being a member when you can do nothing. Those who say that you're shy, step up and come out of your comfort zone to interact. No one is going to wait for you to take the first step. If its tough for you what makes you think that it isnt tough for others? But surely you'll make a difference if you overcome it. Reality IS harsh. Size up to it.

--Isaac Liu

Success which are seemingly achievable,but are just a dream.

2008-06-26T19:54:00.005+08:00

We've just finished our recent camp this June holidays. I'm sure many of you have fun in it. Regardless of some of the flaws and drags we exprienced during it,I think everyone has their own favourite part of the camp and you definately enjoyed it.But the driving force behind the success of the camp,the enojoyment purely from the participation of the camp did not happen just overnight! It was throughly planned and tried many times by the S3's who were planning their first camp, complimented with the exprience of the teachers who took time off their hectic shedule to achieve this feat. It can therefore be said that no one could had done it alone without any form of help.

Leaders dont build character without crossing the bridge of discipline. Discipline, be it self-descipline or "others-enforced" disciplined is the crossing over / stepping stones to get you from a uncut diamond filled with dirt to a polished one being fitted onto a ring. From what you HOPE to be to what you WANT to be.

If you all may still recall that on the last night I did not force anyone of you people to sleep instead I merely requested that you all lie down and stop talking,in case you woke your friends up. I know that on the last night of camp everyone wants to stay up and talk. But there are others who are simply worn out from the exprience. Those who are very adaptable in camps can will themselves not to have much sleep but remain just as active, but not all of us have such abilities. What happened the next morning was what i would classify was a fiasco. We all knew the time to wake up but some of us were too tired to drag our bodies out of the comfort area,even then we took our time to prepare. In this case being late was only a passable consequence. What if we were in other situations?

Bridges of discipline are painful to build and cross,but once formed they can get you renewed and changed for the betterment. Our character isnt very strong at times. We all have our own downfall. When it caves in, it means you've met with your own personal disaster and you're in need of some serious fixing. Maybe you've lost your loved one,or you just broke up, or some financial outstanding debts. We may look strong on the outside,but inside you're shredding to pieces. Ironically, I feel that those who cry on the outside are generally people who feel less pain than those who cry in the inside.

When our teachers says "We'll do 10 questions a day during the holidays" You'll go like " Hey man, its 10 questions! it cant be THAT bad." but when the holidays really start, you go like "its only 10! I'll get it started tomorrow and I'll still be able to complete it." When the end of the holiday comes,most of us have yet to complete it! why so? Because since Day 1 you did not lay the foundations for your bridge.Here's another example,try asking any professional athelete to do poorly in a competition. Sounds ridiculous? well, here's a newsflash! They are so trained physically and psychologically to win, that whenever they compete their minds already echo the sense of winning, the sense of glory when they win. That taste that never leaves them.For them,they've already inhibited the sense of discipline into their habits and actions. THIS is the level of achievement propels them forward until they reach the pinnacle.

What about you? Have YOU began building YOUR bridge of discipline. It may be a small step such as listening in class,showing some respect to the teacher you hate most. But it has to be a deep conviction in you to change,when your teacher notice the change in you, they know then,that your status is beffiting of that of your behaviour. Its perfectly fine if you're still lost,get a goal on your own when you come together as a council board,set a shared vision. And when you arrive at the 2009 investiture,guage how far you've run the race,how well have you done. By then, if hard work was present during the process, I'm sure you'll feel that any feat isnt too hard. As the addidas slogan goes " Impossible is Nothing".

---In best regards,Isaac Liu.

Hey there, its yours to change.

2008-06-24T19:18:00.005+08:00

Hey guys, sorry for all the tags in the tag board, didnt have the email at first. Anyway, for those who are still figuring out about why commitment and involvement can be two seperate matters, here it goes.
Picture yourself in a normal car ride to play. Your Dad drives you, you blast the music, you laugh at the jokes you recieve via sms and you talk to your Dad about your life in school. Your Dad however would only reply you "hm" "okay." "Really?".
Now think about this, what if you were the one driving? Things will be much more different! The ride wouldnt be as fun anymore. You have the responsibility to get the passengers from a place to another! You have to be concerned about the welfare of the passengers! A mistake would spell serious disaster.
There's a sense of ownership too. Ownership is a pretty hard thing to achieve. Its not where you go like "hey man, stop pissing me off?" or "He shouldnt had done this!UGH" We have to take responsiblity for our own actions, know where our goal and target is, look into our attitudes and ask " is this a proper attitude that I should have?"
As leaders, we're drivers! Not passengers! We MUST posses three VERY important things:
1) Positive Attitude
2) Persistant Fortitude (NOT STUBBORNESS)
3) Purposeful Latitude ( something like flexibility and adaptability)
So my main point in summary is that, I hope the upcoming S3 batch would agree amongst themselves a goal,thats realistic and shared. A vision that everyone hopes to achieve. The burden in you that bugs you, saying "what have you contributed? Was my comments or actions constructive in moving us forward in that goal"
For the S2, I hope you would seriously start considering what the post of being a councillor to you is. Is is just another burdern that you have to go through to achieve the high standards expected in life? Or is it really a place you can learn life skills and exprience, in order to make the people around you a better enviroment.
The council is yours to make, decide and mould. A transformation and revival is something we need every year, to renew and refresh ourselves for a higher target. Let's strive to achieve this together, and when our time has come, we can all say "Yes, it was a crazy ride, but we tried our best,and it was a life changing one"

---- In Best Regards, Isaac Liu.

2008-06-19T12:13:00.002+08:00

16-18Jun - A successful camp.

Well, I hope that all of you have enjoyed the camp tremendously. I enjoyed thoroughly in this 3D2N camp. I can see teamwork and bonding getting better on 2nd day. 1st day you all might feel uncomfortable as there could be few unfamiliar faces in your group. I hope our councillors could be more united through more of these team bonding acitities.

I might hold a Councillors chalet in Dec as another form of activitity in order to encourage team bonding and building rapport among ourselves. Keep yourself free. Will keep you posted. :)

2008-06-04T20:50:00.004+08:00

There are few queries from some of you plus new updates...

a) Plain t-shirts - Referring to any T-shirts without vulgar words/symbol etc
b) HP - We will not keep your HP but do not use HP when any of the activities is in progress. Will update more on this issue on 1st day.
c) 1.5l of water bottle with water - COMPULSORY as we will be spending most of the time under the sun. Prevent dehydration.
d) Small bag - to bring to ECP to keep your necessary personal items + 1 pair of dry clothes.
e) Lunch at ECP - Please bring around $10 for your own lunch. We will eat in fast food restaurant :)

All to report in school at 7am on 16 Jun.

Attire for ECP: School PE shirt plus shorts/slacks with sandal or shoes. Please help to pass message around.

Mr. Alan Ho

2008-05-31T19:42:00.002+08:00

There will be a final Camp Committee meeting for all committee members only on 11 Jun 9am outside staff room. Be prepared for a long day as we need to finalise all logistic items plus running through the actual programme. Attendance is COMPULSORY. Please pass message around. Thanks.

Mr. Alan Ho

2008-05-28T21:18:00.003+08:00

Packing list for Camp

Compulsory Items (Approx. quantity)
1) School PE shirt --> 2
2) Plain t-shirt --> 4
3) Shorts --> 3
4) Track pants (for PT or sleeping time) --> 1
5) Undergarments --> Up to individual
6) Track shoes / school shoes --> 1-2 pairs
7) Slippers/sandals --> 1 pair
8) Socks --> 3 pairs
9) Small bag (For East Coast to keep extra dry clothing, water bottle, towel etc) --> 1
10) 1.5l water bottle --> 1
11) Towels --> 1-2
12) Torchlight --> 1
13) Stationeries (Notepad, pens etc) --> 1 each
14) Poncho or raincoat --> 1
15) Fork/Spoon/Mug --> 1 set

Optional

1) Cap
2) Sun block lotion
3) Plastic bags (for placing dirty laudry)
4) Own medication / toiletries
5) Insect repellant
6) Sleeping bag
7) Jacket/sweater

Please do not bring MP3, PSP or other electronic devices. We will keep your handphone throughout the camp. If there is any urgent issues, please ask your parents to call my HP number.

Mr. Alan Ho

2008-05-28T17:44:00.006+08:00

Till now, there are still approx. 20 councillors who have yet to indicate your interest to attend the councillors camp from 16-18 Jun. If you are still holding on to the consent form and you are able to attend, please sms or call me to indicate your interest. If you are going to school within this week or next week, please give the consent form plus the $10 to me. I need all inputs asap so that I can book the transport and our food. Please adhere strictly, if not I will take note of your "bo chap" attitude and we will discuss internally to see if you are deemed fit to be a councillor since you are not responsible enough to inform us. Please help to spread message around.

Mr. Alan Ho

2008-05-14T17:09:00.005+08:00

Camp Committee Meeting

There will be a Sec 3 Camp committee meeting in class 3E4 at 1215 on Fri. We will be discussing the camp proposal. All are to attend unless you have valid reason. Tell me in advance. Do not pass message to me by your friends about your reasons for your absence. See me personally. I am reachable by my HP number.

There might be a recce trip on Sat morning at East coast. We can take this opportunity to relax there. If your parents are not convinced, you can ask them to call me to verify. :)

Mr. Alan Ho

2008-05-02T21:48:00.003+08:00

There will not be any morning meeting on 5 May due to exams. It will resumed on 12 May. All councillors are to attend unless you have valid reasons. All absentees are to see me personally to explain.

Mr. Alan Ho

2008-04-24T10:31:00.002+08:00

To all the councillors,
Wishing all of you the very best in the mid-year exams!

Mdm Yati :)

2008-04-23T17:42:00.003+08:00

Please note that recess duty will be postponed until the end of MYE. However, the morning duty (front counter, back gate etc) will still proceed during exams time. The recess duty will resume on this coming Mon/Tues as it is still normal timetable.

There will be Monday morning (28 Apr) meeting as usual @7am. I do not want to see any councillors absent without valid reasons. Esp. my Sec 4 councillors and class 2/2 councillors.

Mr. Alan Ho

2008-04-18T11:36:00.002+08:00

Few more observations:

a) There has been cases of giggling sound from the D/T block during silent reading or singing of the national anthem. Please reduce or stop the "noise pollution".

b) A lot of councillors walked past the teachers as if we are transparent. As councillors, you should be greeting us when walked past us. I remember Mdm Yati reminding all on this issue on Monday meeting. I hope I do not need to remind all on this basic requirement expected from you.

Please pass all these information around to those councillors who doesnt have access to the internet. All councillors are to constantly check the blog for more information.

Mr. Alan Ho

2008-04-17T20:53:00.004+08:00

It has been brought to my attention that despite warnings by the Ex-co, there are still councillors chatting in the canteen during their tour of duty, especially in the canteen. Let me put in black and white, I do not allow my councillors to chit chat while doing duty, a simple "Hi/bye" is okay for me. But if you chit chat until you are seen neglecting your duty, I will not hesitate to discipline you on the spot.

Observations so far:
1) Sec 2 councillors - Well done for eating within the allowed break time. Keep up the good work.
2) Sec 3 councillors - Some of you need to heed the warning/advice given by your seniors. Today I saw 2 councillors chatting for quite a while before I "moved" in to warn them. Also 1 councillor was MIA for a moment at the side of the canteen during recess.

I do not want to see the above issue happening again. Please take note.

2008-04-12T19:23:00.006+08:00

Dear all,

This is the 1st posting for this blog. The Exco and the 3 teachers will be using this avenue to inform you all of any meetings or other issues. There are few rules and regulations which I want all councillors to observe strictly. I am very PARTICULAR about councillors found breaking my Rules and Regulations.

1) Do not be late or MIA for any meetings conducted by Exco or the teachers.
2) Proper attire at all times.
3) Do your duties diligently.
4) No VULGARITIES at all times, be it verbal or written.

Beside this avenue, I will also be using my MSN (alanhock@hotmail.com) account to disseminate any information if you are online (provided you add me). This is much faster. Or you prefer to be annoymous, please send any feedback to alanhock74@yahoo.com.sg

Meeting schedule
- Monday (14 Apr) @3pm in 2/7 classroom. Attendance is compulsory for all Sec 2 - 4 councillors.

Mr. Alan Ho