the earth laughs in flowers

School traditions

Out of pure bo-liao-ism, I went to check Wikipedia of all the top secondary schools in Singapore.

And guess what I found.

First of all, our dear school, Raffles Girls Secondary, from here.

This article is definitely not what one will call neutral. I shall copy excerpts from it...

"Students juggle a crazy schedule of at least one CCA, most of which are extremely strenuous and time-consuming, an optional third language course for some, projects, and mounds of homework."

"The uniform of RGS consists of a knee-length dark navy blue pleated pinafore, with a waist-high belt over a white collared blouse, and most studentsdo not button the top button. Students customarily fold their sleeves, following a time-honoured school tradition.However, there are some students who insist that folding sleeves is wrong. As a result, they are labelled as 'nerds' by their schoolmates. Also, students from other schools tend to call RGS students who fold their sleeves as trying to 'act cool', and we would like to stress that this is in fact something of tradition.
Although the rules state that the belt should be at the waist, and that socks should be above the ankle bone, these rules are not adhered to by many of the student population."

"Class chairpersons, vice-chairpersons and house captains also wear a badge above their nametag. This badge is green for the chairpersons, and gold for the captains. It is very prone to falling apart, just like the school badge. Also, if the school badge falls apart, students are forced to buy a new one to avoid getting booked, even though it is not their fault."

"On Tuesdays, Saturdays and during certain school events, students don the culottes, a pleated knee-length skirt (students prefer to fold their culottes up to halfway up their thighs), which is actually not a skirt, but looks like a skirt, and is extremely uncomfortable."

And a part that has been cut out:

"Unique among girls schools (at least in Singapore), RGS girls cheer in an artificially low voice, instead of the screams, shrieks squeals typical of the rest. But of course, this oddity pales in comparison to CHIJ Toa Payoh's. Of course, a possibility is that they are trying to imitate their brother Rafflesians in Raffles Institution. "

And according to the talk page, there was apparantly a part about the sexual orientation of rgs girls, which could not be found anywhere by me, saying something about how students tend to crush *ahem* seniors as *ahem* someone we know who keeps proclaiming that she likes *ahem* with specific examples even in the entry.

Oh dear. First of all. The writer of this entry is VERY frank.

"...at least one cca, most of which are EXTREMELY strenuous and time-consuiming... and mounds of homework."

Okayy... I suppose I agree with that. Hee. Obviously this person isn't afraid of any crap school administration. At first when I looked at that page I thought it was going to be another boring page of our school history, vision and mission since they've everything listed there. Then I scrolled all the way down to the uniform session, and the above was what I found.

VERY frank I must say.

And I think the sentence, "most students do not button the top button" is really redundant. WHO in the world buttons the top button if they are not going to be wearing a tie? Have you seen any crazy person out there in the street with ALL the buttons buttoned without a tie? What a redundant statement. Anyone with normal mentality would register the fact that buttoning the top button is not necessary at all and will only cause possible strangulation plus extremely hot temperatures.

And, well, TRUE what, the part about people who object to folding of sleeves are nerds. Like why do we fold our sleeves? Partly, yeah, because everyone's doing it, and secondly, for me at least, because my sleeves are just too long. I was fretting over my too long sleeves on the first day of school, and worrying that I'll be the only one with folded sleeves. Turned out that everyone had them...

Thus, if you don't fold up sleeves, you'll end up with sleeves that travel all the way to your elbows, and, trust me, that isn't a pleasant sight, and will only make you look like a nerd.

"...students from other schools tend to call RGS students who fold their sleeves as trying to 'act cool..."

Inference: students from other schools tend to call all rgs students posers.

What a redundant statement again. Like "RGS students who fold their sleeves"... err, I think almost everyone does that. Only those nerds. haha. And I never knew we had a reputation as posers... I thought it was mostly along the lines of arrogance and feminism or something.

Oh well. I actually think that students of other schools are more poser-ish. Like you go see neighbourhood schools... the girls love to wear those tubes and mini-skirts, and a lot of them tend to act somewhat bimbo-ish, or just act cute, for the girls, and act cool for the guys. Seriously. Ok lah. That's what I feel. DISCLAIMER ok? What I feel. Might not be true.

"...these rules are not adhered to by many of the student population..."

No comment.

Except that I adhere to the rules sometimes. Hee.

"This badge is green for the chairpersons, and gold for the captains..."

This entry is either made a long time ago when chairpersons' badges are green, or perhaps the person is colour-blind. Obviously chairperson's badges aren't green, they are gold. But I don't see the importance in this statement, seeing that in bold letters on the badge writes "Class chairperson", so unless it's for those who can't read, which is highly improbable again, seeing that if the person can't read he can't read the aimless sentence, I don't see the importance of this.

"...It is very prone to falling apart, just like the school badge..."

This writer is unabashedly very frank. I wish the school administration will take note of that... haha. If you notice carefully, you'll spot a lot of people with scotch-taped badges. (:

"...students are forced to buy a new one to avoid getting booked, even though it is not their fault..."

Perhaps the school administration could consider exchanging the spoilt badges with new ones. (: haha.

"...students prefer to fold their culottes up to halfway up their thighs..."

Excuse me while I correct this. Our cullotes are not folded halfway up our thighs, unless you count the very minority of the school population who do this. Majority of us make it slightly shorter at most, and not HALFWAY UP OUR THIGHS. Otherwise all of us will look very... err... sluttish?

"...which is actually not a skirt, but looks like a skirt, and is extremely uncomfortable."

I don't find the cullotes uncomfortable leh! And, how helpful, "which is actually not a skirt, but looks like a skirt"... I can just visualize what it must look like if I'm a stranger....right.

Since I was feeling so boh-liao, I decided to check out our brother-school as well, the oh-so-playful Raffles Institution, website from here.

Sadly, it's VERY boring-ly neutral.

But at least, me, being the brilliant soul, has picked out some very very very stupid points.

"The swimming pool is thought to be slightly short of being an Olympic-sized pool measuring around 49 metres in length. According to school legend, this is because a grave was found at one end of the pool, making it impossible to build the full 50 metres."

Oh dear. Someone actually went to measure the swimming pool, and found out that it fell short of the standard size of an Olympic-sized pool by one pathetic metre, which deprives them of so much, and the reason for this is because of a grave. Oh dear.

And how come they can't just have the extra metre at the other side of the pool?

"One particularly long-lasting story is of a haunting on the third floor of the Administration Block, in the corridor leading to the Biology laboratories. It is believed that students who walk along the corridor late in the night would see the head of a floating foetus, believed to be the ghost of a baby foetus preserved in the Biology laboratories."

Even their ghost stories are related to studies. Sigh. Our hardworking yet playful brothers.

Otherwise, the entire website is so boring you could drown your computer in drool before you wake up.

And, oh yeah, all of their "Notable Alumni" are prime/deputy prime ministers and presidents. With an exception of Lim Bo Seng, noted down as "war hero".

The RJC encyclopedia wasn't that interesting either, so it shall be left out.

The Chinese High School, a favourite of *cough*, wasn't that interesting either, except for the school song, which is in chinese so cheem stupid people like me barely understand.

Now let's see about the umbrella of ACS schools, from here.

"The school's students have also been accused of being arrogant and snobbish, and ACS itself has often been charged as being a school only for children of the rich and elite. In the 1970s, there was a minor flap in the local press about ACS students flaunting their wealth to other less privileged students and the world at large, and the term "snob" began being applied to them. As a result, the school initiated strict policies on how much money a student was allowed to bring to school, and even what kinds of watches or shoes would be permitted as part of the school attire"

Oh dear. I don't think it was a only a "minor flab", I think it's a major one... But thankfully for them, "the dress code has been relaxed slightly over the years".

And they wonder why this "myth of the rich and elitist ACS students still survives to a degree", when ACSI has super high school fees and donation drives, and why other Independent schools don't have such a reputation.

Throughout the entire page you could see a lot of their achievements, and they were going on about their super good OM achievements.

This is funny: "ACS, in its various incarnations over the years, has also won the "B" Division (Under-17) Schools' Swimming Championships for 43 consecutive years since the start of the competition in 1960. Their long reign was ended in 2003 by Raffles Institution, their traditional academic and sports rivals. In 2004, the school snatched back the title from Raffles Institution in victorious style."

Can you hear the smug tone inside? hahahaha...

And their "Notable Alumni" section had a lot of sports people inside along with ministers. Oh, and Ronald Susilo apparantly came from the ACS umbrella of schools.

Next up, Nanyang Girls High School, from here.

"Nanyang's uniform is unique and easily recognised in Singapore. It comprises a white sleeveless cotton blouse with small slits at the side edges of the uniform, and a accordion-pleated cotton skirt, which is long enough to cover the knees. It is convenient to wear as the blouse does not need to be tucked in, and the uniform provides good ventilation especially in Singapore's tropical heat. "

Heard that, Zhi Hua? hahaha... your hated uniform is "convenient to wear" and "provides good ventilation"...

And this is rather redundant: "However the uniform can be easily stained, and ironing the 16 pleats takes some effort."

Try ironing our cullotes, and you see what takes effort.

Catholic High next, from here.

This is funny... Under the school values:
"1. We do everything with LOVE."

"Catholic High is a fertile test bed for many of our teachers' and students' crazy ideas."

I found the use of the metaphor very hilarious. Fertile test bed! hahahahhahah!

Think a bit dirty-mindedly, and perhaps you can see the humour in it. I don't think the pun was intended though... hahahaha!

OK THIS HAS TAKEN ME TWO AND A HALF WHOLE HOURS!

haha. You should be grateful to me! (:

TWO-OH-TWO WE WILL ROCK TILL YOU DROP!

Go two-two! Jia you!

Post note: Go check this website out, it's funny! http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=grill . Oh no, it's not about school traditions or cultures... it's about the MURDER done by vegetarians who think they are so morally right. (: Very enriching, and offers a different point of view from the politically-correct-yet-always-fails-to-show-us-the-other/real-side views of our current society.

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far and wee

you and i together mysteriously and always floating
Tuesday, October 25 11:20 PM