Usage of words...

College day just ended, I'm feeling a bit sick, and its been an extremely long time since I last typed anything on blogger. I'm sorry for the hiatus but lets just say that its due to a mixture of the following reasons:

1. Some things just cannot be typed out
2. A lot of time I didn't really had time to type out anything
3. I can't put it into words and I'll hurt quite a few other people and get myself into trouble
4. Ok, I've just been lazy...

But anyway, we'll ignore whatever happened in the morning and the night of college day and just focus on the point I want to discuss.

What is college day? College day is a day where the college comes together to celebrate the birthday of the college of which we are a part of. I feel that it is a very important day in the calendar as the school moulds our character and our knowledge, and prepares us for the future. Obviously, we should give back to the school as much as possible to show how much we love it.

At the same time, I feel that College day is not simply for the college, but for the entire family of students, teachers and staff who walk in and out of it on a daily basis. To put it simply, if there isn't students, teachers and staff in the school, the school would just be an empty shell. An empty shell that does not represent anything, but simply a hollow structure that has nothing inside.

Previously when I was in RV, speech day (equivalent of college day) was a very gigantic affair, with rehearsals spanning over three weeks before the actual event. The whole of the school would be mobilised, with some people being usherers, helpers to teachers and the like... I always felt like I'm a very important part in making sure that the speech day is a success as everyone plays an important part in it. At the same time, the school acknowledges it with the principal and teachers thanking the students who had made it a success...

When I was there, I didn't see the need to hide from the important people who came. In fact, I was always given the feeling that the teachers wanted us to be there to share in the celebration of the school (although, yes they are still very scared that we do anything wrong, but at least they do try) and to contribute to the success of it. I don't feel the pressure to run away from the very important people or what not when I was there and I always felt that its a good chance to get everyone together to really celebrate with the school....

But...
When college day came around, I naturally felt that its indeed an honour to serve the school and to make the event a success, but I'm shocked at the way the teachers and principal treat the students.

At the beginning, our class was told to move tables to the VIP area so that they can have a reception. Sounds fair enough and it seems to be an easy job that will help the college in a wonderful way. But what I don't get is why the teachers have to phrase it like this:

"Basically what you all need to do is to move all the tables out there in that short interval of time and then after that, I want you all to hide in the classroom there and don't make any noise. You must not be seen by the GOH"

....
Ehhh?
To me, without the students, a school is not a school, so why do we treat students like they're some... rascals that should not be seen by the GOH? To a certain extent, the students do contribute a large share of the glory on college day, so why do they not deserve the recognition, and have to resort of "hiding from the GOH"?

College day is a day shared by everyone, so why should the glory and fame only be reserved for the teachers and the hot-shots? The students could very well start a riot and create trouble in an attempt to disrupt the proceedings of the college day, but they do not. Instead, they contribute selflessly to the school, ensuring the success of it. Shouldn't the student be thanked too? Shouldn't they be recognised in their contribution to the school? Shouldn't articles on college day include the students who worked very hard to make it a success? Shouldn't they deserve mention in the school report?

A lot of people would say that this whole issue is crap and arises simply because I had taken a critical stance against the statement that is made by the teacher...
But aren't we held accountable for our words? How many law cases have occurred in Singapore under the accusation of scandal simply because of the wrong choice of a single word or even the wrong implied meaning of a sentence?

When teachers speak to students, they are also faced with the same constraints of choosing the correct word. I mean, teachers do have to convey the correct meaning to students. Not only does it prevent this sort of things from occurring, but it also ensures that the students have the correct set of moral values that should have been imparted by the teacher. If the teacher uses a wrong word and destroy the original meaning of the sentence, it is then the teacher's fault as the student may choose to interpret the sentence in a bad way and get the wrong impression of things.

Taking the above as an example, it suddenly seems like a dishonourable act to help move tables for the college during college day and the job that we do is some under-handed job that should not be seen. But is that true?

Service to the college is one of the values that the college holds dear, but it does not mean that the teacher can give the student the wrong impression of serving. It is the role of the teacher to ensure that the future of our nation is moulded correctly. So isn't the wrong usage of a word causing a different interpretation totally contradicting "moulding the future of our nation"?

Of course, I do not deny that some students could not care less about the whole college day as they don't see the point in it and they don't like the school yadda yadda yadda... This is another major problem... Why do the students not like the school? Why, when they were the one who choose this college in the first place? Is it the students themselves, the teachers or the culture of the school that causes people to be turned off? If its indeed the culture of the school... shouldn't we do something about it? Do something to make sure that people feel that they are needed by the college and are not some "late developers" that is not needed and is actually the dead weight of the college.

Looking back at it all, its basically this:
以人为本。 To put it into English, basically, it means that we should put the people first. What is a country without people? The same goes.. What is a college without students? What is a college when the administration uses the wrong words, brings the wrong impressions to the students which tends to break the college apart?

"Late developers", "Holiday packages", "HIDE"...
What's next? and how long will college day still be a "College day"?

Discmon