JC Days ... A (Lengthy) Nostalgic Indulgence

The PAE and JC are the two key terms in many’s minds these 2 days. Some are in elation, others in dejection, and many agonizing over whether to appeal, or to later transfer JCs after the O Level results are released. Some are concerned about the prestige of the JC they are posted to, others about the supposed lack of life in certain JCs. Well, from the perspective of one who has been there before, I would say when one's JC life in essence is determined by how much on embraces it and makes of it. I embraced mine so fully, that when I graduated at the end of the 2 years, I was so overwhelmed with a sense of reluctance and loss.

JC was one of of the significant segments of my life - it made much of what I am today. I was in Hwa Chong. But it was not merely about academic achievements or prestige. That would have been most shallow and meaningless. What was lasting was a HC experience that shaped much of what I am today. I spent most of my JC life in my CCA, the band, and my friends. There were so many different school, class and CCA activities, celebrations, festivals, movies, gatherings, meals, outings etc. That’s why most Hwa Chongians have a great sense of community and collegiality.

The entire school went down and cheered at all major competitions, and every other morning, there were announcements of wins, and sometimes losses. Losses were most heartfelt – there would be public atonement, vows and cheering again, when a team lost the finals. We had numerous meetings at class, faculty and cohort levels, and Mrs Ho our Vice-principal would tear as she spoke to us about the daunting hard times HC faced in rising up the ranks. We felt a common destiny then, and a strong sense of duty and honour to study for the school.

Festivals were a big aspect of HC, great aplomb. Orientation was the commencement – with hikes, trials, mass singing (we had our own Hwa Chong songs), mass dances (Electric Dreams, Time of My Life, Wild Wild West etc.. I saw the current students still dancing them when I went for last year's HC Homecoming), banner-making, and of course the campfire. Then the ‘Huang Cheng’ city gate would be up for Chinese New Year. HC was always affectionately referred to as Huang Cheng.. the Yellow City … because it was the bastion of Chinese culture – the culture of the Yellow River and Chinese people. Valentine’s Day fever came complete with song dedications and the Secret Pal game in all classes amd CCAs. The band and class diaries came in most handy then. - no longer for nonsensical doodling or outpouring of thoughts during boring lectures - now cryptic messages for secret pals dominated the diaries. Mid-autumn Festival was the final festival to await - huge class lantern constructions, big fire cauldroon for camp fire with a fireball gliding down on wires from the 4th storey one year and a female councillor as Chang'er gliding down another. The mass singing and mass dancing rounded up all festivals. The whole college, with lots of previous batches who would return in classes, attended with great glee. One year, my class returned even with a chinese tea-set and mooncakes.

Performances sapped students' attention too .. starting with the mother of them all – the Chinese Society and its 2-day run at the Victoria Theatre of their annual Chinese Drama Extravaganza ‘Huang Cheng Ye Yun’ (A Soiree in the Yellow City … The Chinese Society was a most expansive CCA; its props department alone is about 100-strong. So you could imagine the Chinese Society's clout. Rehearsals went on almost every night. Skipping lessons for rehearsals was the norm. In those days, the Chinese Society had a stack of pre-signed excuse slips for their members. The Performance was all that mattered.

The musical performances took centrestage in May and June, with the concerts of the Band, the Chinese Orchestra, the Guitar Club and the Choir. They all enhanced the college spirit – the college song was sung at the end of every performance. For the band concert Capriccio VI, we painted this gigantic banner 2.5 stories tall and wider, spending many nights to complete it, and it was unrolled from the rooftop during flag-raising publicity, complete with syncronised advertising script and live accompaniment by the band itself. The main concert backdrop was of a monstrous affair - huge Styrofoam words of Capriccio VI on a humongous wooden frame of heavy planks. That backdrop took up the entire, backwall of the Singapore Conference Hall stage and took hours to rig up - delaying rehearsal time. It was all the concoction of us J1’s ambitious idealistic minds – to construct the most impactful backdrop ever, and indeed it was so. Throughout the actual performance, we were most worried about it toppling over the entire band’s head and killing all of us. But it was all worth it; it looked most grand and classy with the words in royal blue against white edgings.

JC life in HC for us students really evolved around activities and festivals. There was this saying back then that the HC students are 'full time CCA members, part time students'. In the preparations and celebrations, we had our ‘fellowship’ with each other through the late dinners, suppers, practices, and in various outings.

Did we ever study? Well, yes we did. Lots of it. The reading rooms and library were forever hogged, and we had our standard tables which no one else could take. Between lessons, and after school, many of us huddled there mugging. Yes, mugging … particularly so in J2, when we all realized that we were running out of studying time. We had to study. For those of us ill-disciplined, like me, who spent too much time on CCA and having fun, it was pay-back time. At times, I really regretted being too playful and not managing my time well in J1. I could have played a little less, and studied a little more. Oh well…

I enjoyed myself tremendously in JC, but I played too much in J1 and only managed to scrape through promos. I had a hard time catching up for the A Levels. That abandoning of self-discipline was a serious error I vowed never to repeat. JC is truly all about independent discipline. It is the time when you are given all the grown-up freedoms, including the freedom not to study and work hard, but you have to bear the consequences. The lectures and tutorials would start slow at the beginning of J1, and would seem to be merely revisions of O Level stuff. So you start letting your guard down and have fun. You skip your first lecture and tutorial, and the next. The tutors don’t seem to bother much. They don’t come yelling at you for skipping lessons … they don’t humiliate you by making stand outside the class. Hey, this is great freedom! That is JC life – you are treated as responsible young adults, and you bear the consequences – and that’s how you learn from the real knocks of life. Before you realize it, suddenly you can no longer follow and catch up with the pace of the lectures. The people around are studying now, and they seem to be doing so much better. Well, it happened to me… and I panicked, and I studied and studied, and did piece after piece of the tutorials, for the A Levels. So lesson learnt … one MUST manage one’s time wisely amongst the Fun and the Work.

Every college would have its own culture and character, formed through the activities. Hwa Chong is a most exciting JC, but the excitement is due to the imaginations of the students. All the audacious and memorable moments and feats that we attempted were manifestations of our youthful daring and ideals. That arrogance of performance, the monstrous backdrop, that daring feat of gliding down from a few stories above. Truly, each generation will bring with it its dreams and feats, and that will contribute to the traditions and culture of the school and college.

Students are the ones who refine and shape the college culture; every one of us play a part in making our college life what it is, and what it will be for us. Each new generation would add on to the past’s and it’s a great continuum. Today is a continuation of the past, and the future a sum of the present.