Students Of Yishun Junior College, Gather Round Your Alma Mater('s problems)…

***Dedicated to the any and all YJCians I have had the pleasure of meeting-namely my lovely CTG119, Melvin, Cindy, Michelle, Cohui etc and my teachers Ms Ong and Mr Jacky Wong, Mr Ngaa, Mr Spencer and Steven Sim and of course Mr Woo. All the best for your future endeavours!!!***

Amidst guzzling all the Mars drinks that I think I have fallen in love with, I've recently started a new hobby of configuring all the Midis I have into some decipherable piano score, or making my current scores more decipherable using a really cool programme I plucked off the net some time ago. Currently on the list for refining or a new tune to learn are:-
-Egao Na Ichban from Akazukin Cha Cha
-Yoru no Uta of Cardcaptor Sakura
-Scarlet of Ayashi no Ceres-thanks to Yumi for the score!
Now all I need is a piano-and even the sub-standard keyboards here are so darn expensive...arrgh.

But anyway, I did say I was going to talk about YJC, right? Well you see I have been reading a few perspectives on the college-and they are mainly negative. I think Ms Beautifuk sums it up pretty well when she spoke of the school's crap image to nullify the positive connotations of it's ranking of 11/16, which can be considered good for a "neighbourhood school".

I bring my YJC handbook to school to use here, and showed it to a few people since they were quite interested in having a look. One particular comment sticks out in my mind about the picture on the top right hand corner of the cover page depicting a group of rugby players furiously attempting to grab the ball another player was holding. Good and fine example of student enthusiasm in sports, except for one small detail-they were grabbing at his legs in their attempt.

Like WHAT were the designers thinking!? No wonder the comment about the picture was something about the players being "batty men"-ie gay. I don't have too much problem with homosexuals, but people grabbing at another guy’s legs!? Chauvinistic assumptions aside what if the player was a girl? The school handbook, which can be said to be representative of the school, has therefore prominently printed a picture that has made their students appear to be lecherous gays.

I certainly don't mean any offence to the people in the picture but what's such a picture doing there then? Why were the students even asked to pose in such a manner? And I doubt anything I've said will give anyone massive enlightenment-it’s obvious the picture is inappropriate to appear on the cover of the handbook. Surely the designers knew such a picture shouldn’t be there! Were they just being fleetingly insensible? Even so, so many other people must have noticed it!

But the point is this-this is just one out of quite a few other examples about the school making a mistake that can fatally damage the school’s reputation in other students' eyes including their own. Even if student behaviour and grades were top-notch and YJC won millions of awards such mistakes will make the school appear extremely "uncool" to be in. And this is something that can damage it even more than a negative official publicity. Look at CJC-so-called place with the highest abortion rate. I know it is not true but even so many had associated the place with such a term. Yet it always seems THE place for graduates to go to. Students will still want to go there because it sounds cool, fun, hip etc. Because you see, many(though not all) teen students have a desire to be "hip, "cool", and "seen". You think they will flock to a place that others see as being a school of lecherous gays? OF COURSE NOT.

Perhaps no wonder so many YJCians are dissatisfied with their school. I saw a perfect example of their coolness obsession once when students were asked to vote for the best costume. The classes who attempted to include symbols regarding academia were immediately dissed. And the winner? A guy wearing a costume that to me looked somewhat odd with its fusions of Spider Man costume, music CDs and Trojan armour. No surprise, then, that Troy and Spider Man 2 were THE blockbusters of that time.

I loved my time in YJC. And it does not deserve this crap. And if you are a YJCian, YOU have the power to change YOUR school. STOP blaming the councilors for not doing their job or anything. If you want to see a change in something, change yourself first-mainly your reaction to the problem. Want to wear ankle socks? Don’t wait for the councilors to do it for you if you think they are slackers! Why not march up to Mr Ganesh's office with a friend or two for reinforcement, bang on its door until he answers and when he does tell him politely that if he does not provide the school with a satisfactory reason for the ban on such socks you will slit his throat. Being pressurized to such extremes I am sure you will not need to commit murder and will either get your wish, involve yourself in a good debate or walk away satisfied with his point of view on the ban. Oh, and by the way, I’m sure you can think of a better threat than slitting his throat.

I seriously sometimes wish I was still in YJC. The teachers had godlike teaching skills, the students were one helluva great bunch and though better facilities exist those present weren't that bad. Not only that, which other JC would let a student study 4 subjects including Biology which he has never touched before and is currently loving? And last but not least, I NEED A PIANO!!! But what has passed has passed. Will look forward to the next time I can go back and see everyone again.

Amritpal Singh Sidhu, you know what you have to do…