COVID-19 PANDEMIC - TRANSFORMING THE WAY WE WORK , STUDY , PLAY AND LIVE | LUMEN
13 competitions . We missed the thrill and adrenaline of competing in the past year and we were determined to win when the NSG resumed . This mindset got us through to the finals after many hard fought games . Although we failed to clinch the title , and achieved second place , it was the journey that mattered most , the long hours of training in the school hall and at home that we went through together , as one team .’ Aldren Neo Jin Kai , LE302
Tennis After pulling off weeks of training and competitions at the NSG , the SJI Tennis team finished off as winners of Group A , beating Raffles Institution , Hwa Chong Institution and St Patrick ’ s School in the quarter-finals . Coming into the semi-finals , the Josephians were up against Victoria School ( VS ) who pulled off a sensational 3-2 series win over SJI at the Kallang Tennis Centre on 21 April , crushing their dreams of reaching the B Division Boys ’ tennis final .
The first singles match featured VS ’ s Jayden Ng against SJI ’ s Julien Christian , where Julien proved to be a notch above the competition , getting SJI the first point in a 6-3 , 6-2 win . Over at the adjacent courts , the two schools scored a point each in the second singles and first doubles matches . VS ’ s Reyes Ho had defeated SJI ’ s Dylan Tan 6-3 , 6-1 to level the series at 1-1 , but SJI scored another point on the board when its first doubles pair of David Yeong and Salvador Joaquin took down VS ’ s Kevin Chan and Zachary Chua at 6-2 , 6-1 . At the third singles and second doubles matches , VS ' s Tjeng Kwok battled superbly against SJI ’ s Aidan Thng , pulling off a 6-3 , 6-4 victory to draw at 2-2 .
And so it was left to the second doubles match to decide the series . The VS pair ( Aidan Raphael Keh and Leonard Yong ) was met with strong resistance from the SJI pair ( Bryan Leong and Alexander Wong ), who took the first set in a 7-6 tie-breaker . The Victoria duo roared back to take the second set at 6-1 .
While the SJI players nursed the pain of defeat in their failure to reach the finals , losing 6- 4 in their third set , the team deserved a pat on their back for putting up a good fight throughout the NSG .
Across various CAS that saw the majority of them conducting their activities online , these Josephians in Years 5 and 6 persevered with fervour to pursue these interest groups that mattered to them most .
BLOODay Despite the ongoing limitations on social interactions permitted and the continuously fluctuating COVID-19 cases throughout the year , Josephians from the SJI BLOODay CAS pursued their desire to serve the community through a blood donation drive . A staggering 85 students and teachers supported the blood donation drive on 14 April to do their part for people in dire need of blood . Thanks to the kindness and generosity of the SJI community , a total of 57 units of blood were collected , exceeding the projected collection , at 114 %! Even though 28 donors had to be turned away due to factors like low haemoglobin levels and blood pressure , all of those who registered to donate upheld the meaning of what it means to be Josephians : to serve the last , the lost and the least .
Pre-University Seminar The Pre-University Seminar brought together students from 30 institutions who are keen to make a difference to Singapore . 20 Year 5 Josephians attended the online Seminar from 1-4 June 2021 , examining how Singapore can continue to grow from the COVID-19 pandemic . Through panel discussions , human library sessions , blended learning and a special exhibition of their work , our Josephians explored this year ’ s theme of emerging “ Stronger ” through the lens of being “ Kinder ” as they interacted with distinguished guests including Second Minister for Education and Foreign Affairs Dr Maliki Osman and Minister for Education Mr Chan Chun Sing .
The dialogue session with Dr Osman struck Sashank Balasubrramaniam ( ML512 ) the most . From it , he understood that the foundation of sustaining a kinder society is understanding and respecting those near us - neighbours , colleagues and friends , and not just ground-up initiatives with non-governmental organisations .
The experts in the human library sessions enlightened David Ho ( ML514 ) with regards to the importance of a kinder society . “ We need to ask ourselves why we want a kinder society , or whether we even want a kinder society . Once we know for sure that a kinder society is what we want , only then can we start working towards improving our society ,” he shared .
Koon Wei Pheng ( LE507 ), “ Our Learning Journey to ReadAble reminded me that " lowincome " is a reality , but also a perception . Empowerment is both possible and pertinent , but it requires people who work towards it . Kindness is infinitely powerful because it unites us and in true camaraderie and passion .”
SJI Debate Society Even as the pandemic continues to plague the world and hamper our daily school life , the SJI debaters continue to interact and reach out to fellow debaters from other schools at the SJI inter-school debate sessions . The sessions were organised by the SJI Debate Society - Pham Ngoc Diep of FN604 ( President ), Alwyn Choo Khai Hong of ML613 ( Vice-President ) and Harith Zaydan Bin Imran of ML614 ( JDEP Coordinator ), and supported by several enthusiastic Josephian observers .
Our junior debaters from Years 1 and 2 met their counterparts from Singapore American School ( SAS ) at SJI ' s Inter-School Debate III on 23 March . This was an impromptu debate where debaters from both schools argued for and against the following motion : " This House believes that major film and television awards should abolish award categories which are separated by gender ".
On 20 April , the SJI debaters met the team from Zhong Hua Secondary School ( ZHSS ) at our 4th Inter-School Debate . The debaters argued well and were commended for their abilities .
“
‘ No , this was not some unrealistic stroke of bad luck like we all see in the movies , this was real life . No amount of thick plot armour was going to magically pull us through to SYF ; the untimely absence of our instructor meant that we would just have to put in even more hard work into this piece . This SYF piece was no longer just about proving our worth to SJI , just as our seniors had done with their SYFs , this was now also about representing our instructor who could not be there ,'
Jair Lee , MN301
“