hcis heartbeat

8/10/2019 HCIS Heartbeat

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HCIS Heartbeat

HCIS takes over the

world in a week! Findout where we went and

what we did!

New Student

InterviewSee whos the geniusesbehind this yearsamazing IFD musical

performance!

International-ism week

Internationalfriendship Day

P.22P.14

P.4

Get into the minds ofour newest students!


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vtv

editorsnote

H

ello again from HCIS Heartbeat! Were glad to be back. Wehope you enjoyed last issue, because were returning withmore event coverage, fascinating interviews, and a newsports section written by our team just for you!

Theres been a whole lot more excitement after a relatively-sleepyTerm 1. In this issue, HCIS goes international with journeys recountedfrom Internationalism Week and stories told from International Friend-ship Day. We also take a closer look at ourselves and our community, witha reection of our efforts in HCIS Gives Back and a peek into the livesand thoughts of our new students, who come from vastly different back-grounds in different parts of the world.

We also cant neglect the other events that give HCIS its charac-ter: HCIS Football Clubs rst match this year, Fundraising Dinner, Stu-dent Council Investiture, and more. Of course, these events arent just theschools theyre yours. Heartbeat documents your memories, for you; ipthrough and you may discover a picture of yourself or your friends in oneof the pages!

A big thank you to our principal, Mr Koh, Mr Bruce, and all of youreading this right now. Thank you for supporting us and making Heartbeatpossible.

Yee Sing and Min Wei

gloryboardMr Bruce SiowTeacher-in-charge

Young Journalists ClubExecutive Committee

Yeap Yee Sing (ibf4B)Editor-in-Chief

Ang Min Wei (ibf 4B)Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Amanda Goh (ibf4B)Head of Design

Foong Zhi Bin (ibf4C)Head of Logistics

Nathaniel Lam (ib2B)Advisor

WritersOlivia Chieng (2R)Cheng Xin Ran (2R)Diamond Koalitas (2R)Sarah Kwok (2R)Lim Chin Kiat (2R)Randall Lim (2C)Mean Kao Hui, May (2R)Talia Ng (3B)Gemma Sun (2R)

Photo Creditshcis facebook pageAmanda GohAng Min WeiYeap Yee SingYap Pui MinLu ZhihanChin KiatOlivia ChiengSarah Kwok

Dave GanMs ChithiraMs AliceChristie HuangRandall NgTalia Ng


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HCIS Gives Back 2

IFD 4

Fundraising Dinner 9

Student Council Investiture 10

English Week 12

Internationalism Week 14

Sabbatical Week 20

Sports Meet 21New Student Interview 22

HCIS Football Club 24

contents

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wegive back we gain

moreby Yeap Yee Sing

Students across all sixyears participated in variousprojects, with each level ex-periencing something differ-ent. Most of us stepped out

of the safe bubble of schoolinto public places to interactwith real individuals who wereill or elderly. Our youngeststudents, the Year Ones andTwos, visited NKF (NationalKidney Foundation) dialysiscentres. Divided to cover all25 centres, the students part-nered with teachers and IB1students to bring the dialysispatients cheer through singingperformances, chatting, games,handing out of pandan cakes

and encouragement cards, and

even a lucky draw that includedschool-sponsored NTUC Fair-price cash vouchers and ThermalFlasks from Thermos and TigerBalm

Fun aside, studentsgained insight into the lives ofthe dialysis patients, their strug-gles, and the efforts made bynurses to care for the patients aswell. Lim Chin Kiat from Year 2says, We learnt how painful theprocess of dialysis for patientswas. Going there was a newexperience we could learn from.The nurses also received largethank-you cards made by thestudents to show their appreci-ation for the nurses service tothe community. The smiles on

everyones faces that day were nodoubt unforgettable, and in no waysupercial.

Year Threes, along withother IB1 students and teachers,were allocated various homes forthe elderly to visit: Lions Home,Ren Ci Home, Ling Kwang Home,Moral Home for the Aged Sick,Sree Narayana Home, and BrightHill Evergreen Home. Like theLower School, the Year Threesspent time to hold conversa-tion, play games, and sing songstogether with the elderly. Theyalso distributed gift bags withitems provided by sponsors: Milosachets, snacks, canned drinks,toothbrushes, Snake Brand PricklyHeat Cooling Powder, and TigerBalm, among other items. TheYear Three classes also purchasedand made (sometimes surprising!)

items to give to the residents, in-cluding towels, cards, loom bands,and back-scratchers. The studentslearned about the needs of theelderly in homes, how they lived,and, equally importantly, how im-portant bringing laughter to otherswas.

To bring in the element ofInternationalism, our Year Four,

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IBF, and IB2 classes partnered withWorld Vision Singapores Sponsor-

A-Child Programme, where class-es raised funds to help providenecessities like food, healthcare,clean water, and education to achild assigned to each class. Stu-dents sold items and services suchas loom bands, various snacks,face-painting for the World Cupcelebrations, henna tattoos, mixeddrinks, jewellery, mini plants,beatboxing performances, andmany more. A group of studentsfrom IB2B even took part in a100km bike ride across Singapore

to raise funds, and another groupof IB2 students also organized aDress Down Day, where studentscould attend classes in ethniccostumes for a donation of $2. Intotal, around $6600 was raisedby the 9 classes over three weeksfor 9 children and their communi-ties. Students, such as Nicole Lamfrom 4B faced struggles handlinga shop front with many custom-ers and assistants. In charge ofselling made-to-order smoothies,she says, Especially on the rstday, the stall was overcrowded;

there was simply too many peo-ple. Other than that, hygiene wasa really big issue. We were wor-ried that students might get foodpoisoning. Thankfully, there wereno smoothie-related complaints!She adds, Giving can be fulllingwith the right attitude. We wantedto do this, so we put our heart andsoul into it, and it didnt feel like achore. In fact, the students wereso invested in their charity effortsthat many of them started refer-ring to their sponsored child as

their child.The fundraising efforts

culminated in a One World Forumheld by Ms Fiona Soh, WorldVision Director, and

her team.Students,

facilitated byIB1 studentswho par-ticipated ina 30-HourFamine Camporganized byWorld , hadmeaningfulgroup andpanel discus-sions on the causes of poverty,concept of invisible children, andhow to help them break out of the

poverty cycle. Every class alsopresented their fundraising journeyto the cohort, who had the oppor-tunity to reect on their efforts,successes, and areas for improve-ment, and the World Vision team,who judged each class based ontheir creativity, teamwork, andeffort to decide which class wouldwin the Most Creative, Best Team,and HCIS World Vision ChampionAwards. Respectively, the winnerswere IB2C, IB2B, and IBF4B. Con-gratulations to everyone who par-ticipated, including students from

the other levels who bought manyof the items, as well as our teach-ers who supported the classes not

just nancially, but morally.

In the end, its more than aday of doing good deeds. Whatsimportant is how something sim-ple such as giving a bit of time tobring a little companionship andfun into someone elses life canbenet our society, one person ata time. Whats important is howworking together with fellow peerscan raise an amount of moneyhigher than previously expectedto make a difference in the livesof individuals in less

privileged areas.Whats importantis caring for theother human be-ings that live inthis world andstepping out tolend a helpinghand; throughthis, we gaininsight, build

character,

forge bonds, and truly becomemembers of the community.

Whats next? Serving the

community not just once a year,but on a regular basis volunteerat a place that needs you. HCIS hasa community service club that reg-ularly helps out at Thye Hwa KwanHospital. Join in, or start your ownvolunteer effort. There are peopleto be helped, and lessons to belearned.

Left to right:Ryan, matthew and jing

yuan

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SongsofOurselves

IFD 2014

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Lu Zhihan 4B

When the music rose up on theThursday morning of 24thJuly,we all knew that it was time forus to get high on excitement.Anyone in the darkened, crowd-ed MPH was to be impressed bythe oncomingextraordinary IFD

performance,for which 58dedicatedstudents haveprepared allthe way fromJanuary to July.

It is the annual blockbusterof HCIS, Said Ding Jiayefrom 4B. This musical issuccessful in both its fasci-nating

storyline and the most viv-id performance [Ive seen],making it a great piece ofwork. Most people who

were present that day have thesame feeling. They danced sopassionately that even I wantedto dance with them, remarkedthe father of one of our school-mates, who attended a laterperformance on the Fundraisingdinner on the 26thof July.

The great event unveiled itselfwith a scene of Africa, alongwith breath-taking music fromLion King, in which King Popo,starring Andrew, marched on tothe stage in grand atmosphere.His two sons, Takuku and Taki-ki, played by Ryan and Winson,were required to embark on a

journey to other parts of theworld in order to learn the meth-ods of improving their countryand prove their own courage.However, nobody had expectedthis trip to be one of con-

spiracy.Even I dont knowwhy I come tolife again af-ter beingkilled,saidChenZidan(4B), whoplayed the roleof Cheng, a Chineseassassinator who

became the queenof Africa after ghting with

Takikis killer to death, but thestory itself is interesting. In themusical, Takiki managed to leaveTakuku, the nominated kingof Africa, alone in Brazil, laterattempting to kill him in Canada.However, Takuku recognized the

true motive of hisbrother and triedto take revenge in

France. The twobrothers compro-mised at last andTakuku became thenew king.

One of the most notable pointsof this performance is the uniquemusic from all over the worldused. Music clips from the LionKing, Alicia Keyss New York Bro-ken Down, Les Miserables andeven traditional Chinese Zhengmelody were applied to create

different ambiances of differentcorners of the world. In fact, oneof the best lighting engineerswas hired to train student volun-teers to ensure quality lightingeffects in the show. An immensebackground of the curving edgeof the Earth was set up by thelogistics team as well. Some ofthe performers even neededto change three or four timesthroughout the whole perfor-mance all this effort behind thescenes makes this musical espe-

cially marvellous.

Thanks to everyone who has putso much effort into this event;its excellence has ben imprintedin everyones memory in HCIS.Just as Winfred in Year 2 men-tioned: The performance in IFDis beyond my expectations. Itis one of the most impres-sive experiences thisse- mester. We are all

looking forwardto the IFD next

yearour music isceasing never!

It is the

annual blockbusterof HCIS!-Ding Jia Ye 4B

The king and his new princess 5


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How did you feel about the perfor-mance?

At the onset, we were really ex-cited about the performance asa whole. We wanted to introducecountries and concepts that havenever been showcased before inpast years IFDs, thus resulting in aBroad-way

musicalwith livesingingby theper-formersthem-selves.It was aprettyriskyproposalto handin to MsYee, our teacher IC, as we didnt

know exactly know how we weregoing to tie all our loose ideastogether, but we took the chanceand did it anyway.

All in all, no matter how good orbad the performance was, we arevery proud of how much we wereable to accomplish, as it seemedlike an impossible task to takeon, especially in the start whereeverything was a blur. But seeinghow much we are able to accom-plish, we are very happy about theoverall performance, especially the

performers as we couldnt havedone it without their cooperation.

Why did you want to be in chargeof this years IFD?

Crisann: Being part of the past 3years IFDs and seeing how a per-forming arts event is directed andbrought together really intriguedme. Dance and music has alwaysbeen a huge part of my life, butI was always just a performer. In

nearly 5 years in HCIS, IFD is anevent I looked forward to everysingle year, and hence when giventhe chance to lead, I grabbed abest friend, brainstormed, wrote a

proposal and the rest is history.

Levine: I have been a part of IFDtwice and I never could since to

forget the funand experience Iwould take withme. I wouldalways lookforward to term3 as rehearsalsbegan and theactual day wasnearing. I al-ways knew thatI wanted to be apart of organiz-ing this event,but honestlynever thought

of being co-chairman of IFD withmy best friend, until the day whereI really sat down and thoughtabout it. I knew it would be a chal-lenge for me to step up and takecharge but it was an opportunity Icouldnt miss.

If you could change somethingin the entire performance whatwould you change?

We honestly wouldntchange anything as al-

though it does have itsaws, it is the best thatwe did and as clich as itsounds, if we had to do itagain, we would make IFDexactly the same. Maybe adda few lines here and there,but we think the story line,dances and scenes are per-fect as they are.

IFD has been a tradition for HCIS where everyone gathers to-gether and watch a show performed and produced by our ownstudents. This year, however, Crisann Tan and Levine Thio, thetwo chairpersons of IFD, decided to change things up a bit. In-stead of a skit like previous years, they decided to come up witha musical production. I would like to thank Crisann and Levine fortaking their time out of their hectic IB schedule to answer thesequestions.

By: Amanda Goh with the help of Crisann Tan and Levine Thio

The chairwomen of IFD 2014,Crisann tan and levine thio6


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What did you think couldhave been improved?

Improvement wise, itwould be to make theshow a bit longer, but werather have a short andsweet performance thana long and draggy show.

How was the plan-ning of IFD? (likehow long did youtake and stuff)

We rst starting

talking aboutideas and scenes,in May 2013, on a

school trip backfrom Califor-nia. It wasntfull on concrete plans,but were glad to saysome of those ideas didmaterialize into whatyou guys saw duringthe show (like the stiltwalkers and the Day OfThe Dead scene)! Ourproposal was both sub-

mitted and accepted inDecember, so everythingwas really fast paced andplanning began straightaway when school re-opened.

Organizing Committee

To be very honest, wedidnt take long to de-cide on our EXCO. Weknew who we wanted tohead each departmentand who was suited for

their respective roles.There were a few switch-es along the way, but itwasnt anything too dras-tic and problematic.

Script Writing

Coming up with thestoryline for this yearsshow was a lot of fun.We basically gatheredthe EXCO, sat ourselvesin a circle and just threwin ideas. The main gistof our show was literal-ly done in a day and it

went something like this-- Lets do a quest abouta king and his brother!Thats too mainstreamand lion king-ish, man..*ahem* borrriiinggg..Okay, how bout hehas a girlfriend? There

has to be a conict inthe story though! THEGIRLFRIEND CHEATS!!SHE CHEATS!! Ooogirl... Will it be too..you know since this isa school event and all.Haha Yeah man, toorisky? Can the girl-friend be cheating on theking with the brother?What.

Our script writers, Fran-ces Lian and Yip Wen

Qian had to work doublyhard to ensure that allthese ideas were pack-aged together nicelyand presented to theaudience with a bow. Itdenitely wasnt easy,

but after 7 versions ofthe script, theyve done asmashing good job

Casting

With a story and a script,all we needed then was

a cast. Studentsfrom Year 1 to IB1showcased theirtalents and alongwith the producerand director, we

were not disap-pointed at all. Wewere fortunateenough to have anamazing range ofskills to work with

it only made everythingso much smoother

Rehearsals, Rehearsals,REHEARSALS

We decided to start onthe casting and rehearsalright away as our ideas

for the show were veryclear and we wanted toembark on this adven-ture ASAP! For the rst6 months, IFD practicewas just 2 times a week,however nearing theevent, rehearsals becamealmost a daily thing. Itwas 9 consecutive hoursof singing, dancing andacting. We were washedover with waves of ex-haustion and fatigue, butwe regret nothing!

Many problems were arisingand the week before the ac-tual event was defnitely the

most demanding and hecticone but at the same timeexciting!

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what was the most stressful part?

I think at some points in time, its fair to say that be-ing stressed by IFD is an understatement. The moststressful part would be when the event was nearingand everything started to come together. There werecostumes being lost, miscommunication betweenindividuals, opening/closing speeches to write andschool work to juggle. Many problems were arisingand the week before the actual event was denitelythe most demanding and hectic one but at the sametime exciting!

Were there any chaos backstage?

The rst full dressed rehearsal was pure utter chaos.Period. There was denitely a ton of mayhem as wehad many different costumes and props that need-ed to be used concurrently. During the rst full runthrough, some performers denitely did not knowwhere to go and where their costumes were. But

slowly, with practice, everyone got used to the tim-ings and the quick changes, rectifying any problemsand hiccups that we encountered along the way.

How did you feel about this years IFD?

Like we said before, we planned this years IFD sincelast year, so at rst when we found out that we weregoing to be chairmen, we were excited and nervousat the same time. Having the course of the event passby so fast, we are denitely proud that we managedto pull through with this. There were many great andimpressive past IFDs but we wanted something dif-

ferent hence, we feel that we did our best and gave itour all to make this IFD a performance that both theaudience and performers would enjoy and remember.

This years IFD is especially special to us and we feelthat it would be a journey that we will never forget,organizing, performing and working together witheveryone. I feel that it is an event we would never for-get. It is denitely sad to see it reach a closure afterworking with everyone and building all these won-derful memories. Everything will come to an end butmemories live forever and like they all say, All goodthings must come to an end, so this is us saying a bigthank you to everyone who took part in IFD and forhelping us make this a huge success! We hope youenjoyed this Soeke as much as we did

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In the evening of 26 July, over 60 studentvolunteers were helping to run the event, be itto usher the guests or to market the artworkmade by students during sabbatical week.

Some even entertained them with their talentssuch as playing instruments and singing!

The items on sale included vases and jewelleryboxes covered in exquisite mosaic designs, clay

models ranging from cars to owers, beautifullyengraved copper plates, as well as watercolour,mixed, and even Batik paintings! All of them weremade by our very own students, attracting a con-stant stream of interested parents and staff.

Over 300 guests including the teachers, par-ents and students were gathered at the boardingschool hall for dinner prepared by the school can-teen staff. While they were enjoying their scrump-tious dinner, they were entertained by our ownHCIS students from different levels with talentsoutside academics. These students who were per-forming at the dinner stayed back every Tuesday

leading up to the event to practice to make sureeverything was perfect for this event.

Dont worry if you havent seen the amazing per-formances by our students as they are also per-forming for the HCIS talent show happening soon!

After the dinner was over, the guests were allinvited to the MPH for the musical, Soeke. A mu-sical done by students as a CCA, our buddingactors took on a challenge to learn how to dance,sing, and act with each other for seven monthslled with blood, sweat, and tears. Soka is aboutfriendship, harmony and learning about the differ-ent parts of the world. It was also performed forthis years IFD (International Friendship Day). Thestory revolved around the main character, PrinceTakuku, who was sent on a journey by his fatherto learn how to cure his home country, Africa,from poverty by travelling to other parts of theworld. When the musical ended, everyone left witha smile on their face. Being the last performancefor the actors (having previously staged a perfor-mance for the school), their hard work had de-nitely paid off and it was truly amazing.Good job, actors and crew!

Finally

10!By:Sara

hKwok,

GemmaSun

To celebrate HCISs 10th anniversary,a dinner for parents and staff washeld at the boarding school dininghall.

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A dayof gloryDone by Lim ChinKiat, DiamondKoalitas and MeanKao HuiThe audience clapped as the investiture ceremonycame to an end. It was 9thJuly, the start of a new

chapter for the Hwa Chong International studentcouncilors. It wasnt an easy ride for the members,with weeks of preparation for the decoration andthe trouble of memorizing the steps for the dancethat was to be performed at the end of the inves-titure.

Even under the guidance of the new presidentand vice president, Yap Pui Min and Wang Zi, newheads, Yip Wen Qian and Yang He Shan of thePublic Relations Committee, Cheryl Kwan and Dia-mond Koalitas of the Student Welfare Committee,Chen Zi Dan and Marcus Kee of the Special Proj-ects Committee,it was hard to make everythingperfect, but we denitely tried our best and ex-

ceeded the expectations everyone had set for theinvesti- ture, which had the theme Glow.Weeks ahead of the investiture,each individual councilor wasgiven roles by the executive com-mittee, and had to start prepa-rations immediately. The per-formers started practicing andthe rest painted the logo andstars that were to be plasteredaround the hall. Bryan Yeowfrom 2 Caring commented thathe nally learnt how to drawstars through this experience,since he had never been a

good artist, and that despitethe new and challenging ex-perience, it was very fun andexciting. He experiencedsomething new for therst time and he was alsodoing it with his friends.In addition, through thisexperience he was able tostrengthen his bond withsome of the seniors. Ifelt very nervous whenI rst joined council inYear one since I didntknow anyone, but with

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the kind and

amazing seniors,council slowlybecame mysecond homeand before Iknew it, I havebeen in coun-

cil for a year, Heeven told us a secret, that he

admired Justin Yap from IB2Kand Yip Wen Qian from IB1K. Headds, They are positive, theyhelp us a lot then when we needthem, they are inspirational . .. and they will always appear

when you need them. Even whenwe commit errors, they are will-ing to help and are fun to workwith.

As the day of the investiturewas gradually approaching,excitement coursed through theveins of the councilors, but atthe same time, they were utter-ly nervous. Even the EXCO (theExecutive Committee), who wereaccustomed to this, felt on edge.One of them, Wen Qian, felt a lotof pressure since he only joined

the council last year but was nowin charge of the Public Relationscommittee. Being in IB1, timemanagement would denitely bean issue, but to Wen Qian, thecouncil was like a second home.I enjoy my time in the councila lot, not for the credits but forthe satisfaction. It has a lot ofresponsibilities, especially be-ing a head of a committee, butit has boosted my condenceand made me more aware of thepeople Im in charge of. Beforethe interview ended, he gave

much emphasis on how lead-ership is not based on scoldingothers, and that the juniors haveto do things themselves after be-ing taught. He also stressed whyindependence was important.Though the only person or thingthat is guaranteed to stick withyou your entire life is yourself,theres a bright side to it. Inde-pendence made me feel pow-erful. There was a time where Iwas dependent on other people.I couldnt think for myself, result-ing in me always parroting what

others said. When I grew up, I

found my own opinions and forthe rst time, I found people re-specting me. It was a refreshingexperience as it gave me a senseof identity and improved selfesteem. Lastly, he wants to letall his juniors know that each andevery one of them is amazing!

The day had arrived before weknew it. Tension lled the air asthe students strolled in to theMulti Purpose Hall. Doubts lledthe heads of councilors and thethought of something going

wrong terried them, but in theend they overcame their terrorand stepped onto the stage.

Finally, as the councilors dancedon the stage, the familiar stepsand movements came straightto them. Smiles formed on eachand every one of the councilorsfaces. With that, the grand eventcame to an end.

The Student Council will de-nitely grow, just like us. Weresure that with dedicated seniorslike Wen Qian, who made manygreat sacrices for the counciland hard-working juniors likeBryan who joinedcouncilto servethe schoolwhile sup-porting hisadmiredseniors, thecouncil willdenitelycarry on, notfaltering inthe face ofchallenges,continuingthe legacy andprinciple thatthe seniors havecreated, mak-ing the school abetter place forall students, yearafter year.


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A

Embellis-in

WeeBy:Ol

iviaChieng

andMean

KaoHui

Term 3 Week 3... Does anyone rememberwhat week that was? Yes, it was the Englishweek that took place from Tuesday to Thurs-day. English-based games were played duringthose three days and to those who were un-known to this, most of them were hand-madeby our students themselves!

Before the event started, many posters wereput up by the IBF students. One of the post-ers, created by Yeo Hwee Sim and ElizabethKoh from 4B, explained the importance ofa simple punctuation mark, the comma. Wetalked to Hwee Sim and found out more abouther poster. She and her partner realized thatmany students had problems with punctuation

and thus decided to make a poster showinghow important accurate punctuation is. Shedesigned the poster with many contrastingcolours to attract attention. They hope thateveryone is now more aware of how they usetheir punctuation in sentences.

Also, after the morning ag-raising ceremo-ny, a short skit, written by Ms Joanne Tan,was performed to teach us the importanceof English. Khoo Yi Qing from 2R, one of theactresses, didnt nd any difculties. Howev-er, there were some difculties for Daphne

Low, also from 2R, as she had to intentionallytrip on her shoelaces to fall during the perfor-mance, and she ended up bruising her knee.

Students from other levels also took part inactivities during the week. The Year 1s had anoratorical competition during their assemblyperiods in the MPH, where one representativefrom each class gave a four-minute speech tothe whole level. This helped students speak-ing skills.

The Year 2s had games and quiz tables out-

side the general ofce during breaks. Theyoffered well-known games like Scrabble, aswell as other original games they created. Oneof them involved matching words that had the

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same meaningsynonyms. Forexample, the word impertinentwould be matched with theword rude. This activity helpedinternalize English Language skillsthrough both the creation and playingof these games, which was great be-cause I had never came across many ofthese words before, which added to myvocabulary!

Year 3s participated in a debate com-petition in the LT during their assem-bly and recess periods. This was toencourage debating and quick think-ing skills among the students. Luo

Zhihuan from 3T had to memorize hisscript; according to him, the debateboosted his condence and led himto improve his speaking skills. He even won thebest speaker award! Congratulations to him!

Last but not least, in addition to making post-ers, the IBF students set up game tables likethe Year 2s. 4Bs Fan Wei Ming was in chargeof one of the booths and after getting to knowabout it more, we found out it was not easyat all. He was concerned about the game notgoing well, and when it was all over, it felt as

if a weight had been lifted off him. His gamewas inspired from Anime and the Internet. Veryinteresting indeed!

We talked to Ms Joanne Tan again and she saidthat the school might organize this event nextyear too, and improvements would be made sothat more students will be willing and interest-ed to join in.

All in all, this event was fun and meaningful.We believe that besides us, many studentshave beneted from this event. On top of that,improvements will be made, which will denite-ly increase the enjoyment of learning. So, dosupport English Week in the future!

Debating

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hci

travel

Theonlytimeof

theyearwherewereable

to

leavetheclassro

omsandtravelt

oothercountires

andmeetnewp

eopleandlearn

differentcultures.

Sowhynotmak

ethebestoutof

it?

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We were privileged to be the rst

group to embark on this tripto

the Isaac Newton International

Upper School for an exchange

programme where we visited famous places likeLake Sirmione in Brescia. On this wonderful trip,

Mr Stefano Anzuinelli from Isaac Netwton Inter-

national Upper School enlightened students from

both countries on Italian cultures and traditions.

In Venice, the students studied the peoples

livelihoods and their world-renowned specialty,

glass blowing. Unfortunately, we did not get to

see how it was done but some students man-

aged to buy unique glasswork as a souvenir.

Whilst in Milan, we visited attractions such as the

Domo Cathedral. We also got a feel of the Italian

lifestyle by having an opportunity to roam around

the streets to enjoy their delicacies such as gela-

to (ice cream) in cafs. The gelato was especially

fresh as it was made of real exotic fruits or choco-

late. One of my favourite avours was melon.

The highlight of the trip was when we really got

to experience the daily life of an Italian - with a

homestay! A HCIS student (or a few of us) had

the chance to stay with an Italian student partner

of the exchange school, along with their family.

Some students had to face the language barrier

as they tried to use hand signals and pictures to

communicate, while others had an easier time as

the family understood English. These challeng-

es were what slowly toughened up the students

during the ve days when they slowly bondedwith their foster families.

On the nal day, students bade their farewells and

exchanged numbers; even tears were shed in the

process. Looking back on this trip, it was denite-

ly one of the most memorabletrips for us!

HCIS inItalyby Chin Kiat and Xin Ran


18/28

Landof

Kiwis

During InternationalismWeek, some studentsof the school, rangingfrom Secondary 2 to IB1,

and I embarked on the amazingtrip to New Zealand. We wentto Auckland, Tauranga, Rotu-ra, and Waitomo, visiting many

exciting places.

A few of the places that left ahuge impression on us werethe Huka Falls, Piha beach inAuckland, and of course, theanimal farm where we got tosee Alpacas, sheep, deer, andturkeys! The farmer even madea performance out of shearingsheep, leading us to secret-ly take away some wool thatwas sheared. Also, one com-mon sight in New Zealand was

double rainbows. Being the cityfolk we are, we were awed bythem and hurried off thebus to take pictures ofthem despite the rain.

Visiting the kiwi farmcalled Kiwis360 in Bayof Plenty, we learnedwhy 80% of the kiwisin New Zealand weregrown there: the cooland not too extremeclimate allowedkiwis to grow and

sometimes frostbeautifully. We alsolearnt what oth-er kinds of fruitslike apples were

grown there too. The kiwi juicethey had came in one-litre

bottles, and cost only aroundve Singapore dollars each! Tous, it was incredibly cheap andwe bought tons of it, becausethe natural sweetness of thekiwis infused in each bottle waswell worth the price!

Of course, while we were there,it wasnt all fun and games. Wehad worksheets and reectionsto do, and our tour guide madesure everyone rememberedwhat was taught by holding adebrieng and quizzes before

we went to sleep. We learntabout geology, ecology, histo-ry, and even politics.

We also visited Botany Second-ary College in Auckland. Theschool system in New Zealandis very different comparedto what we have here, withsewing classes, drama classes,and even textiles classes. Ourbuddies were very friendly asthey interacted with us, tell-ing us about their lives in New

Zealand.

Another place we went towas the Maori Mitai Village inWaitomo. The Maori were therst people who went to NewZealand, and we learnt abouttheir culture while feasting ondelicious roast chicken andfantastic soup that they cookedtraditionally for us, using steamfrom the heated charcoal in theoutdoor stone oven, with herbsand spices such as rosemary toavour the chicken. One thing

I will never forget was howthey welcomed us. They rodeon a boat as they crossed theriver and welcomed us, hold-ing lighted torches while

by:MeanKaoHui

WebringyouaroundthelandofKiwis,

KiwisandKiwis(Thebird,thefru

itand

thepeople)!


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dressed in traditional warclothing, while shouting andsinging songs in Maori. Theyeven taught us some wordslike kiahora, meaning hel-lo, and eno hora, meaninggoodbye.

Even though I enjoyed everyplace we went to, the Waito-mo Glow Worm Cave and theHobbit movie set were nodoubt my favourites. At theGlow Worm Cave, the sight of

seeing so many glow warmsthat shone like stars in the darkcave took my breath awayas I stared in both awe and ap-preciation as we moved alongin the cave. It was truly anawesome sight engraved intomy memory.

Ryan Cheah from 3 Principledfound the luge and skyline inRotura very interesting. Thefact that it rained made it moreexciting as he sped on a cartdown the mountain at highspeed. Another attraction heliked was the Piha Beach, inAuckland, which consisted ofblack sand containing iron.The Mongolian cuisine we atethere stuck out a lot since Inever had it before. He added.

Being a Hobbit and Lord of theRings fan, I would say the Hob-bit movie set was the bomb.The Hobbit movie set I mustsay Was amazing. Amazingwould still be an understate-

ment. There, we toured thewhole set and the place whereBilbo and Sam stayed in. I wason cloud nine, maybe evenhigher as the tour guide tookus around the set, and at theend he even tested us regard-ing the movie, for example,what was the colour of thedoor that Sam and Rosy cameout together from in Lord ofthe Rings 3? (The answer wasyellow, for those who are inter-ested.)

Our teachers in charge, MsChithira and Ms Alice, eachcommented that they enjoyed

the Hobbitmovie setvery much.Another visitthat Ms Chithi-ra enjoyed wasthe farm visit.Getting closeto nature wasan awesomeexperience inNew Zealand,she said. Ms Alice,on the other hand,

added that she loved thevisit, the cultural show, andthe food at the Maori Village.

All in all, it was a whollyenjoyable, stunning, andbreath-taking jourtney. Tothose we are consideringto go to New Zealand nextyear, dont even consider.Go; I guarantee you will notregret it. Glow worms!


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UnitedKingdomBy: Talia Ng

18

The UK trip was a rather enjoyable abd uniqueexperience that no one can take away from me. Ilearnt a lot about science, the culture in UK, andCambridge University. The group got to go puntingand it was really cool. Whats most unforgettablefor me was the practical we did in the biochemicallab in the prestigious Cambridge University. It wasastounding; they had the latest equipment there,which included almost everything. We had manylectures in the REACHCambridge castle, namedthe Chesterton Tower. It is an alluring 14th centu-ry castle right on the outskirts of Cambridge. Welearnt a lot of advanced sciences, something reallyuseful for the future such as microbiology, stemcell research and green chemistry. The lectureswere really enthralling, we learnt about astrophys-ics and stellar evolution as well. We even got tosee a real telescope! I expected it to be a normal,long, cylindrical telescope, but to my astonishment

it was a Brobdingnagian, extremely detailed one.Learning about life in Cambridge University was

informative, and of course, we had some amazingtours. We passed by many interesting places suchas the pub where DNA was discovered and CharlesDarwins house, amazing right? In Oxford, we got to

tour the town as well and paid a visit to the gardenswhere C.S Lewis was inspired to write his bestsell-ing novel, Alice In Wonderland which was one ofthe few good books I have read. On the last day, weshopped in London, along Oxford Street and headedback to Singapore after. This trip was really unfor-gettable and it made me realise what I wanted to doin the future.The lecturers, teachers and coordina-tors were very caring and accommodating. I wouldlike to thank Ms. Avril, Mr Nataraja, and our coordi-nators, Luke and Lauren for taking care of us whilewe were in the UK and putting up with our endlessnonsense. This trip is a fruitful and enlightening tripand it will be etched in my heart for quite a longtime. It was so much fun.


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DenmarkAng Min Wei and Amanda Goh

The exchange trip was so much more than wecould have ever imagined it to be. The weath-er, the people and even the food All perfect.Of course there was skepticism, about wheth-er we would get along with our buddies. Buteveryone seemed to hit it off right away afterour rst meeting. Nina and Line were absolute-ly amazing hosts to us, catering to our everyneed and providing us with great company.Immediately it was apparent, how dissimilarour cultures really were. Nights were spent

just talking to our hosts about everything wecould think of; education systems, societalviews and even the differences between ourcheckout counters in stores. Its pretty remark-able because even with all these things settingus apart, we managed to put aside all thesefactors and end up as great friends. After all,different doesnt necessarily mean bad, right?

It was honestly heartbreaking to have to leave,but the show we call life must go on. Just wait tillour friends from Aarhus come to visit next year,we might just make them walk as much as we didon our trip. After our few days in Aarhus we took

a fairly long train ride to Copenhagen where wesaw the changing of guards and we even got tosee the little mermaid. We were able to see manyparts of Copenhagen and learn the different cul-tures there. The only thing that wouldve madethe trip even better is more time. Time to meetnew friends, time to strengthen existing bondsand time to explore every inch of the cities wevisited. Alas, nothing lasts forever. And thatsprobably why well treasure these memoriesmade even more. These few memories wont begoing away anytime soon.

we had a campfire

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we made it..literally

Ivery near-

ly never got toparticipate in Sabbatical

Week. Initially, I was so sure thatI was going on a trip for Internationalism

Week. I would just hand my form in the second dayof application because I felt too lazy the night be-fore the rst day to get anything signed.

Of course, not being well-versed in the waysof our school does not bode well for new studentslike me. My dreams of touching theBerlin Wall were cruelly crushedwhen I stepped into the foyer at7.10am the next morning to nd a

long queue already forming outsidethe General Ofce. Thats it for me,then.

Im not complaining, how-ever. Im sure the wall will wait forme. Time to take a week of fuss-freeart classes, however, may not. All ofus had two choices out of seven three-day courses:Ceramics, Mixed Media Painting, Copper Tooling,Watercolour Painting, Assemblage, Batik Painting,and Mosaics. I picked Mixed Media Painting and Mo-saics.

I never took art classes outside of those inprimary school. Fortunately, my instructor for MixedMedia started from the basics: mixing primary co-lours in different ratios. We then experimented withpainting chillies, gradually moving on to printingphotocopied images on canvas and coated the topwith translucent paint. On the nal day, we painteda pot of owers using acrylic paint, textured paper,and foam which hardened and could be painted on.

Mosaics was a lot more straightforward, butmore difcult. My class decorated candle-holdersand had a choice between dressing up a tissue-boxcover, a jewellery box, or a slab of wood with bright-

ly-coloured mosaic tiles. The class before minedecorated ower vases. Depending on what one

wanted, one could go for an abstract design or some-thing familiar. We saw owers, trees, Minnie Mouse,

Pokmon, Nyan Cat, relics of the Hogwarts founders,and even the school logo!

It would naturally be chaotic when one removesa weary teacher from the classroom and replaces herwith jars of water, pots of paint, bowls of wax, lumpsof clay, that sort of thing. We made messes, chatteda lot, watched the instructors demonstrations withvarying degrees of attention, and clambered for theirattention when our work needed a major rescue op-eration (because guess who didnt pay enough atten-

tion?). However, we settled intoour work surprisingly quickly andcreated, quite simply, art. Some

of us surprised ourselves. MarcusKee (4B) agrees. He adds, I trans-formed into Andy Warhol whenmaking [my art piece]. After all myhard work, I felt very emotional af-ter completing it.

For me, by no means did Idiscover some crazy new artistic talent that lay hid-den for seventeen years. Instead, I acted around veyears old for that entire weekI spilled water onsomeones painting (sorry), I sploshed paint on myuniform, I even somehow got plastic splinters in mypalm from cutting mosaic tiles. But the act of giving

life, stroke by stroke, piece by piece, to a smallhandful of canvases, jars,and jewellery boxesbrings pure joy whenyou stare at your n-ished work while ev-eryones busy clean-ing up and think, Hey,thats not so bad.

Thats enoughfrom me. Here are somephotos that were takenduring the course of the

week.

Mosaics was

a lot morestraightforward, but

lot more difcult

By Yeap Yee Sing

20


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a

Fresobstacle race

A telematch is very similar to an obstacle race. There willbe a few stages you have to overcome in order to win.The Telematch we went through during the sports meetconsisted of four challenges; the participants includedfour students, and to add to the funfour teachers. The

rst challenge was called the Mexican Hoop. It basical-ly involved passing a hula-hoop through every personstanding in a line till the last person. It was really amusingworking together with the teachers to try and overcomethe obstacles. Some teachers like Mr Kenneth Low and MrAng had difculty as they were a lot taller than the rest ofus.

The next thing that needed to be done to clear the sec-ond round: ll another bucket with a cup that had holes.We all sprinted as fast as we could and luckily no one fellon the slippery ground. Thirdly, we had to successfullythrow 5 water balloons into the bucket Mr Low was hold-ing. Although the level of difculty was medium, com-

pared to the rest, it was denitely the easiest. The fourthobstacle is kind of disgusting but exciting. Each of us hadto dip our foot into the bucket of mixed our water andtry to get a mini-sized marble out. Our last obstacle mayseem easy but it was denitely not as easy as it sound-ed. Walking in a line while holding the shoulders of theperson in front, we had to hold the marble on our foot allthe way to a cone while staying connected. We failed afew times because the marbles kept dropping onto thegrass. Did you know that we actually had a good headstart which lasted until our last stage? Although it was abit disappointing we didnt win, at least we placed3rdin the match. Whats more important isthat we had fun.

By: Diamond Koalitas

For the HCI CombinedSports Meet, youllagree that the tele-match was the best of

all.


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New Student Interview Hi fellow students, welcometo HCIS! Firstly, tell us, of all theplaces in the world, and of all the

schools in Singapore, why did you

choose to come to HCIS to study?

Austen: I am Singaporean, and I

heard that HCIS offers a conduciveenvironment to study as comparedto my previous school.

Hai Yang: I come from China. I didsome homework before cominghere - many people told me thatHCIS is good. It has high standardsand the students produce good

results... So here I am!Zhihan: HCIS offers the IB pro-gramme and I feel its better thanthe A-levels because IB is the most

widely accepted internationalcurriculum, which not only em-phasises academic excellence butrequires other outstanding abilitiessuch as leadership and teamworkas well.

Christie: Singapore is one of thesafest places to be in, and settling

in was effortless. I am ChineseCanadian, so naturally my parentswould choose HCIS to preservesome of my Chnese qualities.

Arent we glad that solid resultsand values are cited as one of themain reasons? Judging from our2013 IB results, we certainly cant

refute that!

Q: What has impressed youmost at HCIS?

Austen: I simply love theenvironment! The teachers

are friendly and dedicated

and my fellow students areserious about their stud-ies. This makes HCIS a con-ducive place to excel in.

Hai Yang: HCIS offers abalanced education. We areequally serious about play aswe are about school work.

Zhihan: What impressed me themost is that my classmates areso warm-hearted and friendlytowards each other. They are allso willing to do their best for ourclass. An example is the IFD andFund-raising dinner where we allchipped in one way or another. Itis at HCIS where everyday life islled with endless wonders and

this offers the chance for me toexperience true friendship.

Christie: It is the extent that ourteachers are willing to help us. Inthis school, teachers put in theadditional effort to help us achievegood grades, and I am really grate-ful for this.

I think our new students impressus most, dont you agree?

In this issue, we turn our at-tention to our very own newstudents. We have come along way to where we are

today - every year, the en-rolment numbers speak forthemselves. But how do our

new students feel about theschool? Lets get to know four

of them better. They areAusten (2B) who is local,

Qiu Hai Yang of (2C) and LuvZhihan (4B) from China, as

well asChristie Huang of (IB1)from Canada.

Austen

Zhihan

22


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Q: Lets talk about somethingmore serious. What are youlooking forward to most in thisacademic year?

Austen: I would really love toachieve high scores for all my sub-

jects and to improve my academ-ic results.

Hai Yang: To do well and get goodgrades.

Zhihan: I am really looking for-ward to a class outing. It would be

another great time for sure!

Christie: I look forward to thelunches.

You see, it all boils down tobalancing work and play.

With such dedication anddetermination to do well,HCIS will continue to soarin academic excellence!

Q: Could you tell our readershow you spend your weekends?

Austen: I spend time with myfamily, especially my dad since I

dont see him often as he travelsfrequently for his work. We wouldusually go out on weekends.

Hai Yang: I live with my familyduring the weekend - I would goto my house in Singapore.

Zhihan: There are lots of things to

do in Singapore on the weekends.I dont have a family here so I visitthe public libraries which haveabundant resources and are reallygood places for studying. I also gohiking in places like Bukit Timah

Hill and MacRitchie Reservoir. The

natural environment there helpsme relax and refresh after a busyweek in school.

Christie: I would do school workand internships each 40% of mytime, and I would hang out withmy friends 20% of the time.

Its heartening to know that family,friends, and relaxation are import-ant to our new students. HCISstrives to provide an educationthat embraces both Asian tradi-tions and contemporary globaloutlook and our new studentshave demonstrated both theseaims.

Q: Which do you think is moreimportant? Education or Experi-ence?

Austen: Experience, becausewithout experience, you would not

know what is coming but with ex-perience, we will learn to do betterthe next time.

Hai Yang: Experience becauseafter we nish school, we need to

know how to apply the things welearn to real life situations and wetruly learn only when we apply.

Zhihan: Education is denitely

a more practical way of gainingknowledge. Through education,we can go farther beyond our own

experiences. Just as Newton said,we can only see further if we canstand on the shoulders of giantswhich means we can lean on otherpeoples experience through edu-cation. Education and experience

cannot be separated. The processof learning is the process of gain-ing experience at the same time.

Christie: I think that both areequally important, because with-out one of them, the other is

nothing. A farmer, for example,still needs education in order to besuccessful.

Well said, everyone!

Q: Whats the weirdestthing youve done atHCIS? Why did you doit?

Austen: Spending a

few hundred dollars ona toy car recently which will not

do me any good. I just acted onimpulse.

Hai Yang; I did not nish my nal

test because it was hard.

Zhihan: Taking photos of otherpeoples parents eating at thefund-raising dinner. Its quite funnyhow some of them eat.

Christie: I have this secret hand-

shake with a friend where,every time we see each other,we must bite each other on theshoulder. I am not sure why Ido it.

I guess every one of us havedone something weird here.Thats part of the experience, andsometimes a way of having fun.But I didnt know Luis Suarez is

studying in the school!

Thank you to our four newstudents for sharing sowhole-heartedly. One thingthey have all mentioned in

closing is that they all adapt-ed quickly into the schoolbecause there are so manyfriends and teachers to helpthem settle in. We are one bigcaring family at HCIS and thatreally is what matters at theend of the day. We wish allour new students the bestin your education at HCIS,whether youve been inter-

viewed or not!

Christie and RyanLim

Hai Yang

23


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:vvvvAStrongStart

hcisfc2014:

On May 16, 2014,

the HCIS footballteam buckled downfor the rst game of

their 2014 campaign

against St. FrancisMethodist School.

By:GanDaveScottLim

24

HCIS looked sharpand ready to take

a goal back

With this possibly being theirlast game before retirement,HCIS football coach Sar nameda strong starting 11 that featuredseven graduating IB2s, deploying

Christopher Chan up front (FC*),Shaun Wong (Left) and NeoKai Feng (Right) as the wings,captain Darren Chak (DM**), OngZhong Tao (DM), and vice-cap-tain Ryan Lee (MC) in the mid-eld, and the usual four of Shel-don Goh (DL***), Goh Feng Tian

(DC), Nathaniel Lam (DC), andLester Wong (DR) at the back.

During the opening minutes,both keepers were naturally un-troubled as the battle took placein the centre of

mideld.

After gainingpossession,HCIS began to

build momen-tum throughtheir triangle passing^and simplydid not allow their opponents toget a touch of the ball.

On two consecutive plays, the

mideld the St Francis keeperguessed right and was able toparry the shot out of the dangerzone.

Following another battle in themideld, HCIS got their rst

scare when play was stopped asskipper Darren Chak was seenholding onto his right foot, whichwas later diagnosed as a mild

sprain.

The captains armband waspassed to Ryan and play re-sumed as Darren was given anovation as he returned to thesidelines for treatment.

After a defensive one-on-onestop in front of the HCIS goal, aquick counterattack was HCIS go1-0 up, thanks to a superb sec-ond-chance strike from Dominic

Mars, who came off the benchand made his presence felt.

During half time interval, coachSar decided to add fresh legsinto the game, most notably,

newcomers like

goalkeeper Basil

Koh (IB1P), defend-ers Fang Ming Huan(IB1C) and Ryan Lim

(IB1P) for their rst

ofcial debut for theFC.

Whatever was said during the StFrancis halftime huddle seemedto pay off in their favour as thesecond half saw them dominatepossession in the HCIS half.

Despite their strong start, the StFrancis attack in the HCIS halfwas eventually thwarted as theHCIS defence sprung back to life.Vice-captain Ryan took chargeas he stripped the ball fromhis St Francis counterpart andmoved the ball upeld to Shaun

Wong, who then cleverly created


27/28

space with a through-ball thatset up forward Hansen Feradly

for a quick and easy nish.

On the next play, Shaun Wongonce again did not hesitate toget himself involved, and againcreated a chance for Hansenwho easily converted his chance,earning himself two assists and abrace for his teammate.Following the quick successionof goals, St Francis took fulladvantage of a momentary lapsein the HCIS defense and scored

what appeared to be a consola-tion goal.

This seemed to jolt HCIS backinto the game and as soon as thekick-off restarted, HCIS lookedsharp and ready to take a goalback.

The audience waited for just ve

minutes before a quick succes-

sion of link ups in the mideld

saw the St Francis goalkeeperface off against Ryan in a one-on-one situation. Seeing thatthere was no defender in sight,the future captain dashed in fromthe left side without any hesita-tion and slotted the ball passedthe keeper in style.

The last few minutes seemed likegarbage time and after anotherseries of substitutions that in-cluded fan-favourite Nico Wong,

the referee blew his whistle.

The nal score, 4-1 to HCIS.


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hcisyjc002

hcis heartbeat

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