Chinese New Year... Valentine's Day...

This is the 1st Chinese New Year celebration that we have in SST - the holding site...

Uniquely SST... a bagful of 大吉大利 (2 big mandarin oranges) in a nicely customised carrier (花开富贵). It was a gracious gesture for the school to wish everyone, not just the staff, but also the students and their families a good & prosperous Chinese New Year. Indeed, it's really... the thought that counts... to spread the warmth and happiness to this closely-knitted community.

I'm impressed with the multimedia presentations submitted by the classes... the storyline of a couple of presentations were really good! It brings out the Singapore 'flavour' - how we 'celebrate' Chinese New Year, and our 'attitude' towards to the festival. It's a lesson to learn... the purpose of celebration has evolved... into different "hybrids" in lands away from its origin...

Indeed, started immersed in the festive mood when went around to do the judging for the classroom decoration :D Amazed by the amount of effort that the students put in to "make a difference"... Congratulations to my Maths classes

S1-01's safari theme is ingenious! So close yet so far... hahahaha.... in this concrete jungle (Singapore), who would have thought of bringing nature into the class! The little touch-ups like lanterns, steps, etc made up the "immersive" experience.

S1-02 started the 'celebration' more than 2 weeks ago! The entire atmosphere's really very oriental... er... chinese? er... very 'ang pow'!!! hahaha... It's like walking into a village that's all ready to welcome the big day :D

Pleasant surprises filled the celebration morning - The close interaction with the lions! I guess the students were excited over the whole engagement! Be it the Chinese or others, definitely now have a closer look, how the lions look like... and what are the "rituals" in the dance - 採青... A better understanding the Chinese culture, too!


Another observation:
So many students pulled out their cameras, handphones, excitingly snapping the pictures... Suddenly, a contrasting scene emerged - in another school where digital devices are banned... would the discipline teachers started confiscating the devices? of cause, we could imagine the chain of activities that follow, etc... Argr.....

Hope that the students, while they were busily capturing (freezing?) the happy and exciting moments, they would also appreciate the fact that all these liberty come with the elements of trust, respect and responsibility.

Thanks to S1-02's New Year and Valentine's Day gift too... Cute bear :D It's going to liven the desk area for quite a while....

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Indeed, the new year marked the 1st anniversary for the "very" pioneer group of SST staff!

Last year, we celebrated our very 1st Chinese New Year in the Ngee Ann Polytechnic office (Blk 72!). And 3 of us - Mr Chua, Glenn and myself sent a Chinese New Year card to the school, all the way from London!

Lots of effort were put in since last year... for some, even the year before! Now, while the 'whole school' celebrates the new year... it's when we start to see the efforts start transforming into observables... a double celebration!!!