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My Thoughts On TPJC's 23rd Student Council

I have been an open critic to the 23rd Student Council, sniping at them in this blog. The most recent one was concerning the Teachers' Day, whereby I lamented about the lack of updates about the concert and went further to criticize their concert programme after the celebrations ended. What amazes me till now is how well they handled my sharp comments - they replied nicely and professionally.

Recently, the 23rd Student Council launched their first forum thread. It was the first time I get to witness how the councillors were like. Some TPJCians often accuse the Student Council to be a sort of 'exclusive' group which is different or superior to the rest. The council is ostensibly on a higher platform above the rest, or some would describe as elitist. I barely know the current councillors since they adopt a rather low-profile working life - plan events, execute and leave. Starting the forum gave me (and the rest) the opportunity to see for ourselves what kind of individuals our student leaders are. And yeah, they are a funny bunch.







Being a good role model is crucial to our councillors. This is one of the ways they can gain the respect from their peers. I have heard many rumours regarding the council president being sloppy. Apparently, many students are commenting about the picture of Nathan Daniel which was published in TPJC Link, a quarterly magazine of the college. A further 'investigation' showed that students preferred the senior Daniel, the president of the 22nd Student Council, who is popular with his neat and clean-cut hairstyle.

I think the 23rd Student Council is facing an image crisis. We do not know what defines them. And this could very well override the councillors as being positive role models for the rest of the student population. If the canoeing team is known to be strong, the ODAC team recognized as a crazy group of people, and the 22nd Student Council as an epitome of creativity, then what is the 23rd Student Council well-known for?



















Source

I tried to search for an identity that best describes the current team of student leaders. And guess what - I may have found one. Personally, I do not believe Nathan Daniel's 'sloppy' image represents the entire council. In fact, I think some students are just merely comparing the looks between the past and present Daniels. After months observing their actions and behaviour, we all have to agree that the 23rd Student Council is indeed a gracious team. Most importantly, they represent the college values well.

In a nutshell, I hope the 23rd Student Council continue to reach out to the rest of the student population as a council and not as separate individuals. I am rather sceptical if being low-profile as a group is good or beneficial for the council. I just worry if that may affect the bond between the council and other TPJCians. How will the councillors lead in the college cheer if TPJCians barely know who they are? Councillors are key in strengthening and lifting the college spirit.

It's like how the 22nd Student Council president, Daniel Lim, took the effort to blend in with the rest of the TPJCians. We all know he is loud and charismatic. And whenever he started the college cheer, the rest echoed.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...
on

i think it's just that the current president is not as LOUD as the prev one.

sumtimes i think the current pres is shadowed by his members. juz my opinion.

but i have to disagree with you regarding the pt whereby u mentioned abt reaching out as a council more impt than as separate ind.

each member makes up the council and play a part in the team. they can each be good to their classmates and hence put up a good image for the council.

BUT, i do agree with you abt the college spirit part. i think the pres shld be more OPEN. yeah.

Anonymous said...
on

ppl may think he thinks he is ABOVE THE REST. lol

Anonymous said...
on

yes yes. finally some1 brings this up. i know they want to look united but soemtimes i think they are isolated frm the rest.

to start of with, i dun really know the president and who he is etc.

Anonymous said...
on

I think the current student council is pretty okay. Knowing some personally, I do not find them like having that "being on top of us" kind of feeling. I find the president pretty friendly, maybe he do need to be more open.

Anonymous said...
on

Hey guys! I'm glad for the criticism. Haha! I guess it's time i came out of the shell and started making more noise. But honestly I have always felt it a little tough to blend in with the rest sometimes. It's like people choose to distance themselves or appear a great deal unfriendly especially when sometimes they assume that your pretty snobbish and proud.(oh and I'm really sorry if i was born with such a face)

But no doubt I accept the criticism and will try my best to change. Help me out here?

I'd also like to thank the writer for this article. It is indeed much appreciated. Btw, I was not given a chance to choose my photo.

Also I will be starting a new forum for feedback to the 23rd student council. Afterall we made an oath to serve you and that's what i hope to do best. Do visit it and share with us things we can do or change!

Much love,
Nathan Daniel :)

Anonymous said...
on

Nathan!

Don't worry too much. A face is a face is a face. Looks does not really matter but rather I think is how you want to bring out the quality inside you which I'm sure you definitely have which will come to shine in time.

Hoho and yeah. You mention one important point that is that people will find you snobbish and loud. That is the biggest task as a leader I think, in striking the balance between loudness and softness(not sure what to use for this ..-.-?) But uh keep in mind you can't please EVERYBODY so it boils down to personal perceptions. All in all just be yourself and take the best course of action possible!

Cheers and support for 23th Student Council!

Anonymous said...
on

Hey guys! Thank you for the comments and criticism. Like nathan said, council will definitely take it into account and try to improve ourselves for the better. DO give us more comments so that we can serve you guys better. We may be a quiet bunch but we still work hard to serve you guys and will continue to work harder. Thanks to whoever wrote this article. It did give us more insight on how the student body viewed us.

priya,
one of the councillors

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