TPJC Mass Dance '09: The Informal Review

Written by azhar.

The 23rd Student Council had just released three mass dance instructional videos for the upcoming orientation camp. The videos have invited mixed reactions from the new JC1 batch. Some of them love the three dance items while the others think the choreography is either too hard or too err... weird.

The team in charge of the college mass dance this year has chosen bold songs to accompany their choreography. Who would have expected them to choose an old pop song such as Wannabe, made famous by the Spice Girls? The other two three songs chosen fall under the hip-hop genre - Low (by Flo Rida), Run the show (by Kat Deluna) and Temperature (by who else but the one and only Sean Paul). As a whole, I would say interesting choice of songs. Although one of them seems to be out of place, but it is good (perhaps) to have something different to be part of the whole mass dance package.

All right, here comes the most crucial part - the CHOREOGRAPHY. Overall, I believe the steps are not too difficult or complicated. One thing I noticed is how they repeated certain steps (especially for the first song) over and over again. Although some may argue doing so eats up the creativity of the dance items, it can actually help the JC1s memorize the steps faster and better.

Ok, enough of the good stuff; here comes the criticisms.

Firstly, I do not seem to get some of the steps that are incorporated into the dance items. I did some research beforehand and found out that there are quite a number of bloggers (mostly guys) out there who hate dislike the male dancer. Apparently, the poor impression they have on him is due to the feminine steps he choreographed for the guys in the COUPLE DANCE. Hmmm...I am not siding any particular party here but I sure have one question in mind.

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HE DOING HERE???















Perhaps you guys can help answer the question. I doubt that most of the guys will do this move....



Next, I know, you know, and we all know that the dancers made quite a number of mistakes in the three videos. It is completely fine if they made one or two errors here and there while recording the video, but more than that is as good as saying the supposedly instructional videos are corrupt. The dancers should have requested for more takes and as far as possible strive for perfection in the videos. Why? The last thing you want is a bunch of confused human beings dancing in the hall. Oh boy...



And finally, this goes out to all JC1s out there who may not like the mass dance items as much as the rest. I have heard and read some of your comments regarding them and am appalled by some of the insensitive remarks. Please do not spread untrue rumours that one of the dancers is gay and many more. Instead, show some appreciation for the dancers involved who have spent hours trying to figure out a simple yet fun choreography for you guys.

Till then, have fun!

The Student Council - Leaders For The Student Body

Written by Wee Yong Choon Eugin (08S02).

The TPJC Student Council started in 1986, and has a long history of serving the student body and upholding college values. The new addition to our TPJC family – the J1s, may be curious as to what exactly is the Student Council all about. It is not just another co-curricular activity, but in fact, it is the highest form of student representation and leadership a student can obtain at the junior college level.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” This is indeed true as being a councilor is not as easy as what others think. The Student Council takes charge in planning the majority of the school events such as the Teachers’ Day, Council Investiture, National Day, Prom Night, Friendship Week and also the upcoming JC1 Orientation Camp!

















The 23rd Student Council.

Not only that, being a councilor also means that we must uphold the school values at all times, such as integrity, perseverance and teamwork to name a few. We are also responsible for initiating new proposals and ideas that we deem will be beneficial to the school population as a whole. A good example would be the launching of the Good News Café in year 2007, thanks to the intense campaigning by the 21st Student Council.

With all these responsibilities and heavy duties tagged to the title of being a councilor, what exactly are the perks and benefits of being a member of the prestigious Student Council? Well, I would say there are mainly two things, which will affect your life in one way or another.

Firstly, it would be experience. Being a student councilor really gives you a lot of opportunities to excel in different areas, especially leadership. You get the chance to do tasks you have never attempted before – like writing detailed proposals, where you acquire skills you need in the workforce. Or perhaps more relevant to me, doing videos for the respective events and the compliments and praises that comes after the student body watches it, really makes you feel your effort is all worthwhile. Furthermore, you will learn the different skills and values throughout the council term like the importance of time management, the rare chance to interact with the other students, and also develop critical thinking skills.

Secondly, it would be working with the wonderful friends in Council. The friendship forged between each councilor is strong and I believe, will stay for eternity. We come together as individuals, but during the nine months of being a leader, we learnt from each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We are not selfish when it comes to giving each other learning points. And finally, we leave, not as individuals, but as the entire 23rd Student Council.

Now if you’re still wondering whether you’re suitable for Council, fret no more. Think about what exactly you want to achieve in your life. Do you want to make your days in the college memorable? Do you want to look back your JC days, ten years down the road, and realize you haven’t contribute much to the school? Hesitate no more, show your courage and be a part of the 24th Student Council now!

TPJC Farewell Assembly: The (Informal) Review

Before I begin, I would like to express my gratitude to one of the 23rd Student Councillors, Melvin Tan, for accepting my appeal regarding the Farewell Montage video. I kind of 'begged' for him to include my class photo in the montage. He was very cooperative and patient while handling my requests. The montage, by the way, was great! Good job guys!

Ok...ready, get set, go!

Firstly, I think the emcees that morning was great. However, I think Miss Dawn Ng took the limelight from her partner, Kim (I can't seem to remember what her full name is). Miss Ng was more spontaneous and articulate. I noticed at some points of her speech, she did try to sprinkle (unrehearsed) humour onto the script. I expected Kim to respond in her own humorous way, but instead she just drew a smile on her face. Kim seemed to be nervous and/or shy standing beside Miss Ng. Perhaps she felt uncomfortable working with her very own Council teacher-in-charge.

Next, the AVA crew kind of 'screwed up' certain parts of the concert. The good news for them is that Tpjcians were in a good mood that day and treated the event as an informal occasion. We all know that the AVA members who were on duty that day were humans and as creatures of God, they do make mistakes. You are forgiven (Haha). (But please, seriously, don't make the same mistakes during next year's Songfest or any other related formal college events. Thank you.)

The performers were great. I thought the 'Bye Bye Bye' song performance by Syazwan was hilarious and at the same time, original. Why do I think so? Firstly, the back-up singers were just TOO cute (and funny). The way they sang 'bye bye bye' simultaneously at the same time with their facial expressions were just awkward. And Syazwan was like in his own world, singing and screaming like there is no tomorrow. I am not sure if this is true, but I think this is the first time ever a singer actually performed complete with three back-up singers on our stage. Amazing!

Ms Angela Quek sang her own rendition of 'When You Believe'. It was a given an Opera cover. She sang sincerely and her emotions clearly accompanied the spectacular performance. Ms Fernandez was great playing the piano. I felt as if Ms Quek was trying to tell us a message or story with her hand gestures as she sang. It's all about believing in yourself and working hard to achieve that dream. Watch the performance below:



And then came Ms Choo's speech. In her 'speech', she shared the audience about the story of Little Red Riding Hood in an improved version (or to be more specific, the SINGLISH version). Many of my friends questioned the message she was trying to convey. In my opinion, the moral of the story was still the same as the original's, that is not to take shortcuts in life but to work hard for something we aim to achieve. The only difference was that she turned the story into a Singaporean version, using Singlish as the main language. In other words, it was the Singaporean Little Red Riding Hood.

The 22nd Student Councillors ended the whole event with a choir performance. They sang "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. It was a good performance, led by a total of three guitarists - Mark Chan, Choy Wai Wan and Lester. The 22nd Student Council President, Daniel Lim, introduced them after finishing his touching yet meaningful speech.

All in all, it was a great farewell assembly. Thank you everyone.

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.