Rafflesian Discipline
Having spent 6 years (thankfully not 12 *gigglez*) of my education in Rafflesian schools, I have to say that the discilplinary system in RGS (Secondary) and RJC is worlds apart. In RGS, both the teachers and the prefects had a great deal of interest in the discipline of the students, especially the prefects. Probably to the best of our interests, of course, since that was the age in which most teenaged girls would choose to rebel. In RJC, the councillors either had no say in the disciplinary affairs of the student population, or chose not to exert that authority. The teachers in general didn't care much, with the exception of the PE teachers, and up till now, I still have no idea why this is the case.
I remember being peeved in secondary school at the stringent rules imposed. Yes, I realise that RGS doesn't have the strictest rules in all secondary school around Singapore. Nanyang and RVHS apparently had rules such that girls actually joined dance just so they could keep long hair. But since people hardly ever treasure what they have, I was rather irritated at guys being able to wear whatever coloured sports shoes they wished to school, while we in RGS had to stick to only white coloured sports shoes (if we chose to wear sports shoes that is), with restrictions on size and number of coloured logos on these shoes, leaving a rather limited choice of sports shoes that we could wear. It didn't help that my parents for obscure reasons refused to buy any sports shoes that had cloth as part of the outer covering for me (they insisted the shoes would tear), hence I was effectively forced to wear those uncomfortable canvas shoes (usually 1-2 sizes too big because my mother wanted them to last) for 4 years.
The prefects in RGS were downright freaky. I remember being in the only GEP class in secondary 2 to have no prefects in the class. 1 of the other 2 classes had 10 or 11 (or some obscenely huge number, given that there were only about 30 people in each class). The girls from that class used to complain that they couldn't even sneak a sweet into their mouths without getting caught, and remaining in PE attire to cool off after PE was totally out of the question. I guess the rebellious nature of girls going through puberty was really prominent in that year, with my class having the most disciplinary problems that year and being the class most disliked (out of the 3) by the teachers.
I quite believe the prefects in RGS are required to carry rulers around in the pockets to aid in their law enforcement. They used it to measure everything from the length one's skirt was above one's knee, to the diameter of one's earrings (ehhh small hoops are near impossible to close, especially when in my ear). I am still not clear as to how I mananged to survive having a total of 5 earholes in secondary school; possibly I made full use of the 'don't book the sec 4s so it won't affect their O levels' unwritten law (Shelly = Delinquent).
Teens always find a way to rebel. Just before I entered RGS, there used to be a puffy uniform trend, where students would puff out the part of the uniforms above their belts until the skirt bits became really short and their belts couldn't be seen. To counter this, a rule was made such that belts had to be visible. Thus started the loose belt trend, where RGS girls would walk around (usually after school hours in Orchard and places like that) looking rather pregnant with belts that seemed to serve no purpose other than to be seen. There was also some new rule about how belts had to be sewn on to the pinafores, possibly to counter girls who decided to look totally pregnant and remove their belts completely upon leaving the school, but I think that was rather a convent school trend rather than an RGS one (no offence intended to any IJ girls, especially since I was one for 6 years). So then came the rule where belts were to be no looser than 2 fingers width. So came the safety pin trend, where belt looseness was increased out of school grounds with the aid of nappy fasteners.
When I was in Secondary 4, RGS decided to impose some bizarre rule, saying that students were not allowed to loiter around in Orchard Road (not sure if it was specifically Orchard or any public area) after school in their school uniform. Lunch and short shopping trips were allowed, but we were just not allowed to sit around in fast food restaurants or go for prolonged shopping trips in school uniform. I had no idea why this rule suddenly came about, but it was vaguely suspicious that the rule was only implemented after some teacher's daughter graduated from RGS (is probably a total coincidence but little kids like to blame others for everything heehee). Possibly, it was because of numerous complaints from the public in that year about the behaviour of RGS girls. Apparently, someone saw girls in RGS uniform smoking at the Far East bus stop. They were, however, thought to have been likely to have borrowed RGS uniforms from some ex-RGS girl during the first 3 months of JC. Then came the case of the RGS girl who was seen trying very hard, despite his ardent protests, to get fresh with some ACS guy in Bishan. The way they announced this to us was to call all the students who took 3rd language on a certain day to stay back after assembly, and all I could think of was 'Oh CRAP! They've discovered my once a month attendence!'.
And then came jaywalking across the road directly outside the backgate as a bookable offence. I think this came about from complaints by the traffic police, but I really can't remember. I THINK that under Singapore law, it is only considered jaywalking if you cross the road within a certain distance (100m? have no idea) from a designated crossing. The nearest designated crossing from the point I normally 'jaywalked' from was more than 100m away, hence I had never really considered that jaywalking; it is also a detour from the 'jaywalking route' to the bus stop. Hence, one day in Secondary 4, after having stayed back in school, my friend and I decided to take the shortest route to the bus stop. To our horror, we discovered a prefect at the bus stop, who walked over all ready to book us. (What was she doing there! Aren't all prefects supposed to be guai and home straight after school mugging for their O levels??!!) Fortunately, 132 came, and since the waiting time for 132 was rather long, the prefect looked like she was torn between wanting to book us and going home ASAP. (See! They all want to go home and mug! =P). To make life easier for her, we decided to pretend to queue to get on the bus, and when she was safely on it, we moved off and waited for the next bus. However, the next day, this prefect tracked me down and told me she had booked me for the offence. I was like ok, suay, met her in school, nothing I could do about it. Then she says 'Please tell Shi'an I booked her too.' I was like 'Erm ok. How do you know her name?' She said 'Oh I booked her in Sec 1.' Poor Shi'an.
So then, upon entering RJC, I was really happy that not only were the rules more relaxed, there were no more student disciplinary authorities around. The one most important thing that I really don't regret about going to RJC is that the teachers basically believe that all their students will do well in the end, and hence don't really push hard for you to get results from year 1. I guess after 16 years of being strictly watched over by my parents and teachers I was really sick of having people force me to do my work when I knew I'd eventually do it, and would probably do it sooner (and better) if I wasn't made to.
But even with the less stringent rules, students will always choose to do whatever they wish, especially with the relaxed law enforcement. Allowed to wear predominantly black or white sports shoes? Someone turned up in yellow ones (not me!). Allowed to wear green, black, white, blue and/or brown hair accessories (black was only allowed in RGS)? Someone will turn up with a yellow ribbon (ehhhh yellow IS my favourite colour ok!).
An interesting yellow ribbon story (nothing to do with prison or second chances). One day during assembly, while announcements were being made, the principal suddenly interrupted by pointing to a random person in the crowd, and asking him to stand still and behave himself. Shortly after, he took the mike again, and berated the same guy for moving around. Finally, when the student's insolent behavoiur continued, the principal couldn't stand it any longer. He scolded the student for his actions, got even more incensed when the student smiled at him (or continued smiling or something like that), refusing to show any signs of remorse, and ordered the student to come up front immediately. I'm not clear if that student knew he was the one being indicated by the principal from the start and was just pretending not to notice, or if he really didn't know (it was 7+am in the morning - he could have well been dreaming). Anyway when he refused to go up on first request, the principal said 'You! The one behind the girl with the yellow ribbon!', which left no confusion as to who he was referring to. I was bugged the whole day with questions like 'What was the guy behind you doing?' Eh. He's the one BEHIND the girl with the yellow ribbon ok. Anyway my class tutor finally decided to stop me from wearing yellow hair accessories (which I resumed after approximately 1 week). As for that guy, he actually got away without any punishment at all. Apparently, he told the principal that people should all have a cheerful demeanour in the morning, and embellished it with some other fancy ideas. Yes, he is a lawyer now.
All in all, my 2 years in JC were probably the best I ever had as a student, with possibly the exception of the first week where the elitists in my orientation group drove me to tears. It was probably the first time in my life that I was given enough freedom such that I actually had the motivation to do something about my grades (who wants to study when someone else makes them bleah). In that respect, I'm glad I didn't go to some other top JC where students are pushed to study really hard since year 1, and aren't allowed to take S papers due to their Promo grades (yes, really thankful for that =X).
But after all that, I guess I still haven't rebelled enough in my teenaged years to satisfy my delinquent nature, and hence, I now wander around Singapore streets in the middle of the night with my neighbour (who also spent 6 years in Rafflesian schools). Something to do with the structure of Rafflesian discipline? Probably so =D.
I remember being peeved in secondary school at the stringent rules imposed. Yes, I realise that RGS doesn't have the strictest rules in all secondary school around Singapore. Nanyang and RVHS apparently had rules such that girls actually joined dance just so they could keep long hair. But since people hardly ever treasure what they have, I was rather irritated at guys being able to wear whatever coloured sports shoes they wished to school, while we in RGS had to stick to only white coloured sports shoes (if we chose to wear sports shoes that is), with restrictions on size and number of coloured logos on these shoes, leaving a rather limited choice of sports shoes that we could wear. It didn't help that my parents for obscure reasons refused to buy any sports shoes that had cloth as part of the outer covering for me (they insisted the shoes would tear), hence I was effectively forced to wear those uncomfortable canvas shoes (usually 1-2 sizes too big because my mother wanted them to last) for 4 years.
The prefects in RGS were downright freaky. I remember being in the only GEP class in secondary 2 to have no prefects in the class. 1 of the other 2 classes had 10 or 11 (or some obscenely huge number, given that there were only about 30 people in each class). The girls from that class used to complain that they couldn't even sneak a sweet into their mouths without getting caught, and remaining in PE attire to cool off after PE was totally out of the question. I guess the rebellious nature of girls going through puberty was really prominent in that year, with my class having the most disciplinary problems that year and being the class most disliked (out of the 3) by the teachers.
I quite believe the prefects in RGS are required to carry rulers around in the pockets to aid in their law enforcement. They used it to measure everything from the length one's skirt was above one's knee, to the diameter of one's earrings (ehhh small hoops are near impossible to close, especially when in my ear). I am still not clear as to how I mananged to survive having a total of 5 earholes in secondary school; possibly I made full use of the 'don't book the sec 4s so it won't affect their O levels' unwritten law (Shelly = Delinquent).
Teens always find a way to rebel. Just before I entered RGS, there used to be a puffy uniform trend, where students would puff out the part of the uniforms above their belts until the skirt bits became really short and their belts couldn't be seen. To counter this, a rule was made such that belts had to be visible. Thus started the loose belt trend, where RGS girls would walk around (usually after school hours in Orchard and places like that) looking rather pregnant with belts that seemed to serve no purpose other than to be seen. There was also some new rule about how belts had to be sewn on to the pinafores, possibly to counter girls who decided to look totally pregnant and remove their belts completely upon leaving the school, but I think that was rather a convent school trend rather than an RGS one (no offence intended to any IJ girls, especially since I was one for 6 years). So then came the rule where belts were to be no looser than 2 fingers width. So came the safety pin trend, where belt looseness was increased out of school grounds with the aid of nappy fasteners.
When I was in Secondary 4, RGS decided to impose some bizarre rule, saying that students were not allowed to loiter around in Orchard Road (not sure if it was specifically Orchard or any public area) after school in their school uniform. Lunch and short shopping trips were allowed, but we were just not allowed to sit around in fast food restaurants or go for prolonged shopping trips in school uniform. I had no idea why this rule suddenly came about, but it was vaguely suspicious that the rule was only implemented after some teacher's daughter graduated from RGS (is probably a total coincidence but little kids like to blame others for everything heehee). Possibly, it was because of numerous complaints from the public in that year about the behaviour of RGS girls. Apparently, someone saw girls in RGS uniform smoking at the Far East bus stop. They were, however, thought to have been likely to have borrowed RGS uniforms from some ex-RGS girl during the first 3 months of JC. Then came the case of the RGS girl who was seen trying very hard, despite his ardent protests, to get fresh with some ACS guy in Bishan. The way they announced this to us was to call all the students who took 3rd language on a certain day to stay back after assembly, and all I could think of was 'Oh CRAP! They've discovered my once a month attendence!'.
And then came jaywalking across the road directly outside the backgate as a bookable offence. I think this came about from complaints by the traffic police, but I really can't remember. I THINK that under Singapore law, it is only considered jaywalking if you cross the road within a certain distance (100m? have no idea) from a designated crossing. The nearest designated crossing from the point I normally 'jaywalked' from was more than 100m away, hence I had never really considered that jaywalking; it is also a detour from the 'jaywalking route' to the bus stop. Hence, one day in Secondary 4, after having stayed back in school, my friend and I decided to take the shortest route to the bus stop. To our horror, we discovered a prefect at the bus stop, who walked over all ready to book us. (What was she doing there! Aren't all prefects supposed to be guai and home straight after school mugging for their O levels??!!) Fortunately, 132 came, and since the waiting time for 132 was rather long, the prefect looked like she was torn between wanting to book us and going home ASAP. (See! They all want to go home and mug! =P). To make life easier for her, we decided to pretend to queue to get on the bus, and when she was safely on it, we moved off and waited for the next bus. However, the next day, this prefect tracked me down and told me she had booked me for the offence. I was like ok, suay, met her in school, nothing I could do about it. Then she says 'Please tell Shi'an I booked her too.' I was like 'Erm ok. How do you know her name?' She said 'Oh I booked her in Sec 1.' Poor Shi'an.
So then, upon entering RJC, I was really happy that not only were the rules more relaxed, there were no more student disciplinary authorities around. The one most important thing that I really don't regret about going to RJC is that the teachers basically believe that all their students will do well in the end, and hence don't really push hard for you to get results from year 1. I guess after 16 years of being strictly watched over by my parents and teachers I was really sick of having people force me to do my work when I knew I'd eventually do it, and would probably do it sooner (and better) if I wasn't made to.
But even with the less stringent rules, students will always choose to do whatever they wish, especially with the relaxed law enforcement. Allowed to wear predominantly black or white sports shoes? Someone turned up in yellow ones (not me!). Allowed to wear green, black, white, blue and/or brown hair accessories (black was only allowed in RGS)? Someone will turn up with a yellow ribbon (ehhhh yellow IS my favourite colour ok!).
An interesting yellow ribbon story (nothing to do with prison or second chances). One day during assembly, while announcements were being made, the principal suddenly interrupted by pointing to a random person in the crowd, and asking him to stand still and behave himself. Shortly after, he took the mike again, and berated the same guy for moving around. Finally, when the student's insolent behavoiur continued, the principal couldn't stand it any longer. He scolded the student for his actions, got even more incensed when the student smiled at him (or continued smiling or something like that), refusing to show any signs of remorse, and ordered the student to come up front immediately. I'm not clear if that student knew he was the one being indicated by the principal from the start and was just pretending not to notice, or if he really didn't know (it was 7+am in the morning - he could have well been dreaming). Anyway when he refused to go up on first request, the principal said 'You! The one behind the girl with the yellow ribbon!', which left no confusion as to who he was referring to. I was bugged the whole day with questions like 'What was the guy behind you doing?' Eh. He's the one BEHIND the girl with the yellow ribbon ok. Anyway my class tutor finally decided to stop me from wearing yellow hair accessories (which I resumed after approximately 1 week). As for that guy, he actually got away without any punishment at all. Apparently, he told the principal that people should all have a cheerful demeanour in the morning, and embellished it with some other fancy ideas. Yes, he is a lawyer now.
All in all, my 2 years in JC were probably the best I ever had as a student, with possibly the exception of the first week where the elitists in my orientation group drove me to tears. It was probably the first time in my life that I was given enough freedom such that I actually had the motivation to do something about my grades (who wants to study when someone else makes them bleah). In that respect, I'm glad I didn't go to some other top JC where students are pushed to study really hard since year 1, and aren't allowed to take S papers due to their Promo grades (yes, really thankful for that =X).
But after all that, I guess I still haven't rebelled enough in my teenaged years to satisfy my delinquent nature, and hence, I now wander around Singapore streets in the middle of the night with my neighbour (who also spent 6 years in Rafflesian schools). Something to do with the structure of Rafflesian discipline? Probably so =D.
posted by Shelly at 9:40 AM
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