Antartica? I thought this was Singapore?

“Can you turn the AC up?” A student in Mr Douglas's math class asked on a rainy tuesday morning. “It says its off but it doesn’t feel like it, I mean I’m Canadian and I’m still feeling cold!” Mr Douglas said, laughing to himself. The moment the students had entered the dull classroom, a chill ran down their spines and throughout the lesson they were fidgeting in their seat attempting to keep themselves warm but sadly failing. They couldn’t focus on their learning because of the strong, chilled air blowing down on them through the vents.

As soon as they were dismissed from class the students sprinted out of the ice box, into the narrow corridor hoping that they would ‘thaw’ as they got outside. “It was so cold, I was going to die!” one of the students exclaimed to her friend. “I know right, my teeth were legit chattering,” her friend replied. They walked fast to their next class in hope of restoring some heat in their bodies.

This wasn’t the only experience the students had with cold classrooms at UWCSEA. Many others have complained that the air conditioning is to low and should be increased to a higher temperature. There is also visual proof, of how cold the school is, by the number of students wearing sweaters to school.

Not only is sitting in cold class rooms uncomfortable for the students but it is also bad for their health.They are constantly going from hot to cold every time they step in and out of their classrooms. This can students to become sick from the rapid change in temperature. Another negative effect of keeping the air conditioning low is the environmental side. It would take up much less electricity if we kept the temperature lower and it would reduce the schools electricity bills. UWCSEA spends 60% of their electricity bills on cooling. This can be cut down by simply turning up the heat. It’s cheaper, healthier and more environmentally friendly too.

Written by Aditi

The Traffic Rush

A couple weeks ago a girl and her dad were driving to the nearby mall, Parkway parade. They were sitting in the car for 45 minutes to reach their destination, the same destination that took 15 minutes to reach 3 years ago. “I should have take the other route,” the girls dad said. “It wouldn’t have helped, there is a queue there too!” the girl replied. The 2 of them waited impatiently to take the next u - turn so they could finally enter the building but as they turned the corner and entered the parking lot, there wait wasn’t over.

It was a pandemonium! There were cars entering from all directions of the car park and the first couple floors were chock a block full. The ceiling hung low, making the parking lot seem even more claustrophobic. They had to climb up to the 6th floor to find one cozy parking spot next to to 2 badly parked cars. It had taken them about 20 minutes just to find parking!

This is only one example of the traffic increase in Singapore. According to many Singaporean residents it used to take people 10-15 minutes to get just about anywhere in Singapore but that time has now grown to 20 - 45 minutes. Many people all across the globe make jokes about how Singapore is so small and how easy it is to get around but now that really has become just a joke.
This reporter found that 5 years ago, from the fort road junction it used to take 7 minutes to reach Changi airport. Recently the reporter checked again and the time has increased to 17 minutes. This is a tremendous change and something must be done to stop the growth of traffic. The Singapore government makes the prices of cars extremely high but this doesn't stop the wealthy population from buying more and more. We need to turn the joke back into reality.

Written by Aditi

Cramped Camping

Do you like camping? Well the G7 students got the worst possible experience that there was for camping. The rest of the Sibu trip was a great experience for the students, but if there was one thing that most students hated in this trip was the nights they had to spend camping. “It was like sleeping in hell” said now Grade 8 student Harit Raghunathan.

The camping was like no ordinary camp experience. They teachers tried to fit 5 people in tents which were obviously meant to fit 4 people. “It’s like fitting a 22 cm wide rectangle in a 19 cm box.” said an unknown source.

At the beginning most students were excited about camping. After they set up their tents, they just couldn’t wait to sleep at the night. When the sun finally went down, The students rushed in their tent, and took turns changing. When everyone finished, changing the students finished dinner and went into their tent to sleep. They got in their tents and tried to sleep.

Then everything became a mess. There was not enough space for 5 people in this tent. Constant pushing and shoving from either side, and the quote “Move I need more space” was popular amongst all students. The students who wanted to sleep constantly said phrases like “Shut-up” or “Be quiet” or “Stop Fibbing. The icing on the cake was the atmosphere. It was parching hot. Everyone was completely cool and dry before become sweaty. It was a nightmare the students would never forget.

This experience did teach, the students a valuable lesson though. It showed how a simple life was. It showed them how some people in the world live. It taught them how to be grateful about things they had. When they got home for the first time in probably a long time, they appreciated their bed, aircon, fan etc. Even though it was hard and a painful experience, suck it up cause in the end it’s worth it.

Written by Roshan

The YouTube Internet Bug

It was a typical Thursday morning right before mentor time. As students start to arrive at school, the friendship groups become obvious. There were a group of girl sitting near the escalator at UWCSEA East deeply focused on their phone screens. This is not surprising for this generation anymore. They were intently watching the latest YouTube video that their favorite YouTuber has posted ignoring their friends surrounding not even stopping to say hi or have a simple morning conversation. The girls choose to invest their time in watching videos that have little purpose but also have entertainment values instead of talking to friends sitting right beside them.

Morning, for the group of girls by the escalator, have become the time to watch the most recent video by a YouTuber. Whether its PewDiePie, Tyler Oakley, Joe Sugg or Zoella, there’s an infinitive cycle of new videos to keep them entertained every morning before class. This routine has become a daily habit for them and possibly for many more. Just a few years ago there were actual conversations with your friends instead of the semi-quiet environment that is produced because there are no exciting talks about what happened just yesterday.

As a girl arrives at school, she goes up to her friend and sits down beside her. She asks “What are you watching?” the friend replies without removing eye contact from her phone “Tyler Oakley’s new video. It’s so funny!” The girl nodded and went to her phone to watch the exact same video. After the video ends, the girls stand up to go up to their classes with their friends discussing about the video and many more to come. Is that what we want our future conversations to be made out of?

It seems as if we are connecting invisibly through the internet. Now people are competing for the number of followers on Instagram, friends on Facebook and subscribers on YouTube. The new video is the new talk for these girls every morning now whereas it used to be about subjects in school or something interesting that has happened.

Though the internet has brought people together, it has significantly brought people apart. Everything on the internet has a learning purpose no matter how big, small, meaningful or not. YouTube has become a bookmarked page to lots and it has swimmed it’s way from the occasional video to a morning routine.

Is technology a barrier to deeper conversations, or is it the start? Though it has helped students to gain more information and adults to succeed further, has it shaped our world too much? This is not the first article to say this but it is a great reminder to how much people should appreciate technology but at the same time people should be aware of how much time they spend on the internet. 

Written by Seika

The Urban Pet Owner

The neighbor had the dog leashed and she pressed the lift button. She then left the leash on the ground and told to obedient dog to ‘stay’ while she tied her shoes. Suddenly there was a ‘ding!’ and the dog ran into the lift because of the desperation of being outdoors. The woman screamed for the dog to come out, and the declined dog obeyed his master.

The woman then got up and entered the lift, expecting her dog to follow her. She gave a relieved breath and she turned to the mirror to fix her hair. It was only on the second floor that she had realized that not her dog, but his leash had been caught between the lift doors.

According to Caroline Golon on petfinder.com you should always be aware and cautious during all activities with your dog, this will go a long way in ensuring a positive living experience in the urban area. She also wrote that every owner should train their dog in a few basic commands like ‘sit’, ‘heel’ or ‘stay’ as this will give you control over your dog to help ensure they are safe.

The lift doors opened and she sunk down on her knees and cried her eyes out. She held the leash, the whole extendable chord had been straightened out. “Oh god, please keep my Milo safe, he is a good dog” She said hopefully. And she took the same claustrophobic lift, with the same mirror, with the same ugly tiles to go upstairs.

The lift doors opened and revealed her the scene of her dog sitting in her husbands lap. The husband claims that he had heard a loud ‘bang!’ outside that caused him to rush outside and check if everything was alright. He continues saying that he found Milo sitting calmly in front of the lift but his leash kept extending quickly. The Man says that he quickly undid the leash form Milo’s neck. “Oh, our hero!” Tears of joy washing away tears from before wrapping her arms around her husband. “YAY! Group hug!” yelled their daughter Ashley.

Looking after a furry friend in the middle of a concrete jungle can be pretty hard - especially where there isn’t much space. You could go to urbanpetmagazine.com to resolve any problems centered around being an urban pet owner. This event is a reminder to us that anything could go wrong at anytime and sometimes there might not be a hero to save us. Another thing to remember is to be optimistic because everything doesn't end badly.

Written by Manini

A-Team

The group of 30 or so girls went silent on the field. Ms. Thomson knew it was late around 4:30 and everyone was eager to go home but even more eager to find out the touch teams . She held up the clipboard and anxious faces and started to spread through the girls.

“I know some of you are going to be disappointed in the teams but we need to speared the experience and skill throughout the teams.” This made the girls even more scared and anxious. She moved her eyes back down to the clipboard, a quick glance back up.

“B-Team..” And then she started to read out the names. Names would pop up here and there, as every name was said girls like lost puppies would stare down to their hands. As she read out more and more names, hoping not to hear their names, people started to fidget with their water bottles. There were twelve or so girls who were picked to be on the B- Team, some of them wen’t sad and some of them looked really shocked to be on the bottom.

“ Well with the B-Team done.... Now leaves the A-Team.” Everyone who was not called during the (scary other word) past two minutes, rejoiced inside. Ms. Thomson started to read out names again, but this time for the A-Team. As their names were said girls started to sit up taller and smiles showing their white shimmering teeth started to appear.

Written by Kiana

MS Rules VS HS Rules

UWCSEA east campus has a new rule this school year, no electronic devices besides the schools laptop during break and lunch only for middle school students and teachers but is this rule really fair? On September 2nd, a high school teacher was spotted walking out of the middle school office during lunch time on her phone. Later in the day, a high school student walked down the stairs, texting. High School students were opening their laptops, even so, they weren’t even working on school appropriate work but playing computer games and watching videos on youtube.

The rule only applies to middle school teachers and students and not high school and junior school teachers and students. How is that fair? Is it because high school students are more mature? Maybe. Is it because the school doesn't expect junior school kids to have their own phones and electronic devices? Could be. But the question is, is it fair to middle school students. No, not at all. Almost everyone has a electronic device these days, thanks to the popularity of the companies Apple, Samsung and Microsoft. It isn’t fair for the middle school teachers either.

What about some of the teachers that teach both middle and high school? Does this rule apply to them? Students are seen in the science hallways frantically typing on their laptops to finish a assignment they forgot to do at home, there are already middle school students that are already breaking this rule, won’t seeing the teachers use their devices encourage the students to use their own technology? Emergencies come up and a phone would be useful for the students to call their parents, this rule would prevent them from using their phones and having problems. Is the rule useful then?

The school should consider the consequences of a rule before making them. Rules should be considered thoroughly before made, enabling that the rule does not upset many people, then it would restrain disagreements. A rule has its pros and cons, but if the cons overpower the pros, the rule would just make our lives more complicated.

Written by Karen

Mindfulness; The Key To Stress

Has the pressure of school work gotten to you yet? Are your parents setting extremely gargantuan expectations for you? Since the beginning of the UWCSEA 2014/15 grade 8 year, many students agree that the workload in terms of work has significantly increased since grade 7. Most of us know that this is to prepare us for future exams such as IGCSE and IB but although students accept that doing their homework can help them practice a certain skill, some students are toiling to cope with the pressure.

One such example is the homework that needs to be done in English. Everyday after school, students are supposed to read and write for 10 minutes, even though it seems like an easy task, several students are reluctantly following the 10/10 rule as it is called. Kunal Daga from 8JRa says, “I find the 10/10 rule a little boring, especially the writing part. I know that the rule can help me and my learning but sometimes I find myself looking at the clock and beseeching for 10 minutes to be over.”

The teachers understand that most of us are under an abundance of pressure and because of this, the subject Life Skills mainly focuses on Mindfulness this year and how to handle the stress we are under. Multitudinous people like how Life Skills has changed from last year when it was about topics that we had already learned about. “I really like Life Skills now compared to last year,” says Dylan Tsao, a grade 8 student, ”Especially because it helps me handle the stress that is heaped onto me more easily.”

It seems that because of Life Skills, students are able to push through the school year even when mountains of stress are heaped onto them.

Written By Harit

Brace Face

If you don’t have braces, then you do not understand the excruciating pain that us “Brace-faces” or “ex brace-faces” have gone through.

Imagine how scary it is to have a foul tasting clay shoved down your throat, and thats just the mold! Last December I was flipping out while waiting in the dental clinic’s foyer to get braces on. “Will it hurt?! What if I accidentally break them?” and many other horrific questions burned at the back of my mind. But at that moment, I didn’t realize that millions of other people,who are also in need of a teeth miracle worker, were probably just as scared as I was.

Luckily, this reporter didn’t have to face as much pain as other brace wearers, and will get them off nearly a year earlier than expected. However, recently I got given elastics to align my jaws. They are tiny elastic bands that hook onto a brace on your top and bottom jaw. They then slowly pull your jaws together. To anyone that has to wear them, I am so sorry, they are extraordinarily painful! It feels like a maniac is slowly pulling out all of your teeth over the course of around 5 days. Then you get used to them.

Before this reporter had to face the year of frustration and pain of having braces, Ishta (a fellow brace face) explained to me that they hurt her sister for around 5 weeks! And she could only drink soup. This didn’t help me at all, at least confidence wise.

Why do people wear braces, is it an issue of self consciousness? Or is it something that people just want to do? Do they think it helped them?

“My mum made me get braces. And yeah, they helped I guess.” explained Seika, an ex-brace face.

Braces may be frustrating while you have them, and all they do is straighten your teeth to look better. But hey, straight teeth!

Written by Patrick

Do Charity Events Actually Mean Something To People?

Many people take charity events for granted. Is proving an achievement more important than finding the deeper meaning and doing it for the cause? One example of this is the ALS ice bucket challenge. The challenge was recently set up so that those taking it up would get a chance to experience what it’s like to live with ALS during the split second when the ice cold water touches your warm and hydrated body.

Within 2 weeks after holidays, the students @ UWC had caught “the buzz .” As soon as many grade 8 students were home, they made sure that they did the ice bucket challenge before starting their homework so that they completed it within 24 hours and saved themselves $100. To prove it, they then posted it on social media sites such as Facebook, continuing the tradition. But, according to healthycompanies.com, “Its about the cause, not the ice bucket.”

The problem with this is that those doing the ice bucket challenge, not only at UWC but around the world, didn’t know what ALS is or who or why the ice bucket challenge was started. Most people did it to have fun or to tell their friends/ family that they had completed it.

The requirement was that those doing it would have to pay $10, and if they didn’t complete it within 24 hours from the time of their nomination, they would have to pay $100. One of the grade 8 students said:

“I think those who simply do the challenge without topic about the cause or foundation are the ones who aren't contributing very much to the organization.” Maybe it’s time for us to really consider why we are doing what we are doing.

Written by Ananya

Middle School G8 Social Hopefully Improved

Middle school socials were always a fun place to go for some people but for some it was like hell and you couldn’t get out of it until the end. Last year in the grade 7 social, there were people trying to escape the social because of how boring it was. Not only did people try to escape there were people (mostly girls) crying over relationships or their friends turning their backs to them. According to the G8 Student Council, it won’t be tragic like last year’s.

The G8 Stu Co. has announced that socials will be coming soon. According to one of the Stu Co. member, he has stated that “Socials won’t be as chaotic as last years…” We still are uncertain whether this is true since the social is still unconfirmed. Many people really want a social that they find interesting or worth taking time to go. For instance, David Chabio (8ANc) has quoted that, “I think that if socials have something actually fun, I would go to it but Grade 7’s was just a complete waste of time.” This isn’t only applicable for David but for others that have been asked, about 90% of the the interviewed people had the same answer.

Many people that have been interviewed has recommended that the Stu Co. could input some activities that groups of people could do together such as dodgeball, capture the flag, etc… Stu Co. should ask the grade 8 community to give them recommendation on how they should improve it since there could be people that have really good ideas but have no way to share it.

Now, it all depends on the Student Council of grade 8 to make an amazing social. Maybe we should just try to enjoy the socials and be grateful that our school are capable of hosting a social. If Stu Co. can’t make a good social, I think it’s up to us to just deal with it.

Written by Youngchan

Too Cool For Rules

“Put your seatbelt on, the bus auntie is coming!” This is a normal phrase you hear while sitting on T2, a UWCSEA school bus. Generally all the older kids sit at the back of the bus and often think that they are too cool to wear their seat belts or that they are mature enough to make their own decisions. This reporter decided to see how things would turn out for a boy who just made the transition from primary school to middle school and the even bigger transition, from the front of the bus to the back.

The boy was just sitting quietly in his seat, obviously wearing his seatbelt. When the bus aunty started to walk to the back of the bus he stared at the commotion caused as the older kids scrambled around and quickly managed to pull their seat belts across the chest.

As the bus aunty turned around and walked back to the front of the bus, the older kids sighed with relief, laughed at the one kid who got caught and then continue to, what they would call talk, but the rest of the bus would call yell to their friends. The younger boy was frozen, his eyes fixed on the scene and how the routine seemed so normal for the older kids.

As they made it further down the bus ride, the older kids noticed the newcomer. He had now managed to get over his shock and was peering out of the window watching the trees pass by one at a time. One of the older kids leaned over to the younger boys seat and stretched his arm out, barely managing to press down on the seat belt buckle.

With a start, the seatbelt whizzed up across the younger boys chest, back to the side of his seat. Startled, the younger boy looked back to the snickering faces of the older kids and immediately pulled the seat belt back and shoved it into the buckle. “Hey,” one of the older kids called out “Don’t you know, its not cool to wear your seatbelt,” continued the older guy. Nervously the boy reached down to his buckle and released his seatbelt. “Now you're one of us,” the older kids congratulated him.

The next day the newcomer was sitting in the exact same seat but this time without his seatbelt. He was also part of the commotion this day when the bus aunty came to check on them. Later in the bus ride one of his fellow front seaters were aghast to see that his seatbelt wasn’t pulled tightly across his body. “What is wrong with you?” she called out to him. “Don't you know its not cool to wear your seatbelt,” the boy replied.

This reporter was dumbfound after hearing many other stories where students forgot their true principles to fit it. Why should students be allowed to cave into the fear of peer pressure? Why should students learn that if you want to be cool, you can’t follow rules?

Written by Aditi

Teamwork; Is Working Together The Right Way?

In a school, UWCSEA East, one of the best in the world, Outdoor Education is one of the 5 elements in the UWCSEA Movement. OEL (Outdoor Education Learning), is a class that students get for a third of a year in Grade 7. Last year, MNi had an exciting event, Crate Stacking. It was blatantly obvious how excited everyone was. The purpose of Crate Stacking, as the teachers have said, is to show teambuilding to the students in a fun way.

As the fun and hilarious event went on, the class had definitely bonded way more than they would have done without the Crate Stacking. This reporter had asked a student who did not have the opportunity to climb the Crates about the experience. He replied “Even though we didn’t get the opportunity to do the main thing, we still had a whole lot of fun and I can definitely feel that our class has bonded a whole lot more and all of us are very good friends now,” quoted Martin Aviles, a student at UWCSEA East.

A student in 8JRa, who also did the crate stacking last year in Grade 7 quoted “Crate Stacking, working in teams to do it, makes us so much more efficient and helps us problem solve in a partnership much better, which is a life lesson that will help us in later life. It also adds a sense of trust, with the belayer and your partner, which got us all closer together. All in all, it has helped us socially, and physically.”

This is absolutely true. Many people get things done way more efficiently. 3 students out of Four claimed that they work better in teams and they enjoy it because it really helps. This is exactly what crate stacking has shown us all.

Written by Arjun

Are Parents Pushing Kids Too Hard?

On Monday the 8th of September , an eighth grader was seen in the UWCSEA East karate dojo, After school. He was seen talking to Shihan, the head instructor about joining the activity. The 8th grader , was new to martial arts , whereas his older brother had joined the dojo 4 years prior. As this reporter noted when watching the class, the difference of four years of practice was huge. Even though the older sibling had only been doing this martial art for four years, he had attended practices multiple times a week and went to most of the sparring tournaments and gradings.

Meanwhile, the younger sibling was struggling through the vigorous stretching exercises and warm ups, and evidently unused to and uncomfortable with his surroundings. In other words, out of his element. His stance is off and his movements uncertain, always keeping one eye on the instructor and one eye on his older brother. His older brother on the other hand was completely in his element. The older sibling runs through the exercises with confidence, sometimes getting called on by the teacher to count and lead the class, sometimes used as a demonstration example.

As a chinese saying goes “ Practice for 10 years, perform for 10 seconds”. It means you may have to practice many years to become good at something, and the brothers are a great example of the effects of hard practice. Research shows that it takes approximately 10 years to become an “expert” at something. Many people take this to heart, especially parents. As statistics show, many asian families enroll their children into extra curricular activities at an early age and important school subjects such as math, science and english.

Music in particular is a common one. Research shows that studying an instrument helps develop children. Learning to play an instrument requires hand eye coordination, determination and diligence, all good traits to have. But when is enough? Surely there is a limit on how hard you can push a child before their spirit breaks? The true dilemma is how hard to push children. Is it a waste to spend the first few years of a childs life on fun and play, instead of enrolling them in several activities in preparation of school? Or is it more of a waste to let the child grow up without carefree memories of toddlerhood and grow up a smart successful person? Is it right to deprive a young child of happiness? Many parents ponder this, and in this day and age, this could mean the difference between a happy childhood and a depressed one.

Written by Jasmine

Singaporean Snakes

Screams erupted from the Ardmore Park playground. Late that Sunday evening, a Reticulate Python was slithering on the cold metal playground equipment. As the children stood in place and sobbed, one child got up and ran for his mother.

Many would have stood and watched, but he ran for help.

Singapore, previously a water gypsy-rainforest, was and still is home to many snakes. The most common snaking in Singapore being the Reticulate Python. They are experts in climbing and swimming, and have no problem going through pipes. Though they are not venomous, they can give a nasty bite.

Five out of ten people do not know what to do in an encounter with a snake. According to ACRES, the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society, if you see a snake in the wild you should let them be, as they are quiet and shy but they can get aggressive if aggravated. If you see a snake in the urban area, recently they have paid visits to the ATM’s at orchard road and the swimming pool of Tanglin Swimming Club, one should call the ACRES 24 hour wildlife rescue hotline at 9783 7782.

As mentioned before, Singapore is a snake haunt and wildlife haunt (as it was previously a rainforest), but many Singaporean and expats alike are worried about the frequent appearances of snakes in houses and condominiums. “I wonder if younger children know what to do and are educated about this matter, they could get in serious danger if not careful but the best thing to is make sure they are not in the condos at all” Elizabeth Knight-Hassell comments.
In contrast, some people welcome snakes to their home. These people believe that is is actually the fault of humans of destroying their habitats of snakes and building concrete buildings. “We should respect snakes, we are the ones who cut down their homes, the least we can do is let them come to ours.” Manish Parwani, a resident of a snake infested condo explains, “This is what happens when we build on habitats.”

Written by Mehak

Responsibility of Children

It was the morning of the Grade 7 sibu trip. Members of 7MSy were assembled in front of the sports hall ready to board the bus to Sibu, Malaysia. The whole class was ready to board, expect one unfortunate student. She had forgotten to bring her passport. This meant a mad dash with her Mentor Teacher, Mr Spreckley, to retrieve it. She probably felt embarrassed for keeping the whole class waiting.

Students forgot things all the time, so how do you encourage them to remember? Some people believe that responsibility starts at home and believe it or not, getting kids to clean their rooms can contribute in developing the right type of skills for later grown up life. As much as it might make a child groan. making up your bed and putting things in order actually teaches kids to be responsible for their own things.

When Kids are shown how to keep things that they value safe or to mend and repair their things that are in poor condition, it teaches them the abstract concept of responsibility into something that is meaningful to them. According to Georgina Knight-Hassell, mother of student,”Encouraging your child to clean their rooms even if it is just as simple as making your own bed, picking up their dirty laundry and keeping their desk tidy provides an intrinsic value too. There’s a sense of satisfaction in having a tidy room which they have control over”.

Indeed, there is pleasure in taking care of personal things, especially of things that were given and that is valued. It is also reciprocal in that it also shows the giver that the valued item is much appreciated.

Setting a good example for your kids is essential has children these days are more sensitive to what we do than what we say. Parents, or guardians should have a positive attitude towards the daily task of keeping a house clean as a kid will be more responsive towards such behavior. Children who take in what they call their own such as a phone or a pet are more likely to take more care of it.

Successful people are those who can manage people, money and personal belongings. Teaching kids to take responsibility in tidying up regularly, calmly and perhaps without having to be reminded everyday, definitely contributes to mastering one of these skills. Teach kids how to how be organised today and you may be ensuring career success tomorrow.

Written by Elizabeth

Support in Sports

Music could be heard loudly playing from the new Singapore OCBC Swimming Arena, where the Swim Starts competition was taking place, last Friday night. Everyone was exhilarated as the UWC East swim team took their seats in a group on the east side. The audience buzzed with anticipation, eager for the action to start.

World champions, Olympians, World Record holders - they were all lined up, ready for their races. Kicked off with the men’s 100 freestyle event, the night was off to an exciting start. With the promising amount of $10,000 cash prize for 1st place, maximum effort was put into their performances, keeping the crowd cheering on their feet. Whoops and shouts were heard from the audience, the cameras occasionally flicking over to film groups, playing it on the large screens.

A group of swimmers from UWC East crowded the empty platform about the swimmers’ exit. Waving their hands and leaning over the railing, they were able to get high-5s and autographs. Completely in awe by the sport celebrities in front of them, they cheered and shouted, unable to properly process their surroundings.

The night came to an end as all the participating swimmers slowly walked around the pool, back to their exits, waving and smiling at the crowds of screaming fans. With the music and cheers fading, the night neared it’s end.

As the audience dispersed and left the arena sticky and sweaty, like most of the other viewers who also got autographs and handshakes, this reporter was unable to stop smiling or squealing for the rest of the night.

However, as great as the night had seemed to all the aspiring swimmers, some of the spectators were not impressed. According to a parent of one of the UWC swimmers, the event was way overpriced and a waste of effort for themselves. Because of the lack of time - the event only lasted one night - there were not as many races as was expected, leaving a few viewers unsatisfied.

Some parents and friends are not as supportive, their attitudes can either rub off on their children, or make them even more determined to defy them. With lack of support, swimmers may find it harder improve, but some swimmers are able to motivate themselves off anger and bitterness, to prove a point to their parents and friends.

Sportsmen can burn out after a few grueling years, or continue and advance to becoming world famous. Support is an important part of any sport, and without it, swimmers are likely to quit after the pressure becomes too much. Families and friends should support any sports that their children do, and cheer them on, because without support, no one would be able to succeed in life.


Written by Kelly

The Great Grape Lesson

Mid Friday afternoon, multiple middle school students rushed into Ms Guan’s extended mandarin lesson holding bags full of grapes. The last time this particular group met, Elizabeth Knight-Hassell jokingly suggested each student bring int grapes to celebrate a running joke that the classmates had created.

An astonished Ms Guan, allowed the grapes to be devoured and continued teaching the lesson. The excited squeals of the students slowly escalated as the number of grapes began to lessen. Sunny Cho, aged 13, can be quoted to say “Wait, don’t finish them all! Save a couple for me!”

In the frenzy to grab the last couple of grapes, a few unlucky people, including Arin Pantja, dropped their fruit and were left with nothing to eat. These discarded grapes were left on the floor to rot, causing them to slowly get crushed and leave pulpy mess across the floor.

As the class went on, the grapes were quickly forgotten by the students in the rush to be the first one who completes their work. After the hour and a half long lesson ended, Ms Guan noticed the grape and frantically called out for the students to clean the mess before they left.

Marla Rinck was the last to leave, and was left with the tedious task of cleaning up the mess. According to her departing classmates, “that was their best Chinese lesson yet.” Despite the mess, Iris Fagniez confirms this is not a lesson that will be forgotten easily, especially for Marla.

As Marla Rinck slowly started wrapping up the cleaning process, according to an unnamed source, an elderly lady came stumbling into the room, grumbling about all the work she would have to do. Upon viewing Marla’s gesture, the lady profusely thanked Marla before stumbling out almost twice as quickly as she had come in.

Surprisingly enough, the habit of leaving your mess in classrooms, is not uncommon especially in international schools such as UWCSEA East. Many aren’t even aware of the amount of work that goes into keeping this school environment clean.

UWCSEA is slowly becoming more aware of this and working towards teaching students the importance of contributing to the cleanliness of this school. According to Mr Johnston, multiple food wrappers and plates can be found around the campus at all time, carelessly left around by students. How does this behaviour relate to the skills and qualities the students at this international school are constantly taught? The simple answer is that it doesn’t. As a school and a community, everyone needs to realise how greatly their absent minded behaviour can impact another human’s life. Keep that in mind the next time you leave your naan plate on the table.

Written by Akanksha

Tampines House Assembly (TH Assembly)

Tampines House Assembly on 9/9/2014

On Tuesday 9th September, in the canteen of UWCSEA East Campus Gabriel Abad, director of boarding, started the TH Assembly.

He talked about the Tampines House problem. According to Gabriel, a lot of people have locked their doors to their rooms for not necessary reasons. “Doors must remain unlocked at all time except when you need some privacy,” he said “that mean unless you are changing or Skyping with your relative and so on.” he added. After that he talked about the boarding trip to Wild Wild Wet on Sunday 14th. “I heard a lot of complain from grade 11 and grade 12 that they have a lot of work and that is why I picked that Sunday.” Then he talked about Reach, the online boarding house management system. “All leave request must be confirmed first before you can leave the boarding house.”

Then Marcel Campbell, one of the house parent and the catering committee, had talked about dinner time. “We’ll be starting a new tradition in 2 weeks time,” she said “and to those who take dinner to your room please come and eat at the canteen.” She said “ If you spend just 10 minutes eating and talking with other people, it would be great, but if you just take your dinner and eat it in your room, you would be a bit stressful because you just do your work and not being sociable.” She also talked about the UWC Day Special Dinner on 22nd of Sept and she would like all of the boarders to go the dinner. After that Gainluca Mancini, a scholar from Italy, had talked about The Boarding Environmental Stewardship Team. “The Boarding Environmental Stewardship Team (BEST) will transform green ideas into action. We will work with our boarding community to improve our home environment and put sustainable practices in place at Tampines House. BEST is lead by boarders for boarders who take responsibility for minimising our impact on the environment with a focus on waste minimisation, energy and water conservation, as well as green spaces.” he said. He also asked if anybody want to join the team and if they want to, contact him.

Finally, Cosme, a grade 11 student at UWCSEA East campus, had made a suggestion to the Boarding House Council about grade 11 study time since the grade 11 study in the library for 2 hours but grade 12 study in their own rooms. On that account, Cosme had asked a grade 12 student to volunteer to reflect on their study time in their room, Sia, a grade 12 student at UWCSEA, come and talked about it but time wasn’t on their side so Cornelius, one of the house parent, end the assembly and tell everyone to go to study time.

Written by Sewen

High Schooler Special Day

Today Tuesday 2nd September was a very special day for a high schooler. When this reporter walked nearer to the canteen this reporter heard loud talking and cheers. As soon as this reporter got a view, there was laughter, cheer and a lot of smiles on peoples faces. One high schooler was embarrassed, his face didn’t show what others were feeling his face was like he was performing in front of a huge audience. Suddenly the birthday song started and the embarrassed high schooler expressions changed in an instance like he just received the best thing in his life. Seeing all this, the reporter was tempted to join in and wish him a happy birthday. So he said “Happy Birthday dude” and his friend said “See even this guy wished you a happy birthday and he doesn’t even know you.” After saying this, his face lit up with joy.

Written by Dylan