NYJC celebrated Chinese New Year on the 23rd of January. Many NYJCians turned up in school on that Friday dressed in vibrant colours of red, creating an atmosphere of cheery festivity. All lessons were halted by noon as teachers and students alike began streaming into the school hall to partake in the special hour-long celebration.

Members of the Pugilistic Society

The celebration commenced with an impressive drum performance put up by members of the Pugilistic Society. The performers’ smooth synchronised movements coupled with the rapid rhythm of the drumbeats held the audience in rapt attention for a good few minutes.

The performance was followed by a rangoli competition, whereby each department of the teaching staff and every class had to create a rangoli design with an ethnic Indian or Chinese cultural theme using the coloured rice and glue provided. Frenetic hands scrambled to complete their rangoli within the tight alloted time frame of twenty minutes. When it was announced later that an extra ten minutes would be given, mingled shouts of exasperation from those who chose to complete their design haphazardly and sighs of relief from the insistently meticulous could be heard.

Fortunately, all the rangoli designs were finished in good time and were placed at the front of the hall to be viewed by the judges.

Ultimately, while 0824 emerged as the winner while the Math Department came in first under the teacher’s category, the rangoli competition, as a form of celebrating Chinese New Year, was symbolic to all that our nation's various ethnic cultures can come together to represent a unique Singapore. The short fun-filled celebration finally came to an end with the singing of popular Chinese New Year songs, led by teachers from the Chinese Department.

Article by Hillary Liow