More than 1000 students from Nanyang Junior College had their chance to give back to the community when they participated in Project Adopt-A-Wish 2011. Project Adopt-A-Wish was organised by the Service-Learning CCAs in the college, and the response received for the project in 2011 was astounding, with more than half of the student population signing up as volunteers. Over 300 one-room-flat households under the organisation Lions Befrienders, benefitted from this initiative.

Student volunteers and facilitators involved in this project made two visits to each household. The first visit was to survey the needs of the elderly residents of these flats. Our students were warmly welcomed by the elderly, as they are often home alone, and have no company to talk to. Through interaction with the elderly, the volunteers not only brought warmth and joy into their hearts, but also helped improve their lives by buying necessities that the elderly lack in their homes. The items were given to the elderly during the second visit. It was a shocking realisation, for some volunteers, that some of the elderly were living in apartments without refrigerators, mattresses or even proper food, as these items are considered as basics in most homes.

The project not only provided a platform for Nanyang JC students to make a difference in the lives of the elderly, but also deepened their understanding of the problems faced by the less fortunate in society. The smiles on the faces of the elderly whom we helped, served as the best reward for the time and effort that we put into this project.

The student organisers of Adopt-A-Wish 2011 would like to thank our Principal, Vice-Principals, teachers, and all the students who have lent your support to this project. It was your support that helped bring improvement into the lives of our beneficiaries, and make Adopt-A-Wish 2011 a success.

Foong Jia Wen 1035

On 9 February 2011, a group of eight teachers, together with our Principal, Mr Kwek Hiok Chuang, headed to Upper Peirce Reservoir to embark on Project NYrture 2011. Project NYrture is a Service-Learning project for staff and is a collaboration between NYJC and National Parks Board (NParks). The objective of this joint venture is to improve the condition of Singapore’s forests.

Upper Peirce Reservoir is a very scenic place, complete with undulating slopes, great green trees and plants, an idyllic place to exercise and relax in indeed. To encourage the rejuvenation of such a beautiful forest, the staff removed Dracena, or tie shu, which competes with plants for nutrients and sunlight. This was followed by the planting of saplings in the area that was cleared. Besides weeding and planting, Mr Kwek also presented a plaque to Mr. Roy Tan, Senior Outreach Officer of NParks, in recognition of the meaningful collaboration between NYJC and NParks since 2010.

It was a great experience for the staff as it was a rare opportunity to be able to plant saplings in urban Singapore. The project also provided another opportunity for all staff, both education officers and non-education officers, to bond. All in all, it was a meaningful afternoon well spent in one of our rare green lungs of Singapore.

Mr Loy Suan Hui
Service-Learning Committee

2010 was the first time we collaborated with N'Parks in our staff Service-Learning project, Project NYrture. We had 2 activities, namely Invasive Species Management @ Upper Peirce Reservoir and Tree Survey @ Mac Ritchie Park.

On behalf of the Service-Learning Committee, we would like to thank Mr Kwek, Miss Ng (our ex Vice Principal) and Mrs Jane Chong for the guidance and support of our project, and to all staff who spent their Wednesday afternoon doing their part for nature. We recognised the hard work that the staff have put in and we have received very positive feedback from our partners.

We would like to share the results of Project NYrture last year.

Tree Survey 2010: Based on the partner's feedback, the tree survey is almost complete for Mac Ritchie Park. Our teachers have provided a great help in collecting the data of the trees in Mac Ritchie Park. The information is stored in the Geographic Information System (GIS) Portal maintained by NParks.

Invasive Species Management 2010: Our partner from NParks, Mr Roy Tan commented, “Before the NYJC staffs came, the plot of land along the Upper Peirce Reservoir access road is full of Dracena (a.k.a. Tie Shu). Through the teamwork and hard work (Dracena is one of the hardest plant to remove due to their roots being firmly entrenched in the soil), of the NYJC staffs, they removed a considerable amount of Dracena from that area.

We noticed that due to the efforts in removing the Dracena from that area, young plants have been observed to start growing in that area. Some of the pioneer species such as Macaranga bancana, have started to grow and this is a good sign that the forest is already starting to rejuvenate.

However, there are still some large Dracena roots in the ground and hopefully NYJC will continue their efforts to improve the condition of our forest.”

We are in the midst of coordinating Project NYrture for 2011. We look forward to kickstart Project NYrture for staff very soon.


Mr Victor Tan and Mr Joel Loo
NYJC Service-Learning Committee

On 23rd July 2010, Lecture Theatre 4 of Nanyang Junior College (NYJC) was transformed into a concert hall featuring more than 10 performances by the school’s very own students, competing in 4 categories. The event, Viva la Music, was more than a showcase of musical talent in the college. Besides the “Band” and “Instrumental Category”, other talents had a chance in the limelight in the “Diversity” and “Dance” categories as well. Lasting more than 2 hours, a full house audience of 680 feasted their eyes on a wide array of performances, from slow singing to energetic cheer-leading.

Performances aside, the event also saw the debut of concert-like features. Two projections on either side of the stage showed the profile information of the contestants and the concert vibe was enhanced with the extensive use of smoke. In addition, a board with the words “Viva la Music” was brought to life with the colour of the backlighting changing to suit the atmosphere of the respective performance.

The organiser of Viva La Music, the 32nd AVA Club, also sought to engage the audience directly. The result was that each person in attendance was given the opportunity to vote for the performance of his desired choice in a simple yet interesting manner – the use of light sticks. Placed into cylindrical containers, the performance in each respective category which received the highest level of light sticks would be deemed the winner of that category. In the darkness of the lecture theatre, the winner of each category was obvious. Ang Fen Ni took home the winner’s trophy for the “Diversity” category, serenading the audience with her personal creation, “I Need You There”. Kevin Yeo won the “Instrumental” category with this electrifying performance on his electrical guitar while “A Levels in Danger” emerged tops in the “Band” category. Rounding up the list of winners in the “Dance” category was seasoned dancing outfit Xplizit.

The current economic downturn alerted the event’s organizers; the 32nd AVA Club, to the financial problems of families with school-going children. As a result, besides the celebration of talent in NYJC, the event adopted the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (SPMF) as its beneficiary. In all, $2,700 was donated, exceeding the initial target of $2,500.
Tan Xue Si, President of the 33rd AVA Club felt that the event was also an occasion for the club members to bond. “In organising Viva (la Music), both the J1 and J2 had to come together and work as a unit to ensure the success of the event. Although we spent only a few days together throughout the planning, rehearsal and execution phases, the long hours together each day mean that we learnt about each other's strengths and weaknesses, as well as building up a stronger team spirit.”

Summing up his thoughts of Viva la Music, he said: “At the end of the day, we helped others, but not only that, we also became more unified as a club.”

AVA club

During Service-Learning (S-L) Week 2010, the S-L Week committee comprising the Interact Club, the International Service-Learning Expedition team and the Service-Learning Club started a school-wide S-L project called, “Adopt-A-Wish”.

The goal was to fulfill the wishes of the residents of 123 units of one-room flats under the care of the Lions’ Befrienders in Ang Mo Kio. The Lions’ Befrienders Service Association (Singapore) [LBSA] is a Voluntary Welfare Organisation which aids in the social, psycho-emotional and physical well-being of lonely seniors through community participation. The project spanned 2 months, from February to March 2010.

The project consisted of two main components – the Community Survey and the Distribution Drive.

On 10th Feb 2009, 2 representatives from each Year 2 class, which were each placed in charge of 3 households, conducted a Community Survey. The aim was to find out more about the actual needs of the allocated households with the view to fulfill them. A total of 72 Year 2 volunteers and 20 facilitators from 3 CCAs participated in this activity, during which the resident families shared many interesting life stories with them. To many of the Year 2 volunteers, the experience was an eye-opener as it was their first time stepping into a one-room flat.

After the Community Survey, each Year 2 class collaborated with their respective juniors to fulfill the 3 wishes of the 3 flats by contributing items which did not exceed the $50 budget allocated to each household. Classes were generous in their contributions of many different kinds of electrical appliances and food items. Teachers also contributed generously, many of whom were also keen to lend a helping hand towards the worthy cause.

The Distribution Drive was conducted on 10th March 2010. Once again, the year 1 and 2 volunteers visited the households with the items that they had managed to acquire, and for their display of generosity and compassion, received gratitude and heart-warming smiles from the families in return.

The project was a success, as volunteers gained valuable insights into aspects of life in Singapore that they had not been exposed to before.

Gena Tan 0937

On 27th - 28th February 2010, 52 JC1’s attended an ISLE (International Service-Learning Expedition) selection camp organized by the ISLE committee, a sub-committee of the Service-Learning committee to learn more about the International Service-Learning Expeditions for 2010. The participants had a glimpse of the entire ISLE work cycle and its year long activities.

The camp included a host of activities such as an “Introduction to Service-Learning Workshop,” where participants learnt the basics of Service-Learning. They were encouraged to share their past experiences with community projects and have some of their misconceptions on the Community Involvement Projects (CIP) vs Service-Learning(S-L) projects debunked. The camp also included an array of team bonding activities which required the participants to role play scenarios, exercise teamwork and use their initiative to solve certain problems. The participants were also given some difficult moral dilemmas, allowing them to discuss, and share their thoughts and perspectives on selected scenarios, learning the importance of values in our everyday lives.

The highlight of the camp was on Day 2, where the participants were given an impossible task - a series of arduous sport challenges. This mission not only tested their physical and mental strengths, but also taught them that they had to work as a team, harnessing each individual’s strengths, in order to complete a given task. At the end of this challenging yet highly stimulating task, the participants realized that teamwork and perseverance are the keys to any successful completion of a project.

All the camp participants left with a beneficial and meaningful experience, gaining an understanding of the commitments of embarking on an ISLE, to prepare themselves for the actual experience at the end of the year.

Mr Mark Goh
ISLE coordinator 2010

By Evelyn Choo, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 24 November 2009 1917 hrs

SINGAPORE: It is the end of the school year, and for students and parents wondering what to do with used textbooks, they can drop them off at any NTUC FairPrice outlet.

250 eager student volunteers are doing their bit to help other needy students and families.

Besides Nanyang Junior College, the other schools volunteering their help are Yio Chu Kang Secondary, St Anthony Canossian, Changkat Changi Secondary, Shuqun Secondary and Bukit Batok Secondary.

Tan Chee How, student, Nanyang Junior College, said: "We are sorting them very neatly so that the public can come in for collection. I thought this was a very good way to encourage thrift because needy families don't need to buy the books."

Although the project is into its 27th year, it is experiencing a slow start.

Angela Soo, deputy director, Corporate Communications, NTUC FairPrice, said: "People are still sorting out their books at home because school just closed last week.

"And also based on past years' experience, we usually see a spike towards the end of the period where people will start donating their books. So we're hoping to get the public to come forward and donate their books at all FairPrice supermarkets before the closing date of 30th November."

With just a week to its deadline, less than a third of the company's target has been met. But FairPrice hopes to eventually collect 180,000 books by next Monday.

The project started in 1983 and has helped 120,000 needy students nationwide, collecting over 1.6 million second-hand textbooks and distributing them to low-income families for free. - CNA/vm



Source: Channel NewsAsia