Past S-L


Project 'Adopt a Wish', one of the student-initiated activities that will happen on 10th March during S-L Week, is a large scale project that aims to fulfil the needs of 123 households in our neighbouring Ang Mo Kio town. Volunteers will work with Lions Befrienders Service Association (Singapore) and conduct community survey to find out what they need (as some of them may not need the food that we intend to donate). Every Class in NYJC will be requested to 'adopt' households, conduct needs analysis, and fulfil the 'wishes' by donating the items personally to the needy families.

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

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.”

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

On Saturday morning, 31st October 2009, a group of about 70 students, gathered at the void deck of block 406, Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, to conduct a free health screening for the low income residents of that block as their service-learning project. This group of students comprises of students mainly from three classes, i.e. 0907, 0909 and 0921, as well as six students in the organising committee.

This project, known as the Health Mapping Exercise, is in its second year running, and once again, Nanyang Junior College is honoured to be able to collaborate with the Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF) to conduct this project. The aim of the exercise was to conduct health surveys of the residents, as well as to collate data on the residents’ blood pressure count, height, weight and waist circumference.

The volunteers were separated into thirteen groups, with three groups stationed at the void deck to service the walk-ins, and the rest being allocated to different units to conduct door-to-door health screenings. Overall, NYJC managed to reach the target of conducting health checks of at least 30% of the residents living in that block.

Generally, the volunteers who took part in this project felt that the project was meaningful as they were able to gain first-hand encounters with people who are less well off, and some are living in poor conditions. They also realised that they are more fortunate and begin to better appreciate what they have in life.

Overall, it was a successful project, and hopefully there will be many more similar opportunities for NYJCians to tap upon to serve the community.

Lynette Yap Hwei Ru
0909