Total Defence Day THIS WEEK!!!

Every year on 15 February, Singapore commemorates Total Defence Day, which is also the day in which Singapore fell to the Japanese during World War II. This Day of Infamy, will forever live in our memories in which Singapore fell into one of its darkest periods in its history.

As with previous years of Total Defence Day, the theme this year is:

'Home - Keeping It Together'.

Faced with a more open and cosmopolitan society in addition to being a part of the globalised world, challenges to our Singaporean society continue to change and evolve. Everyday, we are confronted with issues that threaten to pull us apart as a cohesive society.

But remember...

There will be one thing that will hold us all together. And that is the fact that Singapore....

is our

HOME

In the coming weeks, Regent Secondary School will be carrying out activities in commemoration of Total Defence Day. This Blog shall also be updated explaining the virtues of Total Defence and its importance to our society. There will be fun activities in store for everyone to participate! So look forward to it!!!

WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

NE Cluster W6 competition

On Wednesday, 24th March 2010, Regent Secondary School sent in a team of 6 NE ambassadors to represent the school in an NE competition featuring all the schools from Cluster West 6. Guest-of-Honour for the event was Mdm Rani, Master Teacher of Cluster West 6.


The participating schools were:
Fajar Secondary School
Greenridge Secondary School
Assumption English School
Jurong Secondary School
Regent Secondary School
Zhenghua Secondary School
Chestnut Drive Secondary School


Event Format:

Each team has a team of 5 or 6 members and are supposed to feature a landmark around the school. They are to prepare a write-up, submit a video as well as give a presentation on the actual day based on their researched landmark.


Objective:

• Learn about the significance of historical buildings and landmarks in Singapore (HEAD)


• Develop an appreciation of these historical gifts (HEART)


• Develop heritage trails to share findings and inspire students to appreciate these historical buildings (HANDS)

Results:

Our team's entry was a proposal for an amazing race around the Japanese Garden. We failed to obtain any of the top 3 positions but our team gave their best effort and it was a most rewarding experience! Here are some pictures taken on that day. Regent Secondary School was to provide 2 emcees for the event and they were Daryl Chee (S4-10) and Jasmine Goh (S3-7) Pictures taken by Lim Zhiquan (S4-8)

NE Team:
Vivien Zhang (S4-8)
Lee Kok How (S4-8)
Liang Junhao (S4-8)
Zhuang Guoren (S4-8)
Loh Qiuxuan (S4-8)
Lim Zhiquan (S4-8)

Our two emcees (Jasmine and Daryl) for the day.






















Our presenters (Kok How and Vivien) in action!














The 'clicker' behind the laptop, Guoren!














Audience comprising NE ambassadors from different schools.

Our static display, with pictures and write-ups of the Japanese Garden amazing race the team has proposed.

Good effort, everyone! Regent Secondary School will definitely aim to do better the next time round!

Sadako and the thousand paper cranes

As you all have seen the wonderful performance, you would have known the story of Sadako and the thousand cranes. This is a true story.


Sadako Sasaki was a Japanese girl living in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan (August 6, 1945). In 1955, at age 11, Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia, a type of cancer caused by the atomic bomb. [Photo from wikipedia.com]

While in the hospital, Sadako started to fold paper cranes. In Japan, there is a belief that if you folded 1000 paper cranes, then your wish would come true. Sadako spend 14 months in the hospital, folding paper cranes with whatever paper she could get. Her wish was that she would get well again. Sadako also wished for an end to all suffering and to attain peace and healing to the victims of the world.

Sadako died on October 25, 1955, she was 12 years old and had folded over 1300 paper cranes. Sadako’s friends and classmates raised money to build a memorial in honor of Sadako and other atomic bomb victims. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial was completed in 1958 and has a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane. At the base is a plaque that says:
This is our cry.
This is our prayer.
Peace in the world.
(story obtained from http://www.origami-resource-center.com/sadako.html)

(pic obtained from http://www.sadakosasakifacts.com/)

(pic obtained from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_Sasaki)

Lessons learnt:

The story of Sadako and the thousand paper cranes reminds us the importance of world peace. We must never take peace for granted. Sadako, with all her hopes and dreams of becoming an Olympic Gold medallist sprinter, could not achieve her dream because of the repercussions of the Atomic Bomb. All of us have hopes and dreams. Our parents have hopes and dreams of us too. However, if we are not living in a peaceful and prosperous Singapore, we will find it very difficult to achieve these hopes and dreams.

By forging friendships with people regardless of race, language or religion, we find ourselves making more friends and widening our social circle. This is the same for countries. Singapore makes friends with other countries. We do not want a war to happen. War not only causes tremendous destruction to life and property, sometimes it also affects future generations, like the case of Sadako Sasaki.

What are your hopes and dreams? Let us ensure that we do our part to defend Singapore, to allow us to fulfil such hopes and dreams.

Total Defence Day 2010 Programme line-up

Hi all Regenites,

by now you would have known, that Total Defence Day falls on 15th February 2010. Our school will commemorate this day with the following programme:

2 Feb and 4 Feb(lower and upper sec assembly):
Performance by National Arts Council - Sadako and the thousand cranes.

1-11 Feb:
There will be video clips shown before the morning flag-raisings in the hall. Students, do think about "Why do I care about Singapore?" and explore some of the things that make Singapore important to you.

Food for thought:

• What makes us feel like we belong, that this is our rightful place?
• How would we show that Singapore is important to us?
• What are we prepared to do to preserve and protect our way of life?
• What does it mean to "care about Singapore"?
• What would happen if we didn't care about Singapore?

4-9 Feb:
Students will reflect on what they will do for Singapore and fill up printed copies of the "I WILL" cards.

11-12 Feb:
Selected prefects will be reading out some of the "I WILL" best entries by students during the morning assembly. The best entry from each level will be given a limited edition notebook which commemorates the total defence day.