Victoria School

Victoria School

File:Vscrest small.gif
Name	Victoria School
Abbreviation	VS
School code	3014
Chinese name	维多利亚学校
Address	2 Siglap Link Singapore 448880
Country	Singapore
Town	Marine Parade
Founded	1876
Community	Urban
Type	Autonomous Government Secondary
Religion	Secular
Students	Boys
Levels	Secondary 1–4
Colours	Red, Yellow
Motto	Nil Sine Labore Nothing without labour
Newspaper	Victoriana
Website	vs.moe.edu.sg

Victoria School is an autonomous government secondary school, ranked as one of Singapore's premier education institutions. It was founded in 1876 and had its origin in an early English Class organised by Mr M. Hellier while Singapore was still a colony under the British Crown.

Victoria School has moved five times since it was established in Kampong Glam; well-known VS campuses include the Tyrwhitt and Syed Alwi campus, of which the latter is one of three institutions featured on the reverse side of the Republic's S$2 note. The school's new campus is located at Siglap Link in Marine Parade, about 1 kilometre from Victoria Junior College.

The school has produced numerous Queen's and President's Scholars, politicans, top civil servants, academics, corporate figures, and sportsmen. It is also the former institution of the incumbent President of Singapore, His Excellency Mr S R Nathan.

Symbols

School Crest

The school crest is somewhat similar to Oxford University’s crest, due to the school's English origins.

The open book symbolises lifelong learning, while the torch symbolises truth and the passing on of a tradition. It also illuminates the way of Victorians who venture forth to excel beyond the shores of Singapore.

School Colours

Yellow: Signifies dignity and excellence, closely assosciated in an Asian society.

Red: Symbolises universal brotherhood and equality.

School Motto

"Nil Sine Labore"

The school's motto is in Latin, meaning "Nothing without Labour", emphasising the need for Victorians to work hard in fulfilling their dreams and passion.

Strategic values

The institution has eight core/key strategic values (in no particular order): performance excellence, professionalism, innovation, integrity, compassion, tradition, strategic alliances, and global-mindedness.

The adoption of corporate ethos as typified by the identification of 'core values' is not unique to Victoria School and is a trend observable in many Singaporean schools.

Victorian Anthem

The Victorian Anthem has a somewhat upbeat neo-colonial tinge to it, befitting the school's image as an English institution. The Victorian Anthem is sung by students of Victoria School during important events, and on Mondays during the flag-raising assembly.

The anthem is also shared by Victoria Junior College after minor adaptation from the original Victoria School song [pre-1987]. The original VS school song began with 'Victoria School in Singapore' [sang as Vic-to-ria School ] and had "school" after the first three "Victoria" [currently sang as Vic-to-ri-a ] i.e. in the first 2 paragraphs shown below but was slightly modified to allow Victoria Junior College to also use the song as a common anthem.

Lyrics by J A Frazer (pre-1987 version)
Music by W E Meyer (pre-1987 version)

Victoria in Singapore
There are other schools we know
Victoria is something more
The school that watch'd us grow

For here we've learnt and striven too
And played the sportsman's game
Victoria we give to you
The honour that you claim

Victoria thy sons are we
And we will not forget
Victoria thy triumphs see
And victories we share yet

For others came before and went
And carried to the world
Victoria's fame and our intent to
Keep her flag unfurled.

Culture

Uniform

Victoria School's formal uniform consists of a short-sleeved shirt, with either khaki shorts (for secondary 1 and 2 students) or long white trousers (for secondary 3 and 4 students). On Mondays, Victorians wear a maroon striped tie across their bleached apparel. Victorians wear the school badge above the left chest pocket, while student bodies such as the Prefectorial Board, Monitors' Council and Peer Leaders' Council instead wear the badges of their respective student bodies.

For physical activities and camps, students wear a yellow T-shirt with black trim, and black shorts. On the T-shirt, the school crest is located on the left chest area while the word 'Victorian' (*) is printed in bold on the back. This activity uniform has been in use since approximately 1987 or 1988 and is termed the 'Bumblebee' by many. On the shorts, the school crest is located in the bottom right corner.

Each house has their own running vest (singlet) available in the respective house colours. The house colours include yellow (Rochore), blue (Kallang), green (Kapor), purple (Whampoa), and red (Glam).

The mandatory school socks are white with the initials 'VS' imprinted in red.It is compulsory to wear the socks for all victorians. In 2005, the 'Victoria' shoe was introduced, but is not compulsory.

Teachers have no formal wear.

There are several variations of permitted school badges, other than the Prefects' badge. They are the AV Club, Librarian, Choir, Chinese Orchestra and Concert Band badges, and the use of these is to represent the respective CCAs the students are in. They were in use in lieu of the default school badge as late as in the year 1995.

Identity

The name 'Victorian' was given to all Victoria School students to forge a common identity. When addressing the boys, 'Victorians' is always used instead of 'Students' or 'Boys'. 'VICTORIAN' was later printed on the 'Bumblebee' over 'VICTORIA' (as with the house vest) and 'VICTORIA SCHOOL'. This served two purposes. One of them was to create a cameraderie between Victorians. The other was to identify Victoria School boys as Victorians, even in public places.

Affiliation

Victoria School is affiliated to Victoria Junior College. Though Victoria Junior College has its own Integrated Programme (IP), Victoria School boys entering Victoria Junior College get two bonus points off their L1R5 academic aggregate. Both schools are located within close proximity of each other. Activities such as concerts are sometimes jointly held.

Secondary One Orientation Camp

Every year, students who enter Victoria School undergo a three-day two-night orientation camp. Secondary Three Camp Instructors lead them through this camp. Since 2003, Camp Instructors are no longer allowed to incorporate push-ups in the camp as a form of punishment or make the Secondary One boys do too many push-ups during morning Physical Training.

Secondary Three Bonding Camp

Victoria School is the first school to have sent its entire cohort of Secondary Three students on an overseas camp, having done this since 2001. It is held in a farmland camp in Malaysia. The aim of the camp is to bond the new secondary 3 students and help them settle into their new classes after having been streamed according to their subject combinations. Activities such as kayaking, trekking and such are held. The camp is held for four days and three nights.

Leadership Training Camp/Camp Instructors Camp (LTC/CIC)

The LTC and CIC are overseas camps organised for secondary two students who wish to be leaders of their respective CCAs and societies. Unlike the CIC, the LTC is very regimented and disciplined, and incorporates physical training as the highlight of the camp. Strict practices such as uniformity among the squad, which include the ban of watches and having the same attire, as well as in conversation (e.g. addressing their seniors as 'Sir') are strongly enforced. Standing and sitting positions are also much restricted as it is in the military. Punishments conducted are often physical in nature, which include push-ups and extra runs.

Prefectorial Board

The board is responsible for organising school events and regulating school discipline. The board is governed by a Head Prefect and two Deputy Head Prefects, namely the First Deputy Head Prefect (Internal Affairs) and the Second Deputy Head Prefect (External Affairs). The 3 Head Prefects are chosen by students and teaching staffs of the school through a voting process held annually. Prefects often conduct handphone checks, because students are not allowed to switch on their handphone at any time when they are within the school compound.

Monitors' Council

The council takes charge of events in the classroom, such as class activities and the regulation of classroom security. The council is headed by the president of the Monitors' Council, who has been the monitor of his class for four consecutive years.

Houses

The 5 houses of Victoria School are Kallang, Kapor, Whampoa, Glam and Rochore. The names of the houses is a reflection of some of the busiest settlements of Singapore past. The houses are most active during inter-house games such as soccer and chess, as well as at the Sports Day, and the School Cross-Country.

Recent History

The school has moved five times since it was established in Kampong Glam; Victoria School campuses include the Tyrwhitt and Syed Alwi (Victoria Bridge) campus, of which the latter is featured on the reverse side of the Republic's S$2 bill alongside the former Raffles College (King Edward VII College of Medicine).

When top schools were given a choice to go independent, or remain autonomous or government-linked, in 1990, Victoria remained an autonomous school. The school advisory committee concluded that for the institution to retain its character as a school for students of all backgrounds, it did not want to raise fees, an act done for independent schools due to the lack of government subsidies.

Victoria School became the second autonomous school after Dunman High School to have a Gifted Education Programme (GEP) department in Singapore when it started with one GEP class in 2001.

The school's new campus is located at Siglap Link in Marine Parade, sandwiched between Marine Parade Road and the ECP (like its affiliated junior college Victoria Junior College. Neighbouring landmarks like the East Coast Park are occasionally used to conduct lessons and activities. The ceremonial move in 2003 to its new campus was graced by The President Of The Republic Of Singapore. The campus was officially declared open by The President Of The Republic Of Singapore on the 22nd Of July 2006, which was also the school's 130th anniversary.

Victoria School's colonial past is evident in many forms. Victoria School students address school staff as 'Sir' for males, and 'Ma'am' for females.

Achievements

VS has also been awarded the Ministry of Education's Sustained Achievement Award (SAA) for the Arts (since 2004), Physical Fitness (since 2004) and Uniformed Groups (since 1999).

Academic Performance

The 2004 cohort of secondary 4 students scored an L1B5 (First Language and 5 Best subjects) mean score of fewer than 11 points, putting Victoria School in the top tier of schools with awards (denoted by stars) given for "academic value as well as aesthetical and fitness excellence".

The school has put in place programmes such as the Enhanced Study Programme (ESP) alongside enrichments such as Learning Styles and Resiliency courses to aid weaker students to maintain the school's performance. Upon request from students, the school has also extended its library operating hours past office hour, and has also made the study area on the second floor open to all students.

School Campus/Facilities

Victoria School moved into its seven-storey compound in Siglap Link in the year 2003. A virtual tour of the school is available at the VS Open House Website

Victoria Hall is a hostel built within the Victoria School compound. The Hall is beside the sea and East Coast Park, giving boarders both a bay view and easy access to the sporting facilities at the Park. It is home to about 500 boarders of different nationalities such as Malaysians, Indonesians, PRC Chinese, Indians, Vietnamese and Thais, although the majority of boarders in the hostel are the PRC and ASEAN students.

Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs)

The school holds many performaing arts and sporting activities, with intra-school events such as the biennial Drama Festival (Dramafest) and Evening of Music & Drama (EMD), as well as the Annual Victoria School Sports and Cross-Country Championships. However, there has been some general displeasure mainly by a portion of the student body over the school allocating more focus and resources to the sports CCAs.

Performing Arts

In 2003, the school attained the Gold award in the prestigious biennial Singapore Youth Festival Competition for its Chinese Orchestra, Concert Band, and Indian Dance. The Victoria School Choir, the current best all-boys and secondary school choir in Singapore, also attained the Gold award. The Choir is part of the Singapore Choral Excellence scheme. The Concert Band has also represented Singapore in exchange programmes in Australia. Victoria School also attained the Sustained Achievement Award (SAA) for Arts by the Ministry of Education in 2004.

In 2005, the Concert Band and Choir were each awarded Gold with Honours while the Chinese Orchestra, Indian Dance, and English Drama Society were awarded Gold Singapore Youth Festival Competition. It was the first time in recent years that Victoria School, through the English Drama Society had competed in the Drama category. In addition, the Chinese Orchestra was also one of only two all-boys Chinese Orchestras (the other coming from the current Hwa Chong Institution) to have achieved two consecutive Golds.

Sports

In the early 1970s, Victoria School was the first English-language school to win in the Inter-Schools Basketball competition, a game formerly dominated by the Chinese-language schools since its inception.

Victoria School is strong in Cross-Country, Badminton, Cricket, Tennis, Hockey, and Track & Field. One sport in which Victoria School does particularly well is cross-country, have won at least one title each year since 1995. In 2005, Victoria School achieved a double gold for the first time since 1999, winning both the National Cross-Country 'B' and 'C' titles. This was repeated in 2006. Victoria is the only school in Singapore to have ever achieved a double gold in that competition.

Many former students have also gone on to represent Singapore in hockey, football, cricket, track and field and others, also becoming captains of the national teams. In 1978, the captains of the Singapore national teams for hockey, rugby and cricket were former Victoria School students, and a few other were also in the national football team.

Uniformed Groups

Victoria School has seven uniformed groups, consisting of the National Cadet Corps (Land, Air, Sea), the National Police Cadet Corps, the Arrow Scouts, the Red Cross and the Boys' Brigade. Over half of the school population takes a uniformed group as their CCA. Activities common to the uniformed groups include camps, physical training, drills and community service. Uniformed groups are very strict in every activity and punishment is often physical in nature, and so includes push-ups and runs. Responsibility and pro-active involvement is often emphasised in uniformed groups.

Demographics

Victoria School has a student demographic which largely reflects that of the State. Ethnic Chinese students come from both Chinese-speaking and English-speaking backgrounds and the school has numerous Southeast Asian (ASEAN) and Chinese scholars in its enrollment.

In line with the institution's core value of establishing 'strategic alliances' and being 'global-minded', Victoria School has established links with many schools abroad to promote a Singaporean brand of education and an exchange of ideas, particularly in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The school also has bilateral exchange programmes with schools in the PRC, Malaysia and Thailand. Some examples are Chung Hwa High School (Malaysia) and Hebei-Baoding (PRC). The school also has students studying foreign languages representing the Ministry of Education Language Centre (MOELC) on the month-long Study-cum-Immersion Programmes (SCIP) to countries of their respective language like France, Germany and Japan.

Prominent Victorians

• Heads of State
  • Yusof bin Ishak: First President of Singapore
  • C V Devan Nair: Third President of Singapore
  • S R Nathan: Sixth and present President of Singapore

• Politics
  • S Dhanabalan: Former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament; Chairman, Temasek Holdings
  • Peter Sung: Former Minister of State and Member of Parliament
  • Teo Ser Luck: Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and Member of Parliament
  • Dr Ong Chit Chung: Member of Parliament
  • Lim Biow Chuan: Member of Parliament
  • Sha'ari Tadin: Former Senior Parliamentary Secretary and Member of Parliament; First Malay graduate PAP MP, 1968
  • Major Abbas Abu Amin: Former Member of Parliament; Former Chairman, Football Association of Singapore
  • Andy Gan: Former Member of Parliament
  • Kawanjit Soin (Ms): Former and first female Nominated Member of Parliament
  • Assc Prof Ngiam Tee Liang: Former Nominated Member of Parliament
  • Ken Sunn: Founding member and former secretary-general of opposition National Solidarity Party

• Civil Service
  • Chiang Chie Foo: Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of Defence; Colombo Plan Scholar, 1975
  • Ho Meng Kit: Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
  • Lee Chiong Giam: Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • BG Loh Wai Keong: Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry; Former Commander, 3rd Division, Singapore Armed Forces; President's Scholar, 1984
  • Lam Chuan Leong: Ambassador-At-Large; Chairman, InfoComm Development Authority of Singapore; Former Permanent Secretary; President's Scholar, 1967
  • V K Rajan: Former Ambassador

• Academic
  • Dr A Vijiaratnam: First Pro-Chancellor, NTU; Olympian, 1956
  • Prof Edwin Thumboo: Emeritus Professor; First and former Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS
  • Prof Wee Chow How: Head, Division of Strategy, Management and Organization, Nanyang Business School, NTU; Former Dean, Faculty of Business Administration, NUS
  • Prof Brian Lee Chang Leng: Professor (Adjunct), NTU; Former Dean, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, NTU
  • Dr Chew Chin Hin: Adjunct Senior Fellow, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS
  • Prof Chou Siaw Kiang: Vice-Dean, Faculty of Engineering, NUS
  • Assc Prof Yip Yew Kwong, Vice-Dean (Academic), School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NTU
  • Assc Prof Chan Wai Meng: Director, Centre for Language Studies, NUS
  • Prof Jon Quah: Former Head, Dept of Political Science, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS
  • Assc Prof Tsoi Wing Foo: Former Head, Dept of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, NUS
  • Assc Prof Ho Wing Meng: Former Head, Dept of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS
  • Assc Prof Sim Keng Yeow: Former Head, Dept of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, NUS
  • Ong Teong Wan: Consulting Partner, Singapore Institute of Management
  • Lee Fong Seng: Former principal, Raffles Junior College

• Armed Forces/Police Force
  • LG Ng Yat Chung: Chief of Defence Force, Singapore Armed Forces; SAF (Overseas) Scholar, 1980
  • BG Ng Chee Khern: Chief of Air Force; President's Scholar, 1985
  • BG Neo Kian Hong: Director, Joint Operations & Planning Directorate cum Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Singapore Armed Forces; SAF (Overseas) Scholar, 1984
  • BG Tan Meng Dui: Commander, Air Defence Systems Division (ADSD), Singapore Air Force; SAF (Overseas) Scholar, 1986; Littauer Fellow (MPA), Harvard University.
  • LT Iskandar Abdullah: Sword of honour (Best Overseas Cadet), Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England, 2005. First SAF officer in 14 years to be named Best Overseas Cadet at Sandhurst
  • Tee Tua Ba: Former Commissioner of Police, Singapore Police Force
  • Rajoo V Gopal: Asst Commissioner, Singapore Police Force
  • Teo Hong Guan: Former Director, CID, Singapore Police Force
  • DSP Masagoes Idris: CO, Pasir Ris NPC; Asian Games Representative (Hockey); SPF Scholar

• Legal
  • Prof Ahmad Ibrahim: Singapore first non-British Attorney-General
  • Koh Eng Tian: Senior Counsel and former Solicitor-General
  • Giam Chin Toon: Senior Counsel and former President, Law Society of Singapore
  • Dr Chandra Mohan: Former Director, Legal Aid Bureau and former district judge
  • Sowaran Singh: Director, Legal Aid Bureau
  • Adrian Soon Kim Kwee: District judge, Subordinate Courts
  • Chia Wee Kiat: Senior Deputy Registrar, Subordinate Courts

• Corporate/Business
  • G Ramachandran: Former President, Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce
  • Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan: Malaysian tycoon; Founder of Hong Leong Group Malaysia
  • Lim Hua Min: Founder and Group Executive Chairman, Philip Capital
  • Wong Hung Khim: Chairman, Zhonghui Holdings; Former Permanent Secretary
  • Philip Eng: Chairman, Accord Customer Care Solutions; Vice-Chairman, MCL Land
  • Mohd Salleh Marican: Founder and Chairman, 2nd Chance Properties
  • Lim How Teck: Chairman, Tuas Power
  • Dr Han Cheng Fong: Group CEO, Fraser and Neave; Former Permanent Secretary
  • Liak Teng Lit: CEO, Alexandra Hospital
  • Daniel Yun: CEO, Mediacorp Raintree Pictures
  • Richard Hoon: Chairman and CEO, Management Recruiters International Asia
  • Ong Teong Pin: Principal Partner, APCO Architects and Town Planners Collaborative
  • Tay Swee Sze: Principal Partner, Tay Swee Sze & Associates
  • Teo Hong Tee: Managing Director, Astrid Investment
  • Quah Siew Heng: Managing Director-ASEAN, Atos Origin
  • Phua Kok Kim: Managing Director (Special Projects), Temasek Holdings
  • Marcus Chu: Senior Vice-President, ERA Singapore
  • Foo Kok Swee: Former Vice-Chairman and CEO, ECICS Holdings
  • Lua Cheng Eng: Former Chairman and former CEO, Neptune Orient Lines

• Sports
  • Lau Teng Chuan: Former Secretary-General, Singapore National Olympic Council
  • LTC (RET) Kesavan Soon: Only schoolboy to run in 1956 Melbourne Olympics; Olympian, 1956
  • Choo Seng Quee: Former Singapore national football coach; Coach of the Year, 1977; First and only person to have coached national teams of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia
  • V Subramaniam: Former Singapore national football coach
  • Eric Paine, Ho Kwang Hock and Ronnie Liew: Former national footballers
  • Song Koon Poh: Former national rugby captain and Sportsman of the Year, 1978
  • Tan Wearn Haw: Sailing champion; Sportsboy of the Year, 1996; Olympian, 2000

• Culture
  • Ravi Veloo: Managing Director, Media Campus; Fullbright Scholar and multi-award winning journalist
  • Chung Chee Kit: Director, Friends of Admiral Zheng He
  • T Sasitharan: Founder and Director, Theatre Training & Research Programme
  • Iskandar Jalil: Renowned potter and Cultural Medallion winner
  • Colin Cheong: Local writer and former journalist
  • Deen Shahul: President, Association of Entertainment Organization; Former owner of Sparks, Fire and Canto discos
  • David Yeo: Finalist, Singapore Idol, 2005

External links

• Official site
• Old Victorians' Association