A Week of Wonder

Seeing The World Through A New Perspective

D espite the foreshadowing of the exams, the Grade 11 stu-

dents still possess the glow from their Challenge Week,

where many spent the 4th to 11th September in a foreign

land in their respective groups. Countries in the Asian

continent felt the presence of the SJI International students as they

left their imprints on the locals through heart-warming deeds and

charitable acts. Not a country was left out – Vietnam, India, Cambo-

dia, Thailand, Indonesia, The Philippines and Malaysia were

amongst the countries conquered.

During the Challenge Week Evening on the 23rd September,

the students had the opportunity to share tidbits from their joy-

filled weeks. Although the groups had fun during their trips, they

kept in mind the Lasallian spirit: being people for others. A group

comprising of Nadia Tejosantoso, Yana Salim, Christella Yahya, No-

vita Permatasari and Maria Rosales headed to the slums of Payatas

in The Phillipines where they integrated themselves closely with

the inhabitants. Tejosantoso confesses to us regarding the dire

situation of the children in the slums—they salvage objects that still

can be used, there was nothing in the area that said “child-friendly,”

as the children were stepping on bits of broken glass that were eve-

rywhere. They had nothing, they were relegated to being scaven-

gers.

We were treated to a couple of cultural dances that greatly

reflected on the students’ desire and respect for the local customs

and culture. Ivor Tan, Chua Yuan Min and Patrick Ren were more

than happy to give us a spontaneous Balinese dance whereas a

group which went to Phuket, Thailand gave us a sneak peek of the

OneVoice

Highlights of this issue:

A Week of Wonder Page 1

Seventh Issue: September 2010

A student publication of SJI InternationalA student publication of SJI InternationalA student publication of SJI InternationalA student publication of SJI International

Editor’s note

This year has been an eventful

one for all of us at SJII and so it has

been with the newspaper club with the

hand over to the Grade 11’s in the light

of the upcoming IB exams for the grade

12 students. Many unique events have

happened this month, with the Grade

11 Challenge Week and performances.

Overall, the experience has been a

unique one and an educating experi-

ence.

This edition will be the second

last edition before the term ends, and

the last edition will be a big edition

(like the one in April).

All OneVoice papers can be read

online: go to the school site, click the

“Students” tab, and click the edition

you want to read. The April edition was

not printed so you might want to read

it online because that was the first big

edition we published. Enjoy!

The Inside Story Page 4

The Host Page 7

SJII vs AISS Soccer Match Page 6

Viva La Vida Page 3

By Ryonna Chuo

2 One Voice: A Student Publication of SJI International

Thai dance.

We could tell how much preparation went into

some of these presentations, how conscious the

groups have been during their whole Challenge

Week documenting their pre-

cious moments. Hong Chong

Wen with Scott Heng, Ben

Chen, Julian Lim and Ong Jian

Bin showed us a beautifully-

crafted video regarding their

trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia

where we were given glimpses

into their eventful week.

During intermissions, the

students, teachers and parents

were given the chance to try

delicacies from the different

countries that the students

have visited. From Bali, there

were pisang goreng; fried ba-

nana fritters and kopi luwak;

loosely translated as civet cof-

fee, but the origins are truly of

coffee beans that have passed

through the digestive track of a

civet, an animal and mi goreng;

fried noodles. From Ipoh was

the renowned Ipoh White Cof-

fee and tau sar piah, a pastry filled with bean paste. A

group from Ho Chi Minh returned to Singapore with

coconut chips, while another which, had the oppor-

tunity to learn the Vietnamese culinary arts during

their trip, treated us to their rendition of

chả giò; fried Vietnamese spring rolls filled with pork

and vegetables and bún chả giò; Vietnamese vermi-

celli salad with fried spring rolls. They had spent the

three hours prior to the Chal-

lenge Week evening preparing

the dishes to perfection.

We can unanimously

agree that every group had eye

openers and learnt life lessons

during the Challenge Week. Not

everyone came back the same.

Brian Shehan Silva who, with

his group, went to Rawang, Ma-

laysia, gives us a raw, powerful

reflection regarding his Chal-

lenge Week and we can tell

that he has returned from Chal-

lenge Week with brand new

eyes. “When I came home from

Challenge Week I looked back

at my life. What are my aims in

life? To be an engineer, to earn

a huge sum of money, buy a

house, buy a car… where and

when is this going to end?

What is the purpose of money

if you cannot experience the

real essence of life? What is life without caring for

others?” he questions. “I will not forget my social re-

sponsibility. I won’t be selfish by only thinking about

me.”

“When I came home from

Challenge Week I looked back

at my life. What are my aims

in life? To be an engineer, to

earn a huge sum of money,

buy a house, buy a car…

where and when is this going

to end? What is the purpose

of money if you cannot ex-

perience the real essence of

life? What is life without car-

ing for others?” he questions.

“I will not forget my social re-

sponsibility. I won’t be selfish

by only thinking about me.”

Brian Shehan Silva—Grade 11 Student

By Ivor Tan

3 Seventh Issue: September 2010

The Grade 9 Camp is a camp organized by the SJI

International Student Council annually for the Grade

9s. This year, the camp took place during the weekend

of the 27th to the 28th of August. The aim of the camp

was to create a sense of community within the Grade 9

cohort, and to get them well bonded together before

their IGCSE exams next year. Through past experience,

the importance of having a well bonded community

would be helpful, especially during the stress of IG-

CSEs and all the way to IB. The camp definitely

achieved its purpose, with the Grade 9s leaving the

camp happy, and well bonded together.

The camp was a fine balance between reflections

and games. There was a movie screening of the show

“The Blind Side”, and a subsequent group reflection, in

which participant and facilitator alike poured out

heart and soul to the group. The concluding reflection

by Gerard Lee of Grade 11 further tugged at the heart-

strings of the Grade 9s. However, the camp was not all

reflections either. The camp featured a wide variety of

games, with night games, dry games and wet games.

The camp was a memorable one for both the

participants and the facilitators, and I am sure that

everyone had lots of fun, as a bonded community of

Grade 9s. Once again, the Student Council has organ-

ized another successful camp!

4 One Voice: A Student Publication of SJI International

This term, we have had many new teachers

joining our school. During the week, we have inter-

viewed our new English teacher, Mr. Martin Walsh, to

get his views on the new school, his views on Singa-

pore as well as some personal information of him as a

person. Mr. Walsh who was previously from Pattaya,

Thailand has never been to Singapore before and had

heard about Singapore through his friends who were

already in Singapore, teaching drama. He describes his

experience in Singapore as “lovely and enjoyable”. He

seemed to find a particular liking to Singapore’s food

as there is a wide variety of food, and likes the fact that

most of Singapore’s food is spicy. As well, he likes the

weather in Singapore and says that it is “good weather

compared to the UK & Thailand”.

When we questioned him about his past teach-

ing experience, 2 places came to his mind. First, it was

the school that he taught at in Pattaya for 4 years, and

then, there’s the sinkhole school in UK which he de-

scribed as “Hell on Wheels” and “Utter Chaos”. He

shared with us that there was an once an incident in

the UK sinkhole school where students had to leave

through a back entrance because there were students

shooting at other students from a dorm room. In his

opinion, he feels that our school and our students are a

lot more organized and in order as compared to UK’s

school, but he feels that his time in the UK sinkhole

school was a “colorful” experience for him, and it moti-

vates him in his everyday life. As the attitudes of the

students in the school were cocky and spoilt, he gained

a valuable lesson, which is that surviving in that sink-

hole school, meant you can survive anywhere. His

views on IB is that it is a lot more flexible, responsive

and assessable and he considers himself an “IB Fan” as

it is his preferred style of teaching, which is that learn-

ing is based on enthusiasm and passion. Without en-

thusiasm and passion, learning will always be difficult.

He also feels welcomed as the teachers have been mar-

velous and warm to him and he already feels comfort-

able, as he has already met most or all the teachers.

After all the serious business was over, we

moved to his personal life, and we discovered that Mr.

Walsh was in fact a Movie Buff, and an avid comic-

book reader. He is especially interested in Thai

The InsideGet A Peek Into The Teachers’ Mind and

By Paul Samuelle and Joshua Wong

The Next Inside Story: Farewell and Welcome to the Teachers

horror/action movies and the reason he taught in the

UK Sinkhole School was because he was catholic. As

well, we learnt that his future as a teacher was shaped

from his family life, as all or most of his family mem-

bers grew up to become teachers . We also found out

that Mr. Walsh is indeed married, and at the moment,

he is in Singapore on his own. He expects his wife to

join him in the coming months.

Extra details that we have asked him:

Cheeky teacher Mr. Anandraj

Teacher he is afraid of Mrs. Susi Teo (though

she’s nice, I wouldn’t want to be on her bad

side)

Witty Ms. Old (sometimes she can be abit dry)

Best words to describe himself Creative,

Cheerful and Calm

Mr. Martin Walsh

5 Seventh Issue: September 2010

Another new face in our school is Ms Lucy Bar-

ham . Having graduated from Bristol University with a

degree in Social and Economic History, she decided to

take up teaching and finished up her PGCE teaching

qualification at the University of East Anglia. In terms

of previous teaching experience, she worked at Severn

Vale school in Gloucester and expressed an interest in

music. However, after receiving positive and good

feedback from her friends in Singapore, She decided to

move to Singapore to start her teaching career afresh.

After taking a look on the internet at both SJII and Sin-

gapore’s environment, she decided that it was a won-

derful place to go to and made her decision to live and

teach in Singapore.

Though it is her first time in Singapore, she

finds the food delicious and enjoyable, and surpris-

ingly great in terms of variety and tastes. Another

thing she loves, as well as most teachers who have just

The Inside Story II Get A Peek Into The Teachers’ Mind and Find Out What Their Thoughts Are!

By Paul Samuelle and Joshua Wong

: Farewell and Welcome to the Teachers

Ms. Lucy Barham moved over, is the wonderful weather. Similarly to Mr.

Walsh, she finds the weather delightful as it is sunny

and bright on most days and says that it is lovely in

comparison to the weather in Britain. Touching on the

subject of school, she finds that most of the students in

the school are obedient and well behaved. She believes

that passion is needed for a student to excel in studies.

Without passion and enthusiasm, there would be a

lack of interest which would lead to the inability to

study a subject well. She believes that most of the stu-

dents in our school are willing to learn, and a few stu-

dents just need a helping hand to get them rolling to-

wards success. She aims to do her best for her students

and will celebrate each success with her students, be it

a small improvement, or a huge jump in grade. As well,

she finds that the teachers in the school have been ex-

tremely friendly and welcoming to her entrance into

our school. The most common problem for new teach-

ers is the idea of finding the correct classroom, and she

has said that Mr. Guy Nicholson and her have been

working close to each other while adapting to the new

school as they both entered the school around the

same time.

Currently, she teaches History to Grade 8 and

9s and is still adapting to the IGCSE system of the

school. She enjoys the IGCSE teaching because she

feels that it suits her teaching style more. She prefers

for students to be able to participate and understand a

class lesson, rather than to just read off a book and do

activities. As well, she participates in our school’s or-

chestra, playing her oboe as well as helping out with

the Junior Choir alongside Mrs. Thorpe .

Overall, she finds the school a wonderful,

friendly and a cohesive environment for learning as

well as teaching, and she is glad that most of the teach-

ers have been supportive of her as she entered the

school. She looks forward to teaching the students in

the school and felt that the move to Singapore was

definitely a correct one as the weather is lovable, and

the food to her liking .

6 One Voice: A Student Publication of SJI International

The fallen rain, muddy earth and scarred pitch just

about summed up the battle SJII put up against AISS.

Last Friday (24th of Sept). Not only were their dreams

of finishing joint champions crushed, but SJII suffered their

first back to back defeat to AISS since last year! Having

trashed OFS B team by a ridiculous score line, breezing past

UWC & SAS, and an astounding victory over the German

team on their own pitch.

AISS looked more than confident to knock SJII out of

any possible contention for top spot. Having lost early in the

season to the Germans as an early setback, SJII claimed a

hard fought victory over UWC and could still clinch top spot

should they beat the Australians and finish their last game

against SAS with a win.

However, it didn’t look that way in the first 10minutes;

despite going down 2-0 undeservedly, the boys in green

managed to hold on to the half time whistle, where they

could certainly have gone down by more than 2, if not for

some valiant defending from skipper Edmund & Co.

Fitness levels between both sides were distinct; if we

ever plan to compete with the likes of the Germans and the

Australians, a training session a week will not suffice, as

these schools have morning and evening sessions every

week, more than once.

Training in different terrains would also be a key for

any football team as it is something they would have to

adapt to, each and every time they play. Misinterpreting the

ball's speed on slippery surface was key as almost all our

boys made that same mistake.

The Australians, capitalized on this; against the run of

play, the Australians hit SJII hard on the right; striker Sean

Nayak seemingly rough-handled our captain Edmund,

which saw many of the boys stop play and merely antici-

pated for the referee's whistle which did not come, and thus

punished the boys to a 3-0 deficit. The boys need to kick the

habit of depending time after time on the referee's whistle

and (if i could quote a famous quote from English football),

"Get on with it!". Sloppy defending for set pieces is the

main Achilles heel SJII need to fix though; as more than half

of SJII's goals conceded were from in swinging corners and

free kicks. The statistic was accounted for today, as the

seemingly last nail of the coffin was sealed, with an in

swinging corner into the box and scouse-born, Phillip

McCormick sliding it home for the Australian's 4th and put-

ting the game beyond doubt.

This looked very much like the story being told at

UWC, SAS and OFS. However, sheer determination from

boys was what separated them from the rest, with such a

huge deficit, surely there was no way they could stage a dra-

matic comeback, could they?

With nothing to lose, the boys went on the offensive in

full force; right back Daniel Lim went on another Glen John-

son-esque run, which he loves, and earned a free kick just

off the edge of the box. Bryan Neubronner dinged a ball

over the top, which looked threatening and menacing; it

caused confusion and violent pushing and shoving in the

box, and centre back, Yuki Kitagawa (whose mother plays

the role of a one-woman first aid team, usually for both

sides during a game), was guilty of pulling the shirt of one of

our players. The referee pointed to the spot and a penalty

was awarded, but it was missed.

SJII vs AISS Soccer Match by Paul Samuelle

The boys suffered yet another blow, with injuries ga-

lore; creative midfielder Wayne suffered a blow to his right

ankle, Thomas, who had to go off early, Powerhouse, Clark

Lawton who is fighting back to regain fitness and mercurial

winger Ewan, was hit several times and a direct shot to his

groin in particular that kept him sidelined for much the 2nd

half.

His compatriots sorely missed Ewan’s presence; Paul

S, Bryan N, and Marcus Mo, who have played with him on

countless occasions and have a strong chemistry between

them. It was evident enough when SJII managed to stage a

miracle; throughout the whole game, Bryan Neubronner

was awaiting that ball over the top that he could latch to,

and Samuel Chew, did just that.

Taking a goal kick that covered more than half the

length of the pitch, Bryan ran like a scalded dog, with mad

pace towards goal. He ran so fast that it looked as if the ball

was running away from him! And it did, as the goalkeeper

came out to stake his claim for it, a head-first collision on

highway 99, made all sorts of chaos and bedlam in the area,

and who would have thought the ball would fall into the feet

of goal-hungry forward, Paul Samuelle, who literally, min-

utes ago, missed a penalty , to atone for his sins by slam-

ming it towards the corner of the goal, where, Yuki Kita-

gawa could do nothing but stretch for a slight deflection

which did not change the result. 4-1.

The boys suddenly had a glimer of hope, and a small

flame was slowly rekindled in the hearts of the boys. In al-

most hysterical fashion, the Australians were getting more

paranoid by the minute, sloppy passes meant that they had

given possession away far too easily and Ewan, showing

just how important he was to his side, made a galloping run

down the left, and made a beautiful left footed through pass

might I add, into the path of Bryan Neubronner, this time,

he CONCIOUSLY and KNOWINGLY assisted Paul Samuelle,

by squaring the ball into his feet, to tap it home for his 5th

in 2 games.

4-2 in the space of 2 MINUTES. The boys were in

dreamland! Not only was there a sound of uneasiness in the

opposition camp, but with the referee indicating that there

would be an extra 12 minutes to play (after previously say-

ing that there would be 2 minutes, 15minutes ago,) gave

much belief to SJII. Passerbys stood still to watch how the

drama would unfold, as they reached the dying minutes of

the game; a few sitters were handed to Bryan and

Daniel,but alas, time was against the boys, with many of the

Australians taking a page out of Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier

Drogba and Luis Nani's "diving theatrics and a 101 ways to

waste time" edition, the boys season had ended there and

then.

The dream comeback was not meant to be, and the

championship had eluded them for yet another season.

They had one more game in hand against SAS to determine

where they stood at the end of the season, but 2 losses

meant that first and second place was already affirmed.

Credit to the Australians, though, they improved much

since the "Mr Justin Toh Era" 2 years ago, and the only thing

the boys can take out of this defeat are lessons of improve-

ment and that this was the first sign of a team that showed

the qualities of a successful team; with a never say die atti-

tude and fighting spirit right till the end, that will continue

to strive for success, until they grasp that trophy...

7 Seventh Issue: September 2010

The host is a science fiction mixed with romance

novel. It is a spellbinding story of love and betrayal

while the fate of humanity is at stake.

The earth has been invaded by an alien race that

controls the minds of their human hosts. Their bodies

are left intact, but their mind terribly violated. The

mind invasion is so severe that most of humanity has

given in to these creatures.

The creature, Wanderer, is a soul who has previ-

ously lived on eight different planets, and is now in

Melanie Stryder, her host. Upon nesting inside her

new body, Wanderer is taken aback by the power and

vividness of human emotions, memories, and senses,

and the fact that the former tenant of her body refuses

to relinquish possession of her mind. Melanie refuses

to budge, much less fade away. She is determined to

remain the master of her body and puts up a fight,

countering Wanderer’s mind probing with thoughts

and visions of the man she loves, Jared, a hu-

man who still lives in hiding. The emotion the host

feels will be transmitted towards the inhabitant and

Wanderer falls prey to the strong affection for Jared.

Being unable to separate herself from her body’s de-

sires, Wanderer yearns and lusts for a man she has

never met. This strong external force of love makes

Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, pulling them

in the direction where they both seek for the man they

love.

A departure from her infamous love story be-

tween vampire and mortal, Stephanie Meyer’s The

Host is a deeper, more mature story with a premise

that, though at first sounds ridiculous (a love triangle

between humans and aliens), is in fact moving and

complex. It is interlaced with suspense and action se-

quences, leaving readers on the edge of their seat.

Overall, The Host is an emotional, thought-provoking

journey, a recommended read as it brings a riveting

and impressionable twist to love that highlights our

the hostthe hostthe hostthe host Stephenie Meyer

Author

Stephenie Meyer

Cover Artist

Julianna Lee

Genre

Science Fiction, Romance

Publisher

Little, Brown & Company

Pages

617 pages

Victoria Goh and Minying Wong

BOOK REVIEW

SELECTIONS OF GRADE 12 IB FINAL ARTWORKS

Ricardo Seah

Clara Chiang

Rebecca Ou

All of these were displayed during the IB Art Exhibition

(September 13 - 16). For more artworks, please go to

the art blog (http://sjiiartgallery.blogspot.com/)

OneVoice TEAM

Chief Editors

Reporters

Ryonna Chuo

Vincent Tanutama |

Daniel Lim |

Scott Lim |

Kathryn Stevenson |

Alexandra Kris |

Wong Minying |

Alessia Tassinari |

Patrick Ren

Paul Samuelle

Ivor Tan

Emilie Cunnington

Victoria Goh

Joshua Wong

Jade Fong

St. Joseph’s Institution International

490 Thomson Road

Singapore 298191

+65 63539383

Sneak Peek to the DECEMBER’s Issue

Drama Club and Orchestra present

Oliver!Oliver!Oliver!Oliver! 29 & 30 November 2010

Get sneak peeks to the show itself, how

all the casts and crew prepare for it

and also the invisible hands involved

in the amazing show!

Everything will be unleashed in the

next big December edition!