Synergy ‘07 HML Annual Report 2006-2007

The Annual General Meeting 2006 was held on the 2nd of August 2006 on a

Wednesday in the AVT. Our Guest-of-Honour was the Deputy Headmaster

(Development), Mr. Frederick Yeo. Our special guest was Mr Christopher Seet, Chief

Librarian 2000/2001.

To start off the Annual General Meeting, Mr Christopher Seet gave an interesting

speech about how the HML Club has changed from during his time. He also shared with

us his experiences in the medical field. We benefited a lot through his enlightening

speech.

Next was Joshua Heng‟s turn to make a speech. He recapped the year‟s events

and the new initiatives that the EXCO 05/06 has come out with, for example the Blue

Notebooks attendance system and the Adopt-a-Shelf Programme.

Following the speeches, it was time to handover the duties to the new EXCO for

the year 2006/2007. Two major changes were made to the organization of the EXCO,

namely having two Deputy Chief librarian positions and the collapsing of the Publicity

and Infocomm departments into the Programmes department.

(Continued on next page)

Right after the handover was a short speech by the Chief Librarian

2006/2007. Yiyang talked about his goals for the year, thereafter he led the

librarians in the librarians‟ pledge.

Consecutively, the new librarians were invested. Awards were given to the

most commendable librarians, certificates to the graduating librarians, and tokens

of appreciation to parent volunteers.

Finally, Mr Frederick Yeo, our DHM and Guest-of-Honour for the event,

gave a short speech and gave the club his best wishes.

As the formal ceremony ended, the librarians and guests were treated to a

multimedia presentation in a relaxed setting. Thereafter, there was also a

reception for all. The librarians ended the day with the traditional photo-taking

session in the library after the AGM.

The main agenda for LCM Day 2 was to prepare for the upcoming stock-taking

activity to be held by external stock-takers so as to change the current library

circulation system from Carlcirc (Merlin) to Spydus. There was a day-off on week

6 Friday and it was just after the Common Tests so it seemed the most

appropriate time to hold LCM Day 2.

On that day, library club members reported at 8 a.m. and were divided into

several groups. Each group was to take charge of shelf-reading a particular

section of the library, the sections being Reference, English Fiction, Short Stories

and Mother Tongue Fiction/Non-fiction, Non-fiction from 100s to 500s, Non-fiction

from 600s to 900s and the Teacher‟s Reference Library.

This division of groups made allocation of tea breaks and lunch breaks

easy and every two groups had their breaks after an interval of 30 minutes. For

the tea break, the food comprised of muffins from Chocs and Spice, some Pau

as well as drinks and snacks bought from Sheng Siong. For lunch, there was

Nasi Lemak for everyone and it was ordered from Lee Wee and Bros.

It is to be noted that the performance of library club members during LCM

Day 2 was extremely outstanding. With the pressing task at hand, everyone put

aside their personal differences and worked together as one. Everyone

demonstrated good cohesion and teamwork and maintained an equal division of

labour. There was also a “points” system put in place and groups were judged on

their shelves according to the two main criteria of neatness and order. This

helped to create a friendly competitive atmosphere among the groups and each

group was motivated to do their part to the best of their abilities, resulting in an

overall increase in efficiency. Despite initial worries that there was a lack of time,

at the end of the entire shelf-reading exercise, most of the shelves were in tip-top

condition and definitely prepared for the upcoming stock-taking activity.

After the laborious but fun shelf-reading exercise, it was finally time for the

Birthday Bash. The Birthday Bash for LCM Day 2 is a celebration held for library

club members whose birthday falls from October to December and it was held at

the al-fresco dining area beside the library. During the Birthday Bash, everyone

had food and drinks provided and there were fun and games carried out, not to

mention an on-going DJ session where favorite music hits were being played

continuously. In addition, groups that did especially well and obtained the most

“points” during the shelf-reading exercise were rewarded with extra snacks and

goodies for their dedication.

In conclusion, LCM Day 2 was a great success with the aim of LCM Day 2

achieved and good team bonding and synergy created between library club

members.

Various contributors

SECTION 1: Introduction The Hullett Memorial Library Camp 2006 was held from 16th November to 17th November 2006 and was divided into three main sections, a Community Involvement Programme at the Handicapped Welfare Association (HWA), various school games, and an Amazing Race Xpress, which ended with a tour to the Republic Polytechnic. The camp had replaced an overseas trip to Chiangmai, Thailand due to the cancellation of the trip. The camp was originally planned for 3 Days 2 Nights but due to the school disallowing overnight camps for all CCA groups in view of the school PRIME upgrading process, we only managed to fight for a 2 Days 1 Night camp. The objective of the camp was to bond the library club members and build more friendships, as well as give the EXCO a chance to organise major events. An unofficial theme of “Synergy” was created for this camp. Teamwork was essential in all the activities in the camp. The participants gathered on the first day at 8.30am in the library and the camp commenced with attendance taking and a short briefing on the purpose and proceedings of the camp, as well as the camp rules and regulations. .

SECTION 2: HML Community Involvement Programme

Written by Muhd Sadikin, Law Kang Jie

At 9.15am, we boarded the bus and headed for the Handicaps Welfare

Association located at Whampoa Drive with all our materials for the CIP work.

The idea of working on a Community Involvement Project came to us a week

before as we brainstormed for activities for the camp, as well as to use up the

money that we had raised in the year through drink and snack sales (which was

originally meant for the Chiangmai CIP trip). After a round of discussion, the

EXCO and Mrs. Yap went to recee for an organization to help, finally deciding

upon the Handicaps Welfare Association, which had a building in need of a

makeover.

After discussing with Mr.

Kelvin Lim, we decided to

focus on certain areas within its

complex, namely, the setting up

of the Christmas tree,

decorating their notice boards,

refurnishing their Cosy Corner,

as well as their Art Room, which

we renamed the Creative

Studio.

Once we arrived at the association, we split up into groups based on the

various tasks that we had to complete, after which we got straight to the job. Not

before getting a group photo first, though.

Works immediately started on the Cosy Corner, where the old coat of

paint and the rust were scraped off, after which we painted a new coat of bright

orange. Painting walls may seem to be an easy job to do, but alas, that was not

the case. Many had to endure the dripping wet orange paint on their bare hands

and for some; their clothing (e.g. Benjamin Joshua Ong). However, it was

pleasant to note that none complained, and in fact, they were having lots of fun!

In the end, everyone‟s efforts and hard work, plus all the sweat and painted

hands, paid off, seeing the new coat of

orange paint that clearly brightened the

once un-Cosy Corner indeed.

Apart from painting the Cosy Corner,

some librarians were busy in the Creative

Studio, cutting out petals, stalks, leaves,

and butterflies, from adhesive coloured

paper to adorn the dull walls and doors of the building. At the same time, a few of

them were working on the framed collage that we wanted to mount at the Cosy

Corner. Basically, the Creative Studio became our Head Quarters for the day!

Other than that, other librarians were

collaboratively working on the notice boards as well as

the Christmas tree. For the notice boards, the librarians

had to strip the board of the notices and then paint the

frame, a difficult task as we had to prevent the paint from

staining the main board. While waiting for the paint to dry,

the team went to wash the ornaments and the Christmas

tree, then setting it out to dry as well. After the paint on

the notice boards dried, we proceeded to mount the velvet backing onto the

board to give it a professional feel and touch. This could not have been done

without the expertise of Ms. Mani and Mdm. Ho, who had skillfully wielded the

staple gun with care. Finally, we went to decorate and set up the 2 Christmas

trees, and added the final touches to the complex.

At the same time, Calvin was going around to mount his series of

motivational posters on the doors along the corridor with the help of several other

librarians. These posters had been earlier prepared and took a long time to be

surfaced because of intense editing work needed.

Nearing the evening, we began to mount the adhesive flowers and

butterflies on the walls of the Cosy Corner, and then set up the new 29-inch

television, the stereo set which we purchased for the home using the funds

raised. Later we arranged the new furniture items recycled from the school staff

lounge.

Overall, the HWA project was a

success and indeed an enriching and

enlightening experience for everyone.

It was clearly a heartening sight to see

the newly refurnished Cosy Corner

and Creative Studio, along with the

lighted Christmas tree, that proved a

job well done. Furthermore, we felt a

great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in knowing that our efforts were

appreciated and that those at the association were happy with what we had

done.

Dinner was called in from Pelican Pizza and KFC delivery and it was taken

outside the HML along the “World Class Rafflesians” corridor.

SECTION 3: School Games (1)

Written by Calvin Teo

The game „Jelly Hide and Seek‟ was one of the in-library games played. It

was conducted on the first night, some time after dinner.

The concept of the game was first mooted after the CIP activity at HWA.

We had noticed a lot of leftover food and drinks in a large box from LCM Day 2,

when we were preparing dinner. Guess we had overestimated the students

hunger pangs! There was a need to do something with these jellies before they

expired next year.

Of course, the simplest way was to distribute the jellies equally among

library members during dinner. However, it was harder than it seemed. The jellies

could not be divided equally. Furthermore, some librarian‟s wanted more, some

did not want these jellies.

Therefore, we thought of dispensing them out in a game. And so „Jelly

Hide and Seek‟ was born. The outline of the game was actually quite simple.

Many small, cup jellies of all colours would be hidden, in both obvious and

obscure nooks and crannies of the HML, with teams of 3 having to locate and

retrieve these jellies back to the loan counter.

Groupings were soon settled. The librarians were rather eager to start off

the game, and we had to hold them back! However, after some finalizations,

everyone was flagged off, fanning out in all directions of the library, looking high

and low, trying to find the colourful snacks. Many of the students were very eager

to get the hidden treasure!

5 minutes later, the first round ended, and teams reported back. There

was a tie between 2 groups, resulting in Plan „B‟. These 2 groups would then be

involved in a “Sudden Death” Match. I.e. the group who finds one more jelly first

would win! This round was rather frantic, with the students ecstatically searching,

their pride at stake.

In the end, the group consisting of Jonathan Ng, Joshua Lim, Ian Yap and

Zaw Shane won by 1 second over my group. It was a close race to the loan

counter.

This game, though simple, had a deeper meaning to it. Firstly, it taught all

participating members the importance of teamwork and cooperation. For

example, groups learnt how to plan their search and distribute themselves in the

library. Secondly, it fosters comradeship and companionship among friends, as

they network while doing the hide and seek. Apart from that, it also infuses the

spirit of friendly competition, with members trying to outdo each other.

Of course, the game also led many librarians to realize how they missed

some jellies placed very obviously. Pupils explored corners of HML they

previously did not even think of taking a second glance into, such as the

newspaper racks. In some terms, it may have also demonstrated to them the

concept of visual inaccuracy! That we sometimes cannot see the big picture

when we are concentrating too hard!

Overall, the game was a fun and enriching experience, in which the

librarians totally enjoyed. An integral part of the camp experience indeed.

SECTION 4: Amazing Race Xpress

Written by Calvin Teo, Li Yiyang

Informal preparations for The Amazing Race 2006 started as early as

June 2006. What was thought of was that the race would span the entire day,

with participants coming back to HML and retiring for the night, as they await

their year-end overseas trip, which was eventually cancelled.

Formal preparations began soon after, which included the brainstorming

of possible notable locations to travel to, as well as the mini-station activities that

were to be done. An Amazing Race Committee (ARCOM) was soon set up.

After some preparations were done, a draft concept was formed. The

course, circling Singapore, was designed to pass through interesting historic,

scenic, nature, and cultural sites. We wish that participants could experience a

previously unexplored face of the country and be enriched by the deep

significance each location holds.

Giving students a new experience is one of the key objectives for the game,

and the novelty is not just limited to the locations. The tasks themselves have

been arranged to let participants experience new things they have never tried

before, and to let the pupils realise that there is much more to the surface of

things. Every location and activity is unique and irreplaceable. We at the ARCOM

are sure that the specially-tailored course would help achieve our goals.

To prepare for this amazing race, Calvin, Yiyang, Kang Jie, and Bao Rong

went for our first recee on the 28th of October 2006. This first recee was quite an

adventure in itself. We went to many parts of Singapore!

Starting from RI, we got to Memories at

Old Ford Factory. While on the trip, we

were indeed looking like lost tourists!

Unfortunately it was closed. However,

we could see the building from the road!

It was a very rustic place!

After that we took service 178,

directly to Little Guilin, in Bukit Batok Town

Park. We were also discussing on the

importance of road safety, else we would

have had a funeral visit instead of the

game. We left soon after and walked to

Bukit Gombak Station, where we took a

train to Clementi and transferred to a bus to

IKEA. Our next stop was VivoCity. We

walked to the Toys R‟ Us store there.

Strangely, Bao Rong was attracted to kids‟ hula hoops! He then played with a

poor toy horse‟s jaw, prompting the shopkeeper to stop the animal abuse!

Soon after that, we went to the

Historical Site of Sook Ching during WWII.

We then decided to go to Liang Court and

we explored the Japanese supermarket to

find out prices of some exotic products.

Then we went back to Clarke Quay

station. We proceeded to Sengkang LRT.

We went for 2 rides along the LRT system, taking photos along the way.

Our last station was the Changi Airport, where we planned to do a Humanities

quiz. We left the Airport soon after, and that ultimately concludes the first recce

season of the Amazing Race 2006! It was a rather enjoyable experience, but not

so much for Bao Rong as his sandals sort of got caught in an escalator!

After some edits to the master copy of the Amazing Race plan, we

presented a copy to Mrs. Yap, who suggested some changes. Many of the

places and activities were edited, to feature “educational” visits. At that time, we

were racing against time with just ten days left to the camp. We hurriedly

hastened our preparations.

Hopes for a full day amazing race was dashed however, when it was

revealed that a whole day would be taken up by a CIP for HWA. At that moment,

Mrs. Yap decided to postpone the Amazing Race by 1 year! (meaning no race

this year)

Nothing changed much for six days. At that time, preparations for the

camp were getting tense, what with the “big day” itself only 3 days away!

However, some bombshells dropped. The visit to the NLB collection and

processing centre would cost almost $500 in processing/security fees!

Therefore, the circumstances had spoken. What would we do then?

Amidst a lively discussion in Mrs. Yap‟s office, suggestions popped up again. Of

course, the most popular one was to reignite the idea of an Amazing Race!

This was so odd. The concept for amazing race was first mooted,

cancelled due to overseas trip, mooted again due to the planned LCM Day 2,

cancelled, and revived again! And the strangest thing was it was revived just two

days before the camp itself! It meant we had only one day to plan and prepare!

Still we remained optimistic and started our crash preparations. Would we

be able to make it in time? Anyway, we brainstormed and reported to Mrs. Yap,

who made a few minor changes.

On Friday, the day just before the camp, Yiyang and Calvin started on our

task of recee-ing the new places that we were to go to. We first went to the

Botanical gardens. What were we to do there? We guessed it would be most

appropriate for us to share the knowledge of plant species. We immersed

ourselves in the wide variety of plants there.

We then took bus 67 to the Memories at Old Ford Factory. This time, it

was opened, and we entered. We began our serious work, which we took on the

roles of a history researcher. The museum was indeed very interesting, and an

eye-opener into the experiences of local civilians during the war. The content

was presented through both static displays and eye-catching interactive media. It

was also interesting to find an old piano and radio, donated by none other than

our school, Raffles Institution!

Anyway, after that, we proceeded to our next destination, Little Guilin.

Little Guilin, the rocky outcrop was still a nice place. Fishermen lined the sides of

the quarry, while a few white swans were waddling in the water. On leaving, we

noticed a small footpath branching out and leading to what was labeled a nature

trial. The path led us to a flight of steps up the hill. Climbing to the top enabled us

to view Little Guilin from a different perspective. The nature trail resembled a

small dirt track in Pulau Ubin!

Republic Polytechnic was the FINAL PITSTOP for the Amazing Race

Xpress 2006! We briefly walked around and explored the place, before having a

quick lunch.

That done, we returned to HML, to finish up our preparations. The day had

been tiring but fun! Mrs. Yap had left for further recee-ing at HWA, so we were

left to finish up the preparations on our own, as she had wanted the report by the

evening.

Thursday morning came soon after, and we all assembled back to the

HML for the camp. At that time, the overall concept was done. What was left

were the clue slips and duty allocation. So at night, when the librarians had gone

to bed (Well, most of them at least), the ARCOM continued their preparations.

We first briefed Jonathan and Ian of their duties, as well as the overall

plan for the race. We also prepared a rule sheet which included disallowing

private transport. After some confirmation about the timeslots, we decided to

finish up the clue sheets. After much effort, they were printed out and we had to

cut them. It wasn‟t an easy task and it was already about 3am. Yiyang sustained

till 4.30am while Calvin did more till 5am! However, it was still not fully

completed.

We did not manage to wake up at 6am as we wanted to, but instead woke

up together with everyone else at 7am. While Kang Jie did the briefing and

released the club members for breakfast at Junction 8, the rest of the ARCOM

were literally in a mad rush slotting the clues into the envelopes.

The race was planned to start at 9am on the 3rd floor outdoor area of

Bishan Junction 8 but the ARCOM members only left school at 9.05am.

Therefore, Joshua was doing a final briefing to the participants at Junction 8. The

game officially started at 9.15am when the ARCOM members arrived and did a

final briefing, before flagging off the contestants.

The first station was at the starting point itself, with the 5 ARCOM

members (Calvin, Yiyang, Jonathan, Ian, Sadikin) positioned in 3 rows, acting as

defence gates, trying to prevent the participants from getting through. The aim of

the participants was of course to get past the 3 rows of defence gates to reach

the final point where the clue envelopes for the next station were placed.

However, once they were touched by the defence gates, they would have to

restart from the beginning.

The clue given was the anagram “COE KLAE in NOAITCB NDRESGA”,

which when rearranged became “Eco Lake in Botanic Gardens”. Most of the

groups were able to infer this location rather easily.

Sadikin and Yiyang departed first and the groups departed two groups in a

batch, with 10 minutes between the two batches. Most groups took the

conventional way of bus 156, and then walking through the side road into the

gardens, but one group had come up with their alternative traveling route, and it

was later found out that they actually had illegal access to a Transitlink bus

guide.

At the Botanic Gardens, the groups had to look around the area for the

plants and trees that appeared on the photographs provided, and they were to

note down the corresponding scientific names of the plants. Small info-boards

placed in front of most plants provided this information. The fastest group

completed in less than 5 minutes, although they had the help of a gardener,

whilst the longest took about 20 minutes!

After getting the names of 3 out of 6 of the plants featured, they were

given the next clue:

1942,

The years that were to Follow,

Were dark, gloomy and hollow,

Proceed tO where the fate of the “impregnable fortress” was sealed on 15th

February 1942, where the British ARmed Forces surrendered Singapore to the

Japanese.

The place is now a refurbisheD museum.

Additional Information:

A direct bus, from the same bus stop, is your choice mode of transport.

If you noticed, the capital letters appeared at odd places where they were

not supposed to be, forming the word FORD, as we decided that by looking at

the information itself, there were many places where participants could be misled

to going, including the Battle Box. The groups took quite a long time to figure it

out, and by this time, they were separated quite far from each other already. The

groups were busy looking for information on how to proceed there.

Joshua Heng‟s group was found with a Transitlink Bus Guide but it was

soon confiscated by Yiyang. Soon after, most groups were spotted at the bus

stop, looking for which buses they could take there.

At the next station, Zaw Shane‟s group was spotted coming in a family

car, and it was found to belong to Jasdeep‟s mum. This was obviously a serious

breaching of the rules. Moreover, one of the group members had lied that they

were on service 170, when given a phone call by Calvin to check whether

anything was amiss. Therefore the group was given a number of penalties.

At the Memories at Old Ford Factory, all groups had to fill up a worksheet

based on the information static, and interactive displays in the museum, but the

station masters, Jonathan and Ian were extra picky on the penalty group‟s

answers, making sure that they had every single detail right before they could

complete the station and receive the clue for the next.

The clue comprised a map and a bus guide leaflet. The leaflet, labelled

Clue 1, was a 178 bus guide, with 2 bus stops highlights, while the map was a

satellite image of the Bukit Batok Area, with a few arrows superimposed onto the

image. Teams would have to find out that they were to take bus 178, boarding

and alighting at the highlighted stops, and then use the map to guide them to

Little Guilin.

When all groups

proceeded to Little Guilin,

the group leaders were

interrogated on their

group‟s road safety

practices, and as the

groups roughly appeared

at the same time, it was

difficult to deny any

jaywalking as the other groups would have betrayed them. Any group members

found jaywalking had to do jumping jacks as a punishment. Joshua Heng was

one of the members who got punished.

At Little Guilin, the groups were given a detour; they could choose one of

two tasks to complete. The detour was titled Brains or Brawns, with Brains

involving another worksheet-filling activity and Brawns involving the tiring climb

up the Nature Trail.

The group which had taken private transport, Shane‟s group, was further

punished at this station: They had to do both tasks instead of choosing one. They

were given a further penalty for two reasons: Firstly the penalty at Ford Factory

wasn‟t harsh enough and secondly the group had not learnt their lesson as they

were still arguing that they didn‟t break the rules.

The other three groups all chose Brain and all managed to obtain a

passing mark of 3/5. The penalty group had split into 2 to complete both tasks.

To ensure that they had reached the top of the trail, Sadikin and Calvin were

positioned at the top and they had to tell the team a password (which in this case

was “Integrity is of utmost importance in this Amazing Race”). The team had to

come down to tell Yiyang the password, and then they could continue.

The groups then

proceeded to the Bukit

Gombak MRT station to look

for the next clue, which was

cleverly hidden on a STOP

sign outside the MRT station

disguised as a property rental

advertisement. The clue:

“Please proceed to

Woodlands MRT station” was printed in small font right at the bottom. Given this

difficult clue, some groups took as long as 15 minutes to look for it!

However all managed to get to Woodlands MRT station smoothly,

although this separated the different teams. Daniel‟s group spent only 5 minutes

to find the clue, and so they had a good head start. After that, all groups

proceeded to the bus interchange below to look for the station masters there,

who were Jonathan and Ian.

The groups had to solve a complicated Maths equation which had an

answer of 902. They then went to look for bus 902 queue, which shows that the

bus heads for Republic Polytechnic (RP), the final pit stop, but the bus only

operated form 7am - 8am for the RP students. Therefore they had to find an

alternative bus to RP.

The groups arrived in this order: 1…3…4…2 at Republic Polytechnic with

Group 1 arriving at about 12.30pm, Group 3 at 12.45pm, Group 4 at 12.50pm

and Group 2 coming in finally at 1.15pm as they had missed the bus stop. All

then proceeded for lunch at the canteen nearby.

These were the groupings for the game:

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4

Daniel Goh Joshua Heng Zaw Shane Benjamin Ong

Gulshan Joel Soh Jasdeep Lee Kwok Hao

Sean Yap Yan Xiao Dong Cham Bao Rong Shreyas R.

Victor Looi Justin Chua Chang Shu Jian Joshua Lim

Lee Si Kai

SECTION 5: Visit to the Republic Polytechnic

Written by Cham Bao Rong

After a hearty lunch at the canteen of Republic Polytechnic, we were given a tour

of their library followed by a general tour of the school campus in two groups led

by Miss Geraldine and Miss Yee Wai Fun, both of whom are part of the library

staff, respectively. Beautifully designed, the library is extremely huge and

spacious, spanning over two storeys with a total of four entrances.

With movable barriers in between tables, colourful "fish balls" acting as seats, an

informal setting is created, because these flexible spaces allow interaction

between students, and coupled with its other facilities, students are not restricted

to strict behaviour in the library.

Indeed, this library is different from others in Singapore, and has definitely

accomplished its goal of becoming "a place where work, play and learning

become fused". The library houses the school's Student Career Centre providing

career development resources.

A cafe is also found in the library, next to which is a stage for performances by

the students, showcasing aspiring actors, singers, bands, livening up the library.

Not only are books, magazines and audio-visual materials found in the library,

Xbox games are also available for

loan, and a room is even set aside

for students to play these games.

After touring the library, we moved

on to touring the entire school

campus. The 20-hectare school

compound is integrated with an

abundance of greenery. This

greenery, coupled with the

spaciousness of the entire school gives a very open and free feeling, instead of

the usually compressed and encaged feeling of schools. This is further enhanced

with most of the buildings being made of glass. Water is also found around the

school in the forms of ponds and fountains, creating a sense of serenity, making

people feel calm and relaxed.

SECTION 6: School Games (2)

Written by Muhd Sadikin

Upon return from the Republic Polytechnic library, the librarians took part in yet

another activity before dismissal. With ZO Cards seemingly strewn messily all

over the centre aisle of the Hullett Memorial Library, along with sweets and

packets of crackers, the game promised to be fun, interesting, yet meaningful.

Everyone was divided into groups of three each; two of whom were to be

blindfolded, while the other guy was supposed to act as the „eyes‟ of the two poor

souls, guiding them around the area, but only through verbal communication. The

aim of the game was simple: the blindfolded guys were to collect as many of the

snacks as possible within the given time, without stepping on or touching any of

the ZO Cards that were placed strategically near the snacks, following the

instructions given by their guide. In addition, those who were blindfolded cannot

bump into each other, meaning no physical contact amongst them. The penalty

for anyone guilty of the offences was to drop whatever that they have collected,

and to start all over again from the start line.

Apart from that, there were also two

rounds of game. The top prize for the

first round was a big bag of chips,

whereas in the second round, it was

a whole tub of ice cream. Yummy!

However, to spice things up a little

(and for practical reasons as well),

the tub of ice cream was represented

by a paperclip in the second round,

meaning that whoever gets the clip would have gotten himself and his group the

ice cream. This obviously raised the difficulty of getting the top prize.

Indeed, it was an entertaining experience watching the librarians give each other

orders and instructions, and in some cases, the pressure and tension, especially

if the blindfolded person was close to coming in contact with a ZO Card, or a

fellow librarian for that matter.

In the end, what mattered was that they realised

the importance of effective communication, as well

as encouraging each other, which was the main

objective of the activity. It was important for the

“instructor” to guide both members and not leave

one of them lost. Well, not forgetting to have fun of

course!

Anyway, if you were wondering, the whole tub of ice cream was eventually

shared by everyone – in the spirit of sharing. (:

Raffles Trail

The annual Raffles Trail for Merit CCAs was held on the 19th

of January in the new S. Rajaratnam Block classrooms. The

objective was to showcase the Library Club‟s activities to

attract new Secondary One and Secondary Three students to

join the Hullett Memorial Library Club.

(Continued on next page)

The Raffles Trail was divided into two shifts for librarians to take turns at the

classroom-booth as well as at the main library, which was filled with many

students as a typical scene on Fridays. In the classrooms, the librarians tastefully

set up the presentation slides, the library activities booth, and the sign-up table

rather efficiently.

In the presentation, the Secondary Ones

were briefed on the guidelines of the duties,

such as the purpose and how each duty is

supposed to be done. At the same time, we

shared our personal experiences, offering an

insight into a librarians‟ duty. We also

showcased some of the fun times that

librarians have during the camps and LCM Days.

After the briefing, the Secondary Ones were free to look around the different

areas of the classrooms and more librarians were at hand to describe our work

and duties, as well as the camps and overseas trip.

In conclusion, the Raffles Trail was

an excellent platform for the

librarians to interact and share their

experiences with the students,

allowing them to understand a day in

a librarian‟s life.

Preparations for this LCM Day began when school re-opened in 2007. After

the Orientation/OBS period of week 1 and 2, we started brainstorming for LCM

Day 1, alongside preparations for Raffles Trail. Mrs Yap suggested the Lee

Kong Chian bus tour by the National Library Board but eventually we gathered

that the tour took a whole day, yet we needed to accommodate 2 other

important activities on LCM Day.

One of them was a visit to Handicaps Welfare Association (HWA). The

EXCO felt that this was necessary as we have decided to adopt HWA as our

long term CIP partner, so it is important to introduce the new librarians to it.

We planned to interact with the residents there this time, instead of doing

renovation and decoration work.

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Therefore we eliminated the idea of going on the Lee Kong Chian bus tour

and concentrated on these two main

activities. The detailed schedule of the

LCM Day was only confirmed a week

before LCM Day. Even then, we were

still unsure of the activities that will be

carried out at HWA. Mr Kelvin Lim, our

contact point with HWA, was away on

reservist and could only be contacted

on Wednesday, a day before the actual day.

Bao Rong, welfare manager, was overall in-charge for LCM Day, and the

welfare department handled most of the logistical matters. They bought food and

drinks for the day. Circulation department took care of the housekeeping section,

headed by Kang Jie. Programmes department came out with the icebreaker

games for the day.

Attendance for LCM Day was never

confirmed, even on the day itself. There were

many scholars who had tentative

arrangements for the day, even though this

LCM Day was compulsory. However, what

was most important was that most of the new

librarians turned up. A total of 30 HML Club

members participated in this LCM Day1.

We learnt a lot through the community service done at HWA. The sec 1s

benefited especially by learning how to manouvre wheelchairs and the rest

helped to decorate another one of the rooms as a “Fun Hub”. Everyone also took

turns to interact with the residents who were undergoing physiotherapy. During

lunch with the residents, we also celebrated the birthdays of those who were

born in January to March with the residents.

After returning to school, everyone started work once again by helping to

shelf-read. The sec 1 librarians were very enthusiastic and overall it was a very

enriching experience for all of us.

On Saturday 19th May 2007, Raffles Institution held its annual open house for

Primary 6 students. As usual, the members of the Hullett Memorial Library Club

were involved in this occasion and their duty was to show the many groups of

visitors around the HML. The first shift started as early as 0730 hrs in the morning.

Members were stationed near the loan counter and they were allotted small groups

of both parents and students to bring around the library.

This time, we were ready and the shelf-reading started as early as term 2

week 2 until just before open house itself. We also planned to give the Primary six

pupils a short quiz comprising ten questions and if they got all the questions

correct, they would win a limited edition HML bookmark. However as the day was

drawing to a close, we decided to give out the bookmarks as long as they

attempted the quiz. There were still many extras left behind and these were kept for

next year‟s open house.

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The Boy‟s Brigade also

held a fund raising project in the

library, selling badges and books

as they raised funds for their trip

to Cambodia during the holidays.

Their sale was a success and

they managed to sell most of

their stuff. However, unlike last

year the HML did not carry out its

own fund raising efforts.

For the day, lunch consisted of Mrs. Yap‟s macaroni sandwiches and

packed food from the canteen plus the leftover drinks from the last year‟s camp.

The second shift started at about 1230 hrs and the librarians in the second

shift started to learn how to conduct tours and shadowed those already seasoned

in doing so. The tour script prepared by Rohan also helped a lot to allow the new

librarians to get to know the library even better. The second shift was also very

smooth and was as successful as the first. One part of the library really caught

the eye of the visitors and prospective Rafflesians, and that was the new touch

screen cum whiteboard that was installed just before the Open House itself.

Demonstrations were carried out by the vendor and the visitors were

intrigued by what this new technology could actually do. Sometimes after the

demonstration started, the parents would not move and the overall tour guides

had to try their level best to “force” them to carry on with the tour.

Soon, it was approaching 1600 hrs and the number of visitors dwindled.

The librarians started packing up and after a short debrief by Mrs. Yap, we all left

the library after a successful open house where we showcased our world-class

library to all the visitors.