HML Club Annual Report 2007-2008

Presenting.....................

A HML Publication of 2008

August 2008

The Gryphon

Soars to New HeightsWINGS OUTSTRETCHED

CHIEF LIBRARIAN’S MESSAGE

“I am very positive that the next echelon of

leaders, headed by Hui Hao will re-define new

boundaries for the HML Club and bring it to

greater heights.”

Continued on Page 3

HML ANNUAL CAMP 2007 - AQUILA!

“From shooting hoops from a long distance,

moving through a challenging obstacle course

with various handicaps, using their bare hands

to fish out specific item from an ice bucket and

even contorting their limbs to support each

other, we saw each and every librarian grin

and grimace as they pushed themselves and

their teams to perform as best as they could!”Continued on Page 8

OPEN HOUSE 2008

“To my surprise, there was a parent who went

on complimenting on the library, but all for a

question, which was ‘The library is so cosy, but

that’s why everyone wants to come. So are

there enough books to go around?’”

Continued on Page 17

Before a new rein of leadership arrives, the gryphon must

look back on its past achievements for the

betterment of the present towards the

future

f

07’08 Annual Publication HML ClubE D I T O R :

CHIEF L IBRARIAN 07 ’08

C h a n g S h u J i a nW R I T E R S :

CLUB MEMBERSP H O T O G R A P H Y :

CALVIN TEO

Before a new rein off

Hullett Memorial Library’s 85 Years of Excellence

Blazing access to high-end information technology Wealth of knowledge & learning

ANNUAL

REPORT

EPOORRT 07777’’’00008888: A LITTLEE ABOUT USHHHMMMLL RREP PAGE22222


ABOUT US

The Hullett Memorial Library has made a

conscious effort to constantly upgrade its

facilities and services in order to remain

relevant in this information age. Our

foremost concern is to create a warm and

information rich environment where

students and staff of Raffles Institution can

partake in a variety of activities both

pleasant and conducive to life-long learning

with the aid of up-to-date resources and

advanced information technology.

FACILITIES

• A collection of about 60,000 books,

including Fiction, non-Fiction and

Reference

• More than 70 magazine titles including

PC Magazine, Runner's World, Newsweek,

Time and National Geographic.

• Info-educational DVDs, VCDs, LDs,

audio CDs, CD-ROM (PC), and video

tapes.

• Project Corner with 12 PCs for group

project work.

• SurfPOOL with 10 PCs for individual

information searches

• Notebooks with 20 PCs for mobile researc

• A Library Activities Room and a Creative

Studio for teaching, lectures or meetings

• Private study carrels

VISION

The Hullett Memorial Library aims to

develop an information and technology rich

teaching and learning environment that

encourages active real world research.

MISSION

The Library exists to link staff and students

with recorded knowledge in an appropriate

time, place and way, enabling them to

achieve excellence in teaching, learning and

research.

OBJECTIVES

Teaching

Work in partnership with teaching staff to

promote innovative use of information

resources in school enhance teaching and

learning.

Learning

Teach students and staff to become

information literate as a basis for life long

learning and real world problem solving.

Research

Increase knowledge base available to

researchers for the development of new

knowledge, by using IT to improve access to

information world wide.

The Hullett Memorial

Library aims to develop an

information and technology rich

teaching and learning

environment that encourages active

real world research.

- HML Vision

Congregation and sharing of knowledge amidst a friendly environment Books Galore!

HHHH RRTT 0077777’’’’’000000888888:: CCHHIIEEFF LLIIBBRRAARRIIAAN MMEESSSSAAGGEEHMLL RREEPPOORR PAPAGEE333333


It has been a very exciting, and at the same time, challenging year for

me in 07’08 and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Yap,

Mdm Ho, Ms Many, the exco 07’08 and all the librarians for giving me

this enriching experience to be the Chief Librarian.

I am very positive that the next echelon of leaders, headed by Hui Hao

will re-define new boundaries for the HML Club and bring it to greater

heights.

Chang Shu Jian’sOutgoing Message:

Chief Librarian 07’08

I am greatly honored and happy to be appointed to be the Chief

Librarian of HML club for 08’09 and I would like to thank Mrs. Yap as

well as HML EXCO 07’08 for the help they have given towards me

these past few years.

I am looking forward to a prosperous year ahead. I certainly hope that

the HML Club can make great strides and achieve many things that will

benefit the rest of the school community.

Ang Hui Hao’sIncoming Message:

Chief Librarian 08’09

HHHH EP RRT 07777’’’00008888: EXECUTTIVE COMMITTEEHHHMMMLLL RREPOORR PAGE44444


Chief Librarian

Ang Hui Hao

Secretary

Jonathan Ang Sixian

Secretary

Ang Zhi Jie Dyon

Programmes Manager

Tay Hui Chiang

Programmes Manager

Ong Chuan Kai

To Greater Heights...!

RRT 07777’’’00008888: SPECIALL COVERAGEHHHMMMLL RREPOORRT PAGE55555


The Annual General Meeting 2007

was held on the 20th of August. As

with previous years, this handover-

cum-awards ceremony was held in

the AVT, although this time on a

Monday as opposed to the traditional

Wednesday. For our Guest-of-

H o n o u r, w e i nv i t e d D e p u t y

Headmaster for Development Mr.

Kenneth Kwok, himself a former

librarian; and we

also managed to

inv i te a s our

special gust Mr.

Ronald Wong,

Chief Librarian

i n t h e y e a r

2002/2003.

The event

began with an

opening address

by Mr. Kenneth

K w o k , w h o

spoke about the

expectations on

t h e H u l l e t t

M e m o r i a l

Library, as well

as the librarians

who continually

service it. Mr.

Kwok compared the HML with other

libraries, and also mentioned in his

speech the library’s role in the school

and his own impressions of it.

Following that, Mr. Ronald

Wong stepped forward to give an

insightful speech on the nature of

change, preluded by the parable of

the Boulder of Eden. He touched

upon his days as a librarian in Raffles

Institution, and how they had

changed him. He also mentioned the

necessity of adapting to different

expectations and higher standards as

times changed and technology

advanced, relating this to how the

Hullett Memorial Library underwent

many changes while he was Chief

Librarian.

T h e C h i e f L i b r a r i a n o f

2006/2007, Li Yiyang, then stood up

to make his own address. His speech

was an overview of the past year, and

in it, he mentioned many events that

were organized for the librarians,

such as the CIP activities on the

LCM days, and also talked about the

everyday issues of the library, such as

shelf-reading and attendance.

The speeches thus concluded, it

was time for the annual handover

ceremony, where the Executive

Committee of 2006/2007 would

hand over their duties to that of

2007/2008. In the previous year, the

post and associated duties of the

Deputy Chief Librarian were split

into two; this year, these two halves

were again merged as Deputy Chief

Librarians Muhammad Sadikin and

Daniel Goh handed over their

combined portfolio to the new

Deputy Chief

Librarian Law

Kang Jie. The

h a n d ove r o f

dut ie s cu lm-

inated in the

handing over of

chairmanship

of the Hullett

M e m o r i a l

Library Club,

i n wh i ch L i

Yiyang handed

over his rank

a n d r e s p o n -

s i b i l i t i e s t o

C h a n g S h u

Jian.

It was time for

the new Chief

L i b r a r i a n t o

take the stage. Chief Librarian of

2007/2008 Chang Shu Jian made his

inaugural address, setting goals and

expectations for the upcoming year.

From the start he set a firm tone,

promising to maintain the library and

calling for the support of the

members of the library club.

As the AVT applauded the new

Executive Committee, Chang Shu

Annual General Meeting 07’08WRITTEN BY: GAN YU NENG

J

L



Annual General Meeting 07’08WRITTEN BY: GAN YU NENG

Jian led the librarians in taking the

librarians’ pledge.

After heralding in the new

leadership, the new members of the

Hullett Memorial Library Club were

officially invested. Pupils from

Secondary 1, 2 and 3 proudly came

to the front of the AVT to receive

their HML collar pins from Ms.

Many and Mdm. Ho.

Commendable librarians from

each level were also awarded with

tokens of appreciation for their

willingness to go beyond the standard

call of duty, and for their tireless

service to the library and – through it

– the school community.

Fo l lowing that , tokens o f

appreciation were also given out to

long-serving parent volunteers Mrs.

Kathleen Lee, Mdm. Ng Mee Ling,

and Mrs. Laurel Teo. These parents

donated their own valuable time to

helping to maintain the library,

especial ly in the hours when

librarians were unable to work due to

classes or other commitments.

Finally, tokens of appreciation

were given out to all Secondary 4

librarians, especially the graduating

Executive Committee – Graduating

C h i e f L i b r a r i a n L i Yi y a n g,

Graduating Deputy Chief Librarians

Muhammad Sadikin and Daniel

Goh, Graduating Programmes

Manager Gan Yu Neng, and

Graduating Welfare Manager Cham

Bao Rong.

Mrs. Cheryl Yap, the Head of

Information Technology and overall

teacher in charge of the Hullett

Memorial Library, made a closing

speech that rounded up the ceremony

and set the tone for the year ahead. A

short multimedia presentation by

for mer l ibrar ian Calv in Teo,

comprising photographs and videos

from many past events over the last

four years, concluded the formal

ceremony.

The Annual General Meeting

2007 ended with a small reception

o u t s i d e t h e AV T, w i t h fo o d

generously provided by parent

volunteers. The librarians ended the

day with the traditional photo-taking

sessions and other light-hearted

activities in the library.

Sadikin posing... Bao Rong going bonkers?



Introduction

The Hullett Memorial Library

Club’s Annual Camp for the year

2007 was held for 3D2N from the

2nd November to the 4th November.

It had the theme of Aquila which

means Eagle in latin and our main

objective in using this theme was to

let the young eagles (Secondary 1s)

rise in the face of many challenges

and forge new friendships and bonds

along the way. The camp’s other

major purpose was to tidy the messy

shelves up to prepare for the new year

ahead.

Originally, the camp was not

planned to be held so early before

the holidays had even started.

However, due to unforeseen

circumstances like the Overseas

Immersion Programme which

many members of the EXCO

were involved in, the only choice

was to squeeze the camp in

directly after school has officially

ended for the year. Fortunately, the

camp was still very successful, due

largely to the EXCO’s diligence in

planning for the camp which

started as early as term 3.

Icebreakers

Ice Breakers was generally a

success as the team members had

definitely bonded together and at the

same time had a great deal of fun as

a whole as library club members.

Whacko and Guardian Whacko

was generally well-liked by the teams

and it was instrumental in getting to

know each others’ name. Safety of

the participants was well taken care of

and no one was injured.

Dog and Bone helped the team

members to bond together as they

had to listen for the question or

puzzle given and solve it together to

obtain the identity of the person who

was suppose to run out and get the

“bone”. Teamwork was shown and

the participants also enjoyed a lot of

fun in solving the puzzles and rushing

out in a mad scramble to escort the

bone back to their starting line

without getting caught.

Written by: Yan Xiao Dong

Shelf-reading

After a brief round of ice-

breaker activities, we began to

embark on the most important duty a

librarian must do – housekeeping!

As the library was in a state of

neglect after a long and intense term

of studying, everyone chipped in to

restore the shelves to its proper state,

while enjoying the task thoroughly

with the lively interaction among

librarians. Chatter filled the usually-

quiet aisles between the shelves as the

library was specially closed for the

afternoon, as we worked hard to

rearrange the massive 48,000 book

collection in the library.

Written by: Law Kang Jie

Flag-making

The purpose of the flag-making

activity was not only to provide a

medium for everyone to display their

creative strengths and find out about

other’s creative talents, but also to get

a common identity between all the

members in each team. This activity

saw 4 very different flags, some

display-ing the co-mmon values the

teams wanted to encompass and

show through-out the course of the

camp.

One problem which could be

rectified would be to have more

time to make the flags because

some teams did not have enough

time to complete their flags in the

given time, and therefore some

members had to sacrifice their

bathing time to complete the flag.

The issue is much less the sacrificing

of bathing time, but rather more of

team members not being able to work

together to complete the flag.

Written by: Rohan Puthran

School Games

After an interesting dinner

bought from the Dining Hall,

librarians split up into their respective

groups and proceeded for School

Games played at various stations. It

Annual Camp 2007: WRITTEN BY: CAMP COMMITTEE



was held over 2 halves, with a half-

time game.

In the first half, librarians had to

brave through unknown concoctions

of food, master the Morse Code,

brainstorm for innovative solutions to

pass a roll of masking tape with

speed, count the number of lockers in

the Junior Block and answer a set of

trivia questions. These activities

mainly tested their intellectual skills,

but more importantly, how they

communicate with each other. Be it

cheering each other on, or gulping

down spicy and bitter juices at the

same time, the librarians enjoyed

themselves thoroughly.

In the half-time break, the

librarians began to play the “War of

Omok”, basing it on a mini-game

found in the popular MapleStory

computer game. In the dark Raffles

Square, we played the game with

lightsticks, trying to outwit the other

team. The glowing lightsticks in the

dark environment brought about an

interesting effect.

After that, we proceeded with the

second half of the School Games,

where teams were pitted against one

another in terms of their physical

ability and how they worked together

as a team. From shooting hoops from

a long distance, moving through a

challenging obstacle course with

various handicaps, using their bare

hands to fish out specific item from

an ice bucket and even contorting

their limbs to support each other, we

saw each and every librarian grin and

grimace as they pushed themselves

and their teams to perform as best as

they could!

Written by: Law Kang

Jie

Excursion

T h i s t r i p t o t h e

Singapore City Gallery

was made possible only

after several rounds of

deliberation among the

EXCO. We hesitated

because we knew some

of the Secondary 1s

had already been to this

place before but in the end, we still

felt that this was a really good

opportunity to expose the club to our

valuable national heritage in a fun

and interesting manner.

We recced the Singapore City

Gallery multiple times before the

camp and made some special

arrangements in the timing of the

camp’s events so as to ensure that we

would be able to catch the special

“lights and sounds” show held only

during specific time slots.

Fortunately, we gave the journey

from the school to the Singapore City

Gallery venue a full one hour’s time

in our schedule. So even though some

teams were delayed on the way in the

MRT journey, everything was still on

schedule as we arrived there at 9.50

a.m.

Upon arriving, all of us had a

great deal of fun as we sat down and

participated in the exclusive and

interactive game show hosted by

Gurmit Singh at the Singapore City

Gallery. Then, we toured around all

the interesting exhibitions several

times in order to fill in a special quiz

sheet set by the EXCO. This quiz

sheet had two purposes. One was of

course to made sure the members of

the club had benefitted from this trip

by learning things and the other was

to use the quiz as the precursor to the

Amazing Race to determine which

team got to start the race first.

Written by: Chang Shu Jian

Amazing Race

Ideas for the Amazing Race had

already surfaced as early as in the

middle of term 3 but we only started

working on it at the start of term 4

due to the excess of time we had

during the DMP period. We usually

discuss the venues we will be receeing

for the Amazing Race beforehand

and then, actually visiting them in

our receeing trips. We made around 4

or 5 trips in total and several rounds

of discussions and deliberations were




made before actually settling on the

confirmed list of venues to include in

the Amazing Race. Due to Sethu’s

inability to attend any of these

receeing trips because of his other

commitments, we finally decided to

make a painful decision which was to

r e m ove h i m f ro m t h e c a m p

committee.

Although planning for the

Amazing Race started very early, it

had many minor hiccups in its

execution which could have been

be t te r i f no t for un fore seen

circumstances. As the school term

began to draw towards its end,

member s o f the EXCO had

increasing external commitments to

fulfill and as such, the actual logistics

of the Amazing race including the

materials, instructions, clues of the

various stations were only settled in a

mere number of days before the

camp. And this led to the not-so-

smooth-and-could-have-been-better

execution of the Amazing Race.

Nonetheless, it was still a fantastic

experience for many of the members

especially the Secondary 1s as can be

seen from the generally positive

feedback given.

While the rest of the club were

having their full 45-min lunch after

the Singapore City Gallery excursion,

members of the EXCO had to wolf

down their lunches so as to leave

early to their various stations for the

Amazing Race. However, this was

largely unnecessary because the

briefing of the Amazing Race itself

took longer than expected and this

led to EXCO members at their

stations to wait for hours before the

first team arrived.

Rohan was the first station

master and he laid in ambush for the

camp participants at the top floor of

Vivocity. Each team was given a set of

close-up pictures and they would have

to go around Vivocity taking shots of

the exact same pictures. Teams then

have to show each and every photo to

the station master before they are

given their next clue. This station was

extremely meaningful because it

exposed the teams to many famous

brand names of shops and widened

their general knowledge as well as

their street-smartness.

The next clue led the teams to

the passageway next to the Esplanade

Carpark located at the City Hall

MRT station. In this interesting

station (no pun intended), Kang Jie

was the station master. Teams have to

number their members and then,

draw from a lottery box. This allows

them to randomly pick a body part

for each of their members. With

these various body parts which

include the 5th finger, the nose, the

knee, the ankle, the elbow, the lower

back, the shoulder and the heel, team

members are supposed to use them to

transport a ball across the passage.

This was certainly no easy feat

and teams who were unlucky had an

especially tough time. Imagine a nose

paired to the heel of a foot! Woot!

But this was certainly one of the most

entertaining stations in the entire race

and the entire process required a lot

of teamwork and concentration. If a

team member giggled on one end, I

am pretty sure that the other end

would feel it too.

Next up was the station at the

Cavanagh Bridge and I was the

station master. The location of the

Cavanagh Bridge was pretty remote

and honestly speaking, I would not

have known how to reach there

without the help of a map. However,

thankfully, all the teams still managed

to make it to the station without

delaying the schedule of the whole

race.

At this station, teams were given

a hard puzzle to crack whose main

motive was not to test the thinking

skills of the teams, rather it was to

test their observation skills. The

problem mainly involved finding out

the conversion rate of CWT to the

modern unit of KG. Yiyang’s team,

who was in the lead at that time,




resorted to asking the many tourists

around the area with no avail. But

actually the conversion rate was

simply written in small print on a

notice found at one end of the bridge.

In the end, only Bao Rong’s team

managed to clear the station without

the use of any hints and I commend

their good effort and teamwork even

though two members of the team

(Hui Chiang and Si Kai) were having

foot injuries at that time.

The next station was something

all librarians should excel in doing.

Book-finding! Hui Hao was the

station master at the Esplanade

library and the task was for the teams

to find specific books under the

difficult criteria he set, all under the

s t r i c t l y q u i e t e n v i r o n m e n t

requirements of a library. This

helped train teams to work together

even with little communication and I

believe it would help greatly in the

day-to-day tasks of being a librarian.

The following station was a

detour and Xiao Dong was the

station master at the Suntec food

court. The clue to Xiao Dong’s

station was “Opposite Techno

Moon” which if properly decoded,

would give Suntec. However, the

process in which this clue had to be

decoded was extremely unusual and

it was no surprise that many teams

gave up half-way and would rather

pay a forfeit with their points.

Surprisingly though, Bao Rong’s

team had a really special way of

thinking out of the box and managed

to guess the clue correctly.

Xiao Dong’s station was basically

one to let the teams take a breather as

all they really had to do was finish a

bowl of Ice Kachang while reciting

10 shop names in Suntec. Many

teams probably appreciated the

inclusion of such a detour station but

it also caused some teams to become

lax and rest for longer than was

needed.

After the detour, it was back to

Rohan with his station at the Youth

Park. His station involved having the

teams play a very special “board

game” on the concrete squares

marked out at the Youth Park.

However, there was an unforeseen

event held on the exact same spot on

the day itself so Rohan had to step

aside to a corner and play this game

instead with paper and pen.

This special “board game” is the

unique creation of the EXCO and it

was invented during the last receeing

trip when we were desperate to

include a station at Youth Park but

had no ideas for it. It is a mentally

challenging game and required

teams to think it through before

playing the game or else they would

have to end up forfeiting many of

their hard-earned points. Due to its

complexity, I shall not explain in

detail how this game was actually

played.

Yiyang’s team who was still in

the lead at that time spent a very

long amount of time thinking before

devising an almost foolproof strategy

which wwould allow them to

complete this station with the least

number of points lost. Daniel’s team

was second at that time and I am

pretty sure they were quite happy to

be second. Because after watching




Yiyang’s team play through the game,

they already realized the strategy

required for clearing this game and

managed to clear it too almost

instantaneously, helping them to

greatly close the wide gap between

the first and second place.

The next station master is once

again back to Kang Jie and his

station was at the Paragon shopping

c e n t re . H i s s t a t i o n i nvo l ve d

unscrambling a list of brand names

which could be found in the vicinity

correctly. This station’s purpose is

slightly similar to the first station at

Vivocity and it once again enriched

the teams with a wealth of general

knowledge and street-smartness by

actively engaging them in observing

and interacting with the world

around them.

Fol lowing that , we had a

roadblock station at Toa Payoh Bus

Interchange of which I was the

station master. The clue at the

roadblock was a maths puzzle

carefully hidden in a series of

anagrams and teams would have to

send in individual members to solve

them. Upon failing two attempts,

teams were then deducted of their

points and would then be allowed to

cooperate with each other to solve the

problem.

The answer to this clue was

supposed to have been 88 which

would then be the bus number of the

bus teams were supposed to take to

get to the next station. However, due

to negligence on my part, the correct

answer to the puzzle when solved did

not turn out to be 88. As a result,

teams were angry at me for wasting

their time and delaying their progress

onward. Therefore, I changed plans

slightly by allowing them to take the

MRT to Ang Mo Kio which was a

much shorter journey than taking the

bus.

Next was Hui Hao with his

station at the Ang Mo Kio Town

Gardens East. This station once

a g a i n t r a i n s t e a m s o n t h e i r

observation skills and drives home the

theme of the camp by allowing team

members to acquire good observation

skills as an eagle (Aquila) would have.

In this station, teams would have to

identify and describe the nutmeg tree

as well as the rubber tree. But little do

teams know that there are actually

no t i c e board s nearby g i v ing

information on these trees in the

park, thus allowing teams to have an

ensured victory should they manage

to find them.

Because of my allowing teams to

take the MRT instead of the bus,

teams managed to find Hui Hao

significantly faster than expected.

However, Bao Rong’s team turned

out taking the wrong staircase out of

the MRT station as a result and

ended up walking rounds through the

park before back-tracking and finally

finding Hui Hao.

To end it off, the last station was

back at Junction 8 with Xiao Dong

being the station master. Throughout

the entire race, teams were carrying

their flags made at the start of the

camp with them as they race through

Singapore and at the finish, they were

of course expected to “flag” to the

finish. (pun intended)

So upon arriving at Junction 8,

teams had to located Xiao Dong and

stick their flags into the soil to mark

the end of the race. However, despite

Yiyang’s team still being in the lead at

that time, they eventually lost to

Daniel’s team. This was because in

their urgency to finish the race, they

actually broke their flag into two,

making it especially hard for them to

poke it into the ground. In contrast,

Daniel’s group, upon hearing the task

required, almost instantaneously

managed to let their stick sink into

the ground which was an amazing

feat that other teams could never

match up to.

So the results of the race which

promptly ended exactly on the dot as

planned are as follows:

1) Daniel’s Team

2) Yiyang’s Team

3) Sethu’s Team

4) Bao rong’s Team

All in all, to sum up this

wonderful and fruitful Amazing Race

Aquila, I must say that on top of all

the hiccups, misunderstandings and

arguments that have happened, it has

been a very fun and enjoyable

experience for the whole club and

that every single of the EXCO can

feel the immense satisfaction obtained

for every blood, sweat and tear that

they had given for the sake of

organizing this year’s Amazing Race.

Written by: Chang Shu Jian





Birthday Bash

The birthday bash was

split into two parts, the main

breakfast and the auction. For

the main breakfast, Mrs. Yap

bought Bee Hoon, Nasi

Lemak and muffins for

everyone and everyone ate

while chatting with each

other and talking about the

m e m o r i e s t h ey s h a r e d

throughout the camp.

For this year’s birthday

bash, we decided to use an auction system

that would allow the four different teams to

use all the points they had accumulated

throughout the entire camp to bid for some

food and mystery items including potato

chips, snacks and even tissue paper etc. This

meant that the points took an added

significance and the points will not only

determine the best group and will actually

turn into some sort of reward system. The

auction, which took place after the main

breakfast, was a success with many of the

groups bidding enthusiastically for many of

the items and none of them went home

empty handed and they could enjoy the

snacks in the comfort of their own home.

Written by: Ang Hui Hao

Logistics

For the entire camp, there was a total of

five main meals, first day’s dinner, second

day’s breakfast, lunch and dinner and lastly

the third day’s breakfast. We decided to

cater food for the first day’s dinner from the

dining hall. For the second day, we bought

bread for breakfast and spreads for

breakfast and for the first time ever we had

it in the HML workroom with newspapers

being spread out on the floor near the

Information Counter. Lunch and dinner

were spent at the hawker centre next to

URA center and S11 at Junction 8. The

next day’s breakfast would be in school and

after that would be the birthday bash. We

also bought buns for supper on the first two

nights. As a treat, Mrs. Yap also decided to

order Pelican Pizza on the second night to

go along with the others.

We decided to start buying all the

snacks two weeks before the start of the

camp and the bread, buns and spreads on

the Monday of the week of the camp. We

decided to buy snacks and 1.5 liter bottled

drinks including Jelly Beans, Potato Chips

and Prawn Crackers for the snacks and

Sprite, Vanilla Coke and Pepsi for the

drinks.

The entire expenditure of the camp

was $266.65 and most of it was spent on

food and drinks and not materials for the

camp as most of the materials for the

various activities were easily accessible and

did not require us to buy them.

Written by: Ang Hui Hao

“The activities held were

meaningful and helped us in

building rapport between fellow

librarians.”

- Chuan Kai

“I now crave for more HML

camps.”

- Simon

“The camp was very fun… The

activities planned also helped us bond together and know each

other better than we did

previously.”

- Hui Chiang

“I enjoyed Amazing Race

the most!”

- Chai Xun



Planning for the Raffles Trail began

more than one month ago as we

consolidated ideas on how we would

make this experience a unique and

memorable one for the Secondary

Ones. In the end, we decided to hold

it in the library, around the Hullett’s

table (sofa area), but concerns about

keeping the noise level down in the

library soon arose. We then thought

of having it in the LAR but were

afraid of the possible jam given the

narrow corridor. Then, we thought of

the classroom which would be ideal

because the noise will not become a

problem. However, upon thinking

through, holding the Raffles Trail in

any other venue would defeat the

purpose we had in asking them to

come to the library. Therefore, after

much deliberation, the library was

still chosen as the final venue to hold

the inaugural Raffles Trail 2008.

On the day i t s e l f , ou r

presentation mainly comprised of a

power point and some v ideos

documenting the activities we had in

the past few years. However, due to

technical failures, we ended up not

being able to play the music directly

from the computer and we had to

replace some ipod music to make up

f o r i t . A l s o , d u e t o s o m e

miscommunication within the

EXCO, Jonathan ended up buying

13 packs of sweets when the original

agreement was 4. Therefore, we laid

out the sweets beside the sign-up

sheet in a bid to get Sec1s to sign up

as well as to clear away our massive

stock of sweets. However, the

situation soon grew out of control

and all of the Sec1s (including their

PSL(s) clambered over each other,

trying to load their pockets with as

many sweets as they can. Therefore,

we decided to change the method in

which we distributed these sweets by

having a QnA session as we went

along. And people who answered the

questions correctly (or incorrectly at

times) would then get the sweets.

1Q was the first class to come

a n d t h e i r e n t h u s i a s m w a s

unbelievable. 6 members from 1Q

immediately signed up with us.

However, for later classes, there was

barely any excitement left in the

Sec1s (possibly because they had

already visited too many Raffles Trail

stations) and at most, only one or two

signed up. Amidst one of these

classes, there was suddenly a

technical failure and the video

stopped playing. So we tried to

engage the Sec1s by telling them

lame jokes. To our disbelief, this was

much more effective than the playing

the video and many signed up

straight away. Thereafter, we switched

to this “lame-joke” tactic and

successfully brought about a greater

number of signups.

During the later half of the

Raffles Trail, classes began to come in

twos or threes and there was simply

no way to let all of them sit down and

watch the videos. Hence, we decided

to have Yiyang and Calvin help us by

giving the excess classes a tour

around the library while we rushed

through the presentation with the

current classes. This might seem like

an ideal solution at first but the

situation still got out of hand because

at one point, there were around 5

classes in the library. Therefore, to

our regret, we had to rush through

the presentation with quite a number

of classes, leaving them befounded at

what the entire club was about.

Finally, at the end of the day,

we counted through the sign-up

sheets and discovered that there were

around 24 people who wanted to join

the HML club. This was pretty much

an unprecedented record and we

were very excited about these results.

However, upon calling them up to

have them attend the training session

the following week, we realized that a

third of them were no longer

interested. Thankfully, the initiative to

join the club was spread virally

through word-of-mouth among the

Sec1s and we ended up with a

situation where 1 or 2 newcomer

will join every other day. And we

certainly ended up having more

recruits than we expected.

All in all, Raffles Trail 2008

was an unparalleled success and we

look forward in triumphing the

challenges which would lay ahead

for the rest of the year.

Raffles TrailWRITTEN BY: ROHAN PUTHRAN



Thursday, 13th of March was the

day that Hullet Memorial Library

Club held its 1st annual Library Club

Members day of the year. Based on

the consent for ms, 36 fe l low

librarians were expected to turn up

on the day itself. However, not all

showed up on that day, which was

quite sad.

Starting very early in the

morning, attendance was taken at the

loan counter which than shifted to

the library activities room. As they

sign their names and fill out their

duty days, the librarians were given

name tags to write out their names in

marker, in preparation for the ice-

breaker, Name Tag Grab! Due to the

lack of time(caused by waiting and

cal l ing up on absentees ) , we

proceeded to kick-start LCM Day

with the ice-breakers!

The first game we played was a

new introduction to the LCM Day

scene, Name Tag Grab! Librarians

were given random name tags to

paste on their fellow librarians back.

Then, librarians had to go around

finding their own names while

preventing people from finding their

names on their backs! Sounds

confusing? Mrs. Yap helpfully

explained some of the instructions

and we started grabbing! After a

exciting game of subtlety and

fun(while getting to know each other‘s

names), the winner of the game was

Sean!

T h e n e x t g a m e w a s t h e

recurring, Whacko!, the essential

game for us librarians to solidify our

knowledge of each others names.

The whacker had to be fast and quick

while the players had to remember

each other names to protect

themselves. However, some of the sec

ones were left out from the game as

no one remembered to call out their

names. This is sad but I am sure it

was just in a moment of forgetfulness,

we librarians are very closely bonded

and we definitely can remember each

other names!

The last and final game was

Polar Bear! This was the game which

many of the sec one librarians

commented highly on. It was started

with quite a bit of mishaps, which the

librarians sportingly pointed on.

However, problems were quickly

resolved and we all had fun playing

the game! We had to use our brains

to guess who was the evil Polar Bears

and we had to trust each others

judgement, which is very important

in library club life. We had a lot of

fun in this game and we all

thoroughly enjoyed it.

Nex t up wa s the l i b ra r y

Housekeeping! The Librarians were

split up into groups of 4-5 and were

assigned tasks(Redesigning signs,

Earth Day quiz/crossword) and after

that we converged as one and helped

out Ms Many and Madam Ho in

stacking up old magazines and

arranging new ones. This really

displayed our group cooperation as

we assisted each other in stacking

according to the publishing date and

tying up the bundles of thick

magazines, gazettes. Towards the end

of the housekeeping period, the

planning committee left to set up

their station games.

Shu Jian stayed behind to give

each group a clue in an envelope and

each team went to decipher the clues

and headed to their respective

stations. The LCM Day’s station

games were based on the theme

“Sweetopia”. There were altogether 6

games, maintained by someone from

the planning committee. As the heavy

Library Club Members DayWRITTEN BY: ANG ZHI JIE DYON



Library Club Members DayWRITTEN BY: ANG ZHI JIE DYON

rain poured outside, librarians ran

around trying to complete their

station games which had sweet

rewards if they manage to complete

them properly. I am happy to say

many enjoyed the games as they were

carefully selected to foster and instill

group bonding and cooperation

between librarians. After the station

games we proceeded to the school

canteen to have our lunch. We

initially planned to have lunch

outside of school but it was raining

cats and dogs and we had to have a

change of plans, much to the dismay

of many librarians who were

anticipating going out as a club to

have a meal together. We had fun

talking together and we joked around

as the rain poured outside. That

clearly did not dampen our sprits and

no one was a wet blanket and sulk

throughout the lunch.

We then had a session of book

shelving/reading at the reference

section. We worked hand in hand,

each librarian was assigned a shelf

and we quickly got the job done,

though some were slacking while

the others were working hard. That

was quickly solved with a few stern

glares and scolding and they were

up and shelving books like the rest

of the librarians.

We had a great plan. To go out

together to Kinokuniya to have a

book outing! Mrs Yap planned to

allow us each to choose a non-

fiction and fiction book to add to

the library’s collection of books.

However, the rain stopped our great

plan, much to everyone‘s dismay. Its

ok, we also had a great backup plan,

although many of the sec ones were

looking forward to the book outing

but too bad for the rain. We all

gathered at the library activities room

and had a cosy time watching

Amazing Grace which was about

black slavery and white protestors.

The movie had a lot of depth and it

touched everyone in the room. It also

gave us a deeper understanding of

early America’s tensions. Due to the

air-con, we all had a relaxed time,

unperturbed by the rain. When the

movie was over, we had a brief games

session as the food was being

prepared.

We had a mini-welcome cum

party session at the gallery, where the

groups exchanged their hard-earned

coupons for prizes as their just

rewards for showing teamwork. Mrs

Yap also provided some delicious

curry puffs and muffins for the club.

We conversed with our fellow

librarians and understood each other

better. We all relished our food and

goodies as the LCM Day came to a

close. Then came the last event of the

day. Cleaning up! But that was

reserved for the committee! After

cleaning up and shifting things back

to where they belong, we had a final

debr ie f by Mrs Yap for the

committee and we listened to the

feedback and commented on it. We

were pleased with the overall good

response and we plan to make the

next LCM Day more fun-filled than

ever, with new things introduced.

Hopefully it will not rain on HML

Club’s parade again!

We love book outings! (:



On 20th of March 2008, the Hullett

Memorial Library Club participated

in the first ever RI Community Day, a

part of the Raffles Institution 185

celebrations. A total of 15 librarians

and 3 math club members were

supposed to join us for our activities

that day. Unfortunately, some of

them were not able to be present that

day due to va r iou s rea sons .

Fortunately, a few other students

decided to join us at the last minute,

supplementing our loss of manpower.

After the launch ceremony, we

proceeded to the Raffles square to

wait for our buses. Though we were

among the first to leave the hall, our

bus came the latest in the 8.30 group.

Halfway through the wait, it started

raining. We fled to the shelter of the

library, while Shu Jian called Mrs Yap

to confirm whether he should bring

the ladder along to HWA.

Finally, after a 15 minute wait,

the buses arrived. We ran through the

rain to get to our bus, then waited

onboard the bus for the rest of the

people arrived. HWA was located at

Whampoa; hence we faced a rather

long drive. On board the bus, Shu

Jian gave us a briefing on how we

were to split up and paint different

sections of the wall. Copies of the

wall design were also passed down

the seats for students who had not

seen the design yet.

When we got to HWA, it was

still drizzling. Nevertheless, the

teachers and the VIP had already

started painting the wall. Due to the

overcrowding of the wall area, most

of us were ushered inside to be given

a briefing on

t h e H W A

services and

facilities. On

the way to the

HWA gym,

we not i ced

p i c ture s o f

old librarians

on the walls.

Inside,

M r Ke l v i n

Lim gave us a

short demo

on assembling

and de-assembling wheelchairs. Then

he gave us a chance to try our hand

at assembling and de-assembling our

own wheelchairs. As it turned out, the

wheelchair which was assigned to the

first team was made in America and

therefore could be de-assembled

easier. However, the wheelchair that

was given to the second team was a

common wheelchair and therefore

could only be de-assembled after a

longer period of time.

A f t e r t h e w h e e l c h a i r

demonstration, we had another

demonstration of how wheelchair-

bound patients transferred from their

wheelchairs to the therapy beds. In

a l l , the demonstrat ions were

extremely educational.

S u b s e q u e n t l y, w e w e r e

transferred to help paint the wall.

The teachers and the VIP had

already painted a fair portion of the

wall, and headmaster, senior deputy

headmaster and the VIP had already

left. We were left to help paint the rest

of the unpainted flowers and

background. During this period of

time, scaffolding was assembled to

paint the portions of the wall that

were too high for us to reach. After

the assembly of the scaffold, some

news reporters interviewed various

people. After about an hour and a

half, we were given a break to go and

eat and rest. During the break, the

other group was brought in to help

paint the wall.

When the break was over, we

came back to HWA and let the other

group take their break. Then, we

continued to paint the wall.

Unfor tunate ly, we were

dismissed before the wall was

completed. Fortunately, after the

event, we were given an image of the

completed wall, so we had a solid

idea of what we had given to the

community during RI community

day.

RI Community Day @ H.W.A.WRITTEN BY: JONATHAN ANG SIXIAN



To me, I think that open house was

actually quite fun and interesting.

Though the open house was very

busy (at times), I feel that I have

learned a lot from the open house.

The open house was very busy

but I feel that the librarians have

handled this occasion very well. I

remember the open house last year.

That day, when I was led around the

library when I was a primary 6

student, I must say I was very

impressed. What’s more, I wasn’t very

outspoken at that time. Now, things

have changed. That day, I was

actually feeling a bit nervous but I

anticipated giving tours. Then, my

first visitor came. When I started

talking, I could not believe that I was

actually giving the tour. Everything

actually went very smoothly except

for a couple of hesitations, other than

that, I was quite pleased with my

performance. After that, things could

only get better. I did not remember

the notes well, but after giving tours, I

got used to what I had to say. I

actually felt quite good giving out the

tours. Slowly, I was not shy at all.

Instead of ‘stoning’ about in the loan

counter, I anticipated the next visitor.

I must say I learned a lot from that

experience.

Other than that, there were the

nerve-wrecking questions. Some

parents were very quiet, but there

were also some parents that asked a

lot of questions. I’m sure everyone

had some difficulties, but everyone

answered them to their best ability.

There were some that I did not know

how to answer, I admit, but all I can

say is that I tried. To my surprise,

there was a parent who went on

complimenting on the library, but all

for a question, which was “The

library is so cosy, but that’s why

everyone wants to come. So are there

enough books to go around?”

Lastly, there were some primary

students who were more interested in

playing and games. There was

something very ironic. A couple of

kids say the animal abuse poster and

started to ‘play’ or more like shake

the soft toys like, well, toys. There

were some people who expected

more, but I guess they had high

expectations. Luckily there was no

violence or horsing around from the

primary students. Other than these,

the whole thing went very well.

RI Open HouseWRITTEN BY: WONG ZHE HERNG

Look at Nicholas’s finger...... Lofty Aspirations =p

HHMML CCLLUB 0077’08

“It has been a pleasure working with the pupil librarians, in particular the HML EXCO 07’08 as they

have shown good leadership qualities in

running the HML Club. Shu Jian has

shown great responsibility and commitment in his role as the Chief

Librarian 07’08. On Behalf of the staff

and school, I wish the Sec4 graduating pupil librarians all the very

best in their future endeavours.”

- Mrs. Cheryl Yap

August 2008

FROM:

H M L C L U B 0 7 ’ 0 8S p e c i a l t h a n k s g o e s o u t t o M r s Y a p ,

M s M a n y , M d m H o & C a l v i n T e o07’08 Annual Publication

HERE’S WISHING:

A Prosperous Year Ahead

For HML CLUB 08’09!!!

Final Words

I guess it’s time to say goodbye!

Education

HML Club Annual Report 2007-2008