VS still the best

I just read Shyh Jie's blog about how Singapore is setting up elite schools for sportsmen and academically inclined students. I have read the article in Straits Times too but I only read the part about the Singapore Sports School. Reading the articles about the elite students in Singapore makes me feel inferior. I would never have gotten into any of these elite schools. I'm not a sportsman and I'm not a genius. I'm just pretty average. I never had those choices back in my days anyway, and I chose Victoria School after I got my PSLE results. It was my first choice back then and looking back, I would have made the same choice. I remembered my father bringing me to visit Chinese High after the release of my results. My father is Chinese-educated and he wanted me to go into the best Chinese school, which is Chinese High. Fortunately, my results weren't good enough to merit me a place in Chinese High and I didn't even bother to put it down as a choice. I also remembered putting down Gan Eng Seng as my second choice. It was a neighbourhood school and I put it down on the recommendation of my form teacher. There was a time when I thought I might end up there because I wasn't doing too well at one point in time. I'm glad my results ended up being good enough for me to go into Victoria School. VS was the best choice for me as it was near my house and was considered a pretty good school at that time. I feel that secondary school has a considerable influence in how we develop later on in life. I would have turned out differently if I were to go to Chinese High or Gan Eng Seng or any other sec sch. Even though I could have been more outstanding if I had gone to a top notch school, I'm still grateful that I had the chance to experience a Victorian School education. For all the outstanding things that I lack in my resume, I more than made up for it with wonderful memories and friends that are still closest to me after all these years. The VS spirit is still strong in me and every other Victorian I know. It's a unique bond shared between Victorians formed by slacking together and doing the most stupid things together. These special memories hold all of us together. I have met people from other schools during my JC time and their bonding is not as strong. They seem to be more competitive with each other. I'm not against competition. I think it's good to a certain extent. However, I feel that the best friends are made in a non competitive environment. Strong friendships are made through talking cock in the canteens or through activities like mass walkouts during history lessons. My theory is given further proof during my time in the army. I didn't make many friends during BMT, where people were fighting to go into OCS but I made many friends during my unit time, where everybody was just trying to survive and there was nothing to fight for. Bonding through Slacking. That has always been the way for me. And nobody slacks better than VS people. Like one particular teacher in VJC used to say, Nil Sine Labore means no sign of labour. It's true that we are not hardworking but that doesn't mean that teacher can change the meaning of our school motto. Nil Sine Labore means nothing without labour. Fuck that teacher who said that.