129 years of tradition (and more..) to be sacrificed?

17 August 2005
While the majority of us were rushing to hand in our 1st draft of the written report on moodle, somewhere else, emotions were stirring, a different sets of hands were at work on the computer, with the same (or greater) sense of urgency, but with more at stake here.

17 August 2005
The New Paper
Page 4.
A typical person would raise his eyebrows at this 'interesting' bit of news and sigh, "Ahh.. the effects of competition." But not for true-blooded Victorians. No, their blood boil.

Just take a look - http://bert.knightwings.com/vs/tnp.png

Yes VS is trying to go co-ed.

All within a day, a letter was sent to the OVA, to the straits times. A petition was set up, and is ongoing. Victorians in different JCs have decided to wear the badge on their right sleeves as a form of protest. A blog has been set up: http://wewillnotforget.blogspot.com. All around Victorians blogs, nicks on msns, protests have been shown.

Reminds you a bit of the T.T.Durai incident? It sure does, to me.

A few examples of the protests:
"Ang Pow go to hell lah. I hate the sight of khaki skirts, much less the sight of VS girl guides" (MSN nick) (Ang Pow Chew is the present VS principal. from 2000 onwards)
"We will never accept the idea of Victoria School going co-ed" (MSN nick)
" VS is trying to trade in 129 years of culture and tradition, as well as all of its alumni, just for the chance at a VIP, and for the chance of better school rankings." (VJC moblog)
"I swear someone is going to die if VS does really go co-ed." (Some random person's blog, identity protected for reasons of security)


I can't say I'm as passionate about VS as these guys are. I belong to VJ now and my loyalty lies with VJ, although you can say that we are all Victorians alike, but there's a little difference, of course. However, it is my alma mater. 4 good years were spent there. I felt and experienced the often spoken about 'Victorian Spirit', and still do, but the VS Victorian Spirit is unique ONLY if we're a single sex school. In my opinion, tradition should not be compromised for rankings.

Ahh.. and then you learn before, in your humanities (geog), 1 of the reasons preventing the progress of some people is the resistance to change - the mindset that makes them unwilling to break away from their tradition.

But then, in this case, must we really compromise tradition for progress? Will a change lead to progress? Or are there other ways?

I don't know whether there are other ways, or whether they would be more effective. But losing all this culture and tradition in the name of academic progress on the rankings chart.. is just qualitatively wrong. If we were to do a Cost-Benefit Analysis (hehe econs), there's no way we can do one successfully because how can you attach a value to the passion, loyalty and dedication a Victorian has towards his school? And if we actually did 1, there'd be huge external costs. Just think.. the alumni. What we can do against it.

Already there has been angry reactions over the suggestion to just change a line in the school song. And we know it has been done mostly by vs Victorians. Imagine if they want to change vs to a co-ed school, how these fierce responses may actually evolve... into.. I'll leave you to imagine. (Just look at above examples)

Well, you may not have been a VS boy. But try to understand, appreciate and support the loyalty VS guys have for their tradition. It is not a loyalty to the principal. We were under the same principal for our whole 4 years. (He came in with our cohort) Yet, we do not exactly support him (as shown above). Our dedication to the school was as a result of traditions pass on from generation to generation. It stems from something deeper than just 4 years in VS, but is a result of the extensive history behind us.

I must admit, I do not share the same fierce dedication and loyalty as some of the other VS guys. I have not been through as much as them. But VS has been a good school, and one which I will be loyal and look up to. From a more neutral point of view, I know VS should not go co-ed because I know, and I think we all know, how it can mould boys to men with deep passion and loyalty that goes beyond just words. And.. it is the last all-boys government school standing.

So for all of you who were not from VS. Please try to understand and support our rationale behind the protest.

-wilbuR-