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Principal's Message

Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary) . PL Epistle . Jul - Oct 2008 . vol.24 no.3

Matt 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.”

debate team comprising Sec 2 and 3 pupils brought much joy and pride to themselves and to PLMGSS through their achievements, defeating Temasek Junior College, Nanyang Girls’ High School, Raffles Institution in the preliminary rounds and emerged 2nd only to Nanyang Girls’ in the finals.

Rachael Quah of 4A1 was selected to be one of the five pupils forming the Singapore team for the World Schools Debate Championship that will take place in Athens in 2009. To God be the Glory.

This year is our school’s 92nd anniversary and as we celebrate our Founder’s Day in October, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness and goodness to PLMGS throughout the 92 years. We are thankful to God for all those who, through the years, have loved the school and given themselves in faithful service to building the school. Truly, God is faithful and His love endures forever and we praise God for His love and faithfulness. As PLMGS moves into 2009, we know that God will continue His work in the lives of people in PLMGS and we put our trust in Him as we claim His promise in Jeremiah 29:11 which reads, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." We rejoice that our hope and future is in God’s hands.

To God Be the Glory.

Mrs Lee Siew Choo

His Love Endures ForeverThe second semester of academic year 2008 has been a busy and exciting one, filled with much activity and learning. Pupils were engaged in creative problem solving as they addressed environmental

issues and learnt to care for the environment during Innovation Week. Pupils were also engaged in overseas learning journeys to Australia and China. Our athletes and sportswomen spent some time in the Australian Institute of Sports, interacting with the Australian athletes and learning about sports science, sports psychology and nutrition. Another 33 pupils went on a twinning programme to Shaoxing, China for a cultural exchange, staying in the homes of their Chinese friends and attending classes with them in order to better understand life and culture in China and to better appreciate life in Singapore.

Still others went to Kunming, China on a Community Service Learning project to be a blessing to some children in a village. These pupils gained much more in return through their experience of life there.

Besides the rich learning experiences in the 2nd semester, we continue to see God’s blessing upon PLMGSS. Pupils have continued to win prizes in Literature and Mathematics competitions and debates. The school

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PuPils' learning activities

national schools’ literature Festival and MOe lit seminarOn 12 Jul, selected sec 1 to 3 literature pupils participated in the national schools’ literature Festival held at crescent girls’ school. Of the two sec 1 teams which participated in the Drama trailer, our team from sec 1.3 came in 2nd place for their skit on stella Kon’s play 'Hideout in geylang'.

Our sec 3 debaters for the unseen text and 'to Kill a Mockingbird' did the school proud by defeating their opponents.

the sec 2 pupils also displayed their creative work on Ho Minfong’s 'the clay Marble'.

On 25 Oct, lum Xin ci and nicole lee presented a paper on 'Dystopia in animal Farm and other texts' at acs (i) for the MOe-geP literature seminar.

innovation Week

EcoQuest Inc. from 3A2 presenting in the finals

Getting rather creative...

A little bit of CIPand more training Attending a lecture Gosh...this is cold!Training session in progress

Sec 1 girls getting tips on how to present their projectNow this is our great idea!

innovation Week was held from 3 – 8 Oct. the theme for this year was greenovation@Pl and pupils were presented with rich opportunities for innovation and enterprise to invent and develop sustainable solutions to pressing environmental issues.

sec 1 pupils were given the task of creating a green product or solution for Pl, whereas the sec 2 pupils had to produce an advertisement using multi-media to educate the public on environmental issues. sec 3 pupils had to plan and design a green system and curriculum for Pl.

all 3 levels had to present and market their products to an audience of fellow schoolmates, teachers, experts from the industry as well as parents from the Pssg.

a team of 24 pupils and 5 teachers embarked on a sports internationalisation journey to canberra, australia from 24 Oct to 1 nov, where they spent 5 days at the world renowned australian institute of sports.

at ais, they learnt from the experts about the various aspects of sports science, psychology and nutrition, injury prevention and sports massage techniques.

Pl-lites also had the opportunity to interact with the australian athletes and learnt more about the various careers in sports.

in the midst of learning about sports, the pupils also carried out a bit of CIP when they helped to weed and plant indigenous trees in the Blue Mountain Nature Reserve. The pupils definitely had a wonderful learning experience with many beautiful memories to keep.

Debaters for the Unseen and Set Text - Valerie Han, Karen Yang, Lum Xin Ci,

Trisha Lim and Nicole LeeThe Clay Marble displayOur Sec 2s displaying their

work at Lit Fest

sports internationalisation trip

With our Australian friends

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PuPils' lEARNiNG ACTiViTiEsconversational chinese & Malay Programme (ccMP)

chinese cultural enrichment Programme

On 5 aug, Pl welcomed 24 pupils and 4 teachers from shaoxing Jiangong Middle school, china for our twinning programme.

the pupils spent 5 days with us, attending some classes with our Pl-lites where they learnt to make keychains during a D&t lesson, painted batik pieces during art lessons and tried their hand at making muffins during Home Economics lessons. They were also introduced to our Malay and Indian Culture where they tried henna artwork on their hands and played local traditional games with our pupils.

During their stay here, our foreign friends also visited several places of interest in singapore like the singapore Flyer, Jurong Bird Park and the night safari. the homestay programme, however was the highlight of all the activities, where Pl-lites played host to our china buddies, which allowed them a feel of life in a home in singapore.

as part of the twinning programme, Mrs lee and 4 teachers led a group of 33 pupils to shaoxing from 24 Oct to 3 nov. During their 5-day stay in shaoxing, they attended various classes with the Jiangong pupils, namely chinese language, Maths, science and Pe lessons. Pl-lites also learnt about the beauty of chinese music and calligraphy.

the school guided us to different places of interest in shaoxing, which included a visit to the residence of lu Xun, a renowned writer in china. the Pl group also cruised the Bund in shanghai, West lake in Hang Zhou, east lake in shaoxing and the Old canal in suzhou.

Pl-lites also had the opportunity to stay with their Jiangong buddies for 2 nights, where they experienced the shaoxing way of life.

it was an extremely enriching learning journey.

twinning Programme – Hosting and visiting china

since 2005, MOe has been encouraging schools to conduct school-based conversational cl/Ml programmes for pupils. in 2006, the Mother tongue language Department conducted its first 8-hour conversational programme for all Sec 1 pupils. This year, the department adopted the MOe’s structured curriculum and conducted 20 hours of the elementary Module for the sec 1 classes. these pupils will complete another 20 hours of the ccMP module in Sec 2. The hours spent on learning will be reflected in their graduation certificates. The pupils have also been encouraged

to take a test at the Regional English Language Centre to assess their proficiency of the language once they have completed the elementary module.

after the end of Year examinations, sec 1 – 3 pupils saw characters from Journey to the West and snow White and the seven Dwarfs come alive on 13 Oct during the cultural enrichment Programme! During these sessions, sec 1 chinese language pupils were taught how to make these characters using traditional and modern clay. under the close supervision of the instructors, they were taught ways to sculpture clay figurines with just a splinter.

sec 2 pupils learnt to make hanging ornaments with 2-D clay figurines. The process taught pupils patience and perseverance as they had to re-mould their figurines if these virtues were not exercised.

sec 3 pupils were taught to carve their initials in chinese on seals, which were used during the shang dynasty. Once again, a lot of patience and skill were needed to carve out even just one chinese character, as it had to be “deep” enough to create an impression on a piece of paper.

A Chinese lesson in progress

Learning Malay

We are all ears... Sheer concentration

A game of congkak

Henna artwork in progress

Learning to play the harp

Doing Taiji with their Jiangong buddiesTwinning programme - pupils and teachers

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PuPils' lEARNiNG ACTiViTiEs

PuPils' AChiEVEmENTs

the 'Faithful in service 2008' team, comprising 24 Pl-lites and 4 teachers, embarked on a journey to Kunming, china, from 26 Oct to 2 Nov. During the first few days, we stayed in Lu Chong village in Xundian county, where we interacted with the children from lu chong and Xiao Jie Primary schools. Here the children taught us that one can be happy and contented despite being very poor.

During our stay there, we worked on a project to build a basketball court for the lu chong Primary children, which we had to do by clearing a piece of land of its vegetation.

We also organised fun activities like the 'Mini Olympics', which engaged the children and helped us to get to know them better.

Faithful in service – trip to Kunming

accelerated Mathematics ProgrammeOur Pl-lites from the accelerated Mathematics Programme participated in various competitions and won awards. Our congratulations to these girls!

At the 'Stone Forest'

The final leg of our journey was spent in Kunming city where we went sight-seeing and visited the 'stone Forest', which was amazing!

though the journey in Kunming might have ended, the friendships forged will only grow stronger and the memories kept forever.

ting Qi Yu (2.2a)

Our debaters, tan Yen Ping Janice (3a1), lum Xin ci (3a3), nicole lee Kim Hui (3a3), alison Marie lee cheng Mei (2.1) and ruth lew en-Yi (2.1), participated in the Hwa chong Debate invitational on 2 and 6 aug. Our debaters beat Temasek JC and Raffles institution to clinch 2nd place. to god be the glory!

congratulations to rachael Quah (4a1) for being selected for the World schools Debate championship. she will be 1 of the 5 pupils (and only girl!) forming the singapore team, which will be debating in athens, greece in Feb 09. Well done rachael for doing Pl and singapore proud!

DebateWorld schools Debate championship

Games time Having some fun Work time!

singapore Mathematics Project Festival (Junior section)cho Hui Mei sharon, crystal tan Zhi rong and lee Jie Qi Janel from sec 3a1 received a Bronze award for their Project entitled ‘Maxi Macs’.

singapore Mathematics society essay Writing competition (category a)esther Huang shu en, tan Wye syn and Yang Ying Jia from sec 2-1a were awarded the second prize for their essay entitled ‘Bloodstain Pattern analysis’.

singapore Mathematics society essay Writing competition (category B)ng Ying Qi and Yap nian Fang Melody from sec 3a1 and tan li Hong from sec 3a3 received the third prize for their essay entitled ‘Dna POP’.

AMP Award Winners

Well done Rachael! Hwa Chong Debate Invitationals - 2nd place

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PuPils' AChiEVEmENTs

sChool EVENTs

congratulations to Meghan lim (2.4) for being selected for the prestigious mentorship scheme in the creative arts Programme. she is at present on a 9-month attachment with an established writer.

congratulations to shabbna Feroz Khan (2.1) for winning the third prize (lower secondary category) in the reader’s Digest-Pilot Pen Writing competition.

creative arts Programme reader’s Digest - Pilot Pen Writing competition

Official Launch of the East Zone Centre of excellence for the creative arts @ PlMgs

Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School was officially launched as the East Zone Centre of excellence for the creative arts (cOeca) on 11 July by radm lui tuck Yew, senior Minister of state for education and information, communications and the arts. the main ceremony took place in the agape concert Hall, with a musical carnival held at various locations in both the primary and secondary schools. a total of 28 schools demonstrated various art forms to carnival visitors. arts institutions such as lasalle, naFa, ssO, esplanade and nac were also part of the roadshow held in the school Hall.

the opportunity to be involved in the Pl musical ‘My Father’s gift’, on 18-19 July, was indeed a glorious experience. although a lot of commitment and hard work were required of us, we persevered with the support from our teachers and fellow schoolmates.

the rehearsals were physically and mentally draining but we gained new insights and experiences from them. as clichéd as it may sound, the musical really brought out the meaning of the phrase “One for all, all for one”.

strong bonds of friendships were forged and the Pl family grew in strength and love. With god’s grace and strength, we carried on with the rehearsals and enjoyed ourselves up till the days of performances.

indeed, we are proud to have been part of the Pl musical 2008. the wonderful memories will always remain with us.

archanaa (4a3) and Priscilla (4a2)

Congratulations Meghan!

Presenting the token of appreciation to the GOH

A dance of joy Happy Tunes! Performance by Rhythm Masala

shabbna Feroz Khan receiving her award

Musical

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sChool EVENTsFounder’s Day

this year’s Founder’s Day on 14 Oct saw Pl celebrating her 92nd birthday. Bishop Dr robert solomon was the guest of Honour for the service conducted in the Pl agape Hall. He also delivered the message, ‘One Heart, One voice’. Many parents and guests of the school were present to commemorate the occasion together with the staff and pupils.

the dinner was held in

the main school hall. Ms Yeoh chee Yan, second Permanent secretary, Ministry of education, graced the dinner with her presence. all guests and Pl-lites spent the evening catching up with old friends and teachers. everyone returned home with a cD imprinted with memories of Pl.

the Baccalaureate service held on 8 Oct saw many Pl-lites and teachers at the last chapel service held for the graduating classes of 2008. the service was a farewell-cum-blessing session for us as we celebrated Holy communion at our very last worship session in Pl.

it was not just a day of praise and well wishes, but also of heartfelt memories and love as the teachers put on a special item as well as a slideshow with messages of encouragement for us as we continue our journey in life.

at the end of the service, Mrs lee presented collar pins to us while reminding us to be proud of being Pl-lites and to shine forth as beacons for the school when we go out into the world.

it was indeed a heartwarming

celebration and every single girl felt proud to be a Pl-lite, with each one telling herself to shine, not just for herself, but for the school and, especially for the glory of god.

Judith lam (4a3)

Pl celebrated an early christmas on 22 Oct with 4 charitable organisations. guests from st luke’s eldercare, ramakrishna Mission, Pertapis children’s Home and gospel Mission to the Blind graced this joyous celebration with their presence, where they were entertained with a concert and rounds of carolling.

since christmas is a time of giving, Pl blessed the organisations with some gifts so that they can have an abundant christmas too. a lunch reception was also prepared and shared with our guests.

throughout the entire celebration, our Pl-lites from the interact club and st John ensured that the needs of our guests were well taken care of.

christmas at Pl

On 17 Oct, the aesthetics Department staged a mini-concert entitled 'strings concert'. the concert showcased pupils from sec 2 aesthetics track, 'O' level Music pupils as well as the Pl Harp ensemble.

strings concert

In harmony

Esther Huang - a high scorer in the ABRSM Harp Exam

GOH at the dinner - Ms Yeoh Chee Yan Phyllis Eu Medalist - Elizabeth Yap

Dora Ho performing on the Guzheng

Celebrating with our guests

as the title suggested, stringed instruments such as the piano, violin, harp and the guzheng were the main features of the combined recital. the concert also provided a platform for the teachers and instructors to meet and build rapport with parents.

Partaking of Holy Communion

Presentation of collar pins

Teachers dedicating a song to the classes of 2008

GOH at the service - Bishop Dr Robert Solomon

Happy 92nd Birthday, PL!

Baccalaureate service

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sChool EVENTs

teachers’ day is a day where the pupils are given the opportunity to show their love and appreciation to their dedicated teachers. some fantastic performances were put on and the teachers also participated actively in the celebrations by joining in all the games planned for them.

the theme for this year’s Health Week is 'More than just alive!' some of the activities included a talk on smoking, a display of fruit portraits, viewing of health videos, distribution of fruits and a sports carnival.

racial Harmony Day is yet another milestone in singapore's history. the presentation on singapore’s past racial riots reminded us of the importance of preserving racial harmony. PL also saw the first MOE racial Harmony logo which represents the brotherhood of singapore and the deep emotional, visceral bond that we all share.

this year’s commemoration saw the Pl Miss racial Harmony crown passed from rachael Juliana Quah (4a1) to alison Marie lee (2.1a). the special ‘dikir barat’ performance and community singing led by the teachers served as a reminder that singapore has a multi-racial nature that is unique and we need to work as one to maintain racial harmony. this was perfectly captured in this year’s theme, ‘Many Faces, One singapore’.

this year, Pl celebrated national Day with two guests of Honour, Mr teo ser luck (senior Parliamentary secretary, Ministry of community Development, Youth and sports, and Ministry of transport) who graced the joint Observance ceremony with Pl (Pri); and Prof Hum sin Hoon (chairman, Board of Management, PlMgs) who presented the school colours award to the pupils.

the guard of Honour this year was the girls' Brigade and they were supported by the following contingents: the Pl concert Band, the st John ambulance Brigade and the national Police cadet corps. Joining us in our celebrations were 24 pupils and 4 teachers from Jiangong Middle school. they put on a dance item for the school during the concert.

celebrating teachers’ Day Health Week cum sports carnival

Our award winners

Now...look at that pose!!! We did it!

the sports carnival on 28 august was the highlight of this year’s Health Week. the objective was to introduce our pupils to sporting activities that were usually not carried out during Pe lessons. this is so that they would more aware of the variety of sports they could engage in as part of a healthy lifestyle. activities featured during the carnival included archery, bowling, golf, in-line skating, self-defence and spring-gear.

4B1 presenting their item to the school

That is the way...

No...move to the right...

Easy does it

racial Harmony Day

The Racial Harmony Declaration

Contestants striking a pose Dikir Barat by our teachers...

national Day Parade

GOH at the Observance Ceremony -

Mr Teo Ser Luck

GOH at the Colours Award -Prof Hum Sin Hoon

Community singing segment

Performance by Jiangong Middle School

A colourful sight indeed!

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Pssg updates Jul – Oct 08

awards

Jul to Oct (Mondays)

Praying Parents group

2 sessions: 8.00 am and 10.00 amPray for school and pupils. ave attendance: 10 -18 parents

8 aug national Day

One of our parents, Mrs Madeline lee, received the Pl service award.

Pssg awards were given to 2 pupils for good academic progress.

16 aug

Pssg exco Meeting

a) Plan for Dialogue session 3b) review of Pssg activities c) Plan for the next quarter

ethnic Bonding

non-Malay pupils were invited to the homes of 4 Malay pupils to learn more about the culture.

23 aug Pl linK toastmasters

training for parentsattendance: 32topic: Humour

29 aug teachers' Day celebration

Pssg hosted teachers’ Day lunch to show their appreciation for the care and love shown by the teachers to their daughters.

30 augParents Bonding

Programme 2

Play@Pulau ubin was a good family bonding session with Pl sports Fitness club pupils.the Pssg initiated and sponsored this programme as part of Pl Health Week. no of participants: 36venue: Johore/Kukup

12 sep Pssg Dialogue 4

topic: successful Failure: resilience in schoolspeaker: Dr Daniel Fungattendance: 57

27 sep Pl linK toastmasters

training for Parentsattendance: 13venue: Kovan cc

8 Oct Pl innovation Week

2 parents presented a talk on “Presentation skills” to the sec 1 pupils. 9 parents were invited to be judges at the finals of the S1-S3 project presentations.

14 Oct Founder’s DayPssg committee and parents attended thanksgiving service and Dinner.

13-17 Oct

sexuality talksexuality talk audience : s1 and s3 pupils and their parents

staff Planning and staff Outing

Pssg committee participated in Pl staff Planning and staff Outing.

18 Oct Pssg exco Meeting

a) Plan for Dialogue session 4 b) review of Pssg activities.c) review work plan 2008.d) Develop work plan 2009.

25 Oct Pl linK toastmasters

training for parentsvenue: Pl conference room

uPdATEsalumni news

Welcome! new staff Farewell Baby Blessings!!!

congratulations to Mr alvin Yeo on being awarded the Public service star (BBM). He received the award from the President during the investiture of the 2008 national Day awards on 17 nov. Mr Yeo had also received the Public service Medal (PBM) in 2000.

Founder’s Day thanksgiving & reunion Dinner as has been the practice for the past 40-50 years, our Founder’s Day dinner is not just a reunion, but a time to thank god and glorify His name, to remind ourselves of His faithfulness and our faith. that is the reason why our alumni hymn is 'remind us, dear lord'. Don’t let anyone say 'ad nauseum' as it is biblical to dwell on the past and our heritage. it is but god’s instruction in Deut 6: “You shall teach it to your children and your children’s children". this year each guest received a cD which encapsulated our history – right from the beginning to moving to Boundary road and then to lorong ah soo. the Founder’s Day theme was 'the Master’s call' – a reminder to Pl-lites to serve Him and as an extension of our service to Him, to serve our alma mater, PlMgs. Our 2 former chaplains rev norman Wong and rev leslie Quahe sang 'Hard times Make You strong' and received standing ovation from all the Pl-lites gathered that day. the gathering was indeed a meeting of 'kindred minds'. those of you who did not attend, you do not know what you missed, so keep 14 Oct 2009 reserved for PlMgs.the Master’s call is clarion clear to us. Many of our Pl-lites are in the mission field or full time Christian ministry and the list is expanding. Praise the lord.adding to the list are laura ler, Khoo swee Pee (in campus crusade) and rachel r. rajagopal (on right). rachel’s sisters, Banu and vasantha were also from Pl. rachel has a B.a. in english and literature from uK and a Masters Degree in education and intercultural studies from singapore. she has much passion for mission work and has been involved in spreading god’s word “to the uttermost parts”. she has written a book entitled 'leadership Perspectives: Fine Oil from Pressed Olives'. she is now on sabbatical leave. We pray for god’s blessings and protection to be on her.

Mrs Winnie tan

congratulations to the happy parents!!

Mr Glayen Chua, Ms Indra & Ms Grace Quek

Joshua Soh Kai Xiang, son of

Mrs Soh Sok Hoon

Shane Nathan Augustin, son of

Mrs Gail Augustin

Jen Han,daughter of

Mrs Tan Hui Huang

We bid farewell to the following members of the staff and wish them all the best:

Mdm toh lee lee,

Mr anthony sae-lim viraphon

and Mr Francis Ho