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A Week of Wonder
Seeing The World Through A New Perspective
D espite the foreshadowing of the exams, the Grade 11 stu-
dents still possess the glow from their Challenge Week,
where many spent the 4th to 11th September in a foreign
land in their respective groups. Countries in the Asian
continent felt the presence of the SJI International students as they
left their imprints on the locals through heart-warming deeds and
charitable acts. Not a country was left out – Vietnam, India, Cambo-
dia, Thailand, Indonesia, The Philippines and Malaysia were
amongst the countries conquered.
During the Challenge Week Evening on the 23rd September,
the students had the opportunity to share tidbits from their joy-
filled weeks. Although the groups had fun during their trips, they
kept in mind the Lasallian spirit: being people for others. A group
comprising of Nadia Tejosantoso, Yana Salim, Christella Yahya, No-
vita Permatasari and Maria Rosales headed to the slums of Payatas
in The Phillipines where they integrated themselves closely with
the inhabitants. Tejosantoso confesses to us regarding the dire
situation of the children in the slums—they salvage objects that still
can be used, there was nothing in the area that said “child-friendly,”
as the children were stepping on bits of broken glass that were eve-
rywhere. They had nothing, they were relegated to being scaven-
gers.
We were treated to a couple of cultural dances that greatly
reflected on the students’ desire and respect for the local customs
and culture. Ivor Tan, Chua Yuan Min and Patrick Ren were more
than happy to give us a spontaneous Balinese dance whereas a
group which went to Phuket, Thailand gave us a sneak peek of the
OneVoice
Highlights of this issue:
A Week of Wonder Page 1
Seventh Issue: September 2010
A student publication of SJI InternationalA student publication of SJI InternationalA student publication of SJI InternationalA student publication of SJI International
Editor’s note
This year has been an eventful
one for all of us at SJII and so it has
been with the newspaper club with the
hand over to the Grade 11’s in the light
of the upcoming IB exams for the grade
12 students. Many unique events have
happened this month, with the Grade
11 Challenge Week and performances.
Overall, the experience has been a
unique one and an educating experi-
ence.
This edition will be the second
last edition before the term ends, and
the last edition will be a big edition
(like the one in April).
All OneVoice papers can be read
online: go to the school site, click the
“Students” tab, and click the edition
you want to read. The April edition was
not printed so you might want to read
it online because that was the first big
edition we published. Enjoy!
The Inside Story Page 4
The Host Page 7
SJII vs AISS Soccer Match Page 6
Viva La Vida Page 3
By Ryonna Chuo
2 One Voice: A Student Publication of SJI International
Thai dance.
We could tell how much preparation went into
some of these presentations, how conscious the
groups have been during their whole Challenge
Week documenting their pre-
cious moments. Hong Chong
Wen with Scott Heng, Ben
Chen, Julian Lim and Ong Jian
Bin showed us a beautifully-
crafted video regarding their
trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia
where we were given glimpses
into their eventful week.
During intermissions, the
students, teachers and parents
were given the chance to try
delicacies from the different
countries that the students
have visited. From Bali, there
were pisang goreng; fried ba-
nana fritters and kopi luwak;
loosely translated as civet cof-
fee, but the origins are truly of
coffee beans that have passed
through the digestive track of a
civet, an animal and mi goreng;
fried noodles. From Ipoh was
the renowned Ipoh White Cof-
fee and tau sar piah, a pastry filled with bean paste. A
group from Ho Chi Minh returned to Singapore with
coconut chips, while another which, had the oppor-
tunity to learn the Vietnamese culinary arts during
their trip, treated us to their rendition of
chả giò; fried Vietnamese spring rolls filled with pork
and vegetables and bún chả giò; Vietnamese vermi-
celli salad with fried spring rolls. They had spent the
three hours prior to the Chal-
lenge Week evening preparing
the dishes to perfection.
We can unanimously
agree that every group had eye
openers and learnt life lessons
during the Challenge Week. Not
everyone came back the same.
Brian Shehan Silva who, with
his group, went to Rawang, Ma-
laysia, gives us a raw, powerful
reflection regarding his Chal-
lenge Week and we can tell
that he has returned from Chal-
lenge Week with brand new
eyes. “When I came home from
Challenge Week I looked back
at my life. What are my aims in
life? To be an engineer, to earn
a huge sum of money, buy a
house, buy a car… where and
when is this going to end?
What is the purpose of money
if you cannot experience the
real essence of life? What is life without caring for
others?” he questions. “I will not forget my social re-
sponsibility. I won’t be selfish by only thinking about
me.”
“When I came home from
Challenge Week I looked back
at my life. What are my aims
in life? To be an engineer, to
earn a huge sum of money,
buy a house, buy a car…
where and when is this going
to end? What is the purpose
of money if you cannot ex-
perience the real essence of
life? What is life without car-
ing for others?” he questions.
“I will not forget my social re-
sponsibility. I won’t be selfish
by only thinking about me.”
Brian Shehan Silva—Grade 11 Student
By Ivor Tan
3 Seventh Issue: September 2010
The Grade 9 Camp is a camp organized by the SJI
International Student Council annually for the Grade
9s. This year, the camp took place during the weekend
of the 27th to the 28th of August. The aim of the camp
was to create a sense of community within the Grade 9
cohort, and to get them well bonded together before
their IGCSE exams next year. Through past experience,
the importance of having a well bonded community
would be helpful, especially during the stress of IG-
CSEs and all the way to IB. The camp definitely
achieved its purpose, with the Grade 9s leaving the
camp happy, and well bonded together.
The camp was a fine balance between reflections
and games. There was a movie screening of the show
“The Blind Side”, and a subsequent group reflection, in
which participant and facilitator alike poured out
heart and soul to the group. The concluding reflection
by Gerard Lee of Grade 11 further tugged at the heart-
strings of the Grade 9s. However, the camp was not all
reflections either. The camp featured a wide variety of
games, with night games, dry games and wet games.
The camp was a memorable one for both the
participants and the facilitators, and I am sure that
everyone had lots of fun, as a bonded community of
Grade 9s. Once again, the Student Council has organ-
ized another successful camp!
4 One Voice: A Student Publication of SJI International
This term, we have had many new teachers
joining our school. During the week, we have inter-
viewed our new English teacher, Mr. Martin Walsh, to
get his views on the new school, his views on Singa-
pore as well as some personal information of him as a
person. Mr. Walsh who was previously from Pattaya,
Thailand has never been to Singapore before and had
heard about Singapore through his friends who were
already in Singapore, teaching drama. He describes his
experience in Singapore as “lovely and enjoyable”. He
seemed to find a particular liking to Singapore’s food
as there is a wide variety of food, and likes the fact that
most of Singapore’s food is spicy. As well, he likes the
weather in Singapore and says that it is “good weather
compared to the UK & Thailand”.
When we questioned him about his past teach-
ing experience, 2 places came to his mind. First, it was
the school that he taught at in Pattaya for 4 years, and
then, there’s the sinkhole school in UK which he de-
scribed as “Hell on Wheels” and “Utter Chaos”. He
shared with us that there was an once an incident in
the UK sinkhole school where students had to leave
through a back entrance because there were students
shooting at other students from a dorm room. In his
opinion, he feels that our school and our students are a
lot more organized and in order as compared to UK’s
school, but he feels that his time in the UK sinkhole
school was a “colorful” experience for him, and it moti-
vates him in his everyday life. As the attitudes of the
students in the school were cocky and spoilt, he gained
a valuable lesson, which is that surviving in that sink-
hole school, meant you can survive anywhere. His
views on IB is that it is a lot more flexible, responsive
and assessable and he considers himself an “IB Fan” as
it is his preferred style of teaching, which is that learn-
ing is based on enthusiasm and passion. Without en-
thusiasm and passion, learning will always be difficult.
He also feels welcomed as the teachers have been mar-
velous and warm to him and he already feels comfort-
able, as he has already met most or all the teachers.
After all the serious business was over, we
moved to his personal life, and we discovered that Mr.
Walsh was in fact a Movie Buff, and an avid comic-
book reader. He is especially interested in Thai
The InsideGet A Peek Into The Teachers’ Mind and
By Paul Samuelle and Joshua Wong
The Next Inside Story: Farewell and Welcome to the Teachers
horror/action movies and the reason he taught in the
UK Sinkhole School was because he was catholic. As
well, we learnt that his future as a teacher was shaped
from his family life, as all or most of his family mem-
bers grew up to become teachers . We also found out
that Mr. Walsh is indeed married, and at the moment,
he is in Singapore on his own. He expects his wife to
join him in the coming months.
Extra details that we have asked him:
Cheeky teacher Mr. Anandraj
Teacher he is afraid of Mrs. Susi Teo (though
she’s nice, I wouldn’t want to be on her bad
side)
Witty Ms. Old (sometimes she can be abit dry)
Best words to describe himself Creative,
Cheerful and Calm
Mr. Martin Walsh
5 Seventh Issue: September 2010
Another new face in our school is Ms Lucy Bar-
ham . Having graduated from Bristol University with a
degree in Social and Economic History, she decided to
take up teaching and finished up her PGCE teaching
qualification at the University of East Anglia. In terms
of previous teaching experience, she worked at Severn
Vale school in Gloucester and expressed an interest in
music. However, after receiving positive and good
feedback from her friends in Singapore, She decided to
move to Singapore to start her teaching career afresh.
After taking a look on the internet at both SJII and Sin-
gapore’s environment, she decided that it was a won-
derful place to go to and made her decision to live and
teach in Singapore.
Though it is her first time in Singapore, she
finds the food delicious and enjoyable, and surpris-
ingly great in terms of variety and tastes. Another
thing she loves, as well as most teachers who have just
The Inside Story II Get A Peek Into The Teachers’ Mind and Find Out What Their Thoughts Are!
By Paul Samuelle and Joshua Wong
: Farewell and Welcome to the Teachers
Ms. Lucy Barham moved over, is the wonderful weather. Similarly to Mr.
Walsh, she finds the weather delightful as it is sunny
and bright on most days and says that it is lovely in
comparison to the weather in Britain. Touching on the
subject of school, she finds that most of the students in
the school are obedient and well behaved. She believes
that passion is needed for a student to excel in studies.
Without passion and enthusiasm, there would be a
lack of interest which would lead to the inability to
study a subject well. She believes that most of the stu-
dents in our school are willing to learn, and a few stu-
dents just need a helping hand to get them rolling to-
wards success. She aims to do her best for her students
and will celebrate each success with her students, be it
a small improvement, or a huge jump in grade. As well,
she finds that the teachers in the school have been ex-
tremely friendly and welcoming to her entrance into
our school. The most common problem for new teach-
ers is the idea of finding the correct classroom, and she
has said that Mr. Guy Nicholson and her have been
working close to each other while adapting to the new
school as they both entered the school around the
same time.
Currently, she teaches History to Grade 8 and
9s and is still adapting to the IGCSE system of the
school. She enjoys the IGCSE teaching because she
feels that it suits her teaching style more. She prefers
for students to be able to participate and understand a
class lesson, rather than to just read off a book and do
activities. As well, she participates in our school’s or-
chestra, playing her oboe as well as helping out with
the Junior Choir alongside Mrs. Thorpe .
Overall, she finds the school a wonderful,
friendly and a cohesive environment for learning as
well as teaching, and she is glad that most of the teach-
ers have been supportive of her as she entered the
school. She looks forward to teaching the students in
the school and felt that the move to Singapore was
definitely a correct one as the weather is lovable, and
the food to her liking .
6 One Voice: A Student Publication of SJI International
The fallen rain, muddy earth and scarred pitch just
about summed up the battle SJII put up against AISS.
Last Friday (24th of Sept). Not only were their dreams
of finishing joint champions crushed, but SJII suffered their
first back to back defeat to AISS since last year! Having
trashed OFS B team by a ridiculous score line, breezing past
UWC & SAS, and an astounding victory over the German
team on their own pitch.
AISS looked more than confident to knock SJII out of
any possible contention for top spot. Having lost early in the
season to the Germans as an early setback, SJII claimed a
hard fought victory over UWC and could still clinch top spot
should they beat the Australians and finish their last game
against SAS with a win.
However, it didn’t look that way in the first 10minutes;
despite going down 2-0 undeservedly, the boys in green
managed to hold on to the half time whistle, where they
could certainly have gone down by more than 2, if not for
some valiant defending from skipper Edmund & Co.
Fitness levels between both sides were distinct; if we
ever plan to compete with the likes of the Germans and the
Australians, a training session a week will not suffice, as
these schools have morning and evening sessions every
week, more than once.
Training in different terrains would also be a key for
any football team as it is something they would have to
adapt to, each and every time they play. Misinterpreting the
ball's speed on slippery surface was key as almost all our
boys made that same mistake.
The Australians, capitalized on this; against the run of
play, the Australians hit SJII hard on the right; striker Sean
Nayak seemingly rough-handled our captain Edmund,
which saw many of the boys stop play and merely antici-
pated for the referee's whistle which did not come, and thus
punished the boys to a 3-0 deficit. The boys need to kick the
habit of depending time after time on the referee's whistle
and (if i could quote a famous quote from English football),
"Get on with it!". Sloppy defending for set pieces is the
main Achilles heel SJII need to fix though; as more than half
of SJII's goals conceded were from in swinging corners and
free kicks. The statistic was accounted for today, as the
seemingly last nail of the coffin was sealed, with an in
swinging corner into the box and scouse-born, Phillip
McCormick sliding it home for the Australian's 4th and put-
ting the game beyond doubt.
This looked very much like the story being told at
UWC, SAS and OFS. However, sheer determination from
boys was what separated them from the rest, with such a
huge deficit, surely there was no way they could stage a dra-
matic comeback, could they?
With nothing to lose, the boys went on the offensive in
full force; right back Daniel Lim went on another Glen John-
son-esque run, which he loves, and earned a free kick just
off the edge of the box. Bryan Neubronner dinged a ball
over the top, which looked threatening and menacing; it
caused confusion and violent pushing and shoving in the
box, and centre back, Yuki Kitagawa (whose mother plays
the role of a one-woman first aid team, usually for both
sides during a game), was guilty of pulling the shirt of one of
our players. The referee pointed to the spot and a penalty
was awarded, but it was missed.
SJII vs AISS Soccer Match by Paul Samuelle
The boys suffered yet another blow, with injuries ga-
lore; creative midfielder Wayne suffered a blow to his right
ankle, Thomas, who had to go off early, Powerhouse, Clark
Lawton who is fighting back to regain fitness and mercurial
winger Ewan, was hit several times and a direct shot to his
groin in particular that kept him sidelined for much the 2nd
half.
His compatriots sorely missed Ewan’s presence; Paul
S, Bryan N, and Marcus Mo, who have played with him on
countless occasions and have a strong chemistry between
them. It was evident enough when SJII managed to stage a
miracle; throughout the whole game, Bryan Neubronner
was awaiting that ball over the top that he could latch to,
and Samuel Chew, did just that.
Taking a goal kick that covered more than half the
length of the pitch, Bryan ran like a scalded dog, with mad
pace towards goal. He ran so fast that it looked as if the ball
was running away from him! And it did, as the goalkeeper
came out to stake his claim for it, a head-first collision on
highway 99, made all sorts of chaos and bedlam in the area,
and who would have thought the ball would fall into the feet
of goal-hungry forward, Paul Samuelle, who literally, min-
utes ago, missed a penalty , to atone for his sins by slam-
ming it towards the corner of the goal, where, Yuki Kita-
gawa could do nothing but stretch for a slight deflection
which did not change the result. 4-1.
The boys suddenly had a glimer of hope, and a small
flame was slowly rekindled in the hearts of the boys. In al-
most hysterical fashion, the Australians were getting more
paranoid by the minute, sloppy passes meant that they had
given possession away far too easily and Ewan, showing
just how important he was to his side, made a galloping run
down the left, and made a beautiful left footed through pass
might I add, into the path of Bryan Neubronner, this time,
he CONCIOUSLY and KNOWINGLY assisted Paul Samuelle,
by squaring the ball into his feet, to tap it home for his 5th
in 2 games.
4-2 in the space of 2 MINUTES. The boys were in
dreamland! Not only was there a sound of uneasiness in the
opposition camp, but with the referee indicating that there
would be an extra 12 minutes to play (after previously say-
ing that there would be 2 minutes, 15minutes ago,) gave
much belief to SJII. Passerbys stood still to watch how the
drama would unfold, as they reached the dying minutes of
the game; a few sitters were handed to Bryan and
Daniel,but alas, time was against the boys, with many of the
Australians taking a page out of Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier
Drogba and Luis Nani's "diving theatrics and a 101 ways to
waste time" edition, the boys season had ended there and
then.
The dream comeback was not meant to be, and the
championship had eluded them for yet another season.
They had one more game in hand against SAS to determine
where they stood at the end of the season, but 2 losses
meant that first and second place was already affirmed.
Credit to the Australians, though, they improved much
since the "Mr Justin Toh Era" 2 years ago, and the only thing
the boys can take out of this defeat are lessons of improve-
ment and that this was the first sign of a team that showed
the qualities of a successful team; with a never say die atti-
tude and fighting spirit right till the end, that will continue
to strive for success, until they grasp that trophy...
7 Seventh Issue: September 2010
The host is a science fiction mixed with romance
novel. It is a spellbinding story of love and betrayal
while the fate of humanity is at stake.
The earth has been invaded by an alien race that
controls the minds of their human hosts. Their bodies
are left intact, but their mind terribly violated. The
mind invasion is so severe that most of humanity has
given in to these creatures.
The creature, Wanderer, is a soul who has previ-
ously lived on eight different planets, and is now in
Melanie Stryder, her host. Upon nesting inside her
new body, Wanderer is taken aback by the power and
vividness of human emotions, memories, and senses,
and the fact that the former tenant of her body refuses
to relinquish possession of her mind. Melanie refuses
to budge, much less fade away. She is determined to
remain the master of her body and puts up a fight,
countering Wanderer’s mind probing with thoughts
and visions of the man she loves, Jared, a hu-
man who still lives in hiding. The emotion the host
feels will be transmitted towards the inhabitant and
Wanderer falls prey to the strong affection for Jared.
Being unable to separate herself from her body’s de-
sires, Wanderer yearns and lusts for a man she has
never met. This strong external force of love makes
Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, pulling them
in the direction where they both seek for the man they
love.
A departure from her infamous love story be-
tween vampire and mortal, Stephanie Meyer’s The
Host is a deeper, more mature story with a premise
that, though at first sounds ridiculous (a love triangle
between humans and aliens), is in fact moving and
complex. It is interlaced with suspense and action se-
quences, leaving readers on the edge of their seat.
Overall, The Host is an emotional, thought-provoking
journey, a recommended read as it brings a riveting
and impressionable twist to love that highlights our
the hostthe hostthe hostthe host Stephenie Meyer
Author
Stephenie Meyer
Cover Artist
Julianna Lee
Genre
Science Fiction, Romance
Publisher
Little, Brown & Company
Pages
617 pages
Victoria Goh and Minying Wong
BOOK REVIEW
SELECTIONS OF GRADE 12 IB FINAL ARTWORKS
Ricardo Seah
Clara Chiang
Rebecca Ou
All of these were displayed during the IB Art Exhibition
(September 13 - 16). For more artworks, please go to
the art blog (http://sjiiartgallery.blogspot.com/)
OneVoice TEAM
Chief Editors
Reporters
Ryonna Chuo
Vincent Tanutama |
Daniel Lim |
Scott Lim |
Kathryn Stevenson |
Alexandra Kris |
Wong Minying |
Alessia Tassinari |
Patrick Ren
Paul Samuelle
Ivor Tan
Emilie Cunnington
Victoria Goh
Joshua Wong
Jade Fong
St. Joseph’s Institution International
490 Thomson Road
Singapore 298191
+65 63539383
Sneak Peek to the DECEMBER’s Issue
Drama Club and Orchestra present
Oliver!Oliver!Oliver!Oliver! 29 & 30 November 2010
Get sneak peeks to the show itself, how
all the casts and crew prepare for it
and also the invisible hands involved
in the amazing show!
Everything will be unleashed in the
next big December edition!