Fourth Student Leadership Workshop (I) 2019

Last weekend, my friends and I completed the first two days of the fourth Student Leadership Workshop for the potential student leaders from the fourth and fifth forms of the school. We were quite happy with the outcome from the two days. A very supportive Headmaster, and very receptive students who lapped up everything we threw at them. There will be a further weekend of workshops in the middle of next month.

I've written so much about the Student Leadership Workshops in the past that it has become almost repetitive for me to say more or less the same things again. But they must still be said: that we, the Old Boys of Penang Free School, having gone through the school system,  must give our whole-hearted support to the present Frees as they prepare to face the world eventually.

Undeniably, each generation of Frees will be different from the previous generation, with a completely different set of problems and challenges, and it does no good to compare their lot with yours or mine. But condemning the present education system is not a solution even though we know that in the last 30 or 40 years, the quality of education in this country has been dumbed down.

Rather than a blanket condemnation, why not the Old Frees look to help the present Frees in whatever way we can? My friends and I have chosen to coach them and we shall welcome other Old Frees to join us in this endeavour for the good of Penang Free School. In this present session, we had Ooi Teong Siew and Jackie Lee Teong Ghee to lend their assistance. We appreciated that! And Leslie Lee Kim Guan too came to give a brief talk. Thank you, boys, thank you very much, indeed!

The registration process at the meeting room in the Archives Building. We held the first session here as the School Hall was being used for another function. But we moved there after lunch on Saturday.

Siang Jin kicked off the workshop

Getting comfy in the ice-breaking session under the watchful eyes of Soo Choon, Teong Siew and Swee Poh

These boys were actually writing lines!

Can you spot Headmaster Omar b Abdul Rashid in the crowd?

We asked the boys to do a lot of this!

One of the brainstorming sessions

Soo Choon took over most of the coaching sessions on Sunday

 

Headmaster Omar dropped by on the second day to address the participants

The boys getting their hands dirty. Well, sort of dirty.

Leslie Lee talked about the importance of mental health in relation to physical health.

Lean Kang rounded up the weekend with a pep talk to the participants 

That's us, the coaches and co-ordinators with Headmaster Omar: Left to right: Soo Choon, Seng Sun, Teong Siew, Jackie, Headmaster Omar, Siang Jin, Swee Poh and Lean Kang. 

These were the student coaches from last year's leadership workshops who volunteered to help us over the two days. They all happened to be prefects from the School. A great bunch. Left to right: Diviyha Thuresamy, Aryan Bhubhindar Singh, Inesh Dhillon, Hue Yan Tatt and Mohamed Afan Syafi