School Elections - 9 to 13 July

Montfort Presidential Elections : In A Nutshell

Student Comments: For the past 2 days, candidates for the spot of council president have been having their rallies. I've only heard 2 candidates' rallies and heard comments on the other 1, and 1 seems to be MIA for some reason. Only heard him during the introduction, haven't seen his rallies.

But, seeing the posters around school, some candidates promise to give, give and give some more. Ankle socks, coloured laces, no-study week etc.

The candidates are:

a. Saravanan
b. Justin Lau
c. Zhang Quan
d. Brian Lim

I am no councillor so I can't really give the real layout of the job. He's the head of the student body so I guess he administers stuff or something like that. But he must be a leader, so how does one gauge leadership? I do not know. - Excerpts from http://plaidnightmares.blogspot.com/2007/07/montfort-presidential-elections-in.html

School Blog: Mr Simen explained how elections were ran and why they were being run. Candidates are run for electoral constituencies and they are part of the Singapore experience.

Mr Simen then ran through the list of Prefects who had suceeded throughout the 91 years history of the School.

1. Andrew Tan - Architect of the School. School Management Committee

2. Ng Kok Song - Chairman of SMC before Mr Chua Cher Choon. He was also chairmn of the Singapore Government Investment Corporation (GIC - an investment arm of the Singaporean government which uses government revenue accrued from CPF and taxes for investments in placs like Suzhou). He was extremely loyal to the school and when he lost his wife,Patricia Ng to cancer, the school representatives sang the school song at her funeral in a touching farewell.

3. Tan Lai Huat, consultant to many companies and a specialist in corporate governance. Vice-Chairman of School Management Committee (SMC)

4. Gabriel Teo - St Gabriel's Foundation Commitee member to help oversee the running of Gabrielite schools. His daughter is a bowler who represents Singapore.

5. Quek Tong Boon - Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Defence. He was also at one time, CEO of Defence Science Organisation (DSO)

6. Ronald Tan. CEO of Singapore Institute of Management.

Mr Simen explained that they were all leaders and continue to serve Montfort in their speical way.

He explained, "It is an honor to be a leader. He must know how to use power. He must also have a way to show that he does it in a firm way.He is relaxed and confidant. Yet why is it so hard to find one?"

Reading from a book, Mr Simen continued to expound on the ideas of leadership. "A leader leads people where they want to go. Leaders always follow a step ahead. They inspire and encourage, telling those they lead that they can do it. Roosevelt was such a person. He led the people out of the Great Depression because the people wanted someone to tell them they could do it. Churchill did it. During the dark days of WW2, the people needed someone to tell them that they could resist Hitler on their own. A leader knows the tides. A leader rides the waves. His purpose must match the national mood. He must inspire people. He must make what people want seem attainable. Above all, he must dignify the people's desires. "

"However, the making of great history will not come till we are ready for the Leader. The leader is a mirror and reflectin of our own sense of purpose. He puts into dreams our own hope. He develops clear strategies. Our strenth, determination and courage makes him strong. The leader is a symbol of the best in us or the worst in us. A leader cannot be faked. He is th sum of all of us, as a community. Our own sense of purpose must therefore be clear or leadership will just ring and sound hollow."

Mr Simen reminded the school of what he had always been talking about:

a. Self Discipline - Focus & attention - Listen with the Heart and Understand with the Head - Performance

b. Holy Trinity of Family-School-Self

He added, "

Leaders are not just about popularity. Popularity is not everything because if a leader merely did something to be popular, he would merely be a 'clerical administrator'. A leader must have the courage to do what is right, and to do what is right in the absence of full information.

Mr Simen encouraged the canddiates and told them that all of them are leaders. He told the school at the Question-And-Answer Sessions which lasted 1.5 hours that this was a practice in citizenship. Decorum and respect was needed at the Q-and-A session and elections. He expressed his wish that this exercise would nurture Montfortians to be citizens when it mattered the most.

The Q-and-A was chaired by Mr Seah Kok Woei and received overwhelming response from the ground. There were questions about candidate promises, plans after the elections, confidence level of candidates, canteen vendors, school grauduation, pandering too much to the electorates etc. There were even some personal questions which got the audience excited but it was all done with good understanding and honest intent.

Mr Simen rouned out the Q-and-A session by explaining that good questions were posed. 95% of them were good questions. This was all part of electioneering and made good training and practice for everyone. It was a good school experience. Mr Simen also explained that he had his own personal views on many of the questions raised but he pointed out that it was not his day to answer questions. He pointed out that delivering promises was not an easy task because it was important to differentiate between needs first and wants later. To only have a world of having our 'wants' fulfilled is to live in an ideal and utopian world which doest not exist.