fangirl forever: The School Song

Composed by Mrs Christine Kanagarajah in 1967, with lyrics by herself and the late Sr Carmen Dengah, this is our beloved school song, a truly melodius and stirring anthem which still gives me the thrills when I hear it sung by the 'girls', especially when we hit those high notes and even more especially on that resounding final note!
I'm sure all of us think we have the best school song ever!
The pics above are a reprint of the original score which Mrs Kana autographed for me a few years ago at an alumni dinner. :)

Here's a little recording I did on piano (erm...no, my solo singing voice would put you off immediately but one day when I get a recording at any SAC function, I'll put it here):

Lyrics:

Verse 1

United in common endeavour
At work, at play, Life's lessons we learn
Our youthful hearts are filled with ardour
For truth and wisdom we yearn

Chorus

Courageously with heads held high
We march ever on through Life
Schooled in your spirit Canossa
For Virtue, True Nobility we strive
Schooled in your spirit Canossa
For True Virtue we strive!

Verse 2

Our Alma Mater, our Guardian, our Guide
Prepare our Spirits for duty's call
Our country to serve with Virtuous Might
We stand for Truth and for Right



I can 'hear' this song in my mind as we sang it assembled in the Quadrangle all those years ago...awesomeness!

fangirl forever: Tomboys get Technical

Ok, these classes were not, technically (pun intended) at Middle Road.
But they were an integral part of school life back then...read on!


I often blame my lack of culinary skills and general unease in the kitchen on not choosing to do Home Economics when in Sec One.
But then again, being the tomboy I was then, there was just absolutely NO WAY I would willingly wear the white frilly apron and scarf which were mandatory for Home Econs. *grimace*

So Technical Education it was, with lessons held at McNair Road two mornings a week (or was it three?).
It was nice to go to another school and the blue apron/red-and-white-checked scarf combo were suitably less girly looking and more acceptable (at that time).

Essentially, there were two aspects of Technical viz Metalwork and Woodwork.
There were theory lessons and then practical sessions in the workshop where we had to fashion out various items from slabs of metal or chunks of wood.

Metalwork was rather dirtier, as there was always some oil involved (to prevent rust, I'm sure) and some of the objects I remember making were a soapdish and a small hammer (more like a mallet, actually). We had to draw out the outlines on the metal and use the hacksaw and file to get the required shape. There was also drilling to be done.

Woodwork was cleaner but one perpetual problem I had was planing the wood down evenly....somehow, my surfaces always ended up a little curved...!
Or my sawing would be off and the joints of wood would not fit together properly. :(
Somehow, some way, I managed to complete those projects and would bring them home proudly to show my parents...lol!

Sad to say, Technical education did nothing to make me more comfortable wielding a screwdriver, hammer or other implements in an everyday toolbox.
But it was fun doing all that together with my friends and comparing our 'masterpieces'; I wish I had kept some of them. *smiles wistfully*

Ah LOng Jie: The Quadrangle

Ah LOng Jie gives her insights on another Uniquely SAC feature:




Memories of the school quadrangle.

SAC is not architecturally beautiful or designed ornately in any way.
It is just a very 'squarish' block,  simply designed to be  functional.

The land area of the school  was maxed out with every square foot , with classrooms lined along the corridors.

The Canossian nuns, from Verona, Italy  had a mission -  to alleviate the suffering of the poor, provide an education for all , regardless of background , religion or race (so apt as today is National Day when I am writing it).

Like the piazza in an Italian city, they  probably brought a little bit of Italy to SAC.

The quad was the center and hub where activities took place; both the usual daily assemblies and special occasion events.

In the mornings , assembly was at the quadrangle.
While the flag was raised on the second floor for all to view,  we girls stood at the ground floor - in the  quadrangle. We dutifully recited our national day pledge and sang the national anthem in a language unfamiliar to us.

There was no need for chairs in the quadrangle.
We sat on the floor - where we trampled on.

The  trampling sometimes turned out  dance  and song when Mrs Kana led the singing and replaced the prayerful hymns with worldly tunes.

The quad was cleverly placed - in the middle of the building .
The was no need for lighting - the quad was in the open area but  well shaded.
Looking back, the school was forward looking -  they had  designed SAC with a sustainability mission.

The floor of the quadrangle was  never tiled. Instead, it was painted with stripes for some semblance of a basketball court area as we did our basketball training there.

Within the quad, we   fought (yes convent girls do fight) ,  we reasoned,  chanted hymns,  got chastised and we cheered  jubilantly over our academic achievements and sports skills -  all announced in the confines of the quadrangle.

No one  could never escape the watchful eyes of the discipline mistress or nuns , who could scan the  girls in a matter of minutes from the second floor.

We had our recess , lunch, group discussions, push up punishments and prep talks  within the quadrangle.
It was one of the best and most memorable areas of SAC!

fangirl forever: Songs Mrs Kana Taught Us

Here are some of the most unforgettable songs Mrs Kana taught us waaay back and which I can still hear in my mind, us girls in the Big Hall, singing along as she played the piano and prodded us into pronouncing the words properly, keep the correct rhythm and timing, whilst hitting those high notes accurately!



I'll start with one of my absolute favourites viz Beatitudes, which I seldom heard after leaving SAC, but the melody was etched in my mind and I love to play it on the piano too.
This is by The Dameans:

The Song of Ruth: Wherever You Go, by monks of the Western Priory:

This is an all-time favourite song which lifts me up every time I feel down viz Thank You, Lord and which SAC girls sing WONDERFULLY:

He (God) in 3/4 time is what Mrs Kana taught us and here's the link to the youtube vid. I think SAC girls sing this much more beautifully than the guy in the vid, though. ;)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNLY6XzQQEk&feature=fvwrel



Author of Beauty is another one of those songs which I seldom heard after leaving SAC, but will always remember it for its haunting melody and rhythm:

Mrs Kana was ambitious indeed....we were taught Latin hymns as well...two of which I remember very clearly.

Panis Angelicus, here performed by Dame Kiri Te Kanewa:

Ave Verum Corpus:

 

Now for a TOTALLY UNFORGETTABLE Hawaiian number, complete with dance steps which EVERY SAC girl remembers most fondly...presenting The Hukilau Song!

Pokarekare Ana, a Maori song was another hot favourite:

Dahil Sayo, a Philipino love song...le sigh...here performed by The Lettermen...remember them? ;)

And of course, everyone knows this one about Arithmetic and a worm...it's quite soft though, so please turn the volume up:

And the Sesame Street version which is has the adorablest Inch Worm ever!

Hope you all enjoyed them! 

VronT: More than just music lessons

I first mentioned my amazing music teacher, Ms Toh from School 1 in my Of Nuns And Music post.

Well, the music teacher from School 2 was no less awesome, as VronT describes here:



While Mrs Monica Toh was the music teacher of School 1, Mrs Catherine Zuzarte taught School 2, where I was. And like my contemporaries in the other session, we found music lessons an escape from lessons and homework - a relief from books as we carried our recorder and harmonicas happily during recess time, played a few tunes before the bell rang where we would head for the hall or the music room for a good 40 minutes. We learnt what were crochets, quavers and semi-quavers - clapped to rhythms of ta-te-ta-te ta-ta. We used tamborines, castanets and triangles. I learnt how to multiply 2 and 4 times table at music class.. believe it or not?

Our music teachers were instrumental (pun intended) in drilling us in articulation. When we sang, we had to mouth words correctly - round them, and throw them. We had to pronounce our "ahs" and "oos", "ik" and "eeeek", placing your tongue in-between your teeth with "th" and ensuring that we say that "our mother is thirty, not dirty" was a drill in precision tongue positioning. Their thoughts in what they taught were well applied. (now read that right!)

I appreciated that very much.

Those exercises made us speak the way we do - with the right diction, emphasis and enunciation. Tongue twisters were taught at music lessons - quite an unlikely topic, but we were drilled to master them to sing well, ultimately to speak well. The Eliza Doolittle drilling made a huge difference in our verbal prowess.

That's why Convent girls speak differently.