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Like all the schools in the
ACS family, ‘Founder’s Day’ is ACS Oldham Hall’s event of the
year. Since 2006, ACS OH has marked the founding of our
beloved ACS by Bishop William F. Oldham in a unique way.
Instead of parades, with marching contingents, or concerts,
etc, we invited all the major boarding schools and hostels in
Singapore to compete for the Founder’s Challenge Shield, which
also featured cheer teams and good food! The objective is for
our boarders to share the happy occasion with those from the
various hostels and boarding schools in Singapore.
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By bringing all the major
boarding schools and hostels together for an enjoyable time of
interaction and friendly competition through sports, we are
also doing our bit to foster closer ties among the staff and
boarders of our local boarding schools and hostels. As a
majority of the boarders are foreign students, the Challenge
also serves to broaden their circle of friends and thus make
them feel more at home in Singapore, and over time, integrate
better into our society.
Just as Bishop Oldham gave
so much to past, current and future generations of ACSians,
Founder’s Day Challenge is also an opportunity for our
boarders to partake in an activity with a worthwhile outcome.
Mindful of the difficulties which some families in Singapore
have in providing for their children of school-going age, ACS
OH is committed to raising funds to support bursary programmes
for local children. For each participating hostel or boarding
school, ACS OH donated $1,000 to designated charities which
support local needy students through the award of bursaries.
As in previous years, the
response was overwhelming. A total of 10 boarding schools and
hostels, namely ACS (Independent) Boarding School, Anglican
House, Catholic Junior College Hostel, Dunman High School
Hostel, Hwa Chong Institution Boarding School, McNair Lodge,
Nanyang Girls’ High Boarding School, Parry Hall, Raffles
Institution Boarding School, and Victoria Hall responded to
the challenge by sending their teams and supporters to vie
with ACS OH and each other for the titles of Futsal Champion
(Male) and Captain’s Ball Champion (Female).
Given
the overwhelming response, ACS OH donated a total of $10,000
to the two nominated beneficiaries - MCYC Community Services
Society and Methodist Welfare Services, which benefited
equally by receiving a donation of $5,000 each from ACS Oldham
Hall.
The
Guest-of-Honour for the occasion was Mr Khoo Boon Hui,
Commissioner of Singapore Police Force, and President of
INTERPOL (The International Criminal Police Organization). Mr
Khoo, an Old Boy of ACS, addressed the audience of over 700
students, staff and volunteers from the participating hostels
and boarding schools. In his speech, he commended ACS OH for the
initiative to organise an inter-hostel event of this scale, and
also for the heart to set aside funds to help local school
children from needy families in the form of bursaries.
Among the honoured guests
were the Chairman of ACS Board of Governors, Mr Richard Seow,
the Chairperson of the Methodist Welfare Services, the Executive
Director of the MCYC Community Services Society, as well as the
Principals of schools and MOE representatives.
After
an intense afternoon of competition, the title of Champion for
Futsal (Boys) went to ACS Oldham Hall, while Dunman High School
Hostel emerged Champion for the Captain’s Ball (Girls).
The event concluded with the
singing of the ACS Anthem, which was led by our ACS Oldham Hall
boarders, followed by a short prayer by the Assistant Chaplain,
Rev Andum, following which everyone proceeded to ACS OH Dining
Hall for dinner.
Though it was a long day for all, the joy to meet and catch up
with some old friends and forging new friendships was clear to
see.
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