THE SPIRIT OF VICTORIA
Victoria Institution, the name itself conjures an aura of excellence. When you say "I am from VI", the person to whom you are talking to will change his perspective of you. It doesn’t matter whether you are good-looking or not. The name of VI makes you more reputable and revered. Even the girls seem to prefer VI boys. This is what my friends have told me! Have you ever been curious as to why VI is so venerated? Is it because of her long history? Or because of good examination results? Good facilities? Perhaps of our dominance in sports and competitions? Actually, the answer is… not quite. Many other schools can compete with us in most of these areas. Some even manage to beat us. But why then does VI still possess that magical spell? We can sum it up in word – SPIRIT.
It is true that no other school can match us in spirit. We have the highest spirit and deepest love for our school. But recently, something seems to have gone wrong. Many Victorians seem to have forgotten though they do not realise it. They do not feel that VI is anymore different than the rest. One should really be thankful to God for making it to VI. Remember how happy you were when you first entered VI? It was not easy making it to VI, for God’s sake. Even now, when anyone asks about VI, you will feel proud when you reply, "I am from VI!" I will never forget how hard I tried and how happy I felt getting in to this school. When we sing during assembly, we sing it with SPIRIT. When our school team plays on our home ground, many Victorians will go down to the field to support them. The teams from other schools will also bring their own supporters but their supporters will simply be dumbfounded and can only watch with open mouths as we get into our act. They can never quite match the spirit of Victoria.
Discipline wise, VI is indeed of a higher standard. In most of the other schools, the boys have combs sticking out of their back pockets, have hair-length of Rapunzel proportions, colourful socks, fluorescent T-shirts to go with the inside of their so-called school shirts complete with designer label. I have never seen a Victorian looking like this before.
Cleanliness seems to be lagging far behind in VI. Victorians should be more aware of the cleanliness of the school. Every student should take the initiative to keep VI clean. Cleanliness is very important as the first thing a visitor would see is the outlook of the school. Please do not forget, the spirit of VI also encompasses the spirit of being clean.
Now let us look back to the colonial times. You don’t know how hard the old Victorians and teachers worked to give VI the reputation it has today. A good reputation requires years of toil. Old Victorians were careful not to make mistakes that would affect VI. Certain features of a Victorian in those days were cleanliness, excellence or rather the attempt to attain it, healthy competition, willingness to take part in all school activities and willingness to help others and being humble in times of victory or triumph.
When the people of Kuala Lumpur put their hard-earned money for this school, they had high expectations of the school. This school was not simply built by one man, it was built by everyone who shared a common dream, that is… Victoria Institution, the best school in South East Asia and the old Victorians lived up to expectations. The people of Kuala Lumpur envied them. Now outsiders still respect us, but with doubts. "What has happened to VI?" and "Where’s the spirit?" The school does not radiate any spirit now. It looks very ‘dead’. You should restore it. Soon, everyone is going to turn their backs on us and we are going to be like one of those Sekolah Menengah Jalan Somethings. We must perform well in all our endeavours. We must show love, respect and dedication to and for the school. It is the best time for you Victorians out there to do it as we are celebrating VI’s 100th Year. What will happen in the future? It all depends on you, the present Victorians, to show your successors how to love, respect and cherish this school. Please don’t let VI lose her soul and spirit. You can do it! So can I! Bring back the SPIRIT OF VICTORIA. Let us march together, hand in hand, towards a brighter future! Victoria Institution was, is and will always be the best of the best!
Raymond Lam Chee Kheong
Victorian (1988 – 1993)
June 1993.
(In conjunction with VI 100th Anniversary)
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