Guest-of-Honour Mr Ong Kian Min giving away the prizes, while the principal, the Rev Dr John Barrett, looks on. - ACS (International) picture.
Before long, the arrival of the Guest-of-Honour for our inaugural Speech Night was announced, signalling the commencement of the event. He was Mr Ong Kian Min, a Member of Parliament for the Tampines GRC, an ex-ACSian himself, and the father of two of our students.
He gave a very inspiring speech about transforming obstacles encountered in life into steps of success, by telling the story of an old donkey which was nearly buried alive in a well, but managed to escape by repeatedly shaking off the piles of sand shovelled upon it, and then stepping on it to emerge from the well.
Other speakers who took to the stage that evening included our Principal, the Rev Dr John Barrett, who delivered a keynote speech entitled "Looking Ahead", and student leaders Manav Melwani and Stephanie Chuah, the President and Vice-President of the Student Council respectively.
I am sure most of us felt a sense of warmth in our hearts at the video presentation on the highlights of the year. It was truly a trip down memory lane as pictures of the Orientation, Night of Laughter, Celefest and many other events were splashed onto the screen. What a rich store of memories we have accumulated over the past year.
The highlight of the evening was the prize presentation. Prizes were awarded to students in recognition of their excellent performance in the various subjects. Some notable categories of awards included Best Overall Performance in the Bridging Course, Best Improved Effort, Best Social Contribution, and Best Overall Academic Performance.
For those who did not win any prize, remember, putting in your best effort was the best prize of all. After all, the best is yet to be!
Academic achievements aside, the event also provided an opportunity for the students to showcase their talents. A short play, entitled "Damage Control" was put up by some of our students. It is the first play produced entirely by the ACS (International) family, with Mr Bruno Luse Goh as the director.
The Chamber Choir rendered "Love Changes Everything", conducted by Ms Carol Ling and accompanied on the piano by Michelle Lee of Secondary 3X.
In true ACS fashion, the evening was brought to a close with the singing of our favorite song, the ACS Anthem, which was led by the choir and sung with gusto by everyone. All in all, it was certainly a most memorable night.
Just as the Orientation Week was the perfect beginning to the opening year of ACS (International), Speech Night was the perfect end to what has been an exciting year for all of us.