Mr Sairi Bakiri
Teacher
46 years and counting…
From being the only Art teacher in the school, to painting a gigantic backdrop for the school drama performance, Mr Sairi remembered these moments fondly in his early years with Queenstown Secondary School, when he first joined the school in 1976.
Winning a mural competition organised by DBS & Nippon Paint in the 1980s was just one of the many sweet memories of this school.
”…the mural spread to about four storeys high. With five students and two other teachers, we painted it over the June school holidays. The mural panels followed us to the current premise till it was time to give way to other works… ”
Another sweet memory was the unexpected win for a poster design competition, organised by Temasek Polytechnic and the Singapore Traffic Police.
“…our school walked away with all top three prizes…when the students or myself didn’t even have any confidence of winning.”
Working closely with students, inspiring them, guiding and giving them the exposure were just among the few experiences that will always stay close to Mr Sairi’s heart who is a veteran in the school.
Muhammad Danial
4F, Student Leader
My classmates and I always have so much fun. We spend most of our time learning to problem-solve together.
One memorable experience that left an impact on me was when we had to do a group project on 'Hanami', a Japanese festival. As the group leader, I tried to make the research fun for all by minimizing their stress and ensuring that everyone took part. We were committed to completing our task and having fun while working on the project. Our group had the best research produced eventually. The important takeaway for me was how we managed to overcome the challenges when working together. This experience contributed to my learning as a newly appointed student leader too.
I always try to remind myself that as a student leader, I must be responsible and be ready to overcome any challenges. Carrying out my assigned responsibilities has given me the chance to mingle more with the student population in general. Casual chats and jokes are some of the things I treasure with friends I made while I perform my daily duties. Being a student leader in Queenstown Secondary School has really taught me to be more confident and be a role model to my peers. Even in my CCA, we are always taught the same values too.
While I had loads of fun being exposed to various types of activities, in my CCA, I had the opportunity to build up my perseverance. Experiences such as overnight camps actually taught me to be more disciplined and to always be prepared. I have learnt that it is important to look out for each other, just as I how I’ve learnt to do the same with my classmates.
I am sure there will be more of these experiences as I continue my journey as a Queenstownian.
Anyone who walks into the premises of Queenstown Secondary School will be greeted first with some familiar sights. Among them is the 3D model of the old school building which stands on a grand pedestal.
“…even that pedestal was built from scratch, to compliment the whole presentation of the school 3D model…”
Having been with the school since 1976, Mr Ong Ah Beng has seen changes made around the school, moving to temporary sites and improvements made around the premises. Building the model of the old school building was a passion project that also fulfilled a request to keep a visual memory of how Queenstown Secondary School looked like in the early years.
The project started in the 1980s and took more than a year to complete.
“…every day we spent just a couple of hours putting everything together. The students who helped were all on a voluntary basis as they were just passionate about the project.”
Equipped with just photographs as reference, the school 3D model was the hard work of Mr Ong along with 4 students and one teaching staff. Nothing out of the ordinary was used and basic materials such as transparency were creatively utilised to imitate parts of the model such as the glass panels. However the effort and energy put in is what makes the 3D model special.
The 3D model set up provided students, staff, guests and visitors over the years with a clear visual of how the early years of the school looked like.
20 years on and the 3D model continues to be part of Queenstown’s heritage.
Mr Ong Ah Beng
Workshop Instructor