Singaporeans were divided in their opinion over the issue. There were some who chastised the perpetrators, slamming them for having fun at the expense of the birthday girl.
Others, like ACJC student, Javier Yeo defended his school’s ragging culture. “It’s fine. ACJC is part of a school of elite JCs in Singapore which are not meant for prudes anyway”, wrote Javier on his blog.
ACJC principal, Mrs Kelvyna Chan, responded to the incident with relative calm, stating that the school authorities knew about the ragging and had sent the students involved for counselling.
Well, another set of ACJC ragging photos have surfaced on the Internet again. This time, a bunch of guys gang up to dump a birthday girl into a waste bin and wheeled her around in the school canteen to “parade” their victory.
The "victim"HappyThis is where you belong!Let's draw her face!Double checking that the lid is sealed tightACJC students working part-time as cleanersvictory paradeEnd of ordeal
From the photos, the girl looks quite happy… hence it’s really a case of young men and women having fun. Though if we were to ask me, I seriously don’t find it fun to have my friends dumped me into a waste bin for my birthday. I guess this is a unique ACJC culture that outsiders like me won’t be able to understand.
Javier Yeo, a ragging supporter (picture via Javier's blog)
To be fair to both sides, there are people who support the ragging carried out on an Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) girl by her schoolmates to “celebrate” her birthday. The incident attracted a lot of media attention over the last few days, even drawing an official response from ACJC’s principal, Mrs Kelvyna Chan.
You have heard from the detractors, but what about about the supporters?
Here’s what Javier Yeo, an ACJC student himself, wrote on his blog, in support of the ragging culture in his school. The text in bold are quotes he took from this article inSTOMP while the last line in bold and pink is given added emphasis by me as it somehow reminds me of a girl called Wee Shu Min:
Ok first of all, I don’t even understand what the hell is that reporter’s problem. If it was that such big a deal, shouldn’t the girl be traumatized? She would have gone for counseling, leave school and stay at home and not eat, turn anorexic and run away when she sees a cake, eventually culminating in her suicide.
EVIDENTLY that did not happen.
So, this “concerned” retard’s argument doesn’t even hold.
Secondly, tagging the video “loser” is done in FUN not to mock and ridicule the person. Ok to be fair, the whole attempt was to make fun of the birthday girl. But that is what happens when you are a teenager! This is how, you learn to rise up from all these “mocking” nonsense and develop some sense of humour and become a social being, not some moron who stays behind the computer screen and analyze these videos secretly wishing that someone would pay her that much attention.
AND I MUST say that this was done for fun. It was obviously very elaborately planned and no one would give 2 hoots to show someone they care that its their birthday if all they want to do is to make fun of them. USE YOUR BRAINS! Put it to better use.
“It is an awful sight and there is no way the victim is enjoying this.”
Err excuse me, are you the victim? If you’re not then DON’T SHOVE WORDS INTO HER MOUTH. That’s worse then stuffing her clothes with cake and milk.
“The birthday girl even broke down and cried in the video.
And at the end of it all, a staff member was seen admonishing the students not for doing these to her, but for messing up the place.
Dragged and humiliated”
First of all, you are not even the discipline master, let alone a teacher. So thats one reason that you should shut your trap. Secondly, I BELIEVE that our school teacher has a better sense of judgment then you do SINCE YOU ONLY SAW THE VIDEO and he was actually there. If the girl was REALLY CRYING don’t you think that he would have done something? Like I said USE YOUR BRAIN! Gosh.
“And to top it off, with reference to the attached picture , “tagged loser.jpg”, it’s disheartening to see that the person who uploaded the footage actually personally wrote “loser” as one of the tags to the video.
“Is it merely a celebration on the surface or just a facade to intentionally cause emotional distress to someone?”
No no I’m sure the computer will tag loser instead of the person. OF COURSE THE PERSON WHO UPLOAD MUST PERSONALLY TAG LA! RETARD! I’m so sorry but we’re not that advanced yet. We must wait longer for all computers to have AI. And even so, I doubt the computer would be smarter to understand that “loser” in this case is not derogatory at all but just plain fun.
“What kind of a birthday celebration is this?
One that you clearly won’t get to enjoy coz lets face it. No. One. Cares.
“I do not want to be the next person nor anyone else to be in such a state.”
Awwwww…well here’s a comforting thought! You won’t have to worry! You didn’t have to worry, and you won’t have to worry.
I’m just sooo!!!!!! ANNOYED! That someone would have so much free time to bother about ridiculously insignificant stuff like this. If you really care so much go and save the Earth! Stop global warming. Now THAT is an embarrassment that the whole of Mankind has to live through, not some stupid HARMLESS video which clearly has no malice intended.
“I am not exaggerating this incident but if such things were to happen to me. I will not be able to control my emotions and I wouldn’t be able to study in such an environment with peers like this around. Unmistakably, I will be mentally and emotionally hurt being embarrassed in front of everyone in my school, and also the entire footage being uploaded onto the internet allowing everyone else in the world to watch me being humiliated.”
It’s fine. ACJC is part of a school of elite JCs in Singapore which are not meant for prudes anyway.
UPDATE: By popular demand – since so many of the ragging supporters like to point to a blog entry by an ACJC girl called Janene Wong for a balanced view, I am providing the link here too. You can also read her full argument below:
ACJC is in the news.
It’s about a birthday girl who got really ragged on her birthday. Her peers uploaded the video of it online and it got picked up on. Read about it here and here for background info. So the students are under heat for what is interpreted as a humiliating, indecent and extreme act. They called it bullying. Even the principal is under heat for supposedly being on the student’s side.
Aiyo it’s all rubbish. If you’ve ever been in school you’d know that:
1. Your friends know you better. They know your limits and what you can take and what you enjoy. Sure the ragging looked extreme, but youth ragging always is. Unspoken guidelines are, the more trouble they went to ragging you, the more popular you are. Hence I strongly suspect the girl didn’t mind much.
2. There’s no such thing as open bullying nowadays. Noone shoves food in people’s face or ties people up to be mean or to ‘bully’ the person. It’s too obvious, you’d get caught. That stuff only happens in dramas (Dan Humphrey tied up in underwear). Definitely it was done out of fun.
3. Principal Kelvyna Chan is the bestest principal you can ask for. She’s understanding, patient and gracious. Remember the fight club incident when ACJC was in the news for supposedly having a fight club? She gave a moving speech that didn’t judge nor humiliate, but rather offered love and grace. She doesn’t bend to public pressure when the public’s against the students. She always has her student’s best interest in mind. She’s a Christian principal like a mother. Seriously, how dare some random guy denounce the best principal in the world. Grrrr…
Ah seriously, I just feel sad ppl can misinterpret the situation so badly. I wish the bday girl would give a public statement and clear things up, save her, her friend’s, the school’s and the principal’s reputation.
A L V I N O L O G Y 