Nanyang Junior College: Difference between revisions

Nanyang Junior College 南洋初级学院 Maktab Rendah Nanyang
File:Nyjc logo.png
Address
128 Serangoon Avenue 3, Singapore 556111 Lorong Chuan, Serangoon Singapore
Coordinates	1°21′03″N 103°52′01″E / 1.3507°N 103.866913°E / 1.3507; 103.866913
Information
Type	Government-Aided
Motto	共同建设 ((Together We Build))
Established	16 April 1977
Session	Single-session
School code	0805
Principal	Mr Kwek Hiok Chuang
Staff	160+
Gender	Mixed
Enrolment	1800+
Language	Chinese, Malay, Tamil
Colour(s)	Blue, Yellow and Red
Song	"Together We Build"
Affiliation	Chung Cheng High School (Main) Chung Cheng High School (Yishun)
Mission	Uphold Values, Impart Lifeskills, Maximise Potential.
Vision	A value-added college that nurtures leaders with a global outlook.
Website	www.nanyangjc.moe.edu.sg

Nanyang Junior College (NYJC) is a junior college in Singapore, offering two-year pre-university courses leading up to the GCE Advanced Level examinations. ^[1]

Nanyang Junior College was founded in 1977 as Lorong Chuan Junior College, and was among the first junior colleges to be established in Singapore, settling at Serangoon Avenue 3.^{[citation needed]} The first Principal was Mr Chia Khoon Hock, who served the college for 19 years until his retirement in 1995. The first cohort of Arts and Science students, about 600 altogether, was enrolled in January 1978. They were housed temporarily in the then Westlake Secondary School.^{[citation needed]} With the completion of the construction of the major buildings and facilities in November 1978, the staff and students moved to the new premises in December 1978.^{[citation needed]}

The college was renamed as Nanyang Junior College in 1978. The name "Nanyang" is hanyu pinyin for the Chinese characters representing "Southern Seas". ^{[citation needed]}This was what the mainland Chinese people referred to the region encompassed by Singapore, Malaysia and the Southeast Asian region. The name is a reflection of the origins of Singapore having been built by immigrants predominantly from China, India, Malaysia, as well as other parts of the world.^{[citation needed]}

As the campus of Nanyang Junior College was built on a small ridge, fog often covered part of the college in the 1980s and 1990s the college was known affectionately as “白云岗” (in Mandarin, literally meaning "White Cloud Ridge"). This is also the inspiration for the brand-name of the college's Chinese Cultural Society's annual drama production. The NYJC Alumni Association was formed on 15 June 1988. ^[2]

In 1997, NYJC was selected to be the second college in Singapore to offer the Art Elective Programme (Singapore) (AEP). In 1999, NYJC became the third pre-university centre in Singapore to launch the Chinese Language Elective Programme, and till date has produced many scholarship holders in the Chinese Language field.^[3]

In 2006, the school's executive committee proposed a name change to the school's name: "Chung Cheng Junior College" to signify the affliation of NYJC to Chung Cheng High (Main) and Chung Cheng High (Yishun) Nevertheless, this proposition is overwhelmingly rejected by the alumni and staff. A sign was also erected saying "Once an NYJCian, Always an NYJCian", as an affirmation to the school identity. ^[4]

In recent years, the college has witnessed tremendous raise in its admission requirements, recording a cut-off-point of 6 for science and art streams. This places NYJC as one of the top 5 junior colleges based on entry points. The college has proved its consistent results in the A levels examination, faring well above national average for many subjects. ^[5]

Nanyang Junior College is affiliated with Chung Cheng High School (Main) & Chung Cheng High School (Yishun). Students from both affiliated institutions are entitled to two additional point reduction to their L1R5 raw scores for their GCE O Level examination results when applying for admission into NYJC (a maximum of 4 reduction points to L1R5 score is allowed for JC Joint Admission Exercise, with the exception for appeals through Language Elective Programmes, which additional 2 point reduction may be applied as a factor of consideration). ^[6]

Nanyang Junior College's insignia bears a white lion on a red background above a sea. The white lion over the red background symbolised the courage and pride to strive for excellence in the face of challenge, as portrayed by the waves in blue.^[7] The white lion also portrays the quality to challenge convention as a leader, as a symbol of distinction.^[8] The college motto, "Together We Build", highlighted the importance of each individual as a building block of a community. ^[9]

Male students wear a plain beige-coloured shirt with beige pants. This is similar to that of female students, with beige-coloured skirts and shorts. The former uniform, which was of a deeper brown, was completely phased out in 2008. The collar pin, which bears the college insignia, is worn on the left collar of shirt. The school tie, which was formerly worn on Wednesdays, is now worn primarily during formal school events and assemblies. Dark brown blazers are also only worn on special occasions. The attire for PE is a college T-shirt with blue and white shoulder stripes and black shorts which bear the school initials.

In 2012, two dress-down days were introduced (Wednesdays and Fridays). This was accompanied by the implementation of thecollege polo T-shirts. Apart from the class, CCA T-shirts, students could wear the college polo T-shirts and school event T-shirts as part of the official college uniform. In 2013, the number of dress-down days was increased to 4 (Everyday except for Wednesday) ^[10]

NYJC offers Arts and Science courses of study. However, it is one of the few colleges in Singapore not allocating an 'S' to Science classes and 'A' to Arts classes since the new system was introduced in 2006, opting instead to avoid such labels in order to foster a greater sense of college spirit.

As a student-centred junior college, NYJC is also quoted locally as the most flexible college in terms of its availability of subject combinations. ^[11] In recent years, the school has come into prominence for its steady rise to be among colleges with the most competitive academic achievements, faring well above the national average for a number of subjects at the annual GCE A Level examination. This was also reflected by the growing selectivity and increasingly stringent entry requirements for applicants year-on-year. ^[12][13]

NYJC is also one of the few junior colleges in Singapore that do not hold morning assemblies at the conventional 7.30 am or 7.40 am. For the J1s, assembly starts at 8.30 am on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. For J2s, it is on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Students will report to school by 8.25 am on these days. On the remaining days, there are no assembly and students may go to school at 8.50 am.^[14]

The Student Council is formed by a group of 30 to 40 councillors elected by the student population. Headed by an executive committee, there are three committees in the Student Council – Welfare, Communications and College Image and Bonding. Nanyang Junior College Student Council is one of the first Student Councils in Singapore to have a Twitter account to update the student population on college events and initiatives. ^[15]

The Class Leaders' Committee (CLC) (previously known as 'Civics Tutorial Congress') of NYJC is made up of all Class Leaders, mainly the Class Chairpersons, Class Vice-Chairpersons, Service-Learning Advocate (SL Advocate.), National Education Advocate (NE Advocate) and the Green Advocate(Green Advocate). ^{[citation needed]}

The entire Class Leaders' Committee is governed by a body called the Class Leaders' Executive Committee (CLEXCO), which helps in disseminating all information to the Class Leaders, organising courses and camps for Class Leaders, planning and executing events in school, sometimes in collaboration with the Student Council.^{[citation needed]}

• Mr. James Gomez: Opposition politician, Singapore Democratic Party
• Assoc Prof. Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Health & Ministry of Transport, Member of Parliament, Nee Soon GRC
• Mdm. Ng Phek Hoong Irene: Former Member of Parliament, Tampines GRC
• Mr. Chia Kiah Hong, Steve: Opposition politician; Former secretary-general, National Solidarity Party
• Mr. Teo Ser Luck: Minister of State; Member of Parliament, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC
• Mr. Yeo Guat Kwang: Former Member of Parliament, Ang Mo Kio GRC

• Assoc Prof Phua Lye Huat, Stephen: Director, LLM (International Business Law) Programme, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore

• LG Neo Kian Hong: Former Chief of Defence Forces, Singapore Armed Forces

• 
  The façade and track of the college.
• 
  High Elements Ropes Course in the college campus.
• 
  View of the college Quadrangle.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nanyang Junior College.

• Official website
• NYJC Facebook Page