2022华中国际学校毕业典礼致辞

華中董事长谢南极博士向2022年的华中国际学校毕业生致辞。

敬爱的主宾，我们董事部副董事长兼管委会主席许喻胜先生，董事部成员，管委会成员、还有信托管委会主席和成员、校长、副校长、老师、职员、家长、同学们，大家下午好。

我今天依然选择传统，先用华语和大家沟通。因为华中就是一个传统的华文学校，当然，用话语是当仁不让。但是我也会证明给你们看，华中的子弟并不是固步自封的，我们也会与时并进。

So in this speech, I will use both Mandarin and English. To show to you that, members of the Hwa Chong family are versatile.

Now, today I will start with that began in the 1980s, "last century". I'm beginning with this because I want to show you what will happen to you twenty, thirty years down the road; how you can choose your story, how you want to write your story. And in 20 to 30 years' time, it'll fit nicely for you.

Now, this is a picture we took when I was in secondary school, just like you. However, where I stand or where I sit is not important. That's not the focal point.

The important thing was that one afternoon one of our classmates sent this photo to our WhatsApp group and everybody got very excited.

看到老朋友、老相好。大家就你一言，我一语的讲起来：我记得某某人，他参加哪个课外活动，在学校的运动会上做了什么，非常有趣；还有我也记得哪一个，考试非常差的，整天给老师骂。还有一些：我也记得那一个整天作弄老师的，搞得大家很好笑。

突然有一个同学出来问，坐在那边第五位的叫什么名？突然间聊天室变得鸦雀无声。五分钟后，有另外一位同学跳出来：我也记得他，他考试很好，每年名列前茅，但我就是不记得他的每名字。

So what is the moral of the story?

If you want people to remember you by working hard and studying very well, it's just not enough. Don't get me wrong. I'm not encouraging you not to study hard. You need to study hard. But that's not good enough.

If you want people to remember you, you need to do more than that. You need to make a difference in the lives of the people around you.

That's why in Hwa Chong we teach you: 你要自强，自强不息，让自己强。自强不息，要饮水思源，要己利利人，己达达人。

When you're strong, you must help the people around you, so that people will remember you for life. Now, this is the same for the school, and it is also the same in work. In work, it's even more like that. If you don't believe, go back and ask your parents.

Next time when you're at work, 你只是埋头苦干，你不跟人打交道，你做的很。当你的单位论功行赏的时候，很有可能你没有功劳，功劳轮不到你，苦劳也可能轮不到你。你有什么？你有 “白劳”，白白的枉费自己的劳力。

So, the real world is very cruel. You need to make yourself known. You need to have an impact on people's lives, especially your boss'.

Now, it's the same for you, for anybody, and it's the same for Hwa Chong International School as well. So on many occasions, I have spoken about how we want to make HCIS different from other international schools.

We want to build on our Asian culture, to instill the values in you. That's why we teach you 自强不息。We teach you 饮水思源。We teach you 己利利人、己达达人。

Please remember all of this.

As a school, we want to do this, we want to add value to our students. We do not only want to build you academically strong. We also want to build you physically and mentally strong. We want to build you to be ready for the future. And we want to be your partner for life. To do that, we would of course need a lot of facilities.

So, we have spoken about these facilities for the longest time; today, I'm glad I can share something with you.

那在校董、管委会、华中国际学校校长、副校长、老师、职员、还有母校的校长、副校长、老师和职员的配合下，大家齐心协力，我们做到了什么？

这是华中国际学校即将拥有的游泳池！大家高兴吗？

谢谢，谢谢你们的掌声。这些工程听到你们的掌声，不过我觉得有一点不够大声。再来好不好？大声一点！

我为什么有你们更大声的掌声？其中几位很有分量的领导，比如我们的洪静源学长，坐在那边，穿白衣的，还带着口罩。也包括我们的主宾许喻胜先生。还有我们管委会的副主席林志光先生。他们不辞劳苦，多个下午跑到学校来开会，穿针引线，确保我们的工程能够进行，跟学校配合。

那我之所以要你们更大声的掌声，为什么？你们看清楚。这个游泳池好像缺少一样东西。没有水。所以要完成这游泳池，还差一步之遥。

你们这么大的掌声，除了给他们鼓励之外，也告诉他们你们的 “渴望”。渴望要有游泳池。渴望这游泳池可以水到渠成。所以他们可能今晚睡不着。为什么呢？要想办法怎么来满足你们的 “渴望”。

On the swimming pool, it will be owned by HCIS. HCIS students will be given priority to use it. However, when there're spare capacities, we should always share it with the whole Hwa Chong Family, including graduates.

We want to be your partner for life, right?

OK, this is the CCA Centre. It's a little unfortunate we had a lot of road blocks. Because of COVID-19, because of labour shortages, and because of supply chain problems. However, I am very optimistic with their perseverence. With their determination, we will see the completion of this CCA Centre by early next year. The team is working very hard towards that.

In this CCA Centre, we are going to have a state-of-the-art Library as well. Now you may ask me: I'm alreadying graduating, why are you telling me all this? Of course, we said we want to be your partner for life. Like the swimming pool, you will have a chance to use it. And, you will also have a chance to use the library.

The details will need to be worked out with the school. In terms of the timing and allocations, to see how we can let the graduates come back and use them.

我们不怕没有设施给你用，只怕你不回来。所以，请大家都要保持联系。当我们招兵买马的时候，你们要浩浩荡荡的回来。

And look at this, our iconic Agora. This is a picture. It's not reality yet. But it's going to look like this. And the school will organise homecoming days, activities and all these to let you come back, connect with the school and build the school together.

We need you to come back and tell us what you need, what you want to see, and what kind of activities you'd like to see organised.

Also, we said we are building the future for you, right? The Future School. The team is working very hard, on delivering this vision of Learning Anywhere, Learning Anytime.

The team led by AP Michelle and Rakesh. They're working very hard. Sometimes I give them a lot of pressure, asking them: when is this going to happen, when is that going to happen, have you issued the laptops to the teachers, and so on and so forth. Sometimes, I can see cold sweat coming down on them. But that is how we want to work. We want to make this happen.

Now, the Future School, the vision, is still a long journey. We have made progress but we still have a lot of work to do. And with this, I would like to wrap up for you.

I began with the 1980s story. To tell you what will happen to you in 20 to 30 years' time. So you can choose your story, or how you'd write it. So that when you look back, it will fit nicely for you.

I have shared with you the School's vision, and some of the initiatives that we have done. We have made a lot of progress.

I'm sure you will do very well in your IB, and many, many exams more to go. But please, do come back and link up with us.

家长，我相信你们也感受到，你们选择华中国际学校，这个选择是对的。

Now, we can make all these things happen, this is also because of the last batch of the Board members, led by Mr Jonathan Lee. They have put together the concept of the Swimming Pool, the CCA Centre, the Library and the Future School vision. And my Board, my Board members and I, we inherited all these concepts, and with perseverence, we are pushing hard to make it happen.

And this is the continuity of our School. We want to make sure this continuity will go forward and bring the School to the next level.

Finally, I want to thank the principal, teachers, vice principals, parents and students. 还有，我们劳苦功高的董事部成员、管委会成员、信托管委会成员，谢谢。