FRIDAY FLYER-Issue 119
20 May 2022
Headmaster's Review
Welcome to another jam packed edition of our Epsom Friday Flyer!
We hope that you enjoyed the Raya break and were able to spend some precious time with those closest to you.
We enjoyed a wonderful Raya celebration at school – thanks to Ms Mcleod and Miss Suhada as well as our wonderful Prep School parents who arranged an ‘open house’ for us.
I have eaten far too much but cannot resist the beautiful Malaysian delicacies with which I have been presented!
We thoroughly enjoyed the performances of the children both junior and senior and we will definitely make this an annual school celebration event!
Since the last edition much has taken place. This includes the Teen Tech Awards – for which Epsom was awarded Bronze. The team will take on board the judges’ feedback to improve ready for the next competition.
We are delighted to have our support of our students in Technology recognised via the Teen Tech Team who have named us a Silver TeenTech Centre of Innovation.
More good news that we are delighted to be able to share is that Cadence, in Year 13, has been awarded the Kuok Scholarship. This prestigious award is allocated to one student only across Malaysia and we are so very happy that our Cadence was chosen! We offer her, and her family, our warmest congratulations!
We had our first official inter school volleyball match this afternoon versus Oasis International School in KL.
Massive congratulations must go to both teams for winning their matches. The girls team won 3-2 and the boys team won 3-1. Well done to all the players who represented our school exceptionally well.
Special thanks to the coaches, referees and the Sports Society for helping with all the admin on the day, and to all those that came to support. It was great to finally have a competitive fixture against another school!.
The Sixth Form continues to be a hive of activity with various Epsom Live Talks on a range of topics from the Humanities to Science and Engineering. We have included some of these talks for your enjoyment in this edition of the Flyer. Students particularly enjoyed Dr Terry’s presentation on Computer Science. Dr Terry is one of the eminent academics at Liverpool University in the UK. This talk was virtual but we look forward to welcoming many university representatives in future as we emerge further from the pandemic.
As you know we encourage student voice and leadership at Epsom and are excited to welcome the new Prefect Team. During the selection process they presented their ideas for projects that would enrich our school community, many of which were most impressive. The Prefect Team have used the Upper School Assemblies to present their projects to their peers and to invite them to get involved. These include working to support refugees, producing a shared platform for student revision notes prepared by the academic prefects, student conceived and produced documentaries and much more. We are really looking forward to seeing their ideas come to fruition over the year ahead.
It is a busy time of year for the students as they prepare for and sit their examinations and we wish them all the very best.
Hopefully they, along with you, will enjoy taking some time to read our Epsom Friday Flyer…Happy Reading!
Best wishes,
Mr Matthew Brown
Headmaster
Cadence Receives Kuok Foundation Scholarship
It’s my honour to be the sole recipient of the Kuok Foundation BPU Scholarship for 2022 enabling me to pursue university study in the UK. I am delighted to be the first to represent Epsom College in Malaysia in receiving this full scholarship out of more than a hundred applicants from across Malaysia.
I would say that my application journey was not an easy one. There were many stages to go through before I could secure the scholarship. First, I submitted my application and supporting documents. The next stage required me to write two essays in just three days. The week I was informed that I had made it through to the second stage was the busiest week for me as I had three unit tests at school. Despite the difficulty, I was able to get everything completed and managed to make it to the third stage, where the scholarship organisation asked Mrs. Brown to write me a referral letter. The final stage involved attending an interview before I was informed that my application had been successful. I was relieved when I knew that all my hard work had paid off.
Upon receiving the scholarship, I would like to thank the Kuok Foundation founders and my interviewers for giving me this life-changing opportunity to fulfil my dream of studying in the UK. ECM Libra Foundation and Dato’ Lim Kian Onn who have awarded me with the ASEAN Bright Sparks A-Level Full Scholarship to study in ECiM also played a role in my success as ECiM is the stepping stone for me to get nearer to achieving my dream. I would definitely not forget Mrs. Brown, the person who has been supporting me throughout my application. Apart from that, I would also like to show my appreciation to my family and the school senior leadership team. Without any of them, I will not be who I am today.
Since the university offers that I am holding right now will be conditional before I receive my A-Level results, my scholarship will also be a conditional offer for now. I will need to achieve at least 3A*s to secure this offer. I will study hard to excel in my exams and to make my dream come true and make my loved ones proud of me.
Last but not least, I would like to say thank you again to everyone who has been supporting me and contributing to my success directly or indirectly throughout the years.
Much love,
Cadence
ECiM A-Level Fast Tracker 2021/2022
Granville House - Living With Honour
The concept of honour seems rather outdated in the modern world. Should you ask someone what honour looks like they might point to a mediaeval knight on a horse or a samurai following the path of bushido. These stereotypes are easy to understand but why should students and staff at Epsom College in Malaysia identify with this way of living and why has ‘Living with Honour’ been a feature of Granville House this year.
First of all, let us explore the example above related to the seven virtues of bushido:
義 – gi – integrity
礼 – rei – respect
勇 – yu – heroic courage
名誉 – meiyo – honour
仁 – jin – compassion
真 – makoto – honesty and sincerity
忠義 – chu – duty and loyalty
These are qualities that could be seen as relevant to the modern world and viewed as essential for the young men of Granville. Following a moral code in order to lead happy, prosperous and productive lives and achieve success.
Transitioning between childhood and adulthood is a challenging period and in the boarding house we have defined ‘Living with Honour’ as acting with the following qualities:
- value integrity;
- be true to yourself;
- keep good company;
- be confident;
- do what’s right;
- be honest and transparent;
- honour your word;
- be loyal;
- accept personal responsibility;
- be resilient;
- make a difference, and;
- live for a cause greater than yourself.
Should this lead to success? Ralph Waldo Emerson described success as:
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and
the affection of children;
To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure
the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give of one’s self;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and
sung with exultation;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you
have lived –
This is to have succeeded.
Perhaps, it just might.
Dean Jones
HMM Granville
Rosebery: A Quiet House As Students Prepare for Exams
I have been ever-so-slightly dreading the Friday Flyer request this time round because, these days, Rosebery is a place of study and sleep and not too much else. This is as it should be, as the girls immerse themselves in the rhythm of revision and rest, rest and revision, comforted by Milo, pleased with our new sandwich toaster and, crucially, keeping each other calm. Self-doubt spreads, so the Rosebery team has the simplest of aims this term: to maintain an atmosphere of purpose not panic, enabling the girls to feel in control and quietly confident. They have, without exception, worked ‘like a dog’ (to quote the Beatles) and this is now their time, their chance, to convert the hours and effort into the hard currency of grades that go with them through their lives. In my (regular) wobbles of confidence, my A Levels continue to be a bulwark against completely crumbling, and I hope the girls find similar solace and strength in their academic achievements this summer. Because, as we all know, this is serious stuff, this public exam lark: call them tickets or a passport or a leg-up, these grades open doors and get us places.
So, as I say, Rosebery is all about the study. Or so I thought. Turns out, our house is anything but an exam factory. For a start, success is a many-feathered bird, as Tiha and Keia demonstrated when they became Head and Deputy Head of College. And we’ve enjoyed assemblies listening to the personal projects of Elizabeth, Thaara, Sutri and Khai Yue, in their new incarnations as social and service prefects. Prestigious positions all, but as the girls laid out their visions for the year ahead it became clear who were to be the beneficiaries of their ambition and originality – all of us.
The same was true of Eco Week. Sora’s clarion call for educated action saw a raft of pupil-led presentations and a superb Epsom Live Talk with Carolyn Lau from the Free Tree Society. As Sutri’s mum, she is one of our own, and an inspiring activist in her own right. The science of climate change is compelling; its consequences on the planet’s poorest, sobering. But what has left an indelible mark for me is Carolyn Lau’s message of empowerment, her reminder that we ‘vote with our wallets’ and that quiet protest can affect change. She insisted that, when our skills and passions overlap, that’s when ‘magic happens’.
The truth of this assertion is to be found in the recent staff v students netball match, organised by Nanako with Koharu, Kirsten, Yi Chen, Hinata and Cata playing – that’s pretty much the entire team! And it’s showcased by Linda and Cebelle, who won the inaugural Malaysian International Chinese Debate by opposing a motion on the use of forced interrogation. As an advocate of Amnesty International as well as the girls’ housemistress, I’m doubly delighted by their victory.
Dear reader, I was wrong. As I flip through my planner, noting our roti canai breakfast this Friday and fifteen minute salsa class with Claudia Pinna on Tuesday, I am reassured that Rosebery remains a home where, yes, the girls focus on their futures, but they also laugh together in the present.
Ms Kate Orpwood
Rosebery Housemistress
Beyond the Classroom - Internships
We are most fortunate as a school to enjoy very close connections to a range of sectors thanks these include:
- Airlines
- Aircraft Engineering
- FinTech
- Digital skills
- Hotel Management
- Food & Beverage
- Logistics
- Private Equity/Corporate Finance
- Legal Firms
- Medicine
As we emerge from the pandemic we are excited to be able to offer internship opportunities to our senior students so that they can gain insight into their potential chosen career paths and gain professional experience that will not only enhance their skills and knowledge but also enable them to make more impactful applications to university.
For more information please contact our Head of Sixth Form, Mr Phil Pedro.
Is The Caparo Test Reliable?
– Lynn and Ryan, Year 12, The Humanities Society.
The Humanities Society kicked off this week with a presentation regarding the landmark ruling of Caparo V. Dickman. Pioneering the establishment of the tripartite test in duty of care, Lynn and Ryan took a rather dissimilar approach by coming to evaluate on the rulings as made by the House of Lords regarding the surfacing of duty of care.
Ryan explored the judgements made by the Lord Bridge regarding the use of financial statements, where he questioned the context in which such financial statements were used. Through his application of the Efficient Market Hypothesis, Ryan made the argument that potential shareholders would inevitably resort to such financial statements available on the public domain to make informed decisions. This was in contrast with Lord Bridge’s view where he stated that such statements were only used upon the discretion of senior management.
Lynn presented the issue of determining if proximity was established between the Caparo Industries and Dickman the accounting firm. Lord Bingham ruled that there was no duty of care by distinguishing the responsibilities owed to existing investors and potential investors. This decision was backed by Caparo having its own discretion on the risks. Both reasons were assessed taking a different approach that gave the opposite reasoning. Lynn argued that the very purpose of the accounts marked the foreseeability of its usage, and that having a discretion based on fault report did not exempt Dickman from the duty of care.
The session on Capraro V. Dickman judgment is one of the many intellectual discussions we have conducted to share our findings and to express our viewpoints. We look forward to your commitment to our future sessions, and please keep an eye out for our upcoming events!
Chinese Debate Competition - Champions!
Hello, my name is Everest. I am one of the five members of the debate team who have been crowned Champions in the First Malaysian International School Chinese Debate Competition, which took place two weeks ago. Five international schools competed against each other in three rounds of four games. With three wins against GEMS International School, Peninsula International school and most importantly, Gardens International School, we became the Debate champions! During our four weeks of preparation (that included the term break!), a lot of hard work and effort went into refining our scripts and drilling our viewpoints into our heads. But at the end of the day, all of our hard work paid off as we celebrated our victory. With Yilai Yang, who won 2 Best Debaters of The Round and Linda Wang with one, we crowned them as our own Debate Princess and Debate Queen.
How Does The Language “Rojak” Attract Attention to the Use of Malay?
– Melvern and Umair, Carr House
In our current generation of the 21st century, we are exposed to different languages in different cultures. Malaysia is the country we are currently living in and the language “Bahasa Melayu” is our main language, we speak it possibly everywhere in this country. But for the people from different countries visiting or moving to Malaysia, (e.g China, India) they do not understand the language we speak in. Because of this, most foreigners will most probably attempt to learn or speak the language, and naturally, “Bahasa Rojak” is used.
What is “Bahasa Rojak”? As the name suggests, “Bahasa Rojak” means a mixture of languages .”Bahasa” meaning “language”, and “Rojak” meaning mixture, and is most commonly used throughout the world to communicate with locals. Bear in mind that Bahasa Rojak is not only Malay, it can be used with other languages like English+Spanish, French+Arabic, the possibilities are endless.
This is an example of Bahasa Rojak.
Indian: Wei macha = hey bro
English: You want to… here or…
Malay: Makan = eat
Chinese: Tapau? = take out?
The use of rojak language and new words is increasingly contagious among students due to the phenomenon of language modernization among generation Z.
Bahasa Rojak sometimes also serves as a sign of respect, as after foreigners understand Rojak, they shall use it spontaneously using some malay words, locals will understand some of what they say, and if the locals use rojak, they might understand as well. Locals also think of rojak as a “Learning-in-progress” language, they take trying to learn their language as a sign of respect.
The modern-day bahasa rojak may not be directly passed on from those times, when the Malaysian Straits were the epicenter of east-west trade. But that knack of language blending and borrowing wasn’t lost, and is kept alive through today’s thriving community of Malays, Chinese and Tamil Indians. English has also been a big part of Malaysia’s language scene, even after independence, and has become even more prevalent since the advent of globalization made it the international language of business.
The language Rojak does attract the use of the Malay language and it is captivated by ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations). As in ASEAN 45.8% of its population is able to speak a form of Malay, normal or Rojak. Foreigners who enter ASEAN will likely be more interested in learning to speak languages, including Malay. This means that when the foreigners return to their home country, they will speak rojak or malay and share it with their locals, spreading the use of malay using rojak.
In conclusion, the more foreign people move to Malaysia, the more rojak will be used, and the more people there will be speaking malay. Maybe the foreigners might go back, and use malay or rojak, and influence others to speak rojak or malay too.
Monday Language Madness with Viviana
I am very pleased this week for our language madness to be presented by Viviana Park who has chosen a thought-provoking topic that is very close to my heart! If anyone else would like to contribute an article, please let me know.
Have you ever heard or used dad jokes before? They are unoriginal or tedious jokes of a type supposedly told by an older man.
By using a word’s special characteristics, we can create dad jokes.
- Homonyms: each of two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins. (Eg. write and right)
- Synonyms: one or more words or expressions of the same language that have the same or nearly the same meaning in some or all senses. (Eg. hard and difficult)
- Homophones: each of two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling. (Eg. new and knew)
For example…
- Why is Peter Pan always flying?… Because he Neverlands
- What did the ocean say to the beach?… Nothing, it just waved
- I once had a dream that I was floating in an ocean of orange soda. It was more of a Fanta sea
You can use dad jokes everywhere and all the time. They solve problems sometimes by breaking an awkward atmosphere. However, sometimes if you use them during a conversation, they might break up the mood and start a weird silence…
Have a wonderful week filled with enjoyment and happiness.
Viviana
Monday Madness with Mr Dean Jones, Head of Granville House
How many black dots are there?
We use questions everyday but it is so easy to make a mistake and mess up the word order.
‘to be’ – for questions using the verb ‘to be’, invert the subject and verb. For example,
Are you enjoying your lessons?
all other verbs – to make questions for all other verbs, add the auxiliary ‘do’. For example,
Did you complete your prep?
modal verbs – to make questions with modal verbs, invert the modal verb and the subject. For example,
Can you take off your earphones?
auxiliary verbs – for sentences containing an auxiliary verb, like ‘have’ in the present perfect, invert the auxiliary verb and the subject. For example,
Have you set your alarm for tomorrow?
These rules still apply when you add a question word like what, how, why. For example:
Where is your book?
When are you going to Mercato?
Why were you late for registration?
Other languages use interesting ways to form questions, for example:
In Chinese, the particle ma (吗) is often used at the end of a sentence to indicate that it is a question.
In Spanish an inverted question mark is placed at the beginning of the sentence and a standard question mark at the end (¿ … ?).
The Importance and Value of Multiculturalism
I hope you are doing well, I am Shannie from Year 10. Yi En, Aisha and I have presented a presentation about multiculturalism in Malaysia. In Malaysia we have a mix of 3 main cultures: Chinese, Malay and Indian. We share each other’s culture in Malaysia through food, culture, clothing, stories and celebrations. In neighborhoods in Malaysia we have different people who come from different backgrounds, since we all live in a neighborhood we celebrate each other’s celebration together, for example Chinese would celebrate Hari Raya and Deepavali with the Indians and Malays together, Malays celebrate Chinese New Year and Deepavali together. At the end of the day celebrations are about the story behind the celebrations and the time we spend with each other.
Multicultural countries may lead to problems like racism, criticism, language barriers and may even bring tensions between people with different cultural backgrounds but we should look at the bright side, multiculturalism can lead to economic growth, learning about each other’s culture, eating different food, understanding people, knowing religions and traditions and there is so many more.
Epsom is a multicultural school and in Epsom we celebrate each other’s culture as well as educate about each other’s backgrounds, religion and tradition, perhaps you would ask how do we celebrate in Epsom? We celebrate each other’s culture by playing games, wearing traditional clothing and eating traditional food. Yi En, Aisha and I hope you can have an amazing week ahead and please share the love of multiculturalism.
Warm Regards,
Shannie
Public Speaking Initiatives - Nicholas Lim, Yr 12 Granville House
We are hugely proud of Nicholas who has pushed his personal boundaries and taken part in some public speaking initiatives to stretch and challenge himself.
Nicholas participated in ESU-Taylor’s College Public Speaking Competition 2022 and achieved Final Second Place Winner. His theme was ‘We expect too much from our heroes’ and his title was: TOXIC FANDOM
Here is Nicholas’s summary:
My theme for the final round was the same as the preliminary round, wherein I simply had to make a few changes to improve my previous talk. During the briefing in preparation for this round, the organisers had advised all contestants to include one local example, one international example, and one personal experience, as well as providing any useful tips to make our speeches more interesting, such as how to make a good introduction.
The Competition Experience
I had first found out about this competition via the Grayling Centre Slideshow bulletin, and figured that this competition may both give me reverence within the school as well as improve my resume for university applications. Only later did I discover that public speaking is not exactly useful for applying to geology or palaeontology, which is why I almost wanted to quit, until my mother told me that this would still be useful for job applications that need to assess my language skills.
The winner of this competition, Heidi Ilyana Azmyudin Raj, would go on to represent Malaysia in the ESU International Public Speaking Competition against 33 other countries on May 9, and received a MYR 1500 cash prize (I got MYR 1000).
Both the preliminary and semi-finals were done virtually, with contestants having to post a 5-minute video of their speech. The final rounds were performed live at Taylor’s College Lakeside Campus. Personally, I did not really feel nervous about my speech as I had done public speaking many times before in a classroom environment, and all of my actions and vocal tones came naturally to me.
Tips for Other Speakers
One thing that I had learnt from the organisers was how to grab the audience’s attention from the very start, stating that contestants could do anything they desired. I had settled on a voice impression of the Joker as played by Heath Ledger as the character was slightly relevant to my speech and people tend to enjoy it.
What I noticed about my presentation that was different from all the others was how minimal their hand gestures and actions were. Obviously thinking to keep their talks conservative, they seemed afraid to do anything too bombastic, and mainly stuck to classic methods (using metaphors, slight changes in vocal tones etc.). On the other hand, I was vigorously striking poses and contorting my hands whenever I wanted to present a point ; these gestures help audiences to better picture the scenarios you are describing as well as displaying that the speaker themselves is aware of the wider situation in real-life context and did not just memorise from a website.
Another notable difference in my speech was my use of sarcasm and condescending tone, compared to most of my opponents, whose voices were kept at a minimum volume and were too nervous to speak up. The use of comedy and range in emotion in the voice presents confidence in your ideas, and therefore makes the audience convinced with your ideas whilst simultaneously making them reflect on themselves. Comedy is also a great tool to soften political tension and the audience will enjoy the presentation more. Lastly, sarcasm shows that, not only are you confident in your ideas, but you are actually interested in your topic of choice and have developed unique ideas and opinions around it.
Actual Speech :
Introduction
CAN SOMEONE TELL ME…WHAT KIND OF A WORLD WE LIVE IN…IN WHICH A MAN…DRESSED AS A BAT…GETS ALL MY PRESS?!! Well, I’ll tell you : that actually sounds a lot like the real world. You see, if I was a more chipper person, I’d probably be referring to the Covid-19 frontliners, those who are ‘making it their job to help others just because’. But I am a cynic, and so the type of hero I will be referring to would be the people you idolise rather than those whose example you should actually follow.
What do we mean by expecting too much?
The reason we grow on these people, rather than actual heroes, is because we envy them ; they are the spitting image of everything we envision ourselves to be in a perfect life, everything we would gladly swap our mundane, uninteresting existences for (e.g. Are you single and lonely? Maybe that’s why you obsess over ships.).
We see these people like gods compared to ourselves and strive to be close to them in every single way as a means of personal gratification. Following everything they do can become an obsession, to the point of stalking them on social media. Or perhaps, if you have a condition known as celebrity worship syndrome (CWS), you cannot discern fantasy from reality anymore ; you start treating yourself as a friend (or lover) to these people who you’ve never met.
Dr. Hushim Salleh states that 2/3 teenage girls in Malaysia suffer from this extreme form of CWS, often deluding themselves into wild sexual fantasies with their favourite singers, which correlates with the rising trend of K-Pop in our country.
What would these people do?
If a ‘hero’ disappoints in some way, there are two ways fans may react :
Some fans may consciously decide to jeer and mock these people they once called their ‘lover’. Professional psychologists explain it like this : sometimes, people with borderline pathological CWS see celebrities as ‘their property’, so they spout their disappointment at these celebrities to get them to conform to what they want.
On the other hand, perhaps fans are not trying to be hostile, but subconsciously, are nitpicking their heroes’ every action even though it is not entirely their fault. I personally think that maybe seeing your hero do something out of character snaps you out of the illusion of how perfect they are ; you feel guilty for being such a lapdog, but do not want to embarrass yourself by revealing to your peers that you were once a follower of this ‘horrible person’. Thus, giving more retroactive criticism is a defence mechanism to make up for the guilt of being a disciple.
How are celebrities affected?
One must not forget that these are human beings too, and they do not like being reminded of their flaws or having their personal lives intruded upon. Imagine if you were surrounded by the paparazzi and bombarded by flashing lights every time you kiss your significant other. As an example, I was once scrolling through videos on Youtube of Annie Leblanc and her then-boyfriend Asher Angel when I came across one thumbnail that depicted them ‘getting busy’ in the back of a van ; I was shocked! They were basically reduced to porn stars!! Not only is there zero privacy, but there is the added pressure of keeping this relationship status up because they do not want to let the fans down.
I can think of another example with the circumstances surrounding Robin Williams’ death. Though medical experts have officially declared his suicide to be the cause of bipolar disorder, many fans today still speculate that they contributed, all for the same reasons that have been previously listed down (the heckling, the pressure and retroactive criticism). We abused his power as a clown and consciously chose not to look past his fake smile. Basically, we forgot that he was just another human, a human who cared about what the world thought of him. So, by treating him like a joke machine, we killed him.
Conclusion
So that concludes my definition of expecting too much from your heroes. You probably don’t know them personally, but they’re still human beings. So they shouldn’t be treated like entities ; they should be treated like humans.
Congratulations to Nicholas in Yr 11 who came 2nd in the English Speaking Union Public Speaking Competition. Nicholas spoke on “We expect too much from our heroes”.
