Systems~

"What is most original in a man's nature is often that which is most desperate. Thus new systems are forced on the world by men who simply cannot bear the pain of living with what is. Creators care nothing for their systems except that they be unique. If Hitler had been born in Nazi Germany he wouldn't have been content to enjoy the atmosphere."

- Leonard Cohen

Was the change ever necessary? What was the impedance for change? Apparently an issue about passion came across their minds. It is true that we should be let students participate in activities of their passion, and not just participate for the points so that they can retain their place in hall. Sounds good, and a little too idealistic in my honest opinion. Just take a look at the outcome. My roomie got rejected for a place in hall. Hall 2's rookie sportswoman of the year didn't get a place. And according to Huishan, 3 Hall presidents didn't get a place in their own hall either. WHAT A JOKE. People that I know who are getting rejected are people who are contributing alot to the hall culture, one which will become less vibrant with this system in place, due to the fact that it doesn't honor those who participate in alot of school activities, all of which could be his/her passion, but honors those who sits on main committees. This is true to a certain extent. Since the the cut off point for stage 1 is 14, a Hall president might not even get to stay in Hall if he happens to stay in Jurong, assuming he doesn't have those extra points that u can get from like the willingness to share a room with a foreign student, or the fact that one just came back from exchange.

What i feel the hall system should be is to honor those who participate in alot of activities(LPPL right?), one might argue that it defeats the whole purpose of passion and all that bullshit cos people just join for the sake of participating in the activities. I'll say that's bullshit you shithead. Without the crowd, there is no atmosphere. Take the IHG for example. Seniors have commented that the 06/07 IHG has lesser participation rate than the 05/06 one. This might just spell trouble for future IHGs to come. Moreover, people who joins more activities shows the amount of time they are willing to commit to the activities. Shouldn't the system reward those according to the amount of time they give to the school? In the new system, only the highest weightage activity is considered. One could be slacking on a main comm position for Leisure and Hobbies Club (No offence whatsoever to anyone) and successfully get a place in hall, or one could be participating actively in various sub comms and helping out in hall activities but gets rejected by SAO. Life's not fair, but not that unfair.

Why was there a need to change the system in the first place? Sometimes for personal benefit and achievement, sometimes because there is a genuine need to do so. In this case, someone's just so free and in the hokkien saying:" Jia4 ba4 bo3 tai3 ji3 zo3". Stage one is over, let's just see how many of those who got rejected in stage 1 gets accepted in stage two. The system may not be as screwed up as it seems, and it better well not be.