A Long-running Tradition of Excellence

Some members of the pioneer class of 1957.

It was a warm homecoming for Cedarians on 19 May 2007 as they trooped into the school hall (transformed into a stylish venue) for the highlight of Cedar Girls’ Secondary School’s 50th anniversary celebrations – the Golden Jubilee Dinner. Brimming with school spirit, the 500 guests ranged from old girls from the pioneer class of 1957 to the newest Sec 1 students in the family.

The Guest-of-Honour, Minister for Education, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, drew attention in his speech to the school’s special tradition of running, which not only has produced some top national athletes but is also a common experience binding the memories of Cedar girls through the decades. Incidentally, Cedar was the first government school in the 1970s to have a bitumen track, which was built through a special fund-raising effort.

The Guest-of-Honour, Minister for Education, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, making his speech.

“Above all, track, by its sheer success, has become Cedar’s metaphor for all the qualities that its pupils demonstrate – passion, conviction, integrity,” said Mr Tharman. He cited some alumni who have made their mark in their own fields as exemplary of the kind of education students receive at Cedar. These included Mdm Ngian Lek Choh, Deputy Chief Executive/Director at National Library and Ms Doreen Chan, Administrative Manager at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Regional Training Institute, who would soon be leaving for Washington, DC to head the IMF’s largest area office, overseeing Africa.

Speaking on the same point, the Principal, Mrs Ou Yang Geok Cheng, said that the school presently leverages on technology to further support the jogging programme: the Ez-link card used for taking attendance is also used to monitor each student’s progress in her jogging. This same portal is being further developed to allow students and their parents to have readily accessible online information to students’ academic results, participation in co-curricular activities, physical fitness results and even to apply for school enrichment courses.

Besides a balanced, holistic education, the school aims to further develop students to be able to take on the world. It exposes the students to diverse cultures and different curriculum through a twinning programme with schools in the United Kingdom, Thailand, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and India, and through interactions with scholars from countries such as China, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The school’s 50th anniversary symbol, the Dendrobium Cedar.

Appropriately enough, the Golden Jubilee Dinner saw the launch of the 4-minute Cedar brand video, which showcased Cedar’s sports legacy and achievements through the years and its mission of nurturing leaders of character for a global world. The school has also founded a hybrid orchid, the Dendrobium Cedar, as a symbolic representation of its 50 years of history. Chosen after a two-year search, the orchid has a yellow base (the same shade as one of the school colours) and an air of graciousness (one of the school’s core values is a ‘culture of graciousness’) – an apt symbol for the success Cedar has already cultivated and is looking ahead to the unfolding of new achievements in the next 50 years.