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Founders' Day with a Twist: Cultivating a New Generation of Founders
- MEGAN LIM HCI
- Mar 25
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 31
Written by: Xiong Zhihan (25A12), Rie Ferre Lin (25S6E), Koh Ding Jie Darren (24S66)
Edited by: Megan Lim (24S6E)
Did you know that Hwa Chong Institution, previously known as Chinese High School, was the first Chinese school to have been founded in Southeast Asia in 1919? For the subsequent years to come, our school has always celebrated Founders’ Day as a way of showing gratitude and taking pride in our school’s rich history.
To celebrate Hwa Chong Insitution’s 106th year of founding, our students were involved in a myriad of activities with the aim of developing their social responsibility — upholding and honoring our school’s founding principle: 饮水思源 (Remembering our roots and honouring our benefactors).
At Hwa Chong, the work does not end at cultivating students with a strong sense of school pride.
At Hwa Chong, we cultivate passionate students, compassionate leaders, and agents of change.
Founders' Day is not just about the school. It’s about the people, and how we have the ability to impact society in a positive way.
Passionate Students
Roaming through the bustling area outside the Auditorium, students found a variety of Service Learning project exhibits, including exciting OVIA (Overseas Values-in-Action) projects.
Meet Giselle Cheow – an active member of the OCIP Hainan project. Last November, she embarked on a service learning trip with 22 peers to teach English to students of the local Chao Yang Primary School. “Preparations for the Founders' Day service learning project exhibits started a month ago with the setting up of the OCIP 24’s bulletin board outside the common room.” Giselle recounted her invigorating experience teaching English to children at Hainan, and saw the Founders' Day OVIA project exhibits as an excellent platform for C1 students to learn about the various VIA projects available at Hwa Chong Institution.
Compassionate Leaders
Among the busy line-up of Founder’s Day activities, C1 students attended a thought-provoking CCE lesson titled ‘Making A Difference’. They were tasked to plan a VIA project to help a specific community and work with external parties, with the objective of making a difference to the community. The C1s focused on four main communities: children in need of support to develop their talents, youth in need of academic support, low-income families lacking WiFi access and underprivileged households in need of food support, and were involved in a perspective taking exercise, considering the community’s needs and how organisations can come together to address them.
Agents of Change
We thought the best way to celebrate the school’s 106th Founders’ Day, is for students to “found” their very own project – hence explaining the Project Work exhibition in the College Hall. These enlightening projects have been put together by varying groups of C2 students, over the past year, and the results of their commitment are finally presented on this very day.
To recount an interview conducted with C2 student Eric Zhang, the current president of HC’s Publication Society, when asked what the most meaningful experience of the entire process was, he replied that it was really about the memories made during the journey, and that on a fun note, he thoroughly enjoyed the “pizza party after the project was finished”. He also elaborated on how he managed to consistently dedicate time to the project every week, stating that his group “held a Zoom meeting once a week during a convenient time for all of them, to work on the project little by little”. The project was a timely process for all of them, and with sufficient teamwork and collaboration, they managed to put together a well-researched article on raising awareness for the disabled arts.
Upon a further walk-through of the stimulating presentations around the hall, it is undeniable that every group has taken the assignment seriously and presented their work with flawless precision and enthusiasm. Every student is, with no doubt, an agent of change through and through.
Spring Cleaning for a Fresh Start
Beyond inspiring their juniors and paving the way for future projects to come, the C2s took the opportunity to improve their immediate environment by cleaning their classrooms. Armed with a collection of brooms and rags, and an unwavering sense of teamwork, the students worked together to tidy up their learning spaces. Desks were cleaned, floors were swept, forgotten corners decluttered — leaving their classrooms spick and span with no ‘dirty’ stone unturned.
Despite the lack of glamour in the task, the experience cultivated a deep sense of camaraderie, instilled shared ownership, and ignited a quiet pride in restoring a space they all called their own. More than just cleaning, this was an act of responsibility — one that set the precedent for the C1s and ensuring that this simple yet meaningful practice cascades into a long-standing habit for future Founders’ Days. As a whole, it embodies the spirit of ‘paying it forward’, aligning perfectly with our founding father Mr. Tan Kah Kee’s principle of 己立立人 己达达人 — cultivating oneself to uplift others, and uplifting others to better society.
Food Drive
One of the essential events that takes place during this memorable day, is the annual Food Drive that every class participates in. After all, there is no better way to demonstrate the school’s all-roundedness than to organise a Food Drive to help hundreds of others in need.
This year, our school has decided to collaborate with the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) to assist 700 needy families all around the country. In order to be able to aid all those families (High School: 400, College: 300) in their daily necessities, each class has been assigned a designated number of food items to prepare, and every student has had a role to play in the Food Drive. From class discussions held days in advance to delegate food tasks, to finally packing the food into bags to be distributed to families in need, every class has had a hand in helping the community. After meticulously packing and collecting the food packs, members of each Faculty Committee personally delivered them to beneficiaries across the island. Their efforts were met with warm smiles and heartfelt gratitude, a reminder that even the smallest acts of kindness can leave a lasting impact.
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