RV Gears Up For Elections

By: Loh Si Yi (25J10)

As Singapore gears up for the General Elections, we as RVians can look forward to our school playing a part in our democratic process. RV will be used as a back-up nomination centre on 23 April, Wednesday, hence school will be closed on that day, as well as it operating for just half a day on Tuesday.

A back-up nomination centre is activated in case any unforeseen circumstances occur at Nan Hua High School, the nomination centre for Jurong Central SMC, Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC, Pioneer SMC and West Coast-Jurong West GRC. This is to ensure that there is no disruption in Singapore’s democratic process, highlighting RV’s importance in this year’s elections.

On nomination day, candidates will enter the nomination centre and deliver their nomination papers between 11 a.m. to 12 noon. Each candidate also has to pay an election fee of S$13,500 before noon. Nomination proceedings will end at 12.30pm, which will then be followed by a nine-day campaign.

A timeline of what happens on Nomination Day.

How else could Nomination Day affect NSG? Well, Koh En Yu from 25J03, a badminton player, explained that Nomination Day does not really affect her preparation for NSG. However, it does fall on the same date as one of her NSG matches. Normally, the school bus will send them to Pasir Ris sports hall and back, but because of the school’s closure, only one-way transport is provided.

“I think this arrangement is fine as the girls’ match will be at 10am, which is before the guys’ match at 1.30pm. Since school is cancelled that day, we get to stay behind and watch the guys play,” she said. “CCA was probably already cancelled before the announcement of Nomination Day as the coaches would be busy watching the guys’ match.”

Beyond nomination day, RV will also be a back-up Group Assistant Returning Officer (GARO) Centre. As a result, we will be dismissed at 12.20pm on May 2, also known as Cooling-off Day, for election officials to turn RV into a polling station. 

On that day, campaigning is strictly prohibited as it is a day for voters to reflect on issues before voting. Then, on May 3, Polling Day, polls will be opened from 8am to 8pm.

A picture on what a polling station will look like.

Reverie postponed

However, since RV is being used as a back-up GARO centre, ReVerie Concert is unable to proceed on 2nd May. Instead, Night 1 will be held on May 16 while Night 2 will continue on May 23.

This has resulted in mixed reactions from members of the performing arts CCAs involved in ReVerie. According to Lim Li Wen from 25J10, who is in Guitar Ensemble, she had been looking forward to getting through the last few CCA sessions, after practising for more than a month, as ReVerie was round the corner. She had also anticipated her CCA’s outings and other musical pieces to play with the conclusion of ReVerie. However, with its postponement to end-May, their schedule has become very messy.

“There will be more CCA sessions for practice, especially 1-2 weeks before ReVerie where there will be CCA every day just to practice. Our planned activities will also be pushed back to a later date,” said Li Wen. “J2s in RVGE will also be affected as they will be officially stepping down on May 21, but have to come back on May 23 to perform for ReVerie.”

On the other hand, Lee En Rui Vivien from 25J03, who is in Concert Band, expressed her relief that ReVerie had been pushed back by 2 weeks (from the time of her interview). Initially, they had been worried as they were only left with 3 weeks and they felt that they would be unable to brush up their pieces, especially when the juniors joined them in their practices. However, they are now able to have a longer period of time to practise as a band and work hard to perfect their pieces.

As for the cancellation of practice sessions due to the influx of school disruptions, band members were strongly encouraged to bring their instruments home for self-practice over the weekends. On top of that, the Band Room will be open on Mondays from 8am to 8.45am so that they could perfect their pieces together as a CCA.

When asked on their views on RV being a part of this year’s election, En Yu feels slightly relieved as she gets more days off school to relax and catch up on assignments. 

Proud to be part of the process

Vivien feels proud and honoured that RV will be used as a venue for the elections this year. Like many other students however, fellow student Goh Kean Hong from 25J10 feels happy to know that RV is also doing its part in contributing to the elections in Singapore, and as an extension, contributing to democracy in Singapore and giving back to society.

The good news is that May 5, Monday, will be a public holiday, so yay. Hope everyone enjoys another day off school!