Hwa Chong Institution (simplified Chinese: 华侨中学; traditional Chinese: 華僑中學; pinyin: Húaqīao Zhōngxúe) is a premier college offering education from a Secondary to Pre-University level in Singapore. Previously two separate but affiliated schools, The Chinese High School and Hwa Chong Junior College, the Institution was the result of a merger which was officiated on 1 January, 2005.

The school offers a 6-year Integrated Programme from Secondary 1 to JC 2. The program will allow students to skip the GCE 'O' Levels, taking GCE 'A' Levels at the end of their six years in the school. This gives the students much more time to embark on various educational endeavours that will greatly benefit them. An example of this would be the Hwa Chong Sabbaticals, which allows students to spend one of the last weeks each term undergoing programmes which allow them to develop their interests, such as music composition as well as camps and fieldtrips abroad. 90% of students who graduate from Hwa Chong Institution and complete their 'A' levels then go on to attend university, in Singapore and abroad.

The Hwa Chong Instituition Tower Block has been declared a National Monument. The four clocks were kindly donated by Seiko.

The school song is in classical Chinese and would be hard for people without an understanding of classical Chinese to understand.

新加坡南洋华侨中学校歌

海天寥廓 云树苍笼 中有我华中
礼门义路 时雨春风 吾侪托帡幪
猗与华中 南方之强 我中华之光
雄立狮岛 式是炎荒 万世其无疆

人生茫茫 学海洋洋 吾侪当自强
朝乾夕惕 日就月将 莫负好时光
猗与华中 南方之强 我中华之光
雄立狮岛 式是炎荒 万世其无疆

迨予庶士 笃实辉光 斐然已成章
膂力方刚 经营四方 前途浩且长
猗与华中 南方之强 我中华之光
雄立狮岛 式是炎荒 万世其无疆

After the merger, an English version of the school song is introduced, which is originally the English school anthem of Hwa Chong Junior College.

As part of our glorious land, sharing her spreading fame,
Hwa Chong will firmly stand, always to maintain her name.
Multi-racial we study together, for knowledge we wish to attain.
Many races we shall gather, each day to achieve its aim.
We shall strive with verve, for health in body and mind.
We'll learn to lead and yet to serve in character ruggedly fine.
May Hwa Chong shine forever, her name big and strong,
One and all, let's stand by her, that she may live on and on.

The High School section consists of 4 consortiums - Aphelion, Ortus, ProEd and iSpark. The consortiums work closely with one another and each have their own elite council of students that are also known as councillors.

Aphelion, Ortus and ProEd are consortiums that deal with the Special students with top scores in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) held at the end of Primary 6, also known as the mainstream students. iSpark, on the other hand, is a consortium for students under the GEP Programme, selected by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

A new faculty system for the College section has been in place since 2005. There are 4 faculties, namely Ares, Apollo, Athena and Artemis.

In 2000, iSpark as a consortium was formed, with 7 GEP classes (the 7th including the CHS-GEP class, 3O) stretching across 2 levels. This year, the consortium has a total of 12 classes with an average number of 25 students per class.

Its mission is :

• To nurture global thinkers,
• Who with pride and commitment,
• Steeped in values, contribute to society,
• With humility and integrity.

The 4 Consortium Councils are representatives of the student body and also co-operate with the High School Council in organising welfare intiatives for the students.

Each council includes Sec 1 Councillors-in-training (CsIT) that help out during major events such as the SMOPS and the SLC. After a year of training and expertise, these CsIT are then promoted full-fledged councillors and become ambassadors of the school at Sec 2 and Sec 3, also organising events such as End of Term Activites (EOTA) and other welfare intiatives for their respective consortium.

When Sec 3 Councillors progress to Seconday 4, they can choose to run for High School Council elections or focus on other aspects of leadership such as the Class Management Committee (CMC).

The Students' Council has a centralised administration and is split into 2 sections, the College Council and the High School Council.

The President of the 32nd Students' Council, also the President of the College Council, normally occupied by a Year 5 or 6 student, is Mr Tan Jierong. The vice-president is Miss Stephanie Ko Qianwen.

The new President of the 33rd Student's High School Council is Leong Yuan Chang and the Deputy President is Sua Yu Yttrium.

There are three main platforms which improve both the teachers' and the students' quality of education by allowing them to do a great deal of everyday tasks online. They are the EMB (Electronic Message Board), IVLE (Integrated Virtual Learning Environment) and the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment). These facilities can be accessed from the school homepage via links.

The Electronic Message Board[1], also known as the Summary Message Board (SMB), was written by Mr Koh Kim Tian, a teacher teaching programming and IT, and acts as an announcement board. Its implementation drastically reduced the amount of time spent on morning announcements. Anything ranging from private messages to a small group of students to important administrative matters addressed to all students can be put up by teachers. Every student is classified into his class, EP3 grouping and level, such that messages addressed to any of these groups can only be seen by the respective members and not on everyone else, thus minimizing clutter generating by messages not pertinent to the individual. In some cases, EP3 heads/chairmen will be granted the right to post messages on the EMB.

The Integrated Virtual Learning Environment [2] acts as a place where assignments and/or learning materials can be found as soft copies. In the event that a student misplaces a particular handout, the IVLE is the place to go. Progress statistics and sabbatical status/registration are also encompassed within the IVLE. Only teachers and students can access this password-protected portal.

The Virtual Learning Environment VLE was developed by teachers and students to facilitate online learning through Flash animations and online articles. Only teachers and students can access this password-protected portal.

Every student is also given an account on the school intranet. He is allotted 20 megabyes of hard disk space on their individual folder on a network drive to store personal files. Access to other network drives is strictly monitored, with all teachers' files being locked and inaccessible to students. Additionally, every student is also allocated 10 megabytes of space on the school web server to upload files or publish content. This is accessed via the FTP protocol.

In 2005, Hwa Chong embarked on a special programme scheme, whereby integrated programme students would be allowed to select a preferred special programme at the end of Sec 2, which he would then take for the next two years. Their eligibility for these programmes is also determined by their year-end results.

The aim of these programmes is to allow students to pursue any interest in which he has a passion for. The various special programmes are as follows:

The idea of the Science and Mathematics Research Programme (SMRP) was first mooted by Mr Hon Chiew Weng, Principal of The Chinese High School, towards the end of 2004 and implemented in 2005. Noting that the school has been achieving excellent results in many national science, mathematics and information technology competitions, Mr Hon felt that the school’s potentials in the areas of mathematics and science could be further enhanced by the SMRP, to strengthen and facilitate students’ learning through project work. Students under this programme have opportunities to be attached to various research institutions in Singapore and participate in local or international symposiums and conferences. The SMRP seeks to:

• stretch pupils' scientific or mathematical abilities
• develop pupils' scientific or mathematical communication skills
• develop pupils' critical and creative thinking skills in maths or science
• develop pupils' research skills
• help pupils cultivate the habit of reading science or mathematics books/articles/journals in pupils
• help pupils develop life skills: interpersonal, time management etc.
• spot talented pupils to engage in high level research through A*STAR or industrial attachments by doing science, maths or IT projects

The Bicultural programme is a MOE-intiated programme open to NYGH, HCI and Dunman High, where students get to be exposed to cultures from both the Western and Eastern perspective. Mdm Xu Jian Fen is in charge of this programme. This programme includes a total of six months immersion in China, with 3 months respectively in year 3 and 4.

With the exposure to western culture scheduled for years 5 and 6, students participating in this programme will get to be thoroughly exposed to both the eastern and western cultures, leading to them being moulded for the future of the nation.

"A Tradition of Excellence, A Lifestyle of Decadence"

The Humanities Programme was set up to train students in the Humanities for future employment in the civil service through the government scholarship scheme. Historically, the two universities most Humanities students chose to attend after their A levels were Oxford and Cambridge. Top universities in the United States have in recent years become attractive choices. The Humanities Programme classes are held in a small class format so as to provide a conducive environment for discussion. Although comprising only of two classes of a total of 50 students each year, the Program has turned out over 20 President's Scholars since its inception. The classes aim to give students the flexibility to go beyond the syllabus with the assistance of the Humanities tutors. Mr Lionel A. Barnard (Barney) leads this programme for the College section and Mr Samuel Lim Ming Chun leads the programme for the High School section.

The Student Leaders Convention [3] is a leadership convention organized annually in the school. The Student Leaders' Convention (SLC) is unique in the sense that it is a fully student-organised event for students. The 11th SLC drew more than 500 delegates from all over Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region and was a big success. As the theme, "Managing Global Problems through Regional Unity" indicates, the highlight of the convention includes delegates roleplaying as global leaders to solve problems and concerns currently present in the world.

The 12th SLC is currently in its planning stage. It is co-organised by Hwa Chong Institution, Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) and Bukit Panjang Government High School (BPGHS), as HCI's, RGS's and BPGHS's councillors/prefects have been handpicked by their schools to form the organising team.

The Singapore Mathematical Olympiad for Primary Schools is a competition with over ten years of history. It is an annual event organised by the Aphelion Consortium of the high school section. This event draws a total number of 2000-3000 participants annually. The top scorers for SMOPS will then be invited to the Asia Pacific Mathematical Olympiad for Primary Schools (AMOPS), where competitors from different countries gather to compete.

Currently, the institution is building a new administration block, a new Science and Technology Research Centre and a Student Activities and Leadership Training (SALT) Centre.

The SALT centre will be ready by 2006 to house a moot parliament (mock up of the actual parliament to facilitate student debates and oral articulation), and the various CCA activities and uniformed groups. Also, the new Science and Technology Research Centre will house new research facilities and specialist laboratories that include among others, a virtual reality cove (a theatre that facilitates the learning and teaching of virtual reality-related technology), and laboratories for chemical processing, fibre optics and biotechnology (with microbiological rooms). It will also house media art and 3-D animation studios, and an Art Elective centre that focuses on media art, digital videography, animation, digital audio, and traditional arts disciplines such as sculpture and drawing.

Hwa Chong Institution has a very active Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) programme, with a variety of sports, uniformed groups, musical groups, clubs and societies to cater to students' interests. The term EP3 (Enhanced Pupil Performance Programme) has been coined to represent CCA in the high school section to reflect the enlargement of the scope of the CCA system.

Amongst its achievements, the school is famed for its dominance in the Singapore National Inter-school Track And Field Championships (it has lost less than 10 times within its 87 year history), and it is also credited with many first-time achievements, such as the formation of the Integrated Programme (see above). It has also one of the largest Student Councils amongst secondary schools in Singapore, with about 180 councillors belonging to its Students' Council.

Hwa Chong's shooter, Ong Jun Hong, also won a Silver Medal in the 10m Air Rifle Men Event in the 2004 SEA Games.

The Hwa Chong Choir competed at the 2004 Choir Olympics in Bremen and won two gold medals in the Mixed Youth and Folklore A Capella categories respectively.

List of various CCAs in Hwa Chong Institution:

• Track and Field
• Basketball
• Cross Country
• Canoeing
• Badminton
• Gymnastics
• Judo
• Tennis
• Air Rifle
• Softball
• Squash
• Table Tennis
• Water Polo
• Volleyball
• Wushu

• Scouts (College Section - Hwa Chong VnR, a Venture and Rover Scout Unit)
• Scouts (High School Section - Hwa Chong Scout Group, consisting of 2 Scout Units, 1 Venture Scout Unit and 1 Rover Scout Unit)
• National Cadet Corps (NCC)
• National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC)
• St John Ambulance Brigade

• Chinese Orchestra
• School Band
• String Orchestra
• Choir (College)
• Vocal Ensemble (High School, actually also a choir but much smaller at only about 30 strong)
• English Drama
• Chinese Drama Club
• Chinese Dance
• Guitar Club

• Art Club
• Astronomy Club
• Chinese Chess
• Chinese Calligraphy
• English Debating Society
• English Literary Drama, Debate and Film Society (ELDDFS)
• Electronics, Communications and Computer Club (EC³/ECCube)
• Green Club
• International Chess Club
• Library Club
• Mathematics Quiz Training (Now considered as a CCA only)
• Media Tech Club
• Weiqi Society
• Science Quiz Training
• Students' Council
• Tahan Mountain Trekking Team (College Section)

• Youth Flying Club
• Robotics Club

The Principal (College Section) and CEO is Mr Ang Wee Hiong, while the Principal (High School Section) and Deputy CEO is Mr Hon Chiew Weng.

Hwa Chong Institution is also affiliated with Hwa Chong International and Hwa Chong Institution Boarding School.

• School webpage

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