TPJC SSC Sea carnival heats

15/05/06

“Paddles up, GO!!!” Do these commands bring back sweet memories of the days of Kallang River as a 17 and 18 year old student? The TPJC Sea Carnival has been a biennial event and recently, an annual event. A few of the alumni went down to check if anything has really changed since the Sea Sports Club has been disbanded this year.

For the first time in the history of TPJC's sea carnival, the event is not run by Sea Sports Club. Instead, the HOD of PE decided to have a go at organizing and managing the whole event. And as we observed from the powerboat driven by same old Mr Chew, things seemed to run pretty well, that's if one isn't comparing it to previous Sea Carnivals.

The familiar war cries of those rowing the dragonboat with all their might, and also the giggles of those merely splashing water in the same event, all bring a certain sense of nostalgia in us. So do the screams of capsized victims and cries of foul play from the unfortunate canoeists turned swimmers. Unwillingly and perhaps unknowingly, some of them became photo-evidence that sea tragedies do happen even in the calm waters of Kallang River.

On the whole, a Sea Carnival without a Sea Sports Club was indeed very different. When planning and running of the event switches hands from competent students to possibly overworked teachers, things did not seem to run as smoothly, and there is a lack of a Sea Sports Spirit to liven up the whole atmosphere.

In the words of our founding father, “Everyone thinks the sea sports club had an easy time coordinating the sea carnival. Now that we're gone, and something goes wrong, they know how difficult it actually is.” I will let this statement be a reflection of the importance of our club in maintaining a lively and well coordinated (now) annual event.