Prefect Master's Exhortation

Good afternoon Mr Ang, Mdm Aini, distinguished guests from various schools, parents, alumni and co-labourers in the service of education. We have come to the final speech of the day, hopefully short and sweet. Please bear with me.

I am Mr Derick Ng, the Prefect Master. Seated among you is Mdm Santha, the Prefect Mistress. We are about 6 months old – into our new roles, from the time we took over from Mr Leong Wai Phang and Mdm Phua Meng Hong, the previous Prefect Master and Mistress respectively.

Working closely with the prefects for the past 6 months, to say that there is a lot to shoulder is an understatement. From the Sec One Orientation to the Selection Process for new Prefects and Key Appointment Holders, to overseeing the Prefect’s Camp and today’s Investiture, I can now truly understand the level of commitment required to keep the Prefectorial Board running. Without going into details, please allow me to salute all the past Prefect Masters and Mistresses, including Mdm Lee Yee Peng, who have guided the NVSS Prefectorial Board to what it is today.

I now begin my exhortation to the Prefects.

The Prefectorial Board serves as a platform to develop student leadership, to help maintain schoolwide discipline and to support, plan and execute various school programmes and activities. Most importantly, our prefects are expected to be role models and leaders among their peers. They should exemplify the values of Perseverance, Respect, Integrity, Discipline, and Excellence (PRIDE), and demonstrate leadership qualities. 

One of the first tasks I undertook as Prefect Master was to refine the Prefect’s Oath. A quick check in the Oxford online dictionary defines ‘Oath’ as a solemn promise, often invoking a divine witness, regarding one's future action or behavior. An ‘oath’ is personal and binding. Spoken in the witness of many gathered, it is a ‘solemn promise’ to a serious commitment.

This day you will be formally installed as a Prefect and vested with authority to do your job well. Before everyone present, you will be saying your oath. Subsequently, you will have to walk the talk and live out these promises you have made. What you have spoken shall not return void, so take your oath seriously and say it with conviction.

You will begin your oath with the word, ‘We’. Why does it not begin with ‘I’? No man is an island. The word ‘we’ implies working as a team, a body made up of many parts; and though the parts are many, they make up One body – the North View Prefectorial Board. As Mr Leong our HOD for Pupil Development often quotes, ‘alone we are a drop, together we are an ocean’. So stay united, because you share a common goal and vision. Where differences arise, agree to disagree. Celebrate your unity in diversity and forge ahead in the face of challenges.

NVSS prefects promise to be ‘honorable servant-leaders’. Notice that the word ‘servant’ comes before the word ‘leader’? Is it not common to pair the word ‘leader’ with ‘honorable’ and ‘servant’ with ‘lowliness’? But I tell you the truth, leadership is a journey of discovery that begins with servanthood. Only leaders with a genuine heart to serve others will be crowned with honour in the end. Being an ‘honorable servant- leader’ may take more than a lifetime to perfect. And you are privileged to assume that position of servant-leadership even now.

Authors on leadership, James Sipe and Don Frick, in their book The Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership, state that servant-leaders are individuals of character, put people first, are skilled communicators, are compassionate collaborators, use foresight, are systems thinkers, and exercise moral authority. If you have forgotten any of those seven pillars I have just mentioned, just imagine the picture of Aslan, the ‘Great Lion’ who, in the novel ‘Chronicles of Narnia – the Lion, the

Witch and the Wardrobe’ written by C.S. Lewis, was a ruler over Narnia but bravely sacrificed himself in the service of others. Here is king who as a leader, did not lord it over others by abusing his authority. He played by the rules and was selfless by his act of sacrifice. Perhaps a more real-life example will be Mother Theresa, who as head of thousands of Missionaries of Charity, served the "poorest of the poor" in 450 centers around the world. You can also draw inspiration from Mdm Santha, your Prefect Mistress, who despite battling a serious medical condition, came back to teach for the sake of her students’ future. So you be a leader who seeks to serve others first. Ask not what the Prefectorial Board can do for you, but ask instead, what you can do for your school as a Prefect. Your desire to lead must always stem from a motivation to serve.

Therefore, to ‘remain loyal and steadfast to your school’, ‘to serve the school to the best of your abilities’, ‘to discharge your duties faithfully and dilligently’, ‘to maintain the discipline of your school with courage and fairness’, and ‘to uphold the school values through your words, thoughts and deeds, at all times’, will be just outward manifestations of your striving to become a servant-leader and role model. These you shall do with all your heart and with great sincerity. Then you can be truly called a Prefect of NVSS, doing so well to even remind your teachers of their own calling as Civil Servants.

At the end of your four years journey as a prefect, you will have a shining testimonial. But being a prefect is more than that. You will bring with you fond memories of friendship forged having worked as a team. Not only so, having been privileged to serve the school in your capacity as a Prefect, you will leave behind a legacy of having lent a hand to bring the school to greater heights. As an individual, you will also become more enriched, given ample opportunities to hone your character through exemplifying the school values of PRIDE. And your character will shape your destiny as future leaders of our nation. You are all “Leaders with P.R.I.D.E.”, so serve with PRIDE, and lead with PRIDE.

Thank you.