On 17th February, we attended the council investiture at Hwa Chong Institution.

The
ceremony based on the theme Omniscience, Resilience, Excellence which were the values
the 43rd High School Council hoped to embody.
The emceeing and pledge were done in both English and Chinese which we felt
brought out the schools unique cultural fusion. The initial part of the ceremony was very
formal, with extremely rehearsed stage-walking and standardised bowing, but after the
pinning of badges, each council of newly-invested student leaders each put up a dance
performance, which livened up the whole atmosphere. A video montage showcasing the
memories and work of each council in the past year was also played at the end of the
ceremony. This was a really nice round-up that balanced out the formal segment and added
some human-touch to it.
What struck us most about the ceremony was that the audience was entirely made
up of student leaders -- the investees and SLs from other schools. The speeches made by
the out-going council president as well as the guest of honour were also addressed to all
student leaders, giving us advice on our leadership journeys. This made the investiture more
meaningful for the guest SLs compared to just watching the SLs be invested.

The leadership structure is rather unique and based on the structure of the school
population. The school is split into consortiums which determine their teachers, their classes,
their events. It is rather like the hogwarts house system. For each consortium there is a
council, and there is an overall high school student council for the whole school. The student
leaders in the school mainly organise activities and upkeep the welfare of the students. The
consortium councils address the consortium students specifically, whereas the student
council addresses mass school wide and formal events.
Our main takeaway from their board and investiture was how the school had been
structured so that the student population could be micromanaged and adequately served by
the student leaders. This allowed there to be more targeted and specific initiatives for each
group. Also the fact that their councils mainly focus on student welfare gave us a new
perspective on what should go under the purview of student leadership.