President's Visit to Zhenghua Secondary School

President’s Visit to Zhenghua Secondary School

By Teo Zhi En, 2E1

When I first heard that our President, Madam Halimah Yacob, was visiting my school on 17 April 2019, I was both pleasantly surprised and excited as she was specially coming to my class.  She attended some of the lessons in Zhenghua Secondary and was impressed by the school’s effort at incorporating inclusiveness through peer-to-peer support for our friends with special educational needs.  Madam Halimah also visited different parts of our school amongst which was the heritage gallery to learn more about our history. After a brief tour of the school, she visited the After-School Engagement (ASE) room where some peer supporters and a few student leaders were ready to have a dialogue with her. Madam Halimah broke the ice and asked how our school was and got us to share some of our most memorable school events. At the start, everyone seemed tongue-tied but after awhile, we were ourselves.  I shared about my role as a peer supporter and about my CCA. Madam Halimah acknowledged the important role that we play as peer supporters and affirmed us in our effort to help our peers adapt in the school. After the talk, I presented Madam Halimah with a token of appreciation in celebration of our school’s 20th anniversary before we took a group photo. Overall, my impression of Madam Halimah is that she is a kind-hearted, soft-spoken and calm person.