Striving for equality
SMK Infant Jesus Convent (M), Malacca
TEAM Andromeda crafted a PSA that looked into an issue that is ubiquitous as it is enduring, especially in the sports arena.
The PSA that showed speech boxes filled with sexist remarks, such as “Women should stay in the kitchen” and “Women have no talent for sports”, highlights facts of inequality faced by female athletes.
The team’s poster called for unity against sexism and to dispel harmful preconceptions that discourage talented girls in pursuing sporting activities.
As girls who take pleasure in various sporting activities, team members – Hoo Zhi Ai, Koh Ze Wen, Siang Jo Yee and Yeoh Jocelyn – were honoured to have garnered this award for Malacca.
Ze Wen said that she felt proud to have represented her school in the Star-NiE Game4Life contest.
“We’re really proud and we want to show the enthusiasm and passion the students here have for English and co-curricular activities. I think it’s really great this contest gave us the opportunity to do that.”
She said that the poster is inspired by daily experiences. “We are girls; we face sexism and forms of micro aggressions every day. It’s a familiar topic for most of us.”
“I hope that when people see this PSA, especially men, they would realise little sexist remarks that they may say on a daily basis perpetuates to a larger scale of sexism. We want to change the perspective that women are inferior in sports.
The Outstanding Award for Malacca last year also went to a team from SMK Infant Jesus Convent. “I think seeing last year’s team from our school win, pushed us to do our best. We are planning to take part again next year.”
To change the perspective of gender inequality, we encourage girls to participate actively in sports, said Jo Yee, adding that they learnt a lot about teamwork.
“We all have different ideas and we had to learn how to give and take. Creating the PSA was a challenge for us, but we found a way to cooperate well with each other and produce quality artwork.”
In a similar vein, Zhi Ai said that the team pulled together when they faced issues. “We were short on time and ideas, so we worked together to do more research.”
For Jocelyn, working on the PSA project helped her in terms of improving her grasp on the English language.
“I gained a lot of knowledge when reading up on this topic. It provided a lot more ideas and content for essay writing.”
She also had some words of wisdom for future participants of the NiE contest: “Watch the workshop video online before starting on your entry. More often than not, participants start off not knowing what the competition wants from them, so the entries do not fulfil the requirements.
Ze Wen said that they watched the workshop video by Taylor’s University and it was a good starting point for them. She said that many participants try to fit too many ideas in one PSA. “I think it’s better to just focus on one theme to streamline thoughts and visuals.”
SMK Infant Jesus Convent acting principal Dennis Ee applauded The Star for providing a forum for students. “The Star-NiE contest is a stage where students can give their opinion about issues in life – in this case, sports. Students are rarely given the chance to voice out their opinions and their take on a particular issue.
“We want students to get involved in activities like this one. Our role is to polish and bring out their potential. Essentially, the school’s role is to provide them the opportunity.”
English Panel head Harry Tan said that the school’s success in the NiE contest is the culmination of taking part in the contest for many years.
He commended NiE contest coordinator Tan Siew Yock, who worked hard and diligently in encouraging students to join. “Now, students can see for themselves that winning the contest is doable and achievable.”
“The students are blessed to have teachers willing to make sacrifices so that their students can gain new experiences and opportunity. It is always teachers who do not mind going the extra mile that make these achievements a reality,” added Tan.