When news broke out that a teacher from Victoria Junior College (VJC) was infected with the coronavirus, students rallied together on social media to support the school.
With tributes and tags like “VJunite”, they were determined to encourage each other in this time.
On Monday (10 Jan), Education Minister Mr Ong Ye Kung paid a visit to VJC.
Students were mostly in good spirits despite all that has happened recently, he shared on Facebook.
News of the coronavirus appears to have barely affected attendance, which averaged at 92%.
Mr Ong added that students were in “good spirits”.
Although there were calls for the school to close, many students wanted school life to carry on as much as possible.
They have also treated this crisis as an opportunity to show the strength of the “Indomitable Victorian Spirit”.
Despite managing to keep morale up, the week after the news was not exactly smooth.
Some students told Mr Ong there were instances where they were avoided because of their uniform.
Mr Ong shared an example on his Instagram — a student said that someone refused to sit next to her on the bus.
There were also store owners who allegedly refused to serve them, which is unfortunate if true.
Mr Ong criticised this behaviour, emphasising that “this is not what we stand for in Singapore”.
Speaking to the school, he explained the importance of treating those affected without hostility, urging everyone to treat others as they wish to be treated.
… how we treat the affected people could be how the rest of the world treats us Singaporeans.
This is showcased by students from Tampines-Meridian Junior College, who set a good example for everyone else by offering VJC support and encouragement.
The students delivered apples to VJC as a sign of love and solidarity to the school.
Indeed, this challenge is not ours to fight alone, and we must stand together in facing it.
Mr Ong also lauded the “true heroes” — the cleaners who come early to school.
They work hard to disinfect and clean the school, on top of their other duties.
This must be a trying time for cleaners as their workload increases and they risk exposing themselves to any viruses, but they continue to soldier on for the sake of fighting the virus together.
It is laudable that the VJC students are committed to moving forward even after a coronavirus case was detected in their school
They could have panicked, but instead they chose to rally together on social media and continue attending classes as per normal.
Just like the Victorians, Singaporeans have to stay strong in this crisis and help each other out, instead of shunning students and nurses for how they’re dressed.
Together, we can overcome this epidemic with the Singapore Spirit.
Featured image adapted from Facebook and Facebook.
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