Jointly reported by:
Tan Yi Khai Sr2ScD 16412
Tan Qi Xuan Jr2A 19451
On the 5th of May 2020, an interview with our Head of Physical Education, Mr Lim Siang Sheng has taken place using Zoom video meeting. Due to the ongoing Movement Control Order (MCO) and uncertain environment conditions amid the spread of COVID-19, the School has made the decision to cancel the Sports Day event this year. It is to talk about the story behind the cancellation. “There is nothing too sudden in making the cancellation and, it is certain that with the cancellation of Sports Day, there will be sad feelings.” Our warm and gentle Mr Lim was quoted as saying.
“The preparation for each annual Sports Day starts from October the year before. In general, all teachers take part in helping out through the event, most of the preparation work goes to the school’s Sports Department while being assisted by the Academic Department.
Most teachers weren’t willing to announce the cancellation of the school’s annual Sports Day at first since the particular event was considered as a precious, significant major activity to the students, especially to Senior 3 graduates who were supposed to present their self-choreographed performance during the opening of their final Sports Day in a high school. Many hoped that Sports Day would be held as planned but unfortunately, albeit the frantic conferences and countless discussions, the school has come to the conclusion to suspend or call off all activities that will be associated with huge gatherings of people, hence the cancellation of Sports Day. Although it was a disappointment to many of us, and mainly who are student-athletes, the Sports Department believes that personal health must always come first as Malaysia’s condition during the Covid-19 epidemic is proved restless due to the government’s continuous arrangements to extend MCO.
It was a tough decision and with much mixed feelings to be dealt with along the way, according to Kuen Cheng’s Sports Department and its officer-in-charge, Mr. Lim Siang Sheng, that they had faced countless challenges during the preparation of this significant event. One of the major dilemmas was determining a suitable location to assist the smooth running of the competitions. The teachers involved had to overcome several difficulties such as the undecided schedules or the ongoing constructions at the venue itself, and the financial issues over booking the venue beforehand. Safety and precautions were another big concern to the basic standards the school was searching for, and these uncertain factors caused many complicated adjustments to the whole procedure. On the other hand, choice of the event date was yet another obstacle to be tackled down for a successful Sports Day. The bustling event couldn’t be placed near the students’ Mid-Year examinations, as per requested by the Disciplinary Department, or the school’s other activities organized by different clubs and departments in order not to coincide with this major event. The teachers and students had appointments of their own too, especially the Sports training teams which the organizers had to confirm the dates of their inter-school competitions before selecting the suitable date for Sports Day, as the student-athletes were a huge contribution to the school’s achievements in sports tournaments. There were a few small-scaled problems like the sign-ups or shifts in student representatives for the competitions, the official name list of staff members for Sports Day and the leave applications from some teachers, but these were considered the easier parts as the organizers were more than comfortable to sit down and discuss with their co-workers to find the best solution.
Sports Day isn’t as simple and straightforward as it looks like. The procedure requires a lot of cooperation not only from the school itself but from other organizations off-campus and is influenced by many unpredictable factors such as the parents’ responses, traffic arrangements, financial issues during the venue booking, etc. Mr. Lim once disclosed that the school had even wishes for a complete three-day Sports Day like the official tournaments, but due to numerous incompatible conditions, the proposal has been put off many times. Through this year’s devastating change in plans for Sports Day, Mr. Lim hopes to see more enthusiasm in the student body’s participation of Sports Day, the audience’s acceptance towards minor modifications during the competitions, and of course, a greater, better Sports Day in future years.
