Swimming Gala 2018

Suited up in swimsuits, lathered in sunscreen and armed with a pair of tight goggles and

even tighter swimming caps, the Irinah Swimming team was ready to dive into the action.

As always, the Irinians were the first to arrive, filling out the small Orange tent that was

provided. Ritualistically, the athletes hit the showers straight away and started to get
their limbs moving with some routined warm-ups and stretches. As soon as the other
houses started arriving, the swimmers for the first few events were already in the water
getting their legs and arms warmed up and ready to go.

Soon enough, the events commenced. The splashes in the water seemed to syncopate

the  cheering from each house. Our swimmers seemed to move methodically in the water,
like it was second nature. Despite the challenges women have to face monthly and despite
the sun, the Irinian swimmers didn't fail to make the house proud with record-breaking
results that went off the charts.

At the end of the event, when we all walked towards the dining hall feeling as if we've just come
out of a sauna from the humidity that day, we still had smiles on our faces, proud of the
achievements and thankful for the sacrifices the seniors made to make us rise above and over
the charts. And as we always say: don't mess with dynamites!!!

Written by,

Rebecca Leong, L6.

Netball Interhouse 2018

Resilience, in the minds of every Irinian. It was not long since the football inter-house, and
now it’s the netball inter-house. Each nearing day to competition, Irinians worked together
with teamwork and trained hard on their passes and strategies, sharing ideas and skills
within one another. Led by our House Captain, Housna, practices for netball was never
considered a waste of time.

On the actual day, we had 2 teams competing, the senior girls and the junior girls. The

senior girls played resiliently, not giving up even though they played under the blazing
hot midday sun with 2 back-to-back games against Jawahir and Alia. They managed to
win 1 out of 2 games, leading the Irinah seniors as 2nd place overall. The junior girls
however, were not as lucky but still managed to emerge as 3rd place, out of 4 placings.
They played hard and never gave up till the end.

Nevertheless, we will never forget the support from all the Irinians! Giving their fullest
support in cheering the team up, whether it was a win or loss. It was the house spirit
which added to the further success of this inter-house. Everyone definitely had a me-
morable experience as it is not about winning or losing, it is about the fun and expe-
riences everyone shared together. Irinah will definitely come back stronger in the other
upcoming inter-house games and will never give up.

Written By,

Rachel Lau, L6

INTERHOUSE FOOTBALL 2018

  Pleasure, Pressure or Adventure?

Instead of going for a pedicure, 20 Irinians valiantly ‘muscled up’ and took part in the
inter-house football match against a few other houses such as Alia, Jawahir andNaquiah
on the 13th as well as the 17th of January 2018. A game of football, one which is largely
associated as a male sport (knowing more about Neymar than Marta although both are
great footballers from Brazil) by many but definitely not by the Irinians here in KTJ.

Both the senior and junior team played really well and managed to uphold the team spirit
that all Iranians have ingrained in themselves. Before the beginning of every match, the team
will huddle and strategise for the match, along with some motivational and uplifting words by
the team leaders or from the team members themselves. The occasional but roaring cheers
by the non-participants from Irinah house was also really helpful as it boosted the team’s
spirits throughout the matches.

Although the junior team did not obtain first place in the competition, they managed to put on
a challenging fight with all houses especially the battle against Naquiah with the score of 1-2.
On the other hand, the seniors faced a disappointing lost to Jawahir with the score of six-nil.
However, no matter how cliche it may sound, we must to dare to fail to win. To prove that
ideology, the seniors returned into the match ferociously in their next round of the battle
against Alia. With a whole new approach towards the game (viewing the game optimistically)
and truly enjoying the fun and pleasure the game brought them, the senior team did Irinah
proud by ending up with a tie (score of 2-2) against Alia.

It was indeed a memorable experience for the footballers and supporters alike. Being a visio-
nary for a second, we Irinians are looking forward to the inter-house football match next year
and will be back with the vengeance. Nevertheless, we shall keep in mind that a game filled
with pleasure will eradicate all pressure and leaves us with an unforgettable adventure!

Written By,

Ong Kye Li, L6

INTERHOUSE ATHLETICS 2017

After a long tiring day, the last thing you’d want to hear is the sound of the bell and our house captain’s voice saying “ALL ATHLETES TO THE FIELD NOWWW” Diligently, all the
participants followed and persevered through this repeated routine up till the big day. However,
it was unfortunate (not really) that the weather was not on our side most of the time and be-
cause of that many practices had to be cancelled.

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18 Nov 2017 - The big day has finally arrived. Everyone got up early to prepare for the day
they’ve been waiting for. Our fellow Irinians geared up into their orange jerseys with the
dragon spirit pumped in them and made their way to the main field. The rest of the other
houses have already started their warm ups upon our arrival. Quickly, we placed our things
down at our reserved tents and caught up with the warm ups.

The sun was scorching hot that day but nevertheless we stood strong and our athletes made
way to their respective events with a ribbon tied onto their ponytails. It was an absolutely
amazing event; the field was dyed with rainbow colours of the houses, banners were waved
around and the atmosphere was filled with the cheers of each houses (in which obviously
Irinah’s was the loudest) GO DYNAMITES!! Despite the blazing heat, our athletes fought
extremely well. It was a tough battle with the lead constantly shifted back and forth from but
eventually, we managed to maintain the defending champion titles for Seniors Athletics and
Tug of War, with the juniors emerging as runners-up by just a millipoint away.

The day ended with smiles plastered onto everyone’s faces. All those dreaded training
sessions were deemed worth it after the sweet taste of victory.

“Hard work pays off”

Written by,

Shing Yee, L6

INTERHOUSE CROSS COUNTRY 2017

KTJ Cross Country, the annual event that can be dreadful to the majority because it just
means house run all over again. Irinah, who is always one of the earliest and most enthu-
siastic house to start house runs, had our first one on the 18th of September, Monday. We
all started it off with only one round around the school and everyone did pretty decent. The
distance and number of house runs gradually increased throughout the next few weeks and
months until the actual day. From a few rounds the school, the track and to the actual route;
everyone was training hard and pushing ourselves beyond our limits, Irinah was in it
together.15th of November marks our last house run for the school year.

Actual cross country that fell on the 21st of September was the day everyone couldn’t wait
to get it over with; hearts jumping to our throats, nervousness building in the air, ready to
burst out like a cork from a bottle of champagne. Meanwhile, our dear former deputy house
captain, Kamilia, had sent in an audio note with her words of encouragement that warmed
our hearts and motivated us even harder to give our all. Before the race, we warmed up
together to ensure that our body muscles is heated up and prepared for the run. The junior’s
race was carried out first, followed by seniors. Each and everyone of us ran our lungs out
and did not give up until upon reaching the finishing line. On the other hand, Irinians, espe-
cially the ones outside of Irinah’s water station, were supporting one another all the way
which portrayed the very strong house spirit that we always have in us.

As for the results, Irinah had once again proudly been crowned champions for the senior
category. On the contrary, the junior girls lost to Alia by a whisker to our dismay, which was
only 0.7points away. What a bummer! However, cross country has certainly brought us
closer and memories created, bonds strengthened. Regardless of the results, every single
one of us certainly ran as one, with pride.

Written by,

Jia Qing, L6

HOUSE BASKETBALL 2017

Just like any other inter house competition  that Irinah participates, basketball is taken very seriously in the house. Despite the immense short time we had to practice, we performed incredibly well for both senior and junior matches. Our stars were shining bright that day when the seniors won all their matches against Jawahir and Alia. It was both a struggle for the juniors and seniors but I can assure you that everyone was having fun. Our house spirit was roaring like never before as we cheered on for the players.

Nothing could beat the outstanding spirit of teamwork that our players had display and the incredible support shown by the house. It was at the last few seconds that the seniors were losing to Alia 11-12, then it was like time had stood still and the ball flung into the air and hit that 2 pointer that gained us a win. The crowd erupted and screamed like never before.

At the end of the day we all emerged as winners in our own Irinian special way.  Great job to both seniors and juniors and thank you for all the support the house had given to us players!

Written by,

Kartika, L6

HOUSE SINGING CHAMPIONS 2017: IRINAH

“GUYS DOWN TO COMMON ROOM NOW” is a phrase I heard all too often my first two weeks at KTJ . Being a new Irinian I was completely overwhelmed at the idea of this huge and extremely significant event . What amazed me the most was the amount of enthusiasm and excitement the Irinians had towards this event . As soon as school finished the house was frantic as all the students were always in a rush to get all their priorities straight before House Singing practice . House Singing is truly one of the largest contributors to the close bonds between the Irinians . As we work side by side day after day, more friendships were made, closer relationships were formed not to mention that we all became a lot more reliant on each other for support and encouragement to continue persevering during the stressful time that was House Singing .

However the blood, sweat and tears were all worth it in the end . On the day itself I remember how after they announced Alia for third place and Jawahir for second all the Irinians moved closer together, some still so full of hope keeping their calm, some grabbing the hands of the people next to them so anxious to know the end results, some who sat down quietly filled with feelings of surrender ready to accept defeat, but all thinking “This is it, at this point it’s all or nothing“. And when the MC announced Irinah as the 2017 House Singing Champions the atmosphere amongst the Irinians was ecstatic. Tears came gushing out while all of us screamed the house cheer at the top of our lungs jumping and moving to hug other Irinians . The feeling of knowing everyone’s hard work and dedication was worth it and that all our effort had been rewarded is one that I can only dream of feeling again. Irinah achieved her 9th win in 13 years of competition!!  Our achievement was compounded by the fact that we also received the trophy for the Best Musical Accompaniment!! What a feat!! And what big shoes for the Lower Sixers to fill already!!

I think all the Irinians will be forever grateful to our upper sixes whom with guidance from our Houseparent, Ms Angie and our House Tutors Madam Yeoh and Ms Pathma as they are the ones who truly deserve the trophy. Not to mention a huge thanks to Matron Rajes as well who helped to maintain our health with her constant concern throughout House Singing.  Without them we would have accomplished nothing. The upper six students single handedly choreographed, composed and controlled everything. I can’t even imagine how difficult that must have been as I can imagine it must have been very difficult to control more than 80 chatty teenage girls. There would have been times when they were already stressed because of their exams and yet they came to practise, to coach us and we must have only added to their stress from doing a mixture of things like forgetting our dance moves or singing off pitch or too softly, yet they managed to be continuously encouraging and supportive throughout the entire journey, all of them with one goal of making sure we performed our absolute best on the day itself. And so I would like to end with saying every single Irinian is a diamond but it was the upper sixes that polished us until we shined.

House Singing was a success for Irinah this year and I hope with the years to come we continue to shine like all Irinians are meant to.

Written by,

Maesha, L6