Inter-house Athletics

 

              

The blazing Saturday sun was a reflect of the radiant hearts of every Irinah girl as they gave their all, in any way, in the Inter-house Athletics Competition. The 23^rd of March 2013 was a day on which weeks of dripping sweat and constant trainings were finally exchanged for the shiny medals that hung on the necks of the strong and determined Irinah girls.

 

          Competitions were fierce for both the track and the field events. The track events consisted of: 100m Hurdles, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 4x100m and 4x400m; The field events, on the other hand, comprised: javelin, discus, shot putt, long jump, triple jump and high jump. It was truly a jaw-dropping and heart-racing sight to behold as some jumped sky-high from the ground whilst others raced to the finish line with their heads held high. The competition stretched on for the duration of five hours and during that period of time, never once did the house spirit of Irinah diminish as each and every member of the house shouted their lungs out for their friends. Merely a word of encouragement or a smile of assurance – a spark of hope that was needed to drive them till the end. “A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning” – Pat Riley

  

          On the battlefield, the Irinah girls did their house proud, not only by winning, but also by breaking the school records. It is as follows:

 

   High jump        : - Melanie (1.39m)

                                 - Rachel    (1.35m)

         

          Long jump       : - Ji Min (3.91m)

 

          4 x 400m           : - Zhi Yee

                                         - Kahlen

                                         - Vincy

                                         - Raihanah (a second faster)

 

          The girls brought glory and dignity to the house by winning championships in both the senior as well as the junior category. It was not about how good they were, but how good they were together – as a house, as Irinah.

 

Hockey 2012

After countless postpones due to the hectic weather conditions, the girl’s hockey match finally took place on a long anticipated sunny Wednesday afternoon. All houses had as much training time as the weather permitted, and their hockey skills prevailed on that very afternoon.

 

The long intensive trainings on the field and indoors paid off as the girls gave their best in the match.

We had over a month to prepare and trained very hard specifically on strategies and ways on improving our passing skills. As we used the halls indoors to practice, it was very different when we actually played on the field as the ball was faster inside the hall. However so, Irinians managed to adjust to the circumstances and managed to score in most of the games. We also stressed on teamwork as it an important element to win a game.

 Being Irinians, sports events like this brought us closer and we discovered many hidden talents in some of which we didn’t know.

 

Many girls showed passionate Irinah spirit in participating during the tryouts, and trainings. However due to the short duration of the game, many could only play for a short period of time.

 

 Irinians had a fun time taking pictures and played their heart out on the field. Loud cheers can be heard to support our team players, and it helped encourage the hockey players to keep on going.

 

On the 7^th of November afternoon, the girls got geared up and the seniors played two games against Jawahir and Alia.  The senior players managed to defend Alia well, and came up with a score of 0-0, however the game between Jawahir was quite challenging and intense. Putting up a tough fight, the seniors were able to obtain a score of 2-1.  On the other hand, the juniors played a pretty impressive game by knocking out all of their opponents: Alia, Jawahir and Naquiah. Our juniors were proud to be announced 1^st place and managed to bring home the gold for Irinah. Unfortunately, seniors lost their overall game to Alia, due to a small difference in total score. However so, we still tried our very best.

 

Irinians have once again proven themselves to be resilient team players and Later on in the week after the mid-term break, the whole of Irinah house was awarded with scrumptious, delicious cupcakes baked by the brilliant captains that took charge of hockey. Despite the results, the hockey game brought Irinians together and showed true enthusiastic spirit for the house.

Swimming Gala 2012

All the other swimmers were drinking waves from the Irinians as the red hot dragons sped through the water like torpedoes at the annual Swimming Gala held on June 4th and 5^th, 2012. The Juniors were on fire and emerged as Champions while the Seniors came in at a close second - both tremendous improvements from last year’s results.

It was clear that all the effort put in by everyone - all the intensive swimming sessions for the house representatives (where the experienced swimmers provided invaluable training and helped to correct technique) as well as the cheers and support from the rest of the house - had paid off.

Special mention would undoubtedly have to go to the Sixth Formers and Form 5 Internationals, who participated even in the midst of their external exams. And of course, not to forget, much thanks deservedly goes to our dear Housemistress and House Tutors who took the time to supervise every single swimming session.

Yet again, this success proves that we dragons can really do it all!

IRINAH DYNAMITES! DON’T MESS WITH DYNAMITES!

Serena Chew

Football 2012

After a huge success in the House Singing Competition two weeks ago, Irinah’s football team drew up another weekend in perfect style by winning KTJ’s Girls Football Competition this year in both senior and junior categories. As champions in both categories, this competition had indeed strengthened our relationship and revived the spirit of togetherness among Irinians.

On Wednesday, 19^th Sept 2012,  the junior team started off by winning the match against Jawahir while the senior team defeated Alia. However, on Saturday, the junior team was defeated by Alia. Nevertheless, with the strong support and encouragement from all the Irinah girls, our junior team devised a new strategy in the final match. Inevitably, our junior team emerged as the champion when they won the final match against Naquiah.

In the senior category, our girls’ hard work paid off when they won the final match against Jawahir on Saturday. Having scored two goals in this match, our girls have indeed displayed the true spirit of teamwork and perseverance in Irinah.

To conclude, the Girls Football Competition had brought the girls together regardless of their roles as players or supporters. Everyone had contributed to the success in this competition and Irinah girls proved that teamwork, dedication and perseverance are the ingredients for success.

IRINAH DYNAMITE, DON’T MESS WITH DYNAMITE!!

Basketball 2012

The hall, jam packed with a sea of faceless spectators, their upturned faces etched with eager anticipation, mingled with anxiety and droplets of salty perspiration. Darting eyes anxiously assessing every insignificant shift of the torso, every sleight of the hand. Occasionally, suppressed cries of outrage resound, interweaving with the brazen shouts of frantic advice and also the muted murmurs of uttered approve from the opposition. Tension congeals in the air - hearts’ a pounding - every individual rooting for their own house. Alas, in the end, some turn away, disappointed and disheartened, for it is a game after-all, with only one winner.

Verdict:

Champions for the juniors were thus Irinah, much to our delight. Proof that hard work for two hours, a few days in a row does indeed pay off.

The well deserved kudos go to the first five players: Zhi Yee, Vincy, Pelly, Ji Min and Jennifer, as well as Raihanah, Li-Ann, Hanna, Jane and the rest of the group for this success is evidently a group effort.

Unfortunately, our seniors - Pek Min, Dory, Tassya, Uzo, Syaza, to name a few - who had exhausted themselves arduously in the valiant attempt to be a little bit more than a mere measuring up, were only able to achieve second place. The honour of the aforementioned title, goes to Alia instead. However, this does not in anyway dampen our spirits nor reverse our firm opinions towards anti housism - a term familiar perhaps to only those in Kolej Tuanku Jaafar.

In a nutshell, it was a brilliant three day rush of adrenaline. Everyone contributed in their own way, be it seemingly paltry or negligible, feverishly cheering was not at all simple, mind you.

Already we are eagerly anticipating next year’s match! IRINAH DYNAMITE!!

House Night @ Camp5

For as long as most of us can recall, it has been a long standing slightly unorthodox - but that’s if you aren’t a ktj-ian of course - tradition for the foremost Saturday of a term to be without fail, elected as House Night, a phrase most strangers aren’t acquainted with, and yet it is the utter contradiction when it comes to us. That Saturday morning itself, palpable anticipation would be lingering in every crevice and corner of our school. Whispered intricate schemes of elaborate plans, unravelled like lullabies in the wind and this semester was clearly no exception.
Deferring not much from the aforementioned custom, at fifteen minutes to two in the afternoon, all of us Irinians boarded the two specifically rented buses off to One Utama, a well known shopping complex conveniently situated in the neighbouring state.
Upon arrival, we were primarily permitted a whole three hours to roam around it in quest of new purchases of our own choice, be it groceries, a new outfit or anything that suited our fancy. And at seven, after hungrily digested our respective dinners, the lot of us were taken to Camp5, a renowned indoor rock climbing gym, for all the intents and purposes of team spirit building and cooperation promoting.
Immediately and effectively, we were divided into four teams, in face of four separate challenges. Activities of such that consisted of us supporting, and I do mean literally, our teammates as they clung to a rock embedded wall and crawled sideways, somewhat akin to a crab, us heaving with all our might to raise one lucky individual up a safety harness, navigating each blindfolded other over a minefield of rocks and lastly, needless to say, the actual rock climbing itself.

 
Undeniably, it was a day well spent forging new bonds with the new intakes of this academic year and reinforcing the ones that have been withstanding for so long. Words of encouragement to one another flew freely from our lips and gales of laughter resounded throughout the day. And that is what Irinah prides itself for, is it not? Our fierce sense of camaraderie that binds us together and gets us by.

Irinah Dynamite, Don’t Mess with Dynamite!

House Singing 2012

Despite several laughable technical difficulties and minor hindrances, House Singing - a night of severe nerves and pre-performance jitters - proceeded smoothly, a no defer from the traditional past eight years, akin to how a gasp of warm breath diffuses into the air in a exhaling sigh. The aforementioned event is somewhat of a long standing institution in KTJ, namely the boarding school I attend and thus it is an occurrence of immense furor, evidenced by the daily practice that spanned out for an arduous duration of a fortnight. For each of the houses have their respective opportunities to blow the judges away. Us being with a certain mandatory vivacity, a trademark of Irinah - big smiles, girls! Show me your pearly whites!

Nadzimuddin, namely the first boarding house to be bestowed upon the honour of having the first opportunity to astound the audience performed with gusto, an appealing version that included the renowned king of pop’s famous Man in the Mirror as well as Glee’s catchy Lovin’ Touchin’ and Squeezin’/Any Way You Want It.
Next in line was Naquiah boy’s rendition of We’re Here For A Good Time that elicited a collective sigh of “awww” that resounded around the auditorium. Naqyuiddin however executed a choreographed mash up of Pokemon and Matchbox’s How Far We’ve Come while Imran’s Disney medley lead us by the hand back to the magical nation of childish notions and pixie dust. Nadza’s upbeat portrayal of Uptown Girl was in all romantic categorizations, a classic performance complete with starched white shirts and pressed black slacks. Succeeding that were the girls of Naquiah, grasping at torches amidst the pitch black, crooning a haunting ballad of Fix You originally sung by Coldplay. And Candyrman was performed with pizzazz by Alia. We Irinians came next and we rendered another brialliantly flawless, Glee-like performance with the Jackson 5’s I want you back and ABC. The wondrous night came to a muted end with Jawahir entertaining the crowd with a blended mix up of We Are Young and Dance With Me Tonight.

But ultimately, all of the suspense, uncompensated hours of sleep, vigorous voice projections in harmonization and incessant repeats of similar dance steps were worth while as for the seventh time in eight years, Irinah has come out Champion once more, evading a much dreaded downfall.

IRINAH DYNAMITE DON'T MESS WITH DYNAMITE!

  

And when the results were announced, there came a massive uproar of relief from us, the uniformly clad in black shorts and plain white tees bunch. Almost sobbing in jollification we stumbled upon the stage, to collect our trophy as well as to execute our very own customized Irinah cheer, complete with relatively corny moves. Embraces ringed with sheer jubilation were also passed out in a rapid deliverance. In that moment, with the spotlight highlighting our tearful rejoice, we were golden, golden, I swear we were golden.