Last Saturday, October 17, 2015, St. John's held its 39th Awards Day ceremony to appreciate and celebrate the achievements and services of our fellow Johannians to the school.
The guest-of-honour for the event was Dato' Pardip Kumar Kukreja, Executive Chairman of Paradise Group of Companies, a Johannian from the batch of 1975.
Dato' Pardip signing the guest book
At 8.00am, the guest-of-honour and other invited guests were paraded in by the bagpipes. A guard of honour by the Councillor Prefects greeted the guests as the procession moved to the assembly area. It was then followed by an inspection of parade by Dato' Pardip with the company of Dr. M. Puvanendran, Principal of St. John's.
The procession towards the assembly area. Dr. M. Puvanendran (in purple) with Dato' Pardip.
En. Wan Abdillah, PIBG chairman and the school administrators
The inspection of parade
Upon completion of the inspection, the Naval Cadet Band of St. John's played the national anthem, Negaraku. This was then followed by the recitation of the do'a, remarks by the Principal, and the opening speech by the guest-of-honour. Dato' Pardip decided to address fellow Johannians in the national language, Bahasa Malaysia, and reminded them of the importance of being equally active in the field of sports and how we should explore sports as a profession as people recognize professional athletes more than professional doctors.
The guests, parents, and Johannians were presented with a variety of martial arts performances, a marching display and the highly anticipated band performance throughout the event as intermission between prize-giving ceremonies.
Silat with parangs
Look at him fly. Do not try this at home, lads.
The Cadet Corps in full uniform.
This year, there were close to 500 awards given out to Johannians for various levels of achievements, their services, and their pristine discipline records throughout the year. The members of the Naval Cadet Band and the Robotics Club topped the list of recipients with their participation and success in international level competitions.
This year's Awards Day also recognizes Johannians who have made the effort of maintaining their good behaviour as individuals and as a class collectively. This is a positive addition to the full attendance certificates handed out to Johannians who ensure they show up to school every single day.
Finally, it was time to hand out the four highly-anticipated prizes. The guest-of-honour, Dato' Pardip, was invited to present these four awards to their respective winners. The first award, the "Anugerah Olahragawan Johannian Harapan" (Promising Johannian Athlete Award) was again won by Akid Daniel Mohd Jeffry Lee. This year marks the fourth consecutive year this archer has won the award since its introduction in 2012.
Our Promising Johannian Athlete, Akid Daniel
The second award, the Matthew Raphael Danker Sports Excellence Award, was presented to Muhammad Harith Izzuddin Zali. This award was presented in 2009 by the late Mr. Matthew Raphael Danker, a fellow Johannian and father of Tun Jeanne Abdullah, to recognize Johannians who excelled in the field of sports with participation in competitions at state, national, and international levels. As an avid rugby player, Harith has been involved with the school rugby team throughout his years in St. John with several wins at the national level since 2013.
Harith, our Matthew Raphael Danker Award recipient. Generous smiles are visible.
The third award, the Johannian Team of the Year Award, is won by the St. John's Drama Team. The Drama Team has had some resounding success this past few years, with three consecutive wins at the State Drama Competition, runner-up in last year's National Competition, and Best Script Award for two years in a row. The Drama Team is the second team to win this award after the Naval Cadet Band's four-year streak since the award's inception in 2011.
The Johannian Team of the Year
The final award, The Johannian of the Year Award, was presented to Muhammad Azwar Aza Azhar. The present award, presented by Johannian Dr. Nag Subir Kumar during the school's centenary celebrations, is presented to Johannians who excel both academically as well as extracurricular activities. Azwar, a councillor prefect and former Naval Cadet Band First Command and Conductor, participated in various competitions from school level to international level throughout his seven years in St. John's. The Upper Sixer believes in the motto "Failure is the foundation of success", and his strong believe in it has indeed earned him the honour of this award.
Our Johannian of the Year. Congratulations, Azwar!
The four awards' recipients posing for a group photo
The 39th Awards Day ceremony was closed with the singing of the School Rally and Onwards St. John before the guests and parents were ushered to the concourse for the reception.
Congratulations to all Johannians for your success and thank you for your services to the school and the wins you brought for the school. You have indeed made all of us proud. For those of you who still have some time in St. John's, make your award-recipient friends your motivation so that we get to celebrate you in next year's ceremony.
Fide et Labore!
Pictures are courtesy of Darvind Sivakumar
More pictures from the event:
