keeping the name

as of the time of writing, there are 1381 signatures on the petition to retain the HCJC name. It brings to mind what Gandhi supposedly remarked about democracy: 'It is a good idea.'

as much as I dislike the name 'Hwa Chong Institution' (not least because its intials remind me of a chemical compound), I'm finding it hard to support the petition. Call me cynical, but I find it hard to believe that a group of men will back down and rescind a decision that required months of deliberation and compromise, simply because some (relatively?) young upstart begins a petition, in a medium that most of them probably don't even pay much attention to in the first place, in a society where authority is unused to being second-guessed, and where patriachal mindsets are prevalent among the chinese that belong to the older, more conservative generations.

see the problem?

in an ideal world, a few words would be all we'd need to get things done. But over here words on a virtual landscape don't carry much weight. On the one hand, I'm quite impressed by the number of people who obviously feel strongly about our alma mater, but on the other I'm also convinced that without further concrete action this petition will fizzle into a futile protest; nothing more, in fact, than another 'good idea'.