obtained from private sources.

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It has been brought to the school's attention that the people behind the facebook page 'HCI Confession' have been very irresponsible in allowing posts that are inappropriate to be published on the page.

As the page carries the name of the school, and uses the school façade as the 'wallpaper', users should bear in mind that what is being posted directly affects the image of students of Hwa Chong and also demonstrates the level of maturity of Hwa Chong students.

Despite efforts to get in contact with the owners of the page, whom have chosen to ignore the school's prior request to communicate openly, the people behind the page (who are very likely current Hwa Chong students) have instead 'stepped up' the flow of inappropriate content posted on the page, drawing attention of users (many of whom are members of the public) into reading about the lack of school spirit and school pride, such as:
- non-constructively questioning school policies and programmes
- making fun of students and teachers by posting slanderous content (a.k.a. cyber bullying)
- instigating hate and disharmony within the school population by criticizing various student bodies/CCAs

The bane of social media is that you can hide behind a computer screen and post whatever you like. If you are one of the people behind all these, we are terribly ashamed of you.

To the people behind the page, while the posts may not originate from you, the fact that you do not even think about the consequences of allowing those posts to be viewed publicly shows that you are worse than the trolls themselves. You may think that it is funny and entertaining, it is a way to build up the Hwa Chong community, but you've got it all wrong. What you have done is to put the school in jeopardy of being a mockery amongst the educational institutions in Singapore. Who knows what others might think of Hwa Chong students when they criticize about the very school they are receiving their education from, or allow their school to be criticized in an open manner? Talk about 饮水思源.

To the rest of you. If you are a responsible and proud student of Hwa Chong, I have a few suggestions on what you can do:
- Unlike the page
- Unlike all the posts you have previously 'liked' on it
- Remove or do not comment anymore on the posts put up on it
- Encourage the people who have grievances about the school to speak to any of the school leaders
- Share this with your friends

The fad will probably tide down after a while (just like Gangnam Style, or Harlem Shake, etc.), but what is put up online, will stay online forever. What is done, cannot be undone. Hence, please be wise - we did not go through all the education on cyberwellness just to see our own students embarrassing themselves with their behavior online.

To the few individuals behind the page, you ought to be very, very ashamed of what you have done. You may not feel remorseful right now, but perhaps one day, down the road, when you are a victim of online trolling, or cyberbullying, you will understand.

By the way, it's Founder's Day today (21 March). Take pride in being a 华中子弟.

Regards,
Mr Tan
PC/Student Development

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