I've been putting this off for quite a while now. Come to think of it, I've been putting off a lot of things lately. Probably due to my recent addictions, Bleach and Monk.
Before I completely lost track of all the happenings that day, I've decided to finish it right now. :P
The first two was about the place and the people, this time it's going to be about the event. So, why was there an alumni homecoming event in the first place?
Let me go back 8 years, while we were still in high school. At that time, I should say that the school was in its prime. I'm not saying that it was the best school in town, but I do believe that it is very capable and competitive.
But that started to change after we graduated. Some of the more experienced teachers began leaving the school. Some students started transferring to neighboring schools as well.
I don't really know the reason why the parents have decided that way, but I do have some observations which might explain it. I'll try to be as objective as possible.
If you're paying for something, you would want value for your money, in this case, good education. However, the school seemed to have given more attention, resources and incentives to student athletes while those performing well in academics were ignored. The tuition fee continued to increase while the parents are not seeing significant improvement in the school education and facilities. :(
The other major observation would be the increase in the acceptance of students who were kicked-out from neighboring schools. The school have been known for its compassion to students who've failed. But it won't be a surprise to see parents pulling out their children so they won't be influenced by these bad students. :S
Lastly, our school, like most schools, also suffer from "budget" problems, while some top school officials "mysteriously" get a new car every few months. And, I forgot to mention that the school is operated by the Buddhist monks. (I have a bad feeling that I shouldn't have said this.) >:)
Anyhow, those are only "observations", I'm not implying anything, OK? O:)
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The student and faculty population continued to diminish and there were rumors that they are closing the school down soon. Until recently, Philip Go from Batch 77, organized an alumni homecoming event, which aims to restart the operations of the alumni association, which have been inactive for several years now.
So they invited some big names in some of the major industries to impart some inspirational message to the school alumni in the hopes that they would extend their support to revive that school. Another thing to note is that 2 years from now is the 50th anniversary of the school foundation, so they would really like to gather as much support from the school alumni.
The guest speakers were Tony Tan Caktiong and Albert Yu. Both are Sakya alumni, though I'm not really sure how many years did they spend in Sakya. Even if you stayed for 1 semester, you'll still be considered as an alumni. :P
Tony Tan just happened to be the owner of the largest fast food chain in the Philippines, Jollibee. I saw his name before in an issue of Varsitarian, UST's school paper. He is a UST graduate, but I was surprised to learn that he was once a student of my high school.
Albert Yu, is a well-known architect who runs his own architectural firm, ASYA Design Partners. He also happened to be the consultant hired by The Beacon.
Tony Tan recently funded the upgrade of the computer units of the school. Unfortunately, Tony Tan wasn't able to come. He was represented by his brother, who delivered the message from Tony. I wasn't able to listen to his message very well due to the noisy crowd. Too bad. >:P
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After the speeches, we lined up to get our lunch. While eating, there were production numbers from different groups like the Lion Dance Club, Anklung Club, Sakya Dance Troupe, Wushu Club and more. There were also raffle draws in-between the presentations.
And as expected, after the free lunch, people started leaving. :P We stayed until the program ended where Philip Go gave a final message to thank the people who attended and the people who gave their efforts in making the event possible.
While many have thought the event would be a failure, I think it was a big success. I'm looking forward to the next alumni homecoming and the 50th anniversary celebration.
Finally, I really hope that the School Gym Project, which was supposed to be due in 2002, gets to be started and completed soon.
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