The Fairfield Methodist Schools (Primary and Secondary) celebrated 133 years of its founding on 4 Aug this year. Usually, the schools celebrate Founder’s Day with Founder’s Day services in the respective schools and then the celebratory dinner in the evening. But this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of hosting the dinner, the Fairfield Methodist Schools Alumni Association commemorated this special day with a live stream on its Facebook page in the evening.
The genesis of the idea of celebrating in this way came from the foreword penned by one of its former principals, Mrs Tang Poh Kim, in the Fairfield Song Book that had been distributed to students to mark the school’s centenary in 1988. She wrote that “among its many traditions, Fairfield is known as a singing school—a school that delights in singing, be it singing the praises of the Lord, singing National songs or singing pop songs”.
The Fairfield Musical Journey was produced by committee members of the Alumni, Cho Pei Lin, Sharon Liat, Hannah Tan and Joel Tan (with the help of our alumni Dale Cheong’s production company, High Notes). The aim was to have a programme that would reach out to Fairsians of all generations—from those who had studied in Fairfield Girls’ School at Neil Road to those who had studied or are currently studying at the Fairfield Methodist Schools at Dover Road. This was the motivation behind showcasing songs from the billboard charts from different generations, performed by alumni over the years.
Besides songs from different generations, the programme also highlighted milestones of the school’s history—from her founding, to the war years and the relocation to Dover Road—charting God’s faithfulness in the school’s last 133 years.
The production featured our alumni Selena Tan from Dream Academy belting out “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, a song that won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1939. This song is in the Fairfield Songbook and has been taught in all music classes from Neil Road to Dover Road.
Alumni from different generations presented popular campfire songs such as “Top of the World” and “Hokey Pokey”, which brought back fond memories to all Fairsians. An all-time favourite of the nation, “Home”, originally sung by Fairfield Primary alumni Kit Chan, was also sung by current students, teachers and parents.
The production also included special appearances by former Principal Mrs Tang Poh Kim, Bishop Dr Gordon Wong of The Methodist Church in Singapore and Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, all of whom gave the Fairfield Community their well wishes.
As a whole, 2021 has been a difficult year. Although we were not able to gather together physically, our live stream allowed us to reach an audience beyond that of schools, its stakeholders and the Alumni Association. Alumni of all generations enjoyed the evening, using the live stream as a virtual gathering to catch up with classmates and friends, and learn more about the rich history of our school.
Text and photos courtesy of Fairfield Methodist Schools (Primary and Secondary).