I’ve noticed lately that I received quite a number of incoming links from search engines regarding the keywords, Asean, [tag]Asean scholarships[/tag], [tag]Oldham Hall[/tag], Victoria JC etc…..hmmmm….I wonder why….I guess it’s because the new batch of Asean scholars are coming soon to Singapore. If I’m not wrong the new 2008 Malaysians Asean scholars will be coming in on 18th December 2007? Haha….just like me last year, no time to enjoy after SPM…Only 2 weeks at most.
Anyway, when the scholarship letter arrives, it doesn’t state which hostel one is posted to. It simply mentions the hostel name and asks one to report there at so and so date and time. I was Googling around last year also to find out which college I had been posted to. I ended up doing a search at streetdirectory.com to look for colleges near my hostel.
Just to make things simpler, here’s a list of hostels and the JCs one will be posted to.
Oldham Hall – [tag]Anderson JC[/tag]
Victoria Hall – Victoria JC
Raffles Boarding – Raffles JC
Hwa Chong Boarding – National JC
NUS High School Residence – Anglo Chinese JC
Dunman High Boarding – Temasek JC
McNair Lodge – Saint Andrews JC
So which is the best hostel? Can’t really say much. But let me talk from my 1 year experience.
Just in case you are wondering, I’m staying in Oldham Hall, and goes to Anderson JC. I’m a direct scholar, meaning I came to Singapore only during JC level. I’ve just completed JC1 and will be in JC2 next year.
From experience and hearsay from other scholars, it seems like Oldham Hall is the best (ok dun kill me, I shall change to one of the best) place to live in. It has all the facilities one can dream of, except a running track (Near town la, no land!). It has air-cond in rooms (I’m surprised too when I first came last year, lol!), gym, indoor basketball courts, swimming pool, futsal court, music room, laundry service (free & unlimited number of clothes!).
The only drawback is it’s kinda expensive to stay in Oldham Hall and Anderson JC is a little far from hostel (35-45 minutes travelling time via public transport). We gotta pay around S$10 per month for aircond, S$1 per hour for internet and gym membership (not compulsory) is S$40 per year. Next year there will be wireless access but it’s not free. There’s some special plan from some private company and the price range from S$5 to S$22 depending on speed. And also since school is far from hostel, we have a chartered bus in the mornings which charges us around S$15 per month. It’s simpler and faster this way.
I don’t think I wanna babble much here about my hostel. I guess many of you are also hunting for information on which is the best JC in Singapore right?
Well, the Government has stopped releasing the rankings a few years back. But one can basically gauge the rankings of the schools from the cut-off points required by Singapore O-level students to enter these colleges.
This is an unofficial list but based on historical data and cut-off points the [tag]rankings[/tag] are somewhere like this.
1. Raffles JC
2. Hwa Chong JC
3. Victoria JC
4. National JC
5. Temasek JC
These are basically the Top 5 JCs in Singapore. I prefer to call them the Tier 1 JCs.
6. Anderson JC
7. Saint Andrews JC
8. Anglo-Chinese JC
The above 3 JCs I would prefer to call the Tier 2 JCs. Now don’t come killing me saying AC is better than SA or better than AJ. This is an unofficial list and the schools shuffle among themselves for better rankings every year.
From experience, the MOE usually places new direct Malaysian scholars in the above JCs. The only exception is Hwa Chong JC. I have no idea why direct scholars don’t go there….
Hi, I'm Bobby Ong and I'm 21 years old. I'm currently studying Economics at University College London. I lead the typical, interesting college life and am having the time of my life touring Europe every holiday. Pardon me for the not-so-frequent update here. I'm just too absorbed having fun to even spend time in front of the computer. Read more about me 
December 11th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
I’m afraid I disagree with your belief about the “best” hostel
Victoria Hall used to be maligned only because it had terrible food. This year they changed their caterer to the same one as Hwa Chong’s (I think? if poor memory serves me somewhat right), and now on certain days boarders get to eat Delifrance pastries, Western food, nicefood*(n). Internet, both LAN and wireless, 2 bus stops on straight road to college, entirely walkable in 15 minutes, running track, all free. (Yes, the internet is entirely free. Which was actually bad, because it was a terrible distraction.) Aaaaand we had our own showers and toilets in our rooms. And if you’re lucky, as I was, you get your own room in J2.
The only diff would be we had no swimming pool, or some of the other facilities you enjoy. But we have a sea view (free). Plus sea breezes (free).
I know, I’m cheapo. But I couldn’t resist replying when the old Singaporean kiasuism kicked in while reading your post, hehe.
Hope your JC experience is going well!
December 12th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Hmmm I haven’t been to other hostels yet, but yours definitely sounds better than mine! I would not say which hostel I onced lived in, but I think you know because I told you the last time we met
haha! Okay anyway over at my hostel we don’t have air conditioners, and the food sucks! It got better after changing the caterer, but things got worse again over time. Gee. Oh and for Internet access, it’s terrible over here!
December 14th, 2007 at 11:15 am
cherylline>>u have delifrance food? that’s great then….and yeah have to concede that the distance fr school n hostel is damn near for u….good for u…there’s free internet…but is it fast?
n u said u have ur own room. meaning no need to share wit anyone? that’s really great then….but as for toilets i prefer communal toilets coz then no need to clean/wash the toilets…got cleaners
haha….singapore really trains us to be kiasu rite??? lol…hope ya doing well in ur uni now….shud be easier than jc rite?
teddy>>haha….i noe ur hostel food sux big time….but recently they changed the caterer to the one similar to our hostel’s….i guess the food got better rite…n sad case ur internet damn slow….it’s like the worst crime….
December 14th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
So I heard they had Delifrance food; I didn’t get to enjoy it while I was there.
Yeah the internet was pretty fast. A little unreliable though; there were a few days each month when we had “limited or no connectivity” and that sucked.
Yep! Own room. Mainly because J2s get to share a room with only 1 other person, and since the other person in my room left Singapore suddenly, I ended up having it all to myself.
Aw, lazy lazy.
Cleaning toilets is a good habit.
Uni is, despite what ppl might say, actually busier than JC. If you’re doing a subject you really enjoy though, studying becomes waaay more fun than at A Levels. heh, and the busy-ness is pretty fulfilling.
Btw, Temasek JC is now fifth rank? It was fourth a couple of years ago. And I think AJC climbed a bit
December 17th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
heyz.im admitted to McNair Lodge next year.i read ur blog.erm may i ask whether u noe anything bout that hostel? i can’t find an official site of the place.so do u tink u noe anything that will be useful for me?
tx very much.
pls reply to this email :
littleangel90@gmail.com
December 20th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
[...] December 20, 2007 Bobby Ong has a pretty informative post on hostels for Asean scholars here. [...]
December 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
cherylline>> if they really serve delifrance then it’s great! i wanna have that too….
internet…limited or no connectivity is the worse msg one can get….
n u r really lucky to have ur own room…..u can keep it all clean or messy to urself….damn lucky fellow….i got to share mine next yr wit 3 other guys
uni is more busy than JC?! oh no!! i tot life cant get any more busier than JC life….
n finally they stopped releasing the JC rankings alr…so i’m just making an estimation based on hearsay from friends
June 25th, 2010 at 8:18 am
I absolutely love my Dolphin! I’ve it about 4 years now and solely needed 1 restore as a result of someone stepped on the plastic half that connects the power cable to the power supply. I live in Mass so we use it for under 4 months a year. I’ve many timber that overlook the pool so we consistently have pine needles and leaves within the pool. The Dolphin does an ideal job cleansing the pool. I run twice earlier than emptying the filter bag. Cleansing the bag is a pain, but lots less of a pain than hauling out the guide pool vacuum.