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Above: CHIJ alumnus K. Tan said the misuse of the school's badge in the poster, as seen in the Internet picture, was in poor taste.]
The poster was probably created to grab attention, and grab attention it did - but of the wrong sort.
It aroused anger among current and former CHIJ students.
Seen in Filter Members Club last Saturday during a theme party, the poster showed the CHIJ school crest with a slogan around it that read: "In need of a one night stand: CHIJ girls please stand up!"
The New Paper saw the poster in a photograph posted online yesterday. In the picture, a few girls were seen posing with the poster, smiling.
The picture was sent to the CHIJ School Board of Management of the 11 IJ schools here.
Said board chairman Vivienne Lim: "The use of the CHIJ school badge in the context of the picture is highly inappropriate and demeaning."
She added that it was also "insulting" to the "thousands of CHIJ alumni and current CHIJ students, some of whom are as young as six years old".
The Filter Members Club is on Nanson Road, next to Gallery Hotel.
On the club's Facebook page, the get-up for the party was stated as "scandalous school girls" and "East Coast preppy school boys".
But some CHIJ alumni who saw the poster online said they did not expect a "fun" event to have such a "tasteless" poster.
Tasteless
One of them, 23-year-old marketing executive K. Tan, said: "Some might say the poster was done in the name of fun. But to me, it's not right to use the school badge in this tasteless way."
PR consultant Shereen Anderson, 30, agreed: "The school badge is very important, even to alumni members, as it has historical connections and religious significance."
Some parents of CHIJ students were similarly upset.
Said architect L. Lam, 38, whose three daughters are in CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' Primary School: "It's rude and gives the impression that all convent girls have loose morals.
"I'm sure there are bad eggs in IJ schools, but there should not be such generalisations."
Ms Lim said the CHIJ school crest is the property of its management board.
"It can be used only with the written permission of the CHIJ School Board of Management," she said, adding that the board takes "a serious view" of the inappropriate and unauthorised use of the crest.
"It should not be used in a frivolous manner nor in connection with inappropriate or demeaning circumstances."
When contacted, the club said it does not "comment on the actions of their guests when they are in Filter or what takes place in Filter".
Yesterday, my paper reported that another school logo - that of the ACS schools - was used in another poster at its club's event on Saturday.
The slogan around this logo read: "In need of a sugar daddy: Where my AC boys at?"
When contacted, the club was reported in that article as saying that the poster was used to promote a reunion party for former ACS students.
That poster drew mixed reactions.
While some ACS alumni dismissed the matter, others objected to the suggestion that the school's students were "sugar daddies", as the slogan suggested.
"That's a pretty insulting comment to make," said former student B. Koh, 27.
The New Paper contacted Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) yesterday for comment.
Its spokesman said: "The ACS logo belongs to the ACS Old Boys' Association and the Board of Governors. Any party wishing to use it should seek their permission."
Both he and Ms Lim said their permission was not sought with regard to usage of their school badges.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
