MiWired is an online magazine that will feature the works of Millennians.

It is set up to expose students of Millennia Institute to new media technology giving them the opportunity to enhance their creativity and showcasing their talents online. We welcome contributions from Millennians in the form of text articles, audio files, video files and animations.

If there are other ways that you can express yourself online, we will accommodate you with the space that we have. We also welcome advertisements of events or your own business ventures.

In this first edition, we will be celebrating our National Day and we will feature works by our NE councilors. There are also articles about the recently held MIMart at Plaza Singapura on 3 rd August 2008 .

We are currently looking forward to contributions from the entire school on the theme of ‘Teachers'. Put on your thinking caps and come up with the most creative ways to express online your gratitude to your Teachers this Teachers' Day. We will feature original songs, original videos, original animations… anything original that we can put into our space that come from the creative minds of Millennians.

You can send in your entries to the following email address, miwired@ymail.com or contact Mr Imran at extension 744 (use that telephone outside the staff room). Your submissions should include your name and class.

So hurry and wait no further.

Get connected. Express yourself.

Mr Imran,

MiWired

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NDP, since 1965

Singapore celebrated its first National Day in 1966, one year after Singapore 's independence from Malaysia on August 9th 1965. But how much do we actually know about Singapore 's first ever national day?

The first National Day Parade commenced in the morning of August 9 th 1966 at 0900. People came as early as 0700 in order to get good vantage points. Singapore 's first President, Mr Yusof bin Ishak and Singapore 's first Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, were seated with members of the government at the grandstand on the steps of City Hall. Those were uncertain times but it was commented that during that first ever national day, Singaporeans, for the first time in a long while, came together as one and showed themselves willing to struggle on for Singapore's survival.

Over the years, the Parade has become the biggest national event in Singapore . What is perhaps most memorable at each celebration is the fireworks display marking the climax of the parade; the sky would be bursting with the wonderful colors of the visual vista, dazzling it as well as the hearts of fellow Singaporeans. On this very special occasion, most Singaporeans would be decked out in patriotic colours - namely, red and white.

The Parade has gained enormous popularity and support from the people that it is not unusual to find massive number of citizens trying to get their hands on the tickets, which are released free-of-charge. In the past, it has been known that people would arrive hours before the ticket booths even opened, such as the one in 1998, when some arrived as early as 36 hours before the actual release of tickets.

-Dinesh Nair (07A6) and Tong Xun Jie (07S2)

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National Day Celebration in MI

For this year's National Day Celebrations in Millennia Institute, the National Education Council sought to maintain tradition while injecting a novel element to commemorate our nation's 43 rd birthday.

As according to custom, we started off with a marching parade, consisting of our very own Uniform Group members, the Student Council and the Sports Council. Having trained for weeks, they sure did do the school proud by displaying their precise marching and their swift movements. Students and teachers alike were captivated by the sight of an aero modeling helicopter fly-pass with the National Flag, as well as its corresponding performing stunts, a first in MI's history.

The performance segment in the hall did not disappoint as well. To start off the show, our Symphonic Band played two joyous pieces that signaled the start of the second half of our commemoration. This was followed by the Mascot Competition, for the Pre-U Ones, who dressed up as various icons or characters to highlight the characteristics and uniqueness of Singapore . And needless to say, the entries were interesting indeed. Animations were shown too, to reinforce the message that together, all of us play a role in determining Singapore ' future, just like the generations before us have done. The elderly, under the Project Sphere also joined in the fun and presented a dance item.

Next was the game show “Who wants to be a millionaire, MI style”. Modeled after the popular ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire', questions pertaining to Singapore 's history, culture or places of interest were posed to the participants. Through this avenue, it was hoped that the school learnt more about our country. A guest performance held the school in awe next – it was Mr. George Lim and Ms. Hong Xiao Hui singing a National Day song, to which the whole school joined in chorus. They then continued the sing-a-long with more National Day songs. To round up the whole event, a cake-cutting ceremony was held for Singapore , with a surprise invitation to students and teachers born on 8 th August to join in as well.

We wish one and all a very happy National Day! =)

Dinesh Nair (07A6)

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MIMart @ Plaza Singapura

On 2 August 2008 , Millennia Institute organised a flea market at Plaza Singapura involving 300 students and 30 stalls, attracting many of the 70,000 weekend traffic at the shopping mall to visit.

Before the event, 28 entrepreneurial students travelled to Bangkok 's Chatuchak Weekend Market and Suan Lum Night Bazaar with 3 teachers to represent their groups in sourcing for unique goods for sale at MI Mart. The following are what some of the participants think about their merchandising trip to Bangkok :

Alicia/Doreen: More variety, uniqueness, foreign designs that Singapore doesn't carry

Rasyidah: …we need to look for the quality of goods as Singapore is a developed country, the expectations of the local people are much higher.

Jiaman/Liyong: Inconvenience (takes up time and energy), travel costs, taxes on goods, risks of damaged goods, hard to negotiate in foreign language, accomodation

Rachelle: Singapore has strong currency dollar as compared to some other Asian countries. This allows us to maximize profit as we buy goods at a low price and sell them off in Singapore at a high price (this gains our profit)

With their thorough business preparation, the students transformed Plaza Singapura into a vibrant and bustling place with their handmade jewellery and flowers, personalized handphone accessories and electronic goods procured on a consignment basis. Applying their business knowledge acquired in the classroom and training, they brought in total earnings of $12,000 and a portion of which will be donated as financial assistance to their fellow students. The students' marketing techniques, creativity and enterprising spirit greatly impressed Ms Pauline Yeh - General Manager of Plaza Singapura, who is keen to provide further opportunities for the students.

With this invaluable support, we look forward to more MI Marts in the future that will excite the public in various venues around Singapore .

Contributed by Teachers from MI Business Department

• MiWired is an online magazine
• NDP, since 1965
• National Day Celebration in MI
• MIMart @ Plaza Singapura