School Uniform...The Straits Times how disappointing to know that students these days don't appreciate their school uniform. i stand firm in my beliefs that SLOPPY attire is NOT cool. >< i miss uniform. for the simple fact that it looked nice and smart and days were so much simpler with them. no need to fuss over what to wear everyday....no need to find what's in the laundry and what's not. all i needed was to grab my trusty uniform and go. true i was highly restricted in that silly prefect's uniform due to TONS of school rules. but that beats having none. sigh children nowadays.... read up Uniform REBELS It's breaking the rules, but looking cool means letting the uniform hang out By Serene Luo ONCE school lets out, students heading for the malls to hang out literally let their uniforms hang out. Bags hung low and shirts hanging loose. Neatly tucked-in blouses and shirts are a rare sight. In fact, it's 'uncool' to be immaculate and preppy, said a 16-year-old Secondary Four student who wanted to be known only as Chiraj. 'You look nerdy if you have your shirt tucked in all the way,' he said. 'We're coming to Orchard Road. Tucking out your shirt is the only way you can look more hip in your school uniform.' Besides the usual hanging out of shirts, some students wear multiple earrings, streaks in their hair, ankle socks, shortened skirts for the girls and baggy pants for the boys. They buy uniforms a size larger, alter their skirts to make them shorter, or wear their pants or skirts with the waistband at the hip, like the low-waisted jeans popular nowadays. All for the sake of jazzing up their uniforms. Usually, girls can only wear one pair of matching earrings, knee-length skirts, and students should neatly tuck their shirts in or leave out, depending on the rules. Dyed hair is usually not allowed in secondary schools and junior colleges. Shine Tao, 17, a first-year junior college student, described how some students put sticks into their ear holes to enlarge them, so that they can wear 'expansion' earrings. Fifteen out of 17 students interviewed said they did not like their school uniforms. They said their uniforms were 'too restrictive', the colours too drab or the material too stiff. Secondary Two student P.Y. Tan, 14, said she preferred belting her pinafore at the hip, where it would be looser, compared to at the waist, and would undo the top button of her blouse after school. 'Sometimes the weather is very hot, and the collar is just too tight,' she said. 'It's very uncomfortable.' These students know it's wrong but still break the rules. If they get caught during spot checks by the discipline master, they 'act innocent and say we'll take out the earrings or dye back their hair', said first-year junior college student Greg Ho, 17. 'But the next day, hide.' Schools often explain the strict uniform rules to their students. According to Secondary Three student Jeraldine Ang, 15, her school's principal won't allow sports shoes because 'students might start comparing brands and sports shoes don't suit the uniform look'. Mr Sin Kim Ho, 37, the principal of Greenview Secondary School, said the way a student wore his uniform would affect the perceptions of others. 'But when they're among themselves, with their own friends, they tend to forget about how others look at them,' he said. A secondary school teacher handling discipline, who wished to be known only as Mr Sun, said that when students were younger, they 'tend to be more conformist, but as they get older, they want to fly the independent flag'. He said: 'I do empathise with them, being young and wanting to be trendy, but the uniform is the wrong platform to show it.' Both Mr Sin and Mr Sun said uniform infringements were not a major problem in their schools. Said Mr Sun: 'The very fact is the students are in an organisation, it's called a uniform, so it's supposed to look uniform, not with all the extra accessories.'