Orientation 2014
The annual Singsoc Orientation Camp for 2014 was held over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of August, involving around 50 freshers and over a dozen volunteer facilitators and Orientation Group Leaders (OGLs). The Camp was meant to let the freshers meet their batchmates and get to know their seniors prior to setting off for the UK, in order to build bonds of friendship which would make settling into their new homes that much easier once the Autumn term rolled around.
In order to achieve this, freshers were split into four Orientation Groups (Blue, Green, Red and Yellow), each led by volunteer OGLs, which competed against each other in a variety of team-building and generally messy games, including some classics like Captain's Ball (with a twist), Sock Wars and Zombie. Following the first day's final game, a capture-the-flag variant, participants and volunteers alike ended off the exhausting day at Pasir Ris Town Park by retiring to the extremely spacious Fairy Point Chalet to select this year's Mr and Ms Warwick through a mini Pageant hosted by Cultural Officer Dominic Nah.
Orientation Day Two started out comfortably in the mid-morning, as the four OGs found their way to Tanjong Beach on Sentosa for a day of sand, sea and sun. Dodging around the crowd of Sunday beachgoers, our freshers still managed to enjoy a handful of beach games, such as a watermelon eating race, Water Wrestling and the Fashion Disaster improvisation game, between taking breaks from the sun and spectating the many beach volleyball games going on. Finally, all four OGs blazed through a multi-part obstacle course to cap off the second day and orientation as a whole, leaving large grins on many exhausted and sun-burnt faces.
Although not as long as local universities' orientation camps, the Warwick Singsoc Orientation Camp was still a challenge to organise, and would not have been possible without the direction of Events Officer Terence Tang, the time of many volunteer OGLs, games facilitators and logistics team members, and of course the enthusiasm of the freshers who took part. Special mention also goes out to President (Class of 2014) Phuah Kia Liang for coming down during the Pageant to interact with the freshers, President (Class of 2015) Sia Chen Yang and Media Officer (Class of 2015) Kung Ying Xiang who dedicated a lot of time as games facilitators, and all the other seniors who lent a hand.
To all the incoming freshers for 2014-2015, welcome to the Warwick Singsoc Family (:
Warwick Summer Games 2014
The 6th Annual Warwick Summer Games (WSG) was held on the 23rd of August 2014, at Raffles Institution (Year 5 and 6 Campus) and comprised seven sports (Soccer, Touch Rugby, Basketball, Netball, Table Tennis, Floorball and Ultimate Frisbee) and two games (Monopoly Deal and Scrabble). As usual, proceeds from the event were donated to the adopted beneficiary: the Children's Aid Society.
This year, WSG was proud to have Mr Baey Yam Keng, Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC, as our guest of honour. Mr Baey, an alumnus of both Imperial College London and University College London (UCL), kickstarted the day of inter-collegiate competition with a rousing opening address, before interacting with the Sports Officers and Representatives of the various universities. They then participated enthusiastically, along with over 700 other competitors and spectators, in a short filming coordinated by the Overseas Singaporean Unit (OSU) to celebrate Singapore's Golden Jubilee next year.
Ultimately, of course, WSG boiled down to fierce but respectful competition throughout the day, with dozens of exciting matches taking place throughout the campus, as the various Singapore Societies stepped up to defend their titles or claw their way to supremacy, one point at a time. Among the more interesting teams were the "Warwick Old Birds", comprising recent graduates of the University, who came back to show everyone that newer isn't always better, emerging as champions of the frisbee tournament over their junior batches. Similarly, WSG was happy to welcome back the frisbee team from the OSU, whose slightly more mature team members took to the fields with the young and spry undergraduates and gave them a good run for their money.
At the end of the day, everyone enjoyed themselves with plenty of friends and sunshine all around, despite the threat of rain in the late afternoon, and welcomed our freshmen into the community of overseas Singaporean students in the UK. After tallying up the scores, Team UCL were crowned champions of WSG 2014, a title they will have to defend at WSG 2015!
RESULTS
Basketball
1st - Manchester B
2nd - Warwick A
3rd - Team A
Floorball
1st - Imperial B
2nd - Imperial A
3rd - Manchester
Netball
1st - Manchester
2nd - Warwick
3rd - LSE
Frisbee
1st - Warwick Old Birds
2nd - Warwick A
3rd - Warwick B
Touch Rugby
1st - Manchester
2nd - Imperial
3rd - SMSI
Football
1st - UCL
2nd - LSE
3rd - Leeds
Table Tennis (M)
1st - LSE
2nd - LSE
3rd - UCL
Table Tennis (W)
1st - Durham
2nd - UCL
3rd - UCL
Monopoly Deal
1st - UCL 2
2nd - UCL 3
3rd - Imperial 2
Scrabble
1st - UCL 2
2nd - Warwick 1
3rd - UCL 1
OVERALL
1st - UCL
2nd - Manchester
3rd - Warwick
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Christmas Dinner 2014
Held once again at Le Bistrot Pierre in Leamington Spa, 2014's Christmas Dinner was a burst of food, fun and festivity before the start of Week 10 of Term 1, where assignments and tests abound. Entering the cosy restaurant, guests were met with a beautifully set-up dining area, complete with hand-written place cards, Christmas crackers and little bundles of goodies for everyone. As they dug into the French-style Christmas menu, participants were entertained by emcees (and freshly-elected freshers reps) Yu Jun and Su Yun, who got the crowd moving and necks craning with new twists on old games like Pass the Parcel and trivia. Everyone who got put on Santa's 'Nice' list also got to take part in a friendly gift exchange, with presents delivered in person by a buff Santa (Ziyong) and his dashing elves (Celynn and Yan Han). After which, a lucky draw took place, with prizes ranging from Nerf Guns to an action camera, followed by the finale event: the tradition Boat Race. Though they put up a strong fight, the freshers lost by a hair to the team comprising Year 2 and Year 3 seniors, with Rakesh sprinting the last couple of seconds to a photo finish win. Besides drawing in the younger crowd of Singaporean undergrads, we were pleased to welcome a few post-grads and non-Singaporeans to the Christmas Dinner, and hope that this heralds even better integration with our Masters and PhD members as well as our friends from abroad. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the planning and efforts of the wonderful Christmas Dinner committee, to whom we owe a big Thank You: Christina, Yan Han, Ziyong, Peng Ning, Shijie, Celynn and Yu Lian!
Ski Trip 2014
By Mark Lim
From the moment the academic year started, I could not wait for the Singsoc ski trip. On the 6th December 2014, when we finally got to the resort, my expectations were immediately exceeded. The entire resort was much larger, newer and more modern than the resort of the previous year. The next 6 days were spent skiing or snowboarding both in classes as well as amongst ourselves. The nights were equally amazing. Apart from buffet dinners which never let us down, we also played many card games, including the Resistance and Saboteur, as well as explored the nearby town.
The most memorable part of the entire trip was the day where everyone wore their onesies to ski and snowboard. It was quite amazing to watch everyone come together to colour and light up the slopes with our onesies. This ski trip was not all about skiing or snowboarding, it was also an opportunity for many of us to interact with and befriend others in our batch as well as in other batches whom we have not had the chance to properly meet. Having been to the last year's ski trip, I had high hopes for the ski trip this academic year. I can safely say that it did not disappoint. I strongly recommend everyone who wants to try something new to go for the next Singsoc ski trip.
Chinese New Year Dinner 2015
For the third year running, Warwick Singapore Society was proud to co-organise our annual Chinese New Year Dinner with the Birmingham Singapore Society. Held at Chung Ying Garden in Birmingham, over 160 members from both societies enjoyed a delicious eight-course oriental dinner, including the Singaporean favourite yu sheng, hosted by an emcee from Birmingham as well as our very own Angela Tan. Attendants also had lots of fun writing messages on and then posing in photos with, the SG50 banner provided by the Overseas Singaporean Unit as part of the celebration of Singapore's 50th Birthday this year. After dinner, participants took part in an inter-university Best Dressed competition and played Chinese New Year-themed Don't Forget the Lyrics. After everyone was enthralled by a spirited lion dance, several lucky winners received prizes (some of which were kindly sponsored), including shopping vouchers, dining vouchers and bottles of alcohol, through a much-anticipated lucky draw. At the end of the night, all members and guests topped off their enjoyable experience with a take-home gift of a herbal drink and home-style cooking pastes generously sponsored by Yeos.
Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous new year ahead!
Production 2015
Synopsis: Those Who Can't, Teach zooms in on the mapcap lives of teachers and students in Marine Parade Secondary School, a typical secondary school in Singapore. As the teachers struggle to nurture their charges, the students prefer to hang out and get by. Written by the acclaimed playwright Haresh Sharma, this play throws up questions on the roles of parents, students and teachers in a powerful portrayal of the pressures and challenges facing teachers (and students) in schools in 21st century Singapore.
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Warwick Singapore Society is back with her highly anticipated theatre production, this time performing to a near-400 strong crowd at the Warwick Arts Centre Theatre. Directed by Dominic Nah, Werty Heng and Fiona Tay, this play was a snapshot into Singapore's education system of Singapore through the lives of several teachers and how one teacher tries to inspire her disinterested charges to become better individuals. The mirth and warmth of the performance were well received by our Distinguished Guests-of-Honour Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Lawrence Young and Assistant Director: Head of Study Abroad (International Office), Ms Helen Johnson.
The production also took this special opportunity to incorporate into the performance a banner to commemorate the coincidentally joint 50th anniversary of both the Republic of Singapore and the University of Warwick!
