Orientation 2015
Orientation 2015
Warwick Singsoc's pre-departure orientation is organised annually to integrate freshers into the society and serve as a platform for freshers to get to know each other and their seniors before heading off to the UK. This year, orientation was held over the weekend of 1st and 2nd August, with over 30 new faces and many seniors helping out as OGLs and volunteers. Despite the early morning rain threatening to thwart the day's plans, everybody remained optimistic and cheery, with our OGLs engaging their freshers with ice breakers while waiting for the skies to clear up.
Split into four groups (red, yellow, green and blue), the freshers headed over to Pasir Ris Park where Orientation 2015 officially began! Our Singsoc president (Tan Yu Jun) first gave an opening address to the freshers, introducing all the seniors as well as the various singsoc events for the rest of the year. Each group, led by their respective OGLs, were involved in a variety of team-building games, such as captain's ball (with a twist of course), grab the sock, piggyback, and the highly anticipated finale - Capture the Flag! After a long and tiring day under the sun, the Blue and Yellow OGs emerged as the top 2 OGs! After which, everybody headed over to Aloha Loyang to wash up and get some well-deserved rest. At the end of the day, led by our Cultural Officer (Brillia Soh), we staged our very own selection of Mr and Ms Warwick for the upcoming and highly anticipated UK Bound!
Day 2 commenced after lunch, where the various OGs were led across Sentosa Island to participate in a variety of station games. Our freshers were greeted with a few station games that challenged them to get down and dirty, such as smashing watermelons, filling up a one-litre bottle with nothing but their body parts, and eating extremely spicy Korean ramen! Day 2 ended with the Capture the Flag finale, where freshers had to dig through sand to locate the flags that they had designed on the first day. Our winning OG was once again the Blue OG, but good job and well done to everybody else who had participated in our station games so enthusiastically!
Orientation 2015 came to a close at Palawan Beach after our final game, just as the skies started to turn grey and pour (what luck!). Thankfully, we managed to capture a few photos of all the incoming freshers as well as the respective OGs (do check out our Facebook page for more photos of orientation). While Orientation 2015 may have been on a much smaller scale compared to the local universities, we hope that it has nonetheless helped to forge lasting bonds between the freshers and seniors alike for the rest of their Warwick journey ahead.
Kudos to everyone who has helped out in one way or another and a special shout out goes out to our events officer (Jolyn Chew) for her meticulous planning and dedication in the weeks leading up to orientation. Last but not least, we would once again like to thank our sponsor, Overseas Singapore Unit, with which this event would not have been possible!
Presenting to you, our new freshers!
Warwick Summer Games 2015
Since its inauguration in 2009, the Warwick Summer Games has been held annually for Singaporeans studying in the UK to gather for a day of sporting fun in Singapore. This year, the 7th edition of the games was held in River Valley High School and comprised of seven sports (Basketball, Dodgeball, Floorball, Frisbee, Netball, Soccer, and Touch Rugby) and two games (Bridge and Monopoly Deal). Continuing from previous years, proceeds from WSG were donated to our adopted beneficiary – the Children’s Aid Society. This year, we hit a new record of having 866 participants from 23 different schools!
We were very honoured to have Mr Yip Ren Kai, Chairperson of the Singapore National Olympic Council’s Athletes’ Commission and Council member of the National Youth Council as this year's Guest of Honour. He shared on the importance of giving back to the society, emphasised the spirit of sportsmanship, and most importantly encouraged friendly competition and good fun for all.
Despite a heavy downpour earlier in the day, the spirit of all participants was not dampened. Teams competed fiercely during every game, trying to win the honour and bragging rights of calling themselves champions of WSG 2015. Thanks to our various sponsors, all participants were kept hydrated and energized, which kept their spirits high throughout the day.
After a long day filled with many exciting matches, Team UCL were crowned champions of WSG 2015! With this win, UCL has won the championship title for 3 years running! Congratulations to UCL!
Basketball:
1st – LSE
2nd – Warwick Alumni
3rd – Warwick
Dodgeball:
1st – Singapore Medical Society Ireland
2nd – LSE
3rd – UCL
Floorball:
1st – LSE
2nd – UCL
3rd – Gabriel (Independent Team)
Frisbee:
1st – KCL
2nd – Warwick
3rd – LSE
Netball:
1st – Manchester
2nd – Birmingham
3rd - UCL
Soccer:
1st – UCL 1
2nd – UCL 2
3rd – Liverpool
Touch Rugby:
1st – City University
2nd Singapore Medical Society Ireland
3rd - UCL
Bridge:
1st – Manchester
2nd – Warwick
3rd – Warwick
Monopoly deal
1st – KCL
2nd – Newcastle
Christmas Dinner 2015
This year, Warwick Singapore Society opted for a rustic theme, holding our annual Christmas Dinner at the Clarendon Arms in Kenilworth. The night was filled with much laughter, joy and festivity - a brief but much-needed respite before tests and assignment deadlines caught up with us in the final week of term one. Entering the cosy gastropub, guests were met with a beautifully decorated dining area, complete with hand-written place cards, Christmas crackers, candy cane centrepieces, and organza gift bags filled with sweet treats.
As everyone feasted on the various sumptuous courses, they were entertained by emcees (and newly-elected freshers reps) Verdi and Melvin, who engaged the audience with games such as Pass the Christmas Parcel and Guess The Christmas Song. Two unlucky participants even had to feed each other custard while blindfolded as a forfeit! Everyone who was added to Santa’s ‘Nice’ List also participated in a gift exchange, with presents delivered personally by our very own Santa Claus (Melvin).
After which, we hosted our Best Dressed Competition, where Carolyn Kwok was unanimously the clear winner, dressed glamorously as a Christmas gift box! We also had our annual lucky draw, with attractive prizes including an Amazon Fire, a donut machine and an action video camera.
We rounded up the night with our finale event: the Warwick Singsoc tradition Boat Race! Three teams comprising of 5 participants from each year guzzled one beer bottle each. Each team put up a strong fight, with the year 3s inching ahead by seconds to win the title.
We were very pleased by the turn out for this year’s Christmas dinner, and are disappointed that we had to turn a few people away due to space constraints. This year’s Christmas Dinner would not have been possible without the planning and efforts of the Christmas Dinner Committee, to whom we are extremely grateful for all their hard work: Angeline, Melvin, Nicole Cheung, Nicole Law, Nicole Lim, Rachael, Valerie, and Verdi!
Chinese New Year Dinner 2016
Warwick Singapore Society co-hosted this year's Chinese New Year Dinner together with Birmingham Singapore Society (for the fourth year running!) at China Court, Birmingham. The dinner saw nearly 200 people gathered together to celebrate the festive season together with fellow Singaporeans and even some international friends! We all tucked into a sumptuous 8-course dinner, which included traditional delights such as yu sheng, roasted duck, and pork belly with preserved vegetables.
The night saw our very own emcee, Verdi Choo, and Jay Liow from Birmingham host a series of games such as writing the Chinese character for 'monkey' blindfolded, as well as an inter-university best-dressed competition that featured a mini runway show! After dinner, we were greeted with a spirited lion-dance performance that kept everybody entertained and glued to their seats! The night ended with the highly anticipated lucky draw that saw several lucky winners walk away with gifts ranging from a bottle of wine to a blender, and even vouchers for Ryanair flights!
Warwick Singapore Society hopes that everyone enjoyed their time during this year's Chinese New Year Dinner, and we wish everybody a very prosperous Lunar New Year! Hope to see you again next year!
Production 2016
Synopsis: Army Daze is a quintessentially Singaporean production. It was first performed at Singapore's Drama Centre in 1987. The stage adaptation is based on local playwright Michael Chiang's book of the same title. The play portrays a group of 18-year-old Singaporean teenagers from different classes and cultural backgrounds as they perform their National Service and their experience within the Singapore Armed Forces. As our five main recruits go through the mandatory Basic Military Training, they forge unexpected friendships with each other, and journey together to become true men of the Singapore Armed Forces!
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Warwick Singapore Society is back with her most anticipated event of the year, this time performing to a nearly sold-out venue of 400 people at the Warwick Arts Centre Theatre. This year, we chose to do a restaging of Army Daze by Michael Chiang (first performed by our talented seniors back in 2011) as we felt that it would resonate very strongly with any Singaporean and would be interesting to our non-Singaporean peers. Directed by Crystal Chik, Clarissa Soon and Edward Eng, and produced by Brillia Soh, this play gave a deeper insight into the compulsory conscription in Singapore, shedding light onto the nine weeks of physically intensive conditioning and training (i.e. BMT) for most boys who have become used to the cosmopolitan lifestyle of modern Singapore.
Special thanks go out to all our cast and crew members - our props team, media and marketing team, lights and sounds, make-up and costumes - whose time and effort contributed extensively to the success of this production! We would also like to especially thank Frederick Chen for helping us with the photography for the night!
