Students get a glimpse of triple-sharing hall rooms - Nanyang ...

08newsMARCH 10, 2008The nanyang chronicleSinging their way to the festival of songsShereen Na a z Ch a r l e s Sya r i f fTHE NTU Cultural Activities ClubChoir has won several medalsinternationally, but their bid forCzech glory has been threatenedby a lack of funds this year.A shor t a ge of f u nd s i sendangering the choir’s hopes oftaking part in the Festival of SongsOlympics 2008 International ChoirFestival, held there from June 4thto 8th this year.“It’s not confirmed yet as weare still raising funds. We are stillshort of money,” said chairpersonof the choir, Ariel Yeong, 22.Yeong said the current cost ofthe trip per person is $2,500, asteep figure that they are tryingto reduce.But some success was foundthrough their annual concert, VivaVoce: Cantemus 2008, held at theVictoria Concert Hall on Febuary29th.The annual concert, which alsoserves as a form of practice for thecompetition, was sold out a weekbefore their actual performance.The choir wowed the audiencewith their two-part concert: amedley of international songsand gospel tunes, followed by a“semi-original” dance productionwith tunes from popular musical“Grease” and music legendsABBA.Despite their hectic practiceschedule, the choir has beensearching for opportunities to gainexposure through performances;Glider challenge takesoff despite turbulenceEd m u n d Lee Wei Ji a nTHE INAUGURAL glidermakingcompetition seemeddestined for a crash when itwas slated for a Decemberlaunch last year but garneredpoor signup rates.The competition, organisedby the student sectionof A mer ica n Societ y ofMechanical Engineers (ASME-NTU) here, was postponed toFebruary 16th because thejunior college students theyhoped to invite were busywith their A-level examinationpreparations.Fortunately for theorganisers, the delayed launchsaw a healthy turnout of 75junior college students, whowere targeted to get theminterested in Mechanical andAerospace Engineering.“It was so disheartening atthat time that we hoped for justseven teams (of three each) tojoin,” said Guay Wei Qin, 23,co-chairman of the event’splanning committee. “If itdid not take off in February,the event would have beenconsidered a failure.”MONEY, MONEY, MONEY: If the Choir cannot raise the funds it needs, it’s “Goodbye, my love,” to the International Choir Festival in Czech. PHOTO | AHMAD ISKANDARthis is important for their newmembers to gain experience.The singers have been sourcingfor sponsors to pay for their trip,as well as finding ways to fundParticipants had to build amodel aircraft using materialslike Balsa wood, weights, andsandpaper. After being taughthow to build their own gliders inthe morning of the one-day event,they were given a few hours tobuild one from scratch in theirrespective teams.This year, a Pioneer JuniorCollege team named “Pzhou”netted first place, followed by“Weapon T” from Meridian JuniorCollege and “Crimson Dawn” fromAnglo-Chinese Junior College.Unaware of the problems thathad threatened the takeoff of theglider challenge, most participantslike Lee Jun Xiang, 18, a secondyearstudent-participant fromPioneer Junior College, enjoyedthemselves at the event.“It was a very fruitfulexperience,” he said. “I will belooking forward to the next MechChallenge and recommend it tomy friends.”Buoyed by its success, ASME-N T U hopes to host anot herChallenge next year.“I wish that the event will oneday it will become a well knownand established name among alltertiary institutions,” said Guay.it themselves. They have beencanvassing for money whileperforming at events such asChristmas caroling sessions.The choir is also no strangerSalsa en Sync takesdancing to the streetsBeatrice Mo kWHILE it was an ordinary dayfor most, February 28th will beremembered for a small milestoneachieved in Singapore’s dancehistory.Bailamos en la Calle, Spanishfor “We dance in the street”, wasthe first ever inter-tertiary Latindance event held in Singapore. Ittook place at DXO, a club at theEsplanade.NTU’s latin dance performanceteam Salsa en Sync took part in thedance event, which was organised bySingapore Management University(SMU) Latin dance club CaderasLatinas. Performance teams fromother tertiary institutions, such asNational University of Singapore’s(NUS) Salsa and Ballroom cluband Republic Polytechnic’s GrooveRepublic, were also invited as guestparticipants.The night kicked off with a Latindance workshop “Salsa Shines”,followed by social dancing andperformances from the schools.Dressed in grungy, old-schooloutfits following a “1930s StreetLatin” theme, NTU’s Salsa en Syncto the international choir scene.Set up over ten years ago, theyhave been winning awards since1999, and more recently, two golddiplomas and two silver medalswowed the nearly 200-strongcrowd with their sexy dancemoves and smooth stunts.The performance was notan easy feat. Having to juggleschoolwork with four hours oftraining thrice a week, the NTUdancers felt they have growncloser as a team.Sofia Lim, 20, a Salsa en Syncmember, described the timeconsumingpreparations theymade for the performance.“We put in many hours forchoreographing and training andtrained extremely intensively,”she said.Their efforts seemed to have“Their costumeswere stunningand the dancerslooked like theywere enjoyingthemselves.”Christine Liew, 19NUS undergraduatein the recent World Choir Games2006 in China.Despite their best efforts,however, the nagging worry ofinsufficient funds persists.paid off, judging from positivefeedback from the audience.“Their costumes were stunningand the dancers looked like theywere totally enjoying themselves,”said Christine Liew, 19, a NUSfirst-year undergraduate.Nonetheless, many on thesidelines were bold enough to tryout Latin dance moves themselves,evident when numerous beginnersstepped up when the dance floorwas opened for the social dance.“It was inspiring because ofthe high quality of the dancesperformed, and it was goodexposure and an opportunity topick up basic skills,” said Ang ShiYan, 19, a first-year undergraduatefrom SMU.T he enthusiasm in Latindance was not restricted to theperformances at DXO. Salsa en Synchas been facing overwhelmingdemand for their regular salsaclasses.With two very successful salsacamps conducted in the past twoyears, the club may be conductingweekly salsa workshops in NTU,with guest instructors, games,salsa clubbing, and fortnightlysocial nights as well.