 Sound and
fury signifying the official launch of @Loud, the
first-ever Republic Polytechnic student quarterly,
reverberated throughout the campus and shook its
foundations on Friday, January 9, 2004.
The much-anticipated event, which took weeks to
conceptualise and plan, was off to an electrifying
start. Gathering at The Plaza at the witching hour
of 12 noon, Wicked Aura, Singapore’s numero
uno samba percussion band, proceeded to drum up
the excitement and keep the adrenaline pumping
with a foot-tapping repertoire of hypnotic Afro-Brazilian
rhythms and pulsating fusion of hip-hop and funk
that literally “assault the senses”.
The fast-expanding crowd was eating out of the
hands of the highly kinetic performers as they
grooved, jived and got jiggy with them. Watching
them work up a good sweat alone was enough to send
temperatures soaring. Definitely not for the faint-hearted.
The climax of the event, as the organizers would
like to believe, was the unveiling of the  launch
issue of @Loud (A Load of Utter Delirium). The
32-page, A4-sized magazine featuring a provocative
cover and bold typeface was an instant hit with
the students and staff who formed long queues snaking
around The Plaza area. It was a satisfying fruition
of months of sheer hard work by the editorial team
of the quarterly magazine. Still wet behind the
ears, these amateurs, comprised of a motley crew
of students from across the different schools,
proved the old truism that necessity is the mother
of invention.
 The inaugural magazine was intended to be a showcase
of the fertile imagination and prolific literary
and artistic talents out there in RP. Afterall,
@Loud is envisioned to be the voice of the student
population. To underscore this, write.republic
rewarded all those early birds who came to collect
their copy of @Loud with sweet treats. It had solicited
the sponsorship of its generous partners, movie
distributors, 20th Century Fox and United International
Pictures, who reached deep into their coffers and
supplied a mind-boggling range of giveaways including
freestyle radio sets, T-shirts, card-games, stationery
sets, stress-balls, posters and movie tickets.
The modus operandi was simple. Pick up a copy of
the magazine, browse through it and then take part
in the lucky dip by answering a simple question
related to the magazine’s content or the
movies on promotion. The tempting giveaways attracted
hordes of crowds who wasted no time in scanning
copies of @Loud there and then in an attempt to
have a go at the contest. The prizes ran out by
close to 2pm but the buzz in the air was still
palpable.
By then, Wicked Aura had whipped the crowds into
a frenzy but it was time to draw the event to a
close. The Deputy Director of the Office of Corporate
Communications and Centre for Culture & Communication,
Hamida Zam Zam, presented Aidan Bamra, representative
of the percussion ensemble, with a token of appreciation.
All’s well that ends well.
It was an “auspicious” start for this
pioneer magazine and the trailblazers who made
it possible. Here’s to more good years and
issues to come!
|
