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On the 3rd of June 2007, Republic Polytechnic’s Indian
Cultural Group embarked on a special partnership with Ramakrishna Mission Boys’
Home to organize an exciting and fun-filled carnival. This carnival was
organised with the aim of raising funds for the home while at the same time
promoting entrepreneurship and cultivating lots of fun! Raising student
awareness on the importance of volunteerism and community development was also
one of the aims of the event.
Carnivals often offer food, exhibits, games and fun! This carnival
was no exception - there was plenty of good food on sale, as well as amusing games and thrilling shows
to keep the crowds entertained despite the hot weather.
A team of us were allocated with different responsibilities.
We took on roles such as vendors or managers in a wide range of games. The sole purpose of this
was to allow us to experience being an entrepreneur for a day and to show our
keen commitment towards volunteerism.
Setting up the booth was very fun. Each of us attempted to
decorate our stall as attractively as possible in a bid to compete for patronage
by the crowds. Our enthusiasm grew rapidly when long queues of customers formed
at our stalls. We had to utilise every ounce of customer service skills we had
in order to attract as many of them as possible!
A veritable smorgasbord of food was on offer including sweets, funnel cakes, brownies, ice cream, curry puffs,
french fries as well as the ever popular popcorn.
There was a long queue for participants wanting to try their
hand at the Dunking Tank. It was a chance for the kids to see their idols dunked into a large cold tank of water.
We students also capitalised on the opportunity to dunk our facilitators which we
did after submitting $100 worth of coupons.
This carnival was definitely well attended by the public with many coming from secondary schools, kindergartens
as well as the general public. Many of them were impressed by the way our students
effectively organized and managed the stalls as it showcased our entrepreneurial
spirit. This reflects well on Republic Polytechnic students as we hope to be
known as energetic students who work and play hard!
We were very happy when facilitators in charge of the Indian
Cultural Group received an invitation from yet another external organization to
help coordinate and run their upcoming carnival. We took this as recognition of
our previous success and our expertise in event management, and promised
ourselves that we would renew our efforts in such work.
For the carnival to turn out well, we relied on teamwork which really bonded us.
The interaction with the boys from the Home also helped us understand that we
should be content with what we have in our lives. It was an enriching experience
that all of us thoroughly appreciated. The most significant thing we learnt from the whole day's events was to work as a team.
We hope to organise more fun-filled activities in the near future and make RP proud along the way!
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