|
The Republic Polytechnic
Dragon and Lion Dance troupe were kept busy with 2 community events celebrating
the Chinese Traditional Mid-Autumn Festival. While immersing in this festive
season, we also remembered the less fortunate and our duty to give
back to the society.
Woodlands CCC Lantern Festival
Celebration
On 16th
September, a wet Sunday evening, the Republic Dragon & Lion Cultural Troupe
arrived in two prominently decorated floats – together with our advisor James
Chow, we started on the decorative work as early as 12 noon. After 6 hours
of hard work, we were ready to for the occasion. With the beating of drums and
clashing of cymbals, we set off in two brightly lit floats decorated with
flowers and lanterns, full of festive spirits in spite of the rainfall.
The celebration was held at the hard court area of Block 891 Woodlands and the programme included
various performing IGs under Create. While waiting for the arrival of the Guest-of-Honour,
the troupe started off by performing stunts with two Big Flags. The poles of the
flags were 9m long. This performance required alot of manpower and team effort as
overcoming the wind direction was the key factor in keeping the Big Flags
soaring high and magnificently.
Reserving the best for
last, the final piece was performed by our very own Dragon Dance troupe, titled
“The Luminously Glowing Dragon”. Our members had been training very hard to make
this performance a glorious success. The performance was a challenge for us
because we had to perform the dance with only ultra-violet lights amidst the
darkness of the night. This created the illusion of a majestic dragon
dancing in the sky as all the performers were dressed in black. Needless to
say, this performance required a high level of skill, teamwork and precise
coordination. Our efforts did not go to waste - we received thunderous applause from the Guest-of-Honour and the residents of Woodlands
who were present.
The event
organizer, Miss Corrine Chua, Woodlands CCC, EXCO, said,
“Many thanks to the RP team of Dragon Dance performing students......all their
sweat paid off because we think they performed like professionals. Do extend our
appreciation to them for their impressive performance!”
To end a night of fun and enjoyment, our
troupe led the children and families for a stroll around the neighborhood for
the lantern procession. Everyone had big smiles on their faces as they happily walked and carried brightly lit lanterns in their hands.
It
takes seventeen muscles to smile and forty-three to frown.
MINDSville @ Yio Chu Kang Road
Lantern Festival Celebration
On 21st September,
MINDSville @ Yio Chu Kang Road invited the Republic Dragon & Lion Cultural
Troupe to perform at their Mid-Autumn Festival celebration. MINDSville
(Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore) is a dedicated home
that caters to the physical, social and emotional needs of their residents,
supporting them in developing their potential and their reintegration with
their families and the community. MINDS takes care of needy intellectually
disabled people without family support and helps them to live as independent a life as
possible. MINDS also provides respite during crisis situations and at the
same time, raises community awareness and acceptance of the intellectually
disabled.
The celebration was
organized by NEC Semiconductors, a specialized electronics corporation that
adopted MINDSville @ Yio Chu Kang Road in early 2007. The Republic Dragon & Lion
Cultural Troupe gave a short performance before leading the residents and
volunteers for a ‘lantern lit walk’ around the nearby park.
This event would not have been
successful without the help of our senior member, Adrian Lau (SEG). There were
many wonderful and memorable experiences from the trip down to MINDSville @ Yio
Chu Kang Road. We truly enjoyed our lantern festival celebrations
this year with our very special participants. Last but not least, our troupe gained an extremely valuable and noteworthy
lesson by helping the less fortunate and bringing them laughter and joy.
Give a
hand and pass it on; pass your love to the needy ones
and enrich their life as well as
yours.
A smile costs nothing but gives much.
It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give.
It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.
None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it
and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it.
Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen,
for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away.
Some people are too tired to give you a smile.
Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile as much as he who has no more to
give.
| 
