BY DANISH UZAIR
CN Yang Scholars study very hard. But, did you know that they can play very hard too? Just ask them to sign up for a fun event!
The annual CN Yang Scholar’s Club Dinner & Dance (DnD) was the first large-scale social event of the academic year. DnD 2022 was held on the Thursday of recess week to enable scholars to destress from their various commitments in a night full of fun and excitement. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the event was held online via Zoom. Nonetheless, the scholars had a ton of fun.
The evening started with the collection of the dinner bento. Usually, DnD would be held at fancy ballrooms where the food served would be really atas. This time around, scholars flocked to the CresPion Seminar Rooms to collect their Premium 4-Course Bento Box by Rasel Catering. What was so appealing was the self-heating main course which made the food way better.
After collection, the magical night began. The event started with an insightful pre-recorded opening address by the Director of CNYSP Prof Fan Hongjin. He gave words of encouragement to spur scholars on to achieve greater heights during their time in NTU. Then, the trailer for the event was played, introducing the theme of the event, ‘Carpe Noctem’, which means “Seize the Night”. ‘Carpe Noctem’ told the story of a time traveller who was trapped in unfamiliar eras and had only a single night to fix his time machine. After the conclusion of the trailer, the emcees, Leong Zi Wei and Chew Jin Hong, introduced themselves and got the ball rolling.
Check out the trailer here:
The next segment was the CN Yang Got Talent 2022 Segment 1. CN Yang Got Talent 2022 is a talent competition the Dinner & Dance 2022 Organising Committee organized to encourage scholars to showcase their talents. The first performance was a dance piece by Megan Lim. She danced to “Sanctuary” by Joji. Describing her performance, Megan said, “A sanctuary is a place or person which makes one feel safe, but our lives are temporary, so hold tight to your sanctuary.”
After her mesmerizing performance, scholars were treated to “Nothing Changes” performed by Floretta Setia Pradana. Her harmony melted the hearts of scholars.
Next came the first game, Codenames. Scholars had to work together in their pre-assigned teams to choose the correct words from a given set of words. Scholars really had fun, both by figuring out the words they had to choose and by trying to confuse the other team.
After playing Codenames, scholars were treated to Segment 2 of CN Yang Got Talent 2022. Before the event, scholars took part in a popularity vote to determine the winner of the Song (Group) Category. First up was a performance by the second runners-up, “We only sing sad songs”, comprising of Leong Zi Wei and Leoh Khai Ken, of “Little do you know” by Alex & Sierra (check out their performance here). The runners-up, Ballad Boys comprising Junius Pun and Ryan Tan, then serenaded the audience with the song “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele (check out their performance here). Lastly, the winners, the eightysixchoco, consisting of Siow Jing Xuan and Reuben Foo, made us feel valued by singing 你最珍贵 (You’re the Most Precious) by Zhang Xue You and Gao Hui Jun (check out their performance here).
After a short break, scholars were split into different breakout rooms to play the next game, Skribbl.io. Although it seemed like a simple game, the game was intensified by pitting scholars from different teams against each other in the different Skribbl.io rooms. With points seemingly hard to get, scholars did their best to describe drawings or sketches based on given words.
After an exhilarating round of Skribbl.io, scholars were treated to a whimsical TikTok performance by the emcees. After experiencing some laughter, scholars then played the final game of the night, Dialogue Improv. Back in their teams, scholars had to come up with a conversation that had to include a few words given. The night was then filled with conversations and laughter.
At the end of the game, the lucky draw commenced. As the draw ensued, the zoom meeting was filled with noises of joy, agony, despair and anticipation. In the end, lucky scholars won prizes such as Starbucks GiftCards and Foldable Tables. The top prize was a Lumos Ray Home Projector, won by Koh Shao Ming.
The winning team, the team with the greatest number of points from the games, was revealed. That was Repair Team A, consisting of Year 3 scholars that included Zann Teo and Wong Zhen Xuan, the former president and vice-president of the 13th Management Committee. With many Year 3s winning prizes, it was a really enjoyable experience for them, especially when they could not enjoy their first DnD due to the onset of the pandemic back in early 2020.
To end the night, the chairperson of the organizing committee, Danish Uzair, and the vice-chairperson, Ryan Poon, gave heartwarming farewell speeches, thanking participants for their attendance and committee members and emcees for their hard work.
CNYSP Dinner & Dance 2022 was a fun event for scholars to celebrate their friendships and the fruits of their labour. By letting loose and immersing themselves in the myriad of games the event had to offer, they truly Seize(d) the Night.
