8 Apr, 2022 | Events
BY KOK XIN RU & POON CHIEN EE, RYAN
Oh no… It’s that time of the year AGAIN?? 🙁
But guess what, that means we’re back too, and with MORE exciting stuff awaiting our scholars! 7 April 2022 definitely screamed “welfare day”, because the Business Management and Social & Welfare Portfolios joined forces to spoil our scholars with amazing exam welfare!
With bento, bubble tea and dessert provided by SnW,
and the huge welfare pack from BizMag,
who’s going to say no to it!
#notsponsoredbyikea
Held at the CresPion Seminar Rooms, it provided great ease and convenience to our scholars as they could enjoy their dinner in the comfort of their rooms (and with their friends too)!
We hope that our scholars enjoyed the welfare just as much as we did preparing for it, and once again, all the best for your final exams! You got this!
30 Mar, 2022 | Events, Feature
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.
20 Mar, 2022 | Events
BY GOH KAIXUAN
Yarn over, hook, pull through, yarn over, hook, pull through.
As the second part of our post-mid-terms Brown Bag Sessions, we had Leong Zi Wei sharing about crocheting! Having been a self-taught crochet expert for the past year and making ornaments and items for her friends and family alike, Zi Wei thought that spreading her love for crocheting could help to find a new hobby in others.
To introduce everyone to the basics of crocheting, Zi Wei first explained the materials used which included the crochet hooks and the yarn. She proceeded to demonstrate basic crocheting steps such as forming slip knots, yarn overs and chaining.
Zi Wei spared no effort in her demonstrations, showing the avid new crocheters step-by-step crocheting techniques and even touching on the double crocheting technique.
The most important step in crocheting was to perform repetitions and close the chains. And with all the new knowledge gained, the participants now embarked on their task to create a circular coaster. Whenever the participants needed help in their creation, Zi Wei would come over and patiently help to guide them along and correct their mistakes.
All in all, the participants enjoyed the short yet informative session for beginners to pick up a new skill, and they all loved how interactive and fun Zi Wei made the session. Many looked ready to embark on a new hobby. Perhaps we could look forward to having a crocheting interest group soon? Do look out for our next Brown Bag Session which might interest alcohol and fermentation enthusiasts!
Check out the slides shared here.
20 Mar, 2022 | Events
BY FELICIA LEE
CNYSP’s Unspoken Rule #1: Work Hard, Play Harder
After a brief pause of our Brown Bag Sessions from midterms and the recess week, we invited our next speaker, Chew Jin Hong, to talk about his experience playing MOBA, also known as Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, a specific game genre. Specifically, Jin Hong based his sharing on Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB).
Being an avid gamer and member of NTU’s MLBB team, Jin Hong structured his presentation to cater to both new and more advanced players. He started off his session by introducing the basic game mechanics of MLBB. This included how teams could win games (by destroying the enemy’s base) and how players could actively level up during the game by farming (to get gold or more benefits). This was extremely eye-opening for players who were new to MLBB and provided them with a fast way to pick up the basics of the game from a seasoned player.
With a whopping number of 114 heroes in MLBB, players might face a dilemma in choosing which hero they want to use or wish to be most accustomed to. To combat this problem, Jin Hong provided his very own hero ranking system, where he judged the hero based on their skills, attributes, difficulty level and roles. It was eye-opening to hear about which hero was the best from the perspective of a pro-gamer.
Jin Hong then proceeded to talk about the 3 skills of Chou (an MLBB hero who is a fighter and assassin). Besides covering the skills and providing video demonstrations on how Chou’s skills work, he went through the special combos Chou had which can help players to sneak up on enemies to secure the kill. Besides providing new players with a suggested way how to start exploring and playing Chou, more advanced players definitely gained insight into the hero Chou (which may help them in their future games to avoid Chou’s sneaky attacks)!
Finally, to end off the session, Jin Hong shared general tips that players could follow to help them on their path to the highest rank in MLBB, mythic glory. We hope that everyone had fun exploring MLBB (and maybe discovered their inner desire to be a professional gamer) with our own very talented gamer in this Brown Bag Session!
Check out the slides shared here.
18 Mar, 2022 | Events
BY GOH KAIXUAN
The order of numbers goes 1,3,2. Is that right?
You, attentive reader, may realise that MasterChef Yang Episode 3: Nasi Lemak and Ondeh Ondeh aired before Episode 2. What gives? Originally, MasterChef Yang Episode 2: Char Kway Teow and Tau Huay was slated to happen on 10th February 2022, which would put it in the proper lineup. However, due to a COVID-19 exposure incident, we had to postpone Episode 2 (a re-run if you will) to the 3rd March 2022. After weeks of sitting in the oven, we finally got to prepare the long-awaited Char Kway Teow and Tau Huay.
Both Char Kway Teow and Tau Huay are local favourites of Chinese origin, and Chef Priscill (from TaiTai Chef Academy) spared no expense in procuring the ingredients for us. With the plentiful ingredients ranging from Halal Chinese sausage to Lala clams and even eggs flown in from Ukraine, Chef Priscill hoped to simulate the type of ingredients we could get overseas. This is, of course, not forgetting staples in Char Kway Teow such as yellow Hokkien noodles, kway teow and bean sprouts!
For the Tau Huay, which is a beancurd pudding made from soybeans itself, Chef Priscill pre-soaked the soybeans for 24 hours for them to absorb water and hydrate. To achieve the pudding texture, coagulants were needed. However, in the interest of health, Chef Priscill swapped out those with chemicals for a safer alternative, agar-agar.
So let the work begin! First things first, we had to blend our soybeans with water to obtain the soya milk ourselves.
Unbeknownst to us, Chef Priscill had intended for us to put in some elbow grease to obtain the clear soya milk ourselves. Working those muscles, everyone had to squeeze the milk and bean grounds mixture through a coffee sock, to force out the soya milk. Trust me, this was tougher than it looked and definitely called back to the past of having to make soya milk by hand.
After we were done, we got our soya milk! But that was still far from the end-product we desired. You might also be wondering, ‘wah Tau Huay so high effort, there must be an easier way…’ and you’re right! Chef Priscill added that we could use canned soya milk in lieu of preparing the soya milk from scratch. It was then time to put our agar-agar powder into our hot soya milk!
You may be wondering, why was this green? Tau Huay ain’t green. Well, there was a little mishap that led to some tables using green-coloured agar-agar powder instead, infusing their Tau Huay with a different personality altogether, perhaps giving the illusion that it could be pandan-flavoured Tau Huay instead. With that, the Tau Huay was left to cool and set! Onto the main star of the day.
With so many fresh ingredients on our hands, we began to prep them. Chef Priscill went straight into it, showing us various knife skills which would definitely prove useful in the future. Her bubbly and engaging nature stole the show as she taught us seemingly mundane concepts and techniques with her own twist.
Surely, we could prepare the ingredients as we cooked the Char Kway Teow to save some time…? Wrong! Char Kway Teow is a stir fry dish, meaning that the ingredients would be tossed in relatively quick succession with little to no time between to tend to something else.
Starting with the aromatics, Chef Priscill continued to add ingredient after ingredient. She highlighted to cook the noodles first in the garlic-infused oil to enhance the texture of the noodles. Then, a combination of sweet sauce and light soy sauce was added to give the dish the distinctive dark colour of Char Kway Teow, with the participants adding different amounts to get the “darkness” they so desired.
Stirring in the rest of the ingredients, the shredded carrots, eggs, Lala clams, fishcake and Chinese sausage, in their pantry and a few minutes of stir-frying later, the participants have whipped up their very own Char Kway Teow! You could tell from the smiles on their faces that they were proud (and salivating) of their dishes!
With that, we concluded our 3 episode journey to tackle 3 different local cuisines, and we hoped that MasterChef Yang has indeed egged people on, in learning to cook. What will you cook up on your OFYP or OGEM? If you do prepare any of these dishes, do tag us on Instagram @cnyangscholars from wherever you are in the world!
We would like to sincerely thank Chef Priscill for her liveliness and for making cooking lessons fun and simple. Do drop her a follow (@taitaichef on Instagram) if you would like to see what else she teaches (you will be surprised by the sheer variety!)
Photos courtesy of Chef Priscill.
Check out the recipes here.
1 Mar, 2022 | Events
BY FLORETTA SETIA PRADANA
CNYSP Homecoming 2022 happened on 25th February 2022. It was unfortunately still held online due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation. Alas, it was a light-hearted evening filled with laughter from our alumni who happily shared and reminisced their time in CNYSP. The theme for this year’s Homecoming is Vibrance – signifying the vibrant life alumni had during their undergraduate years and even now.
There were a total of five alumni who have very kindly volunteered their time to share more about their journey and experiences with us! They are Alvin Lee, Mohammad Zaidi bin Ariffin, Yap Chor Yen, Alvin Chan, and last but not least Koo Kwan Yee. The sharing sessions were delightful and engaging with many undergraduates actively asking questions during the QnA segment.
The night ended with a wholesome conversation between the alumni and undergraduates during the free and easy segment where all of us engaged in a conversation filled with chuckles and wisdom imparted by our alumni. It was very interesting for us, undergraduates to see how our alumni have flourished and adapted well in whatever endeavours they are doing now, be it in industry or academia.
Overall, all of us had a great time attending the event and we certainly hope that next year’s Homecoming will be an offline one with a buffet dinner where all of us can freely walk around and chat with everyone!
