Jointly reported by:
Victoria Hwang Jr1S(6)
Foo Xin Yu Sr1ScI
Tham Yuanyi Sr2A
Every year, each club in Kuen Cheng High School has to hold a welcoming party for new club members. The Newsletter Club’s welcoming party this year, held on 25 April 2021 (Sunday), was exceptionally special. Why? Well, it was its first welcoming party that had the warm, joyous atmosphere of standard welcoming parties, despite the club has been in existence for three years now. We reached out to the party’s committee to learn more about the happenings leading up to this delightful event.
According to Committee Members, Michael Ng (Ng Choon Hau), Ming Xuen Amelia, and Lee May Tzi, the welcoming party last year was not exactly welcoming, as most members could not get to know each other well, and were already receiving tasks to complete. As a result, some relationships between members felt cold and distant. Thus, this year’s Committee decided to host a proper welcoming party to let all the members, both old and new, enjoy a friendlier club environment and give the newbies a sense of belonging in the club.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the welcoming party this year had to be held via virtually. However, having the welcoming party online had its own benefits and downsides. The planning for this year’s welcoming party was much easier compared to physical welcoming parties because there was not a need for the Committee to prepare for venue, food or the equipment. But, there were multiple unforeseen circumstances the Committee had to account for, like poor internet connection, lack of technical coordination, and shy members. Certain activities were also harder to be executed online.
The Committee prepared three games for the welcoming party; the first game being murder mysteries. Each group was given a few vague circumstances that eventually led up to murders, and the members had to figure out the details of the situation by asking only yes or no questions. The activity coordinators chose this game to boost members’ expressive and critical thinking skills, as well as encourage teamwork among members.
The second game was the simple yet entertaining treasure hunt. Players were shown certain household objects and were given a limited amount of time to retrieve them; those who failed to do so were penalised. The aim of this game was to improve members’ reaction within limited time and their deductive abilities.
The third game is called “1, 2, 3, Say My Name!” The members had to change their display names into witty nicknames, before counting numbers upwards. If two members ended up saying the same number, they had to say each other’s nicknames; the ones to say it faster won, while the slower ones got punished. This game was a test of the players’ attentive listening and response in supplying the fast and accurate answer.
Many members were excited to play the games the Club had prepared for them. However, some were dissatisfied with the outcome as many members stayed silent during the games and were unwilling to participate. The time limit also severely restricted members to a few rounds of a game before moving on to the next one. One of the Committee Members even revealed that one member believed that some of the questions given in murder mysteries were too graphic even after the questions were heavily filtered. The Committee Members were shocked after hearing about this opinion and promised to plan games with more appropriate themes in the future.
While the event was considerably well-executed, what most members do not know is that the Committee only had two weeks to prepare for the welcoming party. Quickly-approaching deadlines, improper time management, and some of the Committee Members’ lack of experience in planning events, caused minor communication issues during the party. Some bigger plans also had to be put on hold to accommodate the short preparation period, much to the displeasure of the Committee Members.
Despite the overwhelming workload, the Committee was still able to find joy in their work. The Committee Members recalled the time when the members had gathered online to test one of the games they had planned. According to the leaders, the thrilling, humorous nature of the game “1, 2, 3, Say My Name!” had managed to create a fun atmosphere, and everyone had found themselves doubling over with laughter as the test run progressed. However, they then expressed their disappointment as some of the new club members could not play this exciting game during the welcoming party due to time constraints.
Overall, reception of this event was mostly positive, though some members do believe that it could be improved through thorough game explanations, test runs and better communication. The Committee Members, while content with the party’s outcome, have also recognised the mistakes that were made during the event and are determined to learn from their experiences. This event was considered a success.
Group photos of the Newsletter Club just before the welcoming party ended