This year is the first year I witnessed a Raffles Hall’s float after graduation. As the hall is unable to accept freshmen due to hall renovation, the floaters have no one but themselves and the seniors.
The NUS Rag Day concluded well for us. We surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly) snagged “The Least Cost Float” award, and the hall celebrated in jubilation. Sadly though, as pointed out by Devil, this year we didn’t have first years to share the joy with us. That aside, I truly believe that the years will just get better for us Rafflesians. What better way to start the year anew with newly renovated rooms and a batch of enthusiastic seniors! I am extremely proud of the team! Really.
Presenting Raffles Hall Float 2009/2010 - “The Least Cost Float”
Joy aside, I can’t help but start pondering about the real meaning of NUS Rag and Flag. I always have this doubt during Rag Days, when there are so many signs of unhealthy competition. Do the student bodies still comprehend the true meaning of this event?
I might not know the true meaning of NUS Rag and Flag, but according to what was explained during my RHOC days, Rag Day is a showcase event by NUS students to thank the public for donating money on Flag Day. It used to be held at Orchard, and several times at Padang, but for many years, it was held at NUS SRC field, where it’s far from public eye, and is not as easily accessible. But I shall not digress, choice of venue is not something that I want to discuss now.
Our hall has been out of the award radar since 1997. We may not have the ability to create the best designed or best presentation float, but we always start building our float with an objective in mind. At times, we want to be the most environmental-friendly float, so we ditched all usage of spray paints (and sometimes even paints), created claddings with recycled papers and used unwanted scrape cloths. At times, we focused on the process, we wanted every senior and every freshmen to contribute to creating the float, so we planned our orientation around that, allowing senior-freshmen interaction. Yes you are right, a hall like us may not be able to comprehend what’s the feeling to win the Chancellor Shield, so we always try our best to tell ourselves that it’s alright not to win, it’s the process and forged friendships that matter.
But a few questions I want to ask: Do we need to do things “unscrupulously” just to wow our freshmen, wow the judges and win some awards? Why can’t we do float in honour of the original intention?
Take a look at the image below. What comes into your mind? Spray paints… messiness… litter?
When building float, most of the participating teams have ignored the environment and the need to play fair. Some used spray paints and won awards; others who didn’t use and lost thought they could have stood a chance to win “The Most Environmental-friendly Award”. Some commissioned parts of the float to be built professionally. Some tried to eliminate stiff competition by imposing weird regulations. Weirder still, in my opinion, the organising committee for Rag and Flag didn’t even step in to mitigate/solve these issues.
People may criticise me for being a sore loser. Some may even feel that there’s no right or wrong, as long as they have enough money to do what they want, and all these are justified as long as they win awards and everyone is happy. But the noble objective of Rag Day has already been distorted by all these competitions, its rules and weird judging criteria. I should have just pulled out from Rag Day when I was the head. But (I confessed) I was selfish as I had a large and responsible team.
In my opinion, the competition element should stay, because it provides the motivation for all to excel and surpass their own limits. Therefore, it’s crucial that the organising committee review the objectives of Rag and Flag, and ensure that the objectives are well-propagated. They need to tell the participating bodies that we are serious about thanking the society and you guys better buck up and participate fairly. Every Rag Day was executed that way before I graduated, I don’t see why the standard could deteriorate so drastically these few years.
Anyway, our hall should just probably quit joining Rag Day altogether, and spend the money on some other activities which can achieve the same objectives that we initially wanted. Who knows, we might even achieve better results if executed properly. =)
Your opinion?
