Art Jam : Issue 31 by CULTURAL ACTIVITIES CLUB NTU

Yisa Yu Yoga Lin One FC Members’ Night National Broadway Company Paparazzi’12 – Familiar Strangers

Editor’s Note Hey there peeps! It’s funny how time passes so quickly and before you know it, moments are passed. It’s only 2 weeks away from our finals and to be honest, I’m pretty overwhelmed with anxiety and somehow, excitement. The reality of it all grows each day, especially for those few seconds when you’re striking yet another box off your calendar. But don’t be disheartened! It won’t be long before we taste freedom and rest. Do remember to take the therapeutic breaks you need for a healthy body and don’t over exert your mind! Anyway, judging from the cover of this magazine, I think you can make an educated guess that Art Jam runs under a new committee at present so do take some time off your busy schedule to take a look at our refurbished Art Jam! In this issue, we bring you a range of cultural activities you might have been missing out on. Short, sweet, concise. Enjoy!

Joel Lim Editor-in-Chief

Editor-In-Chief Joel Lim 31

Yisa Yu Yoga Lin One FC Members’ Night National Broadway Company Paparazzi’12 – Familiar Strangers

Editors Jeryn Lau Koh Hui Fang Writers Jin Chuqing Joan Kwek Tan Yu Jia Sriporna Mukherjee

Photographers Ma LingJie Adarsh Kanodia Akshay Ramen Bhargava Prateek Li Xiang Pham Quynh Anh Printer Xpress Print Pte Ltd Tel: 6880 2881

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CONTENTS 4

CAC Press

Impresario

Members’ Night

Lunchtime Gig: Jazz and Blues

Yisa Yu

Yoga Lin

National Broadway Company

One Fighting Championship

Taekwondo Club

Wushu Club

Paparazzi’12 – Familiar Strangers

Contemp{minated} - Minutes to Midnight

Breakdance Club

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CAC PRESS

As the incoming committee, we have decided to compose Art Jam in a more casual manner with more personal input. The coverage of Art Jam has also expanded and we have included different forms of martial arts and we’ll be covering more local elements in future. Do stay tuned and keep a lookout for the upcoming issues of Art Jam on the shelves near 7-11 at the North Spine and in Canteen B! Our committee has brought Art Jam to Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ntuartjam. Do like our page to receive the latest updates on Art Jam, our upcoming competitions and other articles that may not be included in the hard copy of Art Jam. We would also like to hear the comments that you have for our magazine and the ways in which we still have room for improvement. For AY12/13, CAC has held events like the Freshmen Orientation Camp’12, Freshmen Pageant Bash, Cynosure Ball and Members’ Night. Many exciting activities await you like the distribution of Exam Welfare Packs on 12th November (10am-4pm) and do keep your heads up for the new CAC tee! The registration for our special project, Impresario 2013, is also open! Impresario is an island-wide talent search competition and also a stage for you to showcase your talent in singing, dancing and

composing. If you missed the campus auditions, fret not. There would be another round of auditions so just go ahead and register online. Stage your light. Ignite your dream. For more details, take a look at the very next page! For this issue, we covered 2 campus concerts organised by our very own Public Affairs Committee. They brought in Yisa Yu (郁可唯) and Yoga Lin ( 林宥嘉). We have also included One Fighting Championship, which is Asia’s largest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting event. It allows competitors to use any martial arts style in the most free of artistic expressions. In conjunction with the MMA coverage, we are also featuring two of our member clubs Wushu and Taekwondo. The Social and Welfare Committee has also worked hard to plan Members’ Night, a paradox of party and geeks. It was a fun night of games, camaraderie and food! Now we know that geeks can party, or at least, CAC geeks can party. This would be the last issue for the year and we wish you fruitful studying for your final exams. Remember to take frequent breaks and stay healthy! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in advance! Enjoy your break and remember to look out for our next issue in February 2013! And if you would like to join us as a photographer, a writer, or an editor, please feel free to contact Joel at joel.lim@ntucac.com

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impresario

Founded in 1992, it served as a platform for people all over Singapore to showcase their talents in singing, dancing and composing. Impresario 2013 kicked off its 21st season with its campus publicity on the 10th of October. This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s publicity came on more uniquely than before. Games such as Prize Dice and mobile photo-frame were designed to capture the attention of students, not to mention the numerous prizes such as vouchers and badges that were up for grabs! The night ended with a mobile publicity team going campus wide to attach some 5500 door hangers to all 16 halls.

The 27th of October marked a significant day for Impresario as the team boldly executed a publicity stunt along Orchard Road. If you were in the front of Mandarin Gallery, Ngee Ann City and Wisma Atria, you wouldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve witnessed the freeze mob in action. The mob froze in the paths of the public, garnering a substantial amount of attention from people. It was really a scene. Passersby stood by to observe and appreciate whilst some others even went forth for a candid shot with the mob. It was a really nice sight when observed from afar. The freeze mob was much more successful than I could have ever imagined it to be.

Two weeks later, the first campus auditions were held in our Student Activities Centre. Exclusively for only students in NTU, this event saw some 60 people trying to win the hearts of the 2 judges from the esteemed Lee Wei Song School of Music. Being at the scene I could feel the presence of anxiety in all the contestants. Auditions for the public will be held in mid December. Dance heats and results for will be out on the first week of January so do stay tuned for this!

To be honest, I wish I had the talents to hit the stage and join the fun. Should you possess any talent that you want to showcase, hesitate no longer and log on to http://cacimpresario.com/2013. Should you have missed the campus auditions, you can still head down for the music school auditions. Registration will be open through 7th December 2012!

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MEMBERS NIGHT

Geeks. Party. Away CAC Members’ Night (24/10/2012) On the 24th of October, the CAC Social and Welfare Committee organised the annual CAC Members’ Night. The theme was Geeks. Party. Away, coincidentally, GPA. It is such an oxymoron! Aren’t geeks the overly intellectuals that can’t party? Nevertheless, CAC members showed that our geeks can indeed have fun. I was greeted at the door by two ‘Geeks’ presenting me a country eraser as a door gift and I was then directed to my seat. In the midst of finding the right seating spot, I could not help but notice the whiteboard containing six prominent group names consisting of historic prodigies and fictional characters that you’ve probably heard of. It was apparent an avid competition was about to take place sooner or later… The night was sparked by a power-packed demonstration by our very own Chinese Drums. Echoed throughout the entire hall, such deep and sharp sounds will definitely hype up your enthusiasm for the night. The first game of broken telephone was perhaps the most amusing with the punch line at

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the end when the emcees revealed what the actual message was. It’s hilarious how much we all deviated from the actual message that was conveyed. Nevertheless, it’s a great game for a start. We were further entertained by the amazing performance held by the NTU Breakers and CAC Wushu which left most of us jaw-dropped. The sight of their dexterity and well-honed skills captivated all of us, eliciting a wide variation of exclamations in admiration of the special aptitudes they possessed. Surely, such expertise requires not just talent, but the passion and discipline to continuingly develop and improve; something we all admire in them. It wasn’t long before the dinner bell rang. It wasn’t a surprise that most of the people there were too busy with candid shots and group hugs instead of queuing for food. Amid the crowd that grew in different areas of the hall, I was able to feel the atmosphere of nostalgia, probably from the days back in Freshmen Orientation Camp.

MEMBERS NIGHT

The night was continued by another game of chubby bunny. Following which, we were treated to a very charming rendition of Scott Joplin’s most famous rag ‘The Entertainer’, performed by our Harmonica Band. Despite the lack of sound amplitude, it was still a unique performance to be appreciated. Sitting towards the back, I particularly loved the scene where most of the audiences bobbed their heads to the rhythms. Members of CAC were soon found not just bobbing, but turning their heads all round in search of items for the final game, Scavenger Hunt. It was truly a sight to behold as you observe the frantic look on people’s faces as they scurry around, foraging their bags and crawling under chairs just to find a particular set of items. Challenges such as braiding of hair were also part of the game, adding on an essence of flustering excitement amidst the energetic audience.

The final performance was by the DanceSport Academy. Executing a spectacular performance of Latin Ballroom dancing, it would be an understatement to merely describe them as professional and delicate as you notice how all eyes were gazed on them in awe and admiration. Dressed in a geeky best, it was flabbergasting to see how they can change our impression just by dancing. The night then concluded with a presentation of the best-dressed awards. Partying the night away with lots of fun, food and friends, you’ll realize how important Members’ Night is as an essential key event to bring people from different subsets of the CAC family together as one. Honestly, I felt it was very much like a second home for me. Indeed, many faces, one club.

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On 22nd October, the NTU CAC Jazz and Blues club took over the atmosphere at Canopy K with some swing, blues, just a little bit of rock, and, well, “More Than Jazz That”.

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While the lunchtime gig is a yearly affair for the Jazz and Blues club, this year’s installment was no less special. In fact, the collective band has grown exponentially in recent months, and its talented members are starting to cause quite a stir in music scenes both in and out of campus. The club’s members are separated into smaller jam bands, and this year, four unique groups took their turns to set the stage on fire with songs ranging from old time classics (“Georgia on My Mind”, “My Funny Valentine”, “Fever”) to up-to-date chart toppers (“Mercy”, “Come Together”, “Rolling in The Deep”). Towards the end, the event was wrapped-up by a surprise, impromptu jam that guess-starred two of our club’s alumni, with a bebop-tune entitled “Mr. P.C.”.

The set list comprised around 30 songs, and considering how the club’s first jam was at Pitchstop Cafe only slightly more than a month ago, it’s safe to say that the performance was no less than an extraordinary feat that was pulled off with finesse, great showmanship, and definite style. Not forgetting, tons of drama - With one of the singers receiving a flower from an infatuated fan who shall remain anonymous. With all that said and done, continue to look out for nothing less than some great music, sexy performers, and a heck of a great musical experience with the NTU CAC Jazz and Blues club.

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Yisa Yu, the 28-year-old Chinese singer, was back in NTU again with her third album Breaking Up Is Not A Big Deal (失恋事小). Before the concert, Art Jam grabbed the chance to have an interview with Yisa and discussed about her new album.

Yisa Yu:

Breaking up Is Not a Big Deal, Staying Single Is.

Indeed, Yisa seems to have strong affections for Singapore, especially NTU. This is her second campus concert here in a year. Still remember how you sat on the floor throughout the concert? This time, she chose Lee Kong Chian Lecture Theatre, a larger concert area that nonetheless garnered a full house. We loved her simple look the last time. But this time she had on bright red heels, claret-red hair and graffiti inspired dress; seems like Yisa was determined to show us another side of her! The concert started sweet and tender with a song from her new album, How Are You (你好吗), followed by her typical Yu-style love song All Along (一直). After the audience was hyped up by her act of walking down the stage, she performed the theme song of the movie version of The Fierce Wife（犀利人妻）, Whether Happiness is Difficult (幸福难不难). During the performance, her fan club shouted

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loudly “Yisa, we wish you happiness”, which made the most touching scene of the night. She concluded the concert with her hit song Expectation (指望) and joined the audience once again. When someone screamed “Fighting” in Yisa’s dialect, a warm smile came over her face; it was truly heartwarming to have this superwoman to show us her megawatt smiles, don’t you think? There were several significant improvements since her last concert. She no longer played with her fingers when the emcee asked her awkward questions, not even when her male fan proposed to her. She is sweet as ever, and showed more maturity and charisma in her interaction with people. She said that she appreciated the opportunity to sing in NTU again and that she hoped everyone could feel her sincerity; we surely did.

Before the concert, ArtJam grabbed the chance to have an interview with Yisa and discussed about her new album.

About the new album: Taking control Dress（连衣裙）, was the name of a song in her new album. What makes this song special is that it is written by Yisa herself! This was the first time that she has included self-penned songs in her album. “I want to prove to the world that I can write songs”, Yisa told Art Jam. Yisa has been preparing for her debut as Yisa the Song Writer for a long time. In her last album Micro Plus Happiness, she tried her hand at writing lyrics. When asked about how she wrote the song Dress, she replied that “The verse of the song was actually written several years ago and the entire song was completed on the plane. This album is titled Breaking Up Is Not a Big Deal and I hope that after all the sorrow and heartache brought about by a breakup, a girl can put on her favorite dress and feel pretty. When that happens, all the pain will be nothing more than just a tiny speck of dust on her dress”. Besides writing songs for herself, Yisa is also involved in the selection of songs as well. She admitted that it took her team half a year to settle on the songs as she was always in a dilemma, slowing the team down at times, but it was because she wanted to try out more refreshing ideas. Needless to say, she enjoyed the whole process of preparing her album thoroughly.

About life: Breaking up is not a big deal. What is? During the concert, she asked the audience an interesting question: If breaking up is not a big deal, then what is? Her own answer came out as a surprise to everyone: staying single is. We do not know if there is any reason behind it, but one incident came up whereby she cried while recording the song Cannot Get Over It (放不下). As the title suggests, this is a song about a girl who could not let go of her past relationship. When we asked Yisa why she cried, she said: “It was what had been on my mind that made me cry. I had a flashback of my past.” She stopped talking and we left it as that. For whatever Yisa had experienced in the past, we believe it has now become a tiny speck of dust on her beautiful dress. Yisa clarifies that currently she wants to focus more on her career and let nature take its course on relationship issues, but if someone special comes along, she wouldn’t mind a sudden marriage as early as next year.

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About NTU and Singapore When asked how she felt about coming back to NTU, she said fondly: “I miss this place a lot. The trees, the campus, everything looks so familiar. Although it’s a different concert hall this time, I see the same faces”. She continued that she loves campus concerts because of the endless enthusiasm that the students display. As for when she will come back to Singapore, the answer is soon. Having been nominated in the 12th Global Chinese Music Awards, Yisa is coming back to Singapore on November 2nd for the award ceremony. And two days after (November 4th), She will hold her first ticket selling concert in Singapore at the Esplanade Theatre together with Freya Lim (林凡). Will she have any special performances at the concert such as dancing and rapping? “Dancing? Yes. Rapping? No. Maybe I’ll do cross talk”, she laughed.

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Is this your first time at NTU? What are your thoughts after this campus concert?

Yoga Lin

Yoga: Yes. I feel that the audience is very enthusiastic, very polite, a little playful and scary at times. This is your fourth conceptual album. What is the idea that you’re trying to bring across? Yoga: I am trying to portray myself as a producer and a singer. So I used a third party’s perspective, like a producer, and decide on the combination of melody and voice to make the music sound good. Your album was titled “The Great Fictionist”. As a fictionist, how would you dream your world to be? Yoga: If I’m a fictionist, I would put all my thoughts down on paper; I wouldn’t care if the ideas or views are flawed. It may be sentimental but it is just a story, not a public statement from an artist so I don’t have to be too cautious. It’s a form of release, I like it. What is the greatest breakthrough in this album? Yoga: If Yoga Lin is now a brand in the music industry, then this album is straightforward with a clear idea of what needs to be done. However, it is not a sentimental album; it is a public statement of an artist hence little of my emotional world is revealed. Your previous songs like ‘Lies” actually related to people. It made them think about their own lives. So why did you decide on a change in concept in this album? Yoga: It is hard when a person faces ten thousand people; especially when they know him from the media or microblog and do not get information from him directly. It’s hard to make people feel how one feels through media. Hence, sometimes if you put too much emotion into your album, the market may be too big to truly understand you, and you will get hurt in the end. You never thought that people would accept songs that are heartless but accurate. This time, you gave it a try. After the album was released, you realized that it wasn’t only well received but you, too, did not get hurt in the process, which is good. But I would still try to include the melancholic songs, not in the album but perhaps in bonus tracks, or you might just hear them in the future.

Yoga Lin « Fugue » Concert Tour Time: 24 Nov 2012 Sat, 8pm Venue: The Star Theatre, The Star Performing Arts Centre Ticket Price S$158, S$128, S$108, S$78

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Talking about breakthroughs, do you have any surprises for the November concert in Singapore? Anything worth waiting for? Yoga: This concert would be held in a new venue which I hope will be really good. The best part of the concert will be that the team is fixed, including the sound engineers, the band, the light engineers… Everyone gains experience together and the concert is not put together haphazardly by the team. I hope that when you enter the concert venue, you will really enjoy the music. Entertainment aside, there is also seriousness in this concert. There won’t be too many people contributing to the concert just because it’s their job. Hence it would be a pretty powerful and united concert. What activities did you take part in during your high school and University days? Yoga: When I was in high school, I was in the Pop Music Club and was the chairman for 3 years. During my university days, I was also playing music. My original plan was to get into a record company to be a little employee and play my own independent music but the situation now is that I have become a singer in the record company. I feel like I have skipped a grade in expressing myself through music. I feel that a good musician should be able to incorporate his style into his own music before incorporating the strengths of other people. After he has been appreciated and accepted, he can then move on to working together with other people to achieve different goals. But since I’ve ‘skipped a grade’ now, I hope that I can have another area in which I can develop in and showcase my own music. If you look back on the days you were a student, what do you miss most? Yoga: The thing I miss most… Dating. The girl I liked then would tell me who was good looking when she watched television programmes. Now that I am in the entertainment industry, I think the way I see the entertainment circle is different. I believe that after you’ve become part of the entertainment industry, the way you see it would be different, no doubt. And the way your friends and family see you will also be different. Could you say a few words to the students of NTU? Yoga: Hey students of NTU, I wish you all the best and that things would go your way. Stay happy and pursue what you have interests in. May you excel in all that you do.

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II heard about Yoga Lin on radio about him winning a singing competition in Taiwan and I saw him before on cable TV but I never really had much interest in him. Besides having that one song of his in my iPod, all I knew about him was that he was a pretty good singer. When they announced that Yoga Lin was having a campus concert in our school, I did some research ( well, Google and asked a friend, C, who is a crazy fan of Yoga Lin) on him and found out that Yoga Lin was not only the champion in the first season of the Taiwanese televised singing contest, 超级星光大道, in 2007, but also had perfect score five consecutive times in the show. His achievements in the music industry were unquestionably notable and his music was highly acclaimed. I was quite excited to hear him sing. When I entered the auditorium, “Runaway Mama” was on loop, together with the advertisement for his upcoming concert. I must have heard the song about ten times before the lights finally dimmed for the concert to start. Yoga Lin started the concert with a hit from his new album Captain S.V (思凡) which got the entire audience hyped up. The sound system didn’t work very well but he managed to complete the song albeit ditching his earphones halfway through the song. The short interview was followed by another song, 浪费. He mentioned that he didn’t like the song initially as he felt that that it sounded a little “old-school” but since his fans liked it, he grew to like it too. It continued with an all-time favourite 看见什么吃什么 which was the crowning point of the entire concert. He blithely teased the audience with the throwing of posters and when he hit the high notes, the whole auditorium cheered in unison. Yoga humbly asked the audience to support his concert in November and even bowed to show his sincerity. He jocularly told the crowd that they could just watch Eason Chan and Mayday for the next 20 years. The jester in him added on that he didn’t know if the posters he was giving out belonged to him or Ding Dang. He then proceeded to describe his experience in Singapore commenting that the weather was pretty dry and he was slightly constipated. Despite the awkward moment, that sent the audience into squeals of laughter. The entire concert ended with the fans’ other favourite song, 说谎. The people around me started singing along and it felt like I was in a real concert. The auditorium threw their hands in the air and started waving to the beats of the song. The screams for an encore were unfortunately not reciprocated due to time constraint and that concluded the campus concert. Yoga Lin gives me a feeling that he is a perfectionist; he expects himself to give his best in all that he does and would never be satisfied with anything less, yet he is down to earth too. He is humble and doesn’t put himself on airs just because he is a celebrity. He is a superstar but he has the same feelings as us - those feelings of uncertainty, times when he feels upset and would turn to someone to pour his heart out. After the concert, I understood why people started queuing for tickets at 9 in the morning when the distribution only started at 12 noon and why my friend, C, was complaining that his friend queued at 10.30am and still couldn’t get her hands on a pair of tickets. He just sounded THAT good. I am contemplating if I should purchase the tickets to his concert on November 24th, 8pm, The Star Theatre. It’s close to our finals but I’m sure it would be a good break amidst our study stress. Besides, Yoga Lin is such a brilliant singer with amazing vocals that shouldn’t be missed. Have you gotten your tickets yet?

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NBC

NATIONAL BROADWAY COMPANY Entertaining through a fusion of speech, song and dance, musicals convey a great variety and contrasts of moods, emotions and even wisdom to the audience. And if you are a musical junkie, you ought to have heard about musical theatrical legends such as Stephen Schwartz and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Local artistes such as Dick Lee have also been a striking icon in our homeland’s theatres as well as abroad. So what is National Broadway Company really about? Well, let us see…

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A medley of various Singaporean musicals such as Beauty World and Mortal Sins, National Broadway Company is very much a re-enactment of the personal lives of local theatrical stars like Ivan Heng and Michael Chiang. Commissioned for the Esplanade’s 10th anniversary, it featured characters inspired by different artists’ personal stories and recollections. The show was simply fascinating. Encompassing a range of comical and nostalgic sentiments, the performers created a semblance of how it was like living back in the 80-90s with aspirations of becoming a theatrical star. Bringing about a composition of bittersweet emotions with melancholy and happiness, one could very well relate to their situation. An excellent combination of operetta and deep pathos I would say. One element that enhanced the performance was the dances. Coupled with scenic backgrounds and resplendent lighting, the dancers created a scene of perfect elegance, thus bridging the gap between music and theatre. Employing a wide range of gestural vocabulary, they breathed new life into the stage. Magnificent, remarkable and totally captivating.

One could learn much from the musical. Placing a distinct emphasis on the hardships the characters faced while gaining fame, you could tell that breaking into the theatrical scene was not a walk in the park for them. “Theatre is not the space of the privileged. Theatre is for people who enjoy, with imagination, to enter a world without fear,” were the words of Chua Enlai (playing as Ong Keng Sen). Singapore did not encourage much venture into the cultural arts as a prime focus in life. However, despite the hardships they faced, the characters managed to break through and succeed by virtue of endurance and perseverance. Infusing the music with their life experiences, the musical spoke volumes of the tragedies, strife and triumphs faced not just by these people but also everyone as a whole. Although artists these days still face an uphill battle, one should appreciate the fact that such an art is no longer pigeonholed as something intangible and meaningless, but is now regarded as a particular aesthetic beauty with room for growth in today’s educational system.

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ONE FC

One Fighting

C h a m pions h ip It has existed ever since the dawn of mankind. Born in the era where surviving was the only way of living, martial arts has been created for self-defence and a strategy for attacking. From the Bronze Age, the gladiatorial period, the middle age, the renaissance and finally the present, martial arts has evolved and developed into a culture resulting from the innate survival instinct of men. Well accustomed to it being a sport in present days, mixed martial arts has been widely promoted as a form of entertainment to millions of viewers worldwide. Reigning from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), One Fighting Championship has emerged as Asia’s number one highlight of martial arts entertainment. It was with much honour that our crew was invited to feature ONE-FC in our magazine. And I’ll be honest with you. I’ve never laid ground in an event like this. It was simply spectacular. Brilliant fireworks lit up the stadium, creating a silhouette over the fighters as they took their leave from the ring after their introductory display. From the raging support by the spectators for their favourite fighters, you could literally feel the heat coming from the audience as the thunderous cheers

echoed throughout the stadium. With a crowd of over ten thousand, the multitude of the people cheering and screaming in great exuberance would give you the adrenaline rush you need for such a rigorous event. I could very well feel my goose bumps standing on ends! It wasn’t long before the matches began. From the front row, I could hear the relentless shouting of commands from the coaches with an explosion of actions simultaneously going on. Clinching, grappling and wrestling, that was just the basic mechanics of the all fighters. There were crazy tenacious moves, crafty fakes on opponents and occasional fouls hyping up the atmosphere. Standing only 10 feet away from the ring, I could imagine how it is like standing in the ring myself. Engineering the match to their liking, the contenders used a wide range of techniques ranging from Judo throws to Taekwondo kicks and even Sanda moves (a form of Wushu a.k.a Sanshou) to their advantage. Well true to its name, this is what mixed martial arts is about; a variety of combat sports.

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ONE FC

There are bound to be winners and losers in every competition. You can never miss the ecstatic look of glamour and satisfaction on the winners’ faces as they flood with euphoria upon winning the match.Such a moment of triumph was a payoff for all the hard work and commitment they have placed in training. Circling the cage with their fists clenched and pumped up in exhilaration over their defeated opponent, an incredible spectacle was created, delivering an intense rapture for the supporters, I would say. Following that, ARTJAM was lucky to be able to get an interview with the ONE-FC CEO Victor Cui: Q: How do you feel about tonight’s event? A: We had a fantastic night tonight and a great year, we’ll continue to grow the sport with our fans and expand across Asia. Q: or the benefit of everyone would you like to repeat the mechanics for the Bantam Weight Grand Prix? A: The Bantamweight Grand Prix is something we wanted to start with One-FC so it gives an opportunity for other fighters to compete over several events of ours. So tonight you saw three fights of our Bantamweight Grand Prix tournament. The winner of that eventually will have the opportunity to be the legitimate challenger to compete for the Bantamweight Championship Belt. Q: Will there be any more Grand Prix to look forward to? A: Yes definitely. We’ll be having one more fight in KL next and one more in the following?. Q: When is the next ONE-FC Fight Night? A: We are scheduled for 1st December in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) but we have yet to formally announce that as they’re currently going through elections. We’ll know more by the following week.

Q: Since one FC is mainly based in Singapore, what is your stand on MMA being more widely promoted in schools or other areas? A: I feel that martial arts and mixed martial arts as a whole is a fantastic base for anybody to learn discipline, respect, courage, strength, all those kind of things as it is a natural combination and that is why so many people in the world practice martial arts. Whatever the form may be, whether it’s in the form of mixed martial arts, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Taekwondo, it is not just about training to step into the ring, but more about a lifestyle of fitness, a culture and I encourage all that. I think it’s good to practice the art. Q: A couple of gyms are emerging in Singapore, so what is your advice for them to become a recognised gym? A: Produce the best fighters and they’ll get a shot on ONE-FC! All these however come from honing your skills well from basic. To find out more about what CAC has to offer in martial arts, flip on!

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TRADITIONAL

TAEKWONDO NTU Traditional Taekwondo Club is one of the oldest club established in 1985 and affiliated to the Singapore Taekwondo Academy (STA). Master Lim Sui Soon, the instructor, is a sixth degree black belt holder with over 30 years of experience. Traditional taekwondo is a modern martial arts originated from North Korea. When translated, Taekwondo means ‘the way of the fist and foot.’ The most integral part of the word is ‘Do’, as it means ‘the correct way.’ Learning to kick and punch is merely physical. To become a real martial artist both physically and mentally, students need to practice ‘Do’ and the principles of Taekwondo.

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Regular training helps the students to build up stamina, strength and self-defense. Most importantly, it improves their self-discipline and confidence, alongside helping to relieve stress and anxiety from everyday life. Moreover, being a member of the club widens ones social circle and helps to build up leadership skills. Besides weekly training, an annual training camp and fellowship outings foster the bonds between members. If you have an interest in Taekwondo, you can head to NTU SRC Multi-Purpose Court 3 every Wednesday from 1900 to 2130.

NTU CAC WUSHU CLUB After years of being runners-up, NTU CAC Wushu was triumphant in the ITE Invitational Traditional Wushu Championship 2012, with a total of 9 golds, 9 silvers and 3 bronzes! A glimpse of the ongoing activites of the NTU Cultural Activities Wushu Club was caught during one of the club’s training sessions on a certain Monday. Encompassing a range of techniques from basic stretching and flexibility exercises to complicated kicks and tumbling movements, the sport of Wushu is both an exhibitive and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. When translated literally, the Chinese characters “wu” means military while “shu” means art. Wushu performances comprise of various routines in competitions, involving barehanded moves or the use of a variety of short or long weapons. NTU CAC Wushu was first established in 1991 as the Pugilistic and Lion Dance Troupe, and later became an independent club in 2003. The club seeks to promote and appreciate the profoundness of Chinese martial art as well as to cultivate a competitive and adventurous mind-set in members as an integral learning experience through disciplined trainings. It is certainly achieving its objectives, as seen from how Ronnie Yeo (ELH/4) is benefitting from practising Wushu. “I became more interested in other related things like Chinese history, fighting choreography in films, and even dance,” he said. “Physically, it has helped me acquire better motor skills, flexibility, stamina and more. Mentally, it has conditioned me to be tougher and more focused.” The club has been very active, both at institutional as well as open levels. Some of these include the

annual Inter-tertiary Invitational Wushu Championship, National Wushu Championship and Traditional Martial Art Display. The members of the club are often invited to perform in many events. One of which is the 16th ASEAN University Games 2012(AUG), a major biennial event organized by host countries on a regular basis. Four of the club’s players will be representing both Singapore and NTU in the game. It will be the first time that our Wushu club has members participating in the sparring event. To be held in Vientiane, Laos in December 2012, the event is expected to draw university athletes from the 10 ASEAN member states as well as Timor Leste. A group of nine beginners started learning basic Wushu moves with broad swords, while the group of performers clad in bright coloured silk costumes, practiced sequences of kicks, punches, balances, jumps, sweeps and throws. Routines involve using a wide range of weapons like wooden sticks, spears, chains, thin and broad swords. One senior performer of the club explained that “Wushu is a performing art as well as a martial art. Though more aesthetic in nature, each routine has its own unique history. If the observer does not understand the routine, it might seem like a sequence of aimless jumps and kicks to him. However, in reality, each of these routines comprise of a sequence of defensive and offensive moves which that can be applied to a real combat”. All the best to NTU CAC Wushu club for their upcoming competitions and future performances as they play their part in upholding the tradition of this martial art and propelling it to an international level!

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Paparazziâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;12 Familiar Strangers

The lights dim, throwing the silent theatre into darkness. Out came seven figures walking slowly from the audience stand to the polished stage embattled and illuminated with a sudden cacophony of lights. The figures turn to face the 200-strong audience and a sharp intake of breath shattered the silence at the sight of the pallor of the masks the figures were wearing. With that, the prelude ended and the sombre tone was set for the performance ahead: Familiar Strangers.

warped world, other characters found themselves immersed in fantasies of having a blissful marriage while turning a blind eye to reality and ignoring the fact that their spouses viewed them as strangers within the household. Unknown to themselves, the characters resembled the spouses they had come to regard as a stranger, and that they were in fact becoming a stranger even to themselves.

The theatrical work comprises of 3 Acts and examines the intertwined lives of 4 married couples who are striving to break free of their gilded cages and make sense of their broken marriages. The play revolves around betrayal, despair, helplessness and craving as the main characters seek solace in the form of lovers or simple delusions of everlasting love. Unlike most plays, however, the main characters cannot be easily identified to be in the right or wrong. Instead, they are complex; flawed in their convictions and actions but loyal in their own way to their spouses.

Familiar Strangers is awash with symbolism as the supporting cast were dressed in black and masked while the main characters remained distinctive. In doing so, the directors showed the clear difference between the physical masks worn by strangers and the figurative masks worn by the main characters; people who no longer knew who their spouses and themselves were, and serve to conceal their true selves from the world. In addition, the witty dialogue accentuated the common troubles faced by every character as the same lines were repeated by different people at the same time. The depth of the play, coupled with excellent acting, makes a compelling story and drama of human nature, showing how the finest qualities of love can be marred by the darkest desires of man. The line between stranger and spouse was also blurred as characters alternate between either roles unconsciously and the audience were left wondering: Is a stranger someone you met for the first time or can it also be someone close but is always concealing his/her true self from you?

The story unfolds and some characters found themselves confiding their secrets and troubles to lovers and strangers or, in one case, a clinical therapist rather than their own spouses. In their eyes, their spouse was a distant stranger while a stranger came into being the role of a confidante. Adding on to the

The interactions with strangers made the characters realise that they genuinely loved their marriages and their spouses. Tragically, it was too late. Each Act ends with the characters not solving the root of their troubles while yearning for the familiar stranger who was their spouse and their lost identities.

Organised by Paparazzi 2012, a collaboration between Nanyang Technological University Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Republic Polytechnic, Familiar Strangers is a play which challenges the common notions of relationships bounded by simplistic wedding vows. The intriguing play held in Republic Polytechnicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Republic Cultural Centre and has drawn a total of nearly 500 audience on 13th and 14th October 2012.

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Is a stranger someone you met for the first time or can it also be someone close but is always concealing his/her true self from you?

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Held on the 12th of August at the Kallang Theatre, ‘Minutes to Midnight’ was set in a place of recollection and reminiscence, when contemplation and reflection take place before the start of a new day. From innocent childhoods to bittersweet romances, dreams lost and ambitions found, the audience was taken on a journey of revisiting familiar memories made magical through the eyes of a dancer. Each year, Contemp{minated} NTU CAC Contemporary Dance stages a production that unites dancers from different varsities and backgrounds to showcase their passion for contemporary dance. ‘Minutes to Midnight’ was the first annual production by Contemp{minated}

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to be held outside NTU. This fourth installment of the concert series took place at Kallang Theatre and showcased 7 student choreographies as well as 5 works by renowned choreographers Marcus Foo (T.H.E Second Company), Jessica Christina (T.H.E Dance Company) and Ryan Tan (O School). Known for their unique style of expressing and conveying social messages, what sets this production further apart from previous shows was the use of LED panels to enhance the performances. The concert was very well-received and broke the 1,000-ticket mark for the first time, creating a significant milestone in the history of Contemp{minated}.

Contemporary Dance Training Sessions are held on Tuesdays at 7pm and 2.30pm on Saturdays at Nanyang House.

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“To us, b-boying is more than a dance; it is a way of life. Valuable life lessons such as diligence and perseverance are picked up and applied in our daily lives as we seek to not only be better dancers but better students and people as well.” Lee Xinfu, Chairperson of Breakdance

BREAKDANCE NTU CAC Breakdance Club, also known as the NTU Breakers, was officially formed in April 2006. Breaking or B-boying, often known as Breakdancing, is a style of dance that originated from the Bronx in New York as part of the Hip Hop culture in the 1970s. It comprises of 4 basic elements: Toprock, Footwork, Freezes and Powermoves. Dance is a physical interpretation of music. The essence of B-boying is self-expression through dancing with the music and hence the saying, “Dance to express, not to impress”. Unlike mainstream Hip Hop, B-boying is a dance genre that places focus on freestyle and flavor. However, it is also one of the most difficult dance genres as it is both technically challenging and physically demanding. DID YOU KNOW? The breakdancer on the cover page is actually a member of NTU CAC Breakdance Club. If you are wondering who he is, join one of the training sessions and find out!

Training Schedule: Mondays (5.30pm to 7.30pm) Wednesday and Thursday (7pm to 9pm) Nanyang House, NTU No dance background required For enquiries, contact us at CAC-Breakdance@ntu.edu.sg.

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