Charity Night 2016 - D E L I R I U M

The Leo Club of Wesley Methodist School had organised its annual charity event – Charity Night on the 26th of March 2016 (Saturday), from 6.00 p.m. to 10.15 p.m.. This year, we hosted a Charity Dinner at PARKROYAL Kuala Lumpur Hotel, where it can be easily accessed through the public transport system as it was situated near the Bukit Bintang monorail station.

The theme for this years Charity Night was “D E L I R I U M .” Aside from raising funds to help the less fortunate and to be donated to the charitable organisations, we hope to raise awareness in the public on the difficulties faced by people who suffer from mental illnesses. Despite its severity, mental illness has not been paid attention by the society across the globe. Many people neglect how serious of an issue mental illness is, just because it cannot be seen by the naked eye. We hope to play our part and make a difference. Thus, the organising committee, led by the Community Service Director of Leo Club of Wesley Methodist School, Leo Natalie Ling Sze Jane, chose the theme “D E L I R I U M .” for this year’s Charity Night. Leo Natalie Ling Sze Jane was helped by two Assistant Organising Chairpersons, namely Leo Lee Ming Xuan and Leo Genevieve Lee Min May, together with her fellow committee members, Leo Ching Shu Wen, Leo Shweta Eliza Zachariah and Leo Lim Sin Ye.

On the day of the event, around 300 people attended to support our cause, mainly consisting of students from Wesley Methodist School Kuala Lumpur (International), parents, teachers, non-academic staffs as well as students from other schools. Our sponsoring Lions Club, Lions Club of Ampang showed us full support by gracing the event. We were also honoured to have representatives from four of our beneficiary organisations, namely CADS Enhancement Centre, Special Children Society of Ampang, House of Joy and Shal Home Care, to attend our event.

That night, a line-up of astonishing performances were prepared to keep the audience entertained. Registration started at 6.00 p.m. and at 7.10 p.m., an opening video as well as a breathtaking dance performance by our very own Leo members kick started the event. It was then followed by a speech by our Presiding Officer, Lion Joseph Thong and a roll call session for the VIPs and clubs present by the emcees, Leo Goh Wei Chen and Leo Gan Zuo Rui.

We proceeded with the presentation of mock cheques to the representatives of the charitable organisations by the Deputy Principal of Wesley Methodist School Kuala Lumpur (International), Mrs. Pearl Moses, as well our Presiding Officer, Lion Joseph Thong. Then, the presentation of tokens of appreciation to all VIPs, as well as souvenirs for clubs and societies present were also carried out. The Organising Chairperson, Leo Natalie Ling Sze Jane then took over the stage with her heartfelt speech.

With all the formalities aside, the VIPs and guests then got to enjoy an International buffet-style dinner in an orderly manner. The scrumptious dinner was devoured by all the guests, and the desserts were a huge hit amongst the guests. Our guests also took this time to make memories by taking pictures, and got the chance to mingle around with the rest of the guests. After that, many amazing performances by our very own Leos as well as invited outsider performers filled the auspicious night.

A total of 8 jaw dropping performances were put up to take the guests’ breath away. During dinner, a spectacular acapella singing performance was put up by our very own junior Leos which kept the guests entertained as they enjoyed their meal. Smack Soul, an alternative rock band also captured the audience’s hearts with their amazing performance. The performances definitely left the audiences in awe and wanting more. Following that, a dance performance which also consisted of our very own junior Leo members was showcased for the guests’ entertainment.

With everyone’s attention gained, an informative video presentation was played to educate the guests on what it feels like living with a mental illness. Guests were given a new perspective on what it’s like having to face the challenges while dealing with a mental illness and the kind of stigma people who suffer from it go through. We also had Professor Koh Ong Hui, the Consultant Psychiatrist at University Malaya Medical Centre to elaborate further on the topic. His talk was definitely engaging and interactive, and was an eye opening experience for the guests.

After that, the guests’ luck was put to the real test as our lucky draw session was held. Five lucky guests out of roughly 300 people were picked through a fair system of drawing lots. As ticket numbers were drawn on the spot, the guests proceeded on to the stage one by one to receive their prizes. It was a nerve-wracking session as the guests were all hoping for their ticket numbers to be announced.

Following that, Midnight Fusic, a band consisting of 5 secondary school male students stole the hearts of the audience with their charming performance. A popular mental illness, depression, was also depicted in the form of a dance by 4 of our very own talented senior Leos. The dance portrays how people with depression have to carve on a fake smile to hide their injured souls in everyday life.
Former Leo and student of Wesley Methodist School Kuala Lumpur (International) Jonathan Chew Jia Wei also showed his support for our event by putting up an impressive solo singing performance that tugged on some nostalgic sentiments. Then, at only the age of 17, talented violinist Tan Joon Wei with his sensational strings performance was truly an unforgettable one as he maneuvered around the stage with his charismatic violin performance. Last but not least, we closed our show with a memorable and interactive singing performance by none other that Jon Liddell and Jenn Chia. The audience truly enjoyed their performance and sang along to the melody. One of their original songs managed to tickle the audiences heart as it involved some role play with a lucky guest at our event. At 10.25 p.m., the event officially ended.

As mentioned, working on this project, we had two goals – to spread awareness on mental illnesses and to raise funds for donation. We believe that these two goals were without doubt achieved that night. The difficulties and challenges faced by people who suffer from mental illnesses was passed on and hopefully the guests attended will now do their part to stop discrimination and stigma towards this group of people. Secondly, we are extremely glad to say that we have raised a staggering amount of RM27238.60. We are ecstatic to know that with this sum of money, we are able to help many people who suffer from mental illnesses as well as the less fortunate. We are planning to donate to more charitable organisations with the large amount of donation raised.

The entire journey we had to go through while planning this event was indeed exhausting and stressful, and long nights of rest was sacrificed to ensure the smooth run of the event, yet it was a great learning experience for all of us. One thing we all learned through organizing such a large scale event is that discipline and communication as well as perseverance is very important no matter what we do. Still, being able to help and touch so many lives out there is probably the most rewarding thing we got through this event. One of the most encouraging things is receiving all the positive feedback from the guests who were present that day, and has proved to make all the efforts given by the members of the club worthwhile. Through our seemingly endless preparations, everyone also grew closer together as a family, and I could not have asked for more dedicated and committed members. We definitely gained more than we anticipated, and was a huge success as it exceeded our expectations.