International Relationship Day 2016

The Leo Club of Wesley Methodist School had held its 13th annual International Relationship Day on the 8th of April 2016. The theme for this year’s I.R. Day is ‘IRidescent’ which means changing colours when seen from different angles. The colours represent our various emotions and how we experience different emotions as we go through our lives on this Earth. This purpose driven event was aimed to tell the audience that one must not simply hide their emotions and encouraging them to unleash their feelings in this world where people tend to keep to themselves in this evermore connected yet detached world we live in today.

At 3.00 pm, registration was open and our ushers who were all dressed in white button ups with ties of various colours and design which and some who were dressed as characters from the Disney movie, Inside Out were sent out to their respective locations to usher incoming guests to the school hall for the event. The doors were officially opened at 3.15 pm, as guests swarmed into the hall to attend the event, which consisted of students, parents, outsiders, school staff, Leos and Lions. The guest of honour for this event was none other than the principal of Wesley Methodist School Kuala Lumpur (International), Madam Chia Loy Tian. The hall was decorated beautifully by the decoration team, with 4 posters portraying 4 different emotions namely happiness, sadness, anger and fear lined each corner of the hall. Origami coloured boxes were also placed on the side of the hall. Rice lights wrapped in colour paper which perfectly explains our theme with the multitude of colours were also hung across the hall. The spotlight stands were each decorated with opera masks and outside the hall, we had placed our very own ‘Roller Coaster of Emotions’, a roller coaster which required hours of craftsmanship and attention to detail to materialise. A height measuring scale also contributed to the theme park atmosphere. Along the stairs, we had colourful and informative posters which gave fun facts about our emotions.

Once the guest of honour and the VIPs had arrived after being ushered by the club President and the I.R. Director, the hall was dimmed and the show started at 4.00 pm with a video that pumped the audience with a theme park-esque announcement and a video of a roller coaster, and this was quickly followed by a mind-blowing painting and ribbon dance performance. Immediately after that, the emcees, Leo Ch’ng Siew Kheng, portraying a sad girl; and Leo Chee Gee Ren, portraying a happy kid in an Elmo shirt, introduced themselves and addressed the guests accordingly. Lion Sek Jin Han was invited up on stage to call the meeting to order, and the singing of the national anthem as well as the recitation of the Leo Pledge were carried out according to protocol.

The event continued with a session of roll call to acknowledge the guests present that day. It was then followed by a Music Box dance which was aimed to help students realise that one must be positive when he/she faces tough situations in life. The Music Box performance tells the story of a young girl who faces difficulty in her homework and turns to her dolls to relieve her of the stresses of school work. This certainly brought the house down with its quirky dance moves and lively music. Then, we had a speech by none other than the presiding officer, Lion Sek Jin Han. This was then followed by a sketch by the sketch team which tells the story of the adventures or rather mis-adventures of four friends in stopping a villian’s plan from ridding the world off its emotions certainly gave the audience a hearty laugh with its witty jokes and charismatic actors. As the sketch ended, it was time for the organising chairperson, Leo Jared Yeap went up on stage to give his speech. The audience later enjoyed a video presentation edited by none other than the president, Leo Lai Yan Sheng which showcases our Leo members feeling different emotions with quotes on how one should always stay positive even in the toughest times. After that, a speech was made by the guest of honour and principal of Wesley Methodist School Kuala Lumpur (International), Madam Chia Loy Tian. It soon continued with a dance by the Leo members where audiences were transported into the head of a boy who was having a nightmare while he was sleeping. The meeting was then adjourned by the presiding officer, Lion Sek Jin Han.

After that, it was the presentation of the token of appreciations to our VIPs by our club faculty advisor, Ms Manusha Nair and also the presentation of souvenirs to the clubs which attended our event by our club President, Leo Lai Yan Sheng. The emcees became runway emcees as the representatives from each club walked down the catwalk. The whole event drew to a close with our finale: a dance performance where light conquers darkness, literally. Dancers that were dressed in black (darkness) were miraculously transformed into white (light).

All the guests were then welcomed to the canteen to enjoy some light refreshments prepared by our own Leos, which included mouth-watering croissants and curry puffs which were sponsored generously by The BIG Group and our other sponsor, Suntory Food and Beverages which sponsored Ribena cordial and Ribena pastilles for the guests pleasure. There was also a wide variety of food such as mushroom quiches, cornflakes with honey, chocolate tarts, cream puffs and trifles. Some sugar cookies sponsored by The BIG Group were also reserved for the VIPs. After the event, we cleaned up the used areas such as the hall and the canteen. A debriefing session was carried out at the canteen, and after a group photo was taken, the Leo members were dismissed, marking a joyous and satisfying end to the event which we had worked hard on for so many months, so many sleepless nights, but also, with so many fun and unforgettable moments along the way. It was a job well done by all of our Leo members, and we were all glad that the event was a success.