20th Annual Farewell: Hawaiian Luau

On the 31st July 2023, Monday, the LEO Club of Wesley Methodist School held its 20th Annual LEO Farewell event at Royal Lake Club in Taman Tasik Perdana to celebrate all the hard work, sweat, toil and tears the graduating LEO seniors have given to the club throughout their two years of service, as well as to say one last goodbye. The theme for this year’s event, ‘Hawaiian Luau’, depicts the break the seniors were going to take after their journey as LEO members of the LEO Club of Wesley Methodist School comes to an end. In this event, we hope to give the seniors the time off they deserve to relax and have fun in their final LEO event before they venture off onto the next chapter of their lives. The participants were requested to dress themselves up in Hawaiian-themed fashion clothes to not only match the theme, but to also fill the room with their vibrant, cheerful colours.

This event was organized by the Organizing Chairperson, LEO Triss Tan Sze Shan, who was assisted by her Assisting Organizing Chairpersons, LEO Shobita Siva Balan and LEO Yap Ru Wuay together as well as their committee members LEO Syed Rayn Omar Albar, LEO Eleanor Eng Yee Hui and LEO Nicolas Ooi.

The Organising Committee!

The Farewell Committee arrived at the venue at 12.30pm to prepare final touches on the seniors gifts and set up the audiovisual system, as well as prepare the decorations for the hall. The rest of the juniors began arriving at 2.00pm and attendance was taken briefly. Soon afterwards, the juniors assisted in finishing up the decorations for the halls. They blew up balloons and decorated the photobooth as well as the entrance of the hall with the props that were handmade during the meetings for farewell preparation. the Games department began to set up for their game sessions soon after and the Performance department was constantly practising their dances and singing performances before the seniors had arrived. 

As the seniors began arriving at 4.00pm, the juniors were instructed to return to their seats as they waited for the event to begin. The seniors registered by getting their attendance taken by the Usher and Registration Department in front of the hall, and also received their door gifts and handmade flowers with a heartwarming card; the senior Board of Directors received a more personalised gift. The Guest of Honour, Mr Lim Chee Ho and the faculty advisors, Mr Naresh, Madam Devika and Mr Ramanesh arrived as well. At 4.10pm, the senior members entered the Banquet Hall and were escorted to their seats by the incoming President, LEO Ethan Foo Sheng Zhi, all the while being welcomed in by the juniors with a standing ovation to congratulate them on finally completing their LEO journey.

The event officially started at 4.20pm, and the opening ceremony was conducted by the emcees to thunderous applause from the LEO club members. After that, the vice principal and Guest of Honour Mr Lim Chee Ho gave a moving and inspirational speech to the guests, followed by a presentation of a Token of Appreciation to him. Soon after, a vibrant dance  performance choreographed by LEO Loy Qi En and performed by fellow juniors, was carried out. They danced their hearts away to the song ‘Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride’ whilst dressed in stylish and beautiful Hawaiian-themed outfits. After the fantastic dance performance, the Organizing Chairperson, LEO Triss Tan Sze Shan was invited on stage to deliver an awe inspiring speech, in which he expressed his utmost gratitude to the seniors for all their services and contributions to the club as well as the guidance they had provided.

The Junior members performing the first
dance of the evening

In the second performance, choreographed by LEO Ashley Chua Min Jia, the junior members, danced to the song ‘You're Welcome’ and received an encouraging applause from the guests. Following that, a heartwarming speech was delivered by the Incoming President, LEO Ethan Foo Sheng Zhi who thanked every senior for their contribution and effort they put into whilst serving the club. Following this, a beautiful rendition of the song ‘How Far I'll Go’was performed by LEO Tan Sze Xuan and LEO Charles Fong Jia Xin. Their melodious performance truly captivated and wowed all of the guests. 

The moving performance was followed by the participants breaking into the groups for the games session. Once all members were in their groups, they were split into their game rotations. Each game had two groups competing with one another, and this was facilitated by the Games Department. Throughout the games, groups would occasionally perform impromptu on stage, much to the delight of the audience. The games were concluded at 6.35pm, after which the guests were instructed back to their seats, followed by dinner a few minutes later, which was served with several delectable courses.

After everyone had devoured their scrumptious dinner, the prize giving ceremony for the games came on. Three groups had tied for first place, and an impromptu dance battle was carried out to see which group won overall. The winning group received a plushie as their prize, which was given out by our club’s Faculty Advisor, Mr Naresh. Soon later, a short, emotional video prepared by the AV Department looking back on some of the wonderful memories created by the seniors throughout the past fiscal year, was played for the guests. It featured a few short interviews with the seniors and senior Board of Directors, as well as photos of them, especially throughout the events organised by the club in the fiscal year 2022/2023. These presentations brought back sweet memories to the seniors, who reminisced on their time in high school and in the LEO Club.

Members competing in the
dance battle

   

The winning group!

If that were not enough, the outgoing members went the extra mile to create one more lasting memory for their fellow members. For the final performance of the night, LEO Ling Zhi Bing and LEO Phang Qian Tong danced energetically to the song ‘Fever’. Soon after, they were joined on stage by the rest of the senior Board of Directors as they all danced to the song ‘Super Shy’, in a perfect closing performance that received raptorous applause from the audience, who cheered excitingly for them as it was their last ever performance as LEO members. To top it all off and finally conclude their journey, the Outgoing President, LEO Theenesh Sivaram, then gave his final speech as a LEO member. He spoke from his soul about his journey in the club, all the achievements he made alongside his members, all the problems he overcame, and also left the members and incoming Board of Directors with some valuable pieces of advice.

Our Outgoing Board of Directors 
performing their last dance

To close the evening, a closing ceremony was hosted by the emcees and a photo session was held to capture the loving moment of all the seniors together one last time. Afterwards, everyone was free to take their own photos as well as use the photo booth to seize scenes of friendship, fight, joy and above all, family that the LEO Club of WMS has helped to nurture in the seniors, helping them to grow into the mature individuals they are now.

Friendship, Fight and Family

Truly, this event has left behind treasured memories and emotions in all of the members’ hearts that will surely last a lifetime.

One last photo of our seniors!