By Lye Han Jun (13A01A)
If the striking pink posters around school have not managed to catch your eye, perhaps the cardboard picketers’ signs will have. The Humanities Initiative is back for the third year running with its annual charity concert, LIKE A R!OT, in support of their long-time beneficiary Toa Payoh Care Corner (TPCC), an organisation that supports the elderly living in the area. We stopped briefly by their rehearsal after school on Monday to bring you our pre-concert impressions.
The first performance we caught, a medley of songs sung by a quartet of Year 6 students: Stefanie Mok, Ariel Tee, Priscilla Goh and Amanda Yim, was in fact highly pleasant—contrary to the bold, slightly edgier image the organisers sought to create for the concert in accordance to previous concerts, which have been named along the same lines. We hardly moved in our seats, save for the occasional shiver down the spine as one of them hit a high note, much less jump about in violent throes of mutinous passion. Daryl ‘Guns’ Cheng, for all the machismo suggested by those fabled biceps of his, took to the stage with an equally mellow and enjoyable set list. Everything was exceedingly civilised and agreeable—not at all anything to riot about.
Then Velvetica mounted the stage and deafened us just by setting up their instruments.
Unfortunately, we could not stay to watch them actually rehearse, but we can confidently say that the line-up of performances will have something to appeal to all camps, from those who prefer a more soothing sound to adventurous types who enjoy a good bout of tinnitus. There will even be a Latin dance item put on by Isabelle Tay, who comes from a family of dancers and has over ten years of experience under her belt. For her, this concert has an added significance—it will mark the end of a chapter of her dancing as she will go on a hiatus to concentrate on her ‘A’ levels and university studies.
In addition to bands with well-established reputations such as Fancy This Progression, a few lesser-known bands round up the list nicely with names that will make you wonder, such as The Banana Bandits and The Veblen Effect. It might be worth noting that two out of three incumbent council presidents will be performing at the concert, with Ashlynna on bass and guitar in The Veblen Effect and Arjun providing percussion for his fellow fruity hoodlums. Antariksh, we presume, will be supporting them from the audience.
As part of their fundraising efforts, THI volunteers will be roaming about the canteen selling bubble tea throughout the week. A pre-concert flea market will also be held outside the LT from 5:30pm on the day itself. All proceeds will go directly to TPCC, where it will be used to provide meals for needy elderly and to organise excursions for them, such as their upcoming trip to the Singapore Garden Festival this Thursday. Previous fundraising activities include a well-received busking session along Orchard Road, through which they managed to raise over two thousand dollars for their cause.
Under THI’s Adopt-A-Grandparent-Scheme, Humanities Programme students that volunteer with the centre are matched to a grandparent and pay them weekly visits to chat and keep them company. Year 5 student Brillia Soh and her group bring their “adoptive” grandmother out for dinner regularly. Tan Jit Hui, also in Year 5, mused about their experience visiting their “adoptive” grandmother: “It’s not as if we bring a lot of joy into her life or anything, but we think it helps her just to know that there are people who care about her.”
Tickets to Occupy LT2 for a meaningful cause this Friday, 13th July are available at THI’s booth in the canteen for $10 each. Further inquiries that this short preview has not managed to address are best taken over to their Facebook event page, where the full list of performers can also be found.
