Having been highly involved with Imperial College’s Malaysian Society in my first two years at Imperial has led to a deep appreciation for the purpose and goals of cultural societies. Imperial College is one of the most diverse universities in the UK. With more than 50% of its students coming from out of the UK, it is no surprise that cultural societies play a big part in helping students settle into this new environment. Besides organising events to help students settle into London, many cultural societies also put on an annual performance to showcase their culture to anyone who wishes to appreciate it.
For the Singapore Society, their annual performance comes in the form of a self-written musical known as Major Event. Through a 2.5 hour show, the audience is brought on a journey through hometown stories featuring a rollercoaster of emotions, accompanied by a range of musical songs and dances by their talented choir, orchestra and dance crew. As Singapore and Malaysia are neighbouring countries, I feel a sense of familiarity with some of the Singaporean culture as well, and watching the show reminded me so much of home.
I met so many lovely Singaporean friends through my journey in Imperial, and it is always a pleasure to sit down and enjoy Major Event every day, and to see some familiar faces on stage. This year’s story – Supernormal features a broken friendship between four college friends, and how they try to piece together the broken shards after 10 years – of course, with a little help of some supernormal powers. It always amazes me how a bunch of STEM students can develop such a well structured artistic performance on top of their studies. Besides a self-written script, all the musical arrangements were self-composed too, not to mention their very own orchestra team.
Having been in both the performing and organising team of Malaysian Night, I knew that the short show given by the entire crew and cast was possible only through a lot of blood and tears, and I could see that clearly through the eyes of every performer. The best part of watching a show like this is watching all the exchange of flowers and hugs after the show. Speaking from experience, knowing that the audience enjoyed and appreciated your show is the only satisfaction you need to justify all your hard work!
I’m so glad to be in an environment where anyone can find an environment that they can grow and be supported in, and I’m thrilled that after a challenging virtual year, clubs and societies can operate to their full potential again!
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