SM St Francis Convent Interact Club—Installation Night

Yesterday evening was the SM St Francis Convent Interact Club's Installation Night. It was held at the Rose Garden, Magellan, Sutera Harbour Resort. I attended the event, being the New Generation Director together with a fellow Rotarian, Paul Foronda. Paul is the Student Advisor for the Interact Club of this school.

I was seated with Paul and the incoming President (2008-2009), Miss Michelle Chu. As the Student Advisor, Paul gave a short speech at the start of the event. That was followed by a speech by the outgoing President, Miss Rebecca Thien. And then later Michelle, too, gave a speech.

I was somewhat impressed that the girls gave my kind of entertainment this year. They actually sang comprehensible lyrics which were mostly accompanied by music from acoustic guitars. The entertainments by the other Interact Clubs before this were mostly loud noises of what they called music, and lots of yelling which were presumably song lyrics. But of course they saved their modern dance (or at least I think that's what they call those sudden jerky movements) for the last. Judging from the reaction of the crowd, it was obvious that they enjoyed that particular performance. It's one of those unfathomable big mysteries.

Overall, I must say that this year's Installation Night was much better than last year's. I remember when I attended last year's Installation Night, it was held in the Grand Port View. Unfortunately on that same evening, there was another big function on the adjacent hall, and the musics from both sides sort of clashed with each other.

Having said that, however, I must say that Rose Garden is somewhat too lavish for the Installation Night of the Interact Club. These kids went all out to get sponsors for this occasion, but I feel that such resources might be put to better use for their service projects.

I'd like to mention here that I find the St Franciscans are by far the most organised Interactors when compared to the clubs from the other schools. I received their invitation about 2 weeks before the event. It gave me sufficient time to react. The Interactors from the other schools gave me only 2 days' notice, probably assuming that we Rotarians don't have anything else to do with our time!

I'd like to congratulate Miss Michelle Chu and her officers, and I wish them all the best in their community projects throughout the year.