The International Understanding Bazaar (IU Bazaar) is a pet project of The Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu under the New Generation portfolio. It is held annually and jointly ogranised with the 5 Interact Clubs, namely, SM All Saints, SM Lok Yuk, SM St Francis Convent, SM La Salle and Maktab Sabah.
In the months leading up to the event, the students worked very hard to research and learn about foreign cultures and customs, of which they would present performances according to those respective themes during the IU Bazaar. The ideas and creativities of these kids were simply amazing to say the least.
Apart from performing dances etc, the students also set up booths, again according to the respective themes, where they'd have games, merchandises and food and beverages on sale. Above is a tour by President Warrence Chan to the booth of St Francis Convent. They're supposed to portray "India" for this event, but I'm not sure if they actually sell blended fruit juices in the streets of India. Anyway, St Francis Convent won the Best Game & Food category.
Maktab Sabah presented the above which was supposed to portray Papua New Guinea. I've seen a bit of the people of Papua New Guinea on Discovery Channel before, but I don't remember seeing anything like the above. At any rate, they captured the hearts of the judges and won the Best Performance category.
I kinda like the colourful performance by SM Lok Yuk. I'm not too sure if this is really a reflection of Korea. I thought the choreography was wonderful. Unfortunately, halfway through the presentation, they mixed up the routine with the modern version of Korea, which I thought did not blend well these elegant costumes. Therefore, this performance failed to impress the judges.
SM La Salle chose to do Italy for this year's IU Bazaar. It was a commendable performance, but perhaps it would have been better if more of them could participate to put up a good show.
A creative and original performance by SM All Saints of the Ancient Egyptian. I'm sure there's a specific name for that creature with the animal head. Long before the results were known, I knew that this performance was promising for the Best Creativity & Originality category. And of course in the end, they did win this category.
In spite of all the colourful costumes during the event, I was particularly attracted to this one—the simple but original idea of a mummy. I thought they could have done better if only they had chosen someone taller to be the mummy though. When I took this picture, the poor kid was going through hell. I was told later that it's really hot to be bundled up in all those bandages.
KK High School gave a presentation based on Cuba and won the Best Costume category convincingly. I was wondering why they did not get someone play a Fidel Castro, since that would really have portrayed Cuba. After all, until very recently, Castro was Cuba.
In the end, SM All Saints was the Champion: Best Overall Award. I thought the judges made a good choice. Had I been a judge for this event, I would have decided in favour of SM All Saints too.
Well, this was the last project of the New Generation portfolio for this term. I'm so glad that my fellow Rotarians liked the show very much, and congratulated me and the schools for a very exciting show. Rotarian George Ngui will be next in line, and I am sure the kids are already looking forward to the next International Understanding Bazaar!
3 comments:
Some of you are very meticulous readers. My sincere apology for forgetting to mention that apart from the 5 schools under our sponsorship, we have also invited KK High School to participate in this year's IU Bazaar. The Interactors from KK High is under the sponsorship of the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu South.
Can you say something positive for a change? I was there and i thought all the schools presented well in their own rights. I feel that we adults should always give positive support to our youngsters and if we know much about some countries other than ours though maybe just an ounce of knowledge we should introduce them to these young adults.
Ummm... thanks for your comment, Harry.
Did you not find any positive comments in the above post? Did I not say:
"The ideas and creativities of these kids were simply amazing to say the least."
Does that sound negative to you?
How about this:
"I kinda like the colourful performance by SM Lok Yuk."
That sounds positive to me, I don't know.
On the whole, I thought I have given an honest opinion of what I saw that day. I am not forcing anyone to agree with me. Of course I do acknowledge that not everyone may share the same view as mine. I am glad that you liked everything you saw that day.
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