Activity Review | 2019 Mid-Autumn gala 'Shaws' story'

For freshmen, it might be their first time staying away from home on this traditional Chinese festival. For the senior students, they might know the celebrating routine in the past few years very well. With the joint effort of students and teachers, the gala carrying the delightfulness and happiness of Mid-autumn reunion and the 70th Anniversary of the founding of People’s Republic of China erased the nostalgia.

<If Dancing> & <If Band> respectively gained second and third place of ‘Popularity Award’

‘Medlar and Beer ’ brought the audiences on high with their passion and enthusiasm when performing 'Wo De Tian Kong' (My sky) and 'Hall Of Fame'. The shocking soundtrack along with the Rock & Roll atmosphere lit up the love for music, witnessing their excellent performance.

We don’t have bass guitar or electric guitar, we aren’t the kind of orthodox ‘Band’ whatsoever, we don’t even know each other before forming up the band. Driven by the love for music, we somehow fill this blank and strive to provide the audience with the best visual and audio experience. For me, the essence of a band is to combine different parts together properly. To move towards one goal, to show our understanding of music, we all brought up the best of ourselves and I am really glad to be on the stage with my partners.

                                       —— Ke Yuqin 2019 SME Shaw College

Rosy cheeks, red lips, adorable gestures...four girls from Shaw Colleges bursted out at  the <If Dancing> , lighting up the whole stage at the end of the gala.

‘Brag about Shaw everyday’, with the accelerating rhythm of  Calorie, 40 students and tutors from Shaw Family stood up from the sitting area, reaching up to the stage. laughing out loud while feeling exhilarated to become members of Shaw Family. No matter where you’re from , what matters was living in the moment. They were standing shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand as Shaw Family on the stage, which represented the essence of ‘Family’ and the essence of ‘Shaw’.

At the very beginning, we were worried that there won’t be enough people in the ‘Flash Mob’ of the gala. What’s beyond our expectation is that there were so many tutors and students who joined us of their own accord. They all look lovely while painstakingly rehearsing our show. If you are careful enough, it won’t be hard for you  to find out that both the two shows connected each other. Thanks to Annie's relentless effort, the VCR integrated with the on-site status quo perfectly. There were laughters, tears...and the sincere wish for our Shaw Family filled the scene. I hope you all can feel the caring from Shaw College from this congenial atmosphere of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

                                                                                      —— Mandy (Shaw College Office)

Lin Muyun and the team brought the ‘Bobing Activity’ with profond ‘Min Nan(Southern Fujian)’ Culture up to the stage and shared it with fellow audiences. The vivid ‘Bo Zhuangyuan’ spilled the delight and joy, injecting the gala with excitement and fulfillment.

Tips:

‘Bo Bing’, originated from Gu Langyu, Xiamen, Fujian Province in the late Qing Dynasty, is a special form of Mooncake Culture as a commemoration of Minnan history. It is believed that this annual event was invented by Hongxu, a general of the famous historical figure Zheng Chenggong. Based on the ancient imperial examination system, the dice is designed to be round as a mooncake and contestants, who sit in the shape of a circle representing reunion, throw 6 dices in a porcelain bowl. The reddish or blackish dots on the dice represents whether the one is a ‘Zhuang yuan’ (Top rank of the country) or a ‘Xiu cai’ (those who pass the imperial examination at the county level) .

Although miles away from home, in the heart-warming Shaw Family, nostalgia faded away and the moon  looks even brighter than ever before.

In the end, let us conclude the Mid-Autumn Gala with the organizer from Shaw College Office's words:

Every year, members of Shaw Family come to celebrate this traditional Chinese festival together surrounded with warmth and touching feelings. Although Professor Leung didn’t show up because of academic conference, she specially invited Professor Zhou Yan from the College Affair Committee to attend the gala all the way from Hong Kong. Lovely students from Shaw had prepared the gala for a long time and we, as teachers, had to take off some of the shows unwillingly due to the limited time. We promise the teams who were not able to show under the spotlight in the gala the opportunity for performing next time!

Lastly, let us wish Shaw and all members of Shaw Family a prospect future and stick together  in the name of ‘Family’!

                                           —— Annie (Shaw College Office)