A 'Living Non-Living Person' - Because You Played A Part, Know Yourself Well.

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!

It's Lichun, the 5th day of Chinese New Year, the beginning of spring.

Today is also the birthday of God Of Fortune, 

HUAT AH!

This sounds very kiasu but I woke up early just to buy my lottery ticket. 

*bleah*

Today is ALSO the day to save money into your bank account.

According to chinese customs, it is believed that by doing this, it will bring you good wealth and good luck for the whole year!

Double Happiness~

Image from Google Search

Beliefs aside, everyone should keep doing good and accumulate good karma points for yourself the whole year round!

I came to discover a 'new' type of human beings. 

I term this kind of people 'Living non-living things'.

Even though they do not do harm to others, they do not help others either. 

They are neither rude nor polite, heartless nor soft-hearted.

They know what's going on around them but yet oblivious enough to ignore a situation that is happening.

These people doesn't flare up easily but on the contrary, they are the most patient people ever who can stand at one side and watch calmly as the episodes unfold themselves.

They are living things, yet they possess a kind of non-living thing behaviour. 

They are breathing yet not budge a single bit when things happen. 

Here's an real-life example of a 'living non-living person'(X):

X and an eldely woman crossing the road at the pedestrian crossing. 

The green man started flashing.

In front of X, Elderly woman struggling with bulky packets and a trolley from her market trip.

X was carrying his small packet of breakfast.

Elderly woman was just halfway across.

Lights turned red. 

Cars started honking.

Elderly woman finally managed to reach the other side but one of her trolley wheel was stuck.

X walked on with his packet of breakfast, casually after he'd crossed the road.

I was on my way to the market, saw the incident and quickly ran up to the aid of the elderly auntie. 

X noticed the auntie, saw that she was having trouble with her bulky bags.

 X could've helped the auntie with her bags since they were going in the same direction.

He simply... 

move on with his life; I guess?

They do not give thanks nor help to hold the elevator door for others, yet they do not try to close the elevator door quickly so that no one could take the lift with them. 

They just stand there and NOT MOVE A SINGLE BIT, not even to make way for others to come in, until they've reached their floor. 

Have you noticed someone like this or are you someone like that yourself?

I'm not saying this is anything good or bad. 

I'm just surprised at the behaviour. 

Don't be lah~ 

Start doing good, any form of good! 

Little kind gestures make mass differences.

Say 'thank you' when someone holds the elevator for you, share your umbrella with a stranger on a rainy day, smile and greet your neighbour, offer to wash the dishes for your family after dinner together...

You can also vote for your favourite Top 10  N.E.mation! 8 finalists to support homegrown talents!

Because You Played A Part.

You'd had seen the N.E.mation! 8 Call For Votes posters everywhere by now at MRT stations, bus stops, magazines and more.

I spotted one at the bus stop myself on my way home:

The Clips of the Top 10  N.E.mation! 8 finalists are out!

What Do We Have To Do? 

3 Easy Steps.

 NUMBER ONE. Watch The Clips

NUMBER TWO. Vote For 2 Of Your Favourite Clips.

NUMBER THREE. Stand To Win Attractive Prizes!

 Simply visit www.nemation.sg on your PC or mobile devices and watch all 10 clips. 

Vote for your three favourite clips, and stand to win attractive prizes like the iPad Air 16GB (WiFi + Cellular), Canon IXUS 132, iPad mini (Retina, WiFi), Canon Selphy Printers, Nintendo 3DS XL, Universal Studios Singapore passes and more! 

Voting ends 15 February 2014.

Pay SPECIAL attention to these 2 groups of students, 

They are my beautiful angels who've worked so hard so hard during their Dec school holidays.

My journey with them have been extremely heart-warming.
Capable yet so humble. 

VOTE for them and their hard work to produce such meaningful animation clip!

NE8C07: TEAM SYNCH

From Kent Ridge Secondary School

with their one and first typography animation clip in the contest.

NE8C09: TEAM UNICORNSANDRAINBOWS;)

From Orchid Park Secondary School

Spread the love, spread the colours.

 THESE ARE THE 4 METHODS TO VOTE.

You can do all four!

Voting phrase is from 18 January to 15 February 2014

1.Visit www.nemation.sg from your PC. View all 10 clips and vote for 3 of your favorite clips!
2.Visit www.nemation.sg to vote on your smartphone on your smartphone! Alternatively, you can scan the QR code above to reach the same destination.
3.Visit N.E.mation! Facebook page on www.facebook.com/nemation
4.Vote via SMS in the following format:

NE8WEB [1st choice],[2nd choice],[3rd choice] NRICFull Name to 76677 

Example: NE8WEB C01,C02,C03 S1234567A Ben Tan Wei Chen
Those below 21 years of age must seek parental consent to participate in the SMS Voting. 
Standard SMS rate applies.

Please note that each vote must be for three different N.E.mation! 8 clips.
Each person is only allowed to vote once on each of the voting platform. 

Congratulations to all Top 10 finalists!

[Mint.Music.Lifestyle] It's A WRAP PARTY at N.E.mation!8

IT'S A WRAP!

N.E.mation! 8 Wrap Party

06 DEC 2013

Here's the party checklist that day:

#1 Confetti overdose

#2 Balloons more than humans heads

#3 Popping Of Champagnes 

(enough to make you drunk but these are actually sparkling juices)

#4 Floor games for everyone to participate

Warning: Not For The Faint-hearted

This is the 2nd segment of their floor game activity.

The students and instructors gathered to play 2 games here:

"Jumping Frog" 

and 

"Hello Henry"

Game 1: Jumping Frog

First, everyone form a big circle.

Then the students have to take turns to say each of these lines without making any mistakes

 Student 1: One Frog

Student 2: Jump Into The Water

Student 3: Duum

Student 4: One Frog 

Student 5: One Frog

Student 6: Jump Into The Water

Student 7: Jump Into The Water

Student 8: Duum

Student 9: Duum

Student 10: One Frog

Student 11: One Frog

Student 12: One Frog

Student 13: Jump Into The Water

Student 14: Jump Into The Water

Student 15: Jump Into The Water

Student 16: Duum
Student 17: Duum
Student 18: Duum

… The game continues until someone loses count…

Watch them play part of this game here: http://instagram.com/p/hlCeXFJhkx/

Game 2: Hello Henry

Let me try my best to explain how this game works.

First, everyone form a big circle again.

The first person starts by saying 'Hello Henry' the person sitting next to him/her (2nd person).

2nd person has to respond 1st person by saying, ' Yes, Henry?'

At this point, the first person points to the THIRD person in the row and says, 'Tell Henry'.

The game repeats with the 2nd person now becoming the 1st person.

1st Person: Hello Henry

2nd Person: Yes Henry?

1st Person (points to 3rd person): Tell Henry

Instructors giving a demonstration on 'Hello Henry':

The Catch:

You'll get a pinch of toothpaste on your nose if you make a mistake and players will have to address your name as 'One Dot' instead of 'Henry'.

I can't help but notice a really cute 'one dot' here:

Eye Candy alert in 

3….

.

.

.

.

..

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

….

.

.

.

.

...

.

2…..

.

.

.

.

….

…

.

.

.

.

..

.

ONE.

It's a candid shot and I think she look soooooo cute with that smile!!!

Which team is she from again?

Over at Synch, 

we've got 2 One-dots and 1 Two-dots by the first round. 

BUCK UP GUYS!

My One-dot Trish from UnicornsAndRainbows;) from the 2nd round because she has too many Henrys and Dot names to remember!  She says the toothpaste on her nose is really spicy and 'mint'.

#5 Video Games

Within an hour, the blue screen studio was transformed into the best dance club ever!

The teams took turns to play Dance Mania on Xbox 360 Kinect.

It's a night full of screams, grooves, more screams and my guess is, we're forming fan clubs for our 'dancers'!

#7 Doodling With Colour Pencils, Checked.

Meanwhile, members of Synch were at their workplace doodling and finishing their art piece for me while waiting for other games to commence.

Elyse and Jaren at work:

The team even signed off and left a long message (love letter) at the back of the drawing.

The message (mushy stuff only we will understand) left me in tears as I read.

THANK YO SYNCH.

I. REALLY. LOVE. THIS. DRAWING. OF. US.

*beams*

#8 Behind-The-Scenes Set Up

How many Instructors does it take to set up and install an Xbox?

2 is an underestimated number here.

Apart from 2 of them you see in the picture: That's James and Genghui, we have one more standing behind the TV, one on his way to grab an internet cable, 2 of us waiting to try out the game to see if the sensor work.

That's 6 of us figuring back-end work for the last 20 minutes just to make that ONE Xbox 360 worked.

Kudos to the instructors and their guests trying to keep this party running smooth for the students.

#8 Cleaning Up

I'd have to say this is one of the BEST segment for the night!

Balloons popping, team work, tearing down everything was equally fun~

Everyone played a part in the cleaning up and the party area was sparkling clean in a good 15 Minutes.

Trish and Xin Pei from UnicornsAndRainbows trying to vacuum the confetti that were stuck on the ceiling.

So it's a wrap!

3 weeks of production passed at the speed of light.

The party was a blast and all the students deserve a pat on their back.

WELL DONE EVERYONE!

Now I know if you've been following N.E.mation!8, you'd want to see their finished products.

Me too!

Let's be a little more patient as they'll be released in January 2014 for public voting!

Meanwhile, remember to 

Support RainbowsAndUnicorns as well as Synch for their wonderful clips.

We'll see you in January 2014 for the voting phrase.

Keep yourself updated on http://nemation.sg

A scene taken from Synch's Clip:

To Sum it all up, read my previous N.E.mation!8 blog posts:

Week 1 - The Home Of N.E.mation! 8 is haunted by a Teddy Bear?

Week 1 - 5 Reasons Why I Am So Impress By Synch For Doing The First Typograhy Animation on N.E.mation! 8 

Week 2 - Foster Friendships Even During Competitions Like N.E.mation!8

Week 2 - Fun Ice-breaking Games Played With My N.E.mation!8 Teams

Week 3 - My Final visit To The Home Of N.E.mation!8 Top 10 Finalists

= BECAUSE YOU PLAYED A PART =

[Mint.Music.Lifestyle] Foster Friendships Even During Competitions, like N.E.mation! 8

Friends.

They say each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.

I can never agree more.

A friendship requires more than just a hi-bye after meeting someone new. One has to make an effort to nurture, build and protect the new friendship. Each friend brings different memories for us to keep for life. Every friend we keep until now is a priceless treasure who bring joy to our lives.

Here I am, sitting on my bed with my mini table set up and ready to write a new post after 3 consecutive days of show preparations and hosting. (all burnt out and running a slight fever)



Sitting just across my table, my soulmate annoying burpasaurus fartasarus Colin Chang also one of N.E.mation! 8 ambassadors, is drafting up his blog articles at the same time. He'll be sharing his week 2 experience about N.E.mation! 8  and his teams Hashtag and WAYNE STARK CO.  Rawr!

Same same yet different.
Despite vast differences in our personalities (I'm so out-going but he's so reserved. He likes it quiet while I prefer a room filled with music...), I'm amazed how we compliment each other in terms of interests, life perspectives and FOOD. Even after being so long together, we still seem to have so much to talk about to each other, all the way into wee hours on most nights!

We both took part in this N.E.mation! 8 ambassador challenge. Yet the challenge hasn't affected our friendship a single bit. We even share about valuable experience and interesting findings during our visits.

This is also a plus point for me because due to time limit, I couldn't cover news and updates of all 10 NEmation finalists but got to learn more about them through our daily conversations~




Here's another long-time friend of mine.

Earlier this afternoon, I attended a good friend's 21st Birthday bash.
Happy Birthday Samantha Whang aka Xiao Bu Dian.

I have known you FOREVER, Xiao Bu Dian.
Since what, when you're 12?!

OMG I FEEL SO OLD.

Happy sweet 21st, my pretty princess.
I'm sorry I cried when I saw you today because I'm overly happy and proud to know that you're doing so well, grown into such a fine, joyful lady and most of all, pink in health!



Samantha and I met years ago (when Samantha was 12) when we took part in a 2-day drama workshop held by Mediacorp known as December Dazzle. We hardly meet up but whenever we do, we'd be chatting away for hours, asking about each other's life and  exchanging gifts.  (actually she prepares more gifts for me than I do. OPS)

Both our common interest then?
In Media.
That's why we became good friends so fast~

I wasn't the only one who attended at Samantha's 21st birthday bash.
I bumped into friends I know!
Meet popular bloggers Joey, Angie and Yingzi (left to right)

We met one another at different blog events but are all mutual friends.
Our common interest - Blogging!



Yingzi's also one of N.E.mation! 8  appointed ambassadors by the way.
We were really excited to share insights of N.E.mation! 8.
All the best to Team Delta-gaytor and Dairy Product!

Thanks to N.E.mation! 8  ambassador challenge, Yingzi and I got even closer together.
Now we have MORE things to tell each other, yeah!

All in all, I wish to convey this special message to everyone out there, people who take part in competitions and challenges:

As much as there's only ONE winning title which you badly hope to be the one walking away with, it boils down to the fact that all participants who join the same contest as you are, carry the same passion and love for the same interest. 

In a singing contest, everyone in it LOVES to sing.
In a drawing contest, everyone in it LOVES to draw.

All of you are LIKE-MINDED people who should foster strong friendships and grow that SAME passion in this society together.  In the near future, you should find opportunities to WORK TOGETHER and help one another improve, compliment one another's talent to produce even better results.

That's the power of competitions;
it's a platform to bring like-minded people (and I mean the elites of that trade) together.

So cherish the golden opportunity of making friends.

Well guess what, new friendships are budding at NYP Lounge on my recent Tuesday visit.
(I don't know why people still ask me when I'm going down to Nanyang Polytechnic again when my previous article already mentioned I'll be there every TUESDAY. duh.)





I bumped into Sarah, the 3rd N.E.mation! 8  ambassador I'm mentioning in my post here. She happened to be there to support her 2 teams - Momento Mori and The 4 Of Us II.
WOHOOOO~



And Teddy looks so adorable that day, hugging his Banana friend.
Previously scary because Team UnicornsAndRainbows;) and I agreed that it's a haunted teddy bear.

I beg to differ now.
Look at him, awww……



Firstly, I went on to check on my kind angels from Team UnicornsAndRainbows;).
The mood in their work area was slightly different from the previous week (the happy room)

They were all serious at work with their instructor, Jade.
From what I know, the girls are slightly behind schedule and a little worried about their progress.

Yumi wish Instructor Jade(pink):


Xin Pei bumped into a problem during the digital tracing of the character and seeking advice from Instructor Jade:


Found a random drawing of an anime character on the floor, probably a de-stress tool for one of the girls. Who's drawing is this? You can draw very well la:


Despite the work stress and seriousness, the girls managed to crack jokes for me.
Xin Pei said, "Mint Da Jie, this is you looking at us do our work."



Eh, I look so fierce meh?
Hahahahhahahaa this is so cute to turn a table lamp into a character.
I'd bring my picture for them on my next visit~  :p

I thought that this picture Ching Gje was tracing looks like me:



Girls, press on and complete your work.
I look forward to see your finished work, screened on the big TVs.

I'll be so proud of you that you've showcased such a beautiful story.
I hope more people get to see your clip and get the message of spreading colours to others around them.

So a few nights later, I sent them a little encouragement on our group chat:





Press on Trish, Yumi, Xin Pei and Ching Gje.
YOU. CAN. DO. IT.
Hope to see you girls back to your bubbly and confident selves on my next visit!



As this year's N.E.mation!  theme suggest, 'Because You Played A Part'.
They are just doing so.

While the whole of secondary school students are spending their holidays playing and resting, these girls (together with 9 other teams of students) are pushing themselves to the limit, trying to complete their animation clips to convey a special total defence message to YOU.

They don't have to do this.
But they are.

That's why I love all of them so much!

Over to my next team, Synch has drawn and designed a team logo for themselves.



I noticed too, that our most talented Jaren has also drew some anime characters (THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL!!!) and pasted them at his work area.



The team also pasted quick guide to help them with the software they are using to do their clip.



- RECAP -
N.E.mation! is a digital animation competition organised by Nexus for youths to express their thoughts on Total Defence. It is a competition with training and guidance provided for the students. That's why students with no prior experience in animation have been able to produce clips of broadcast quality to screen on free-to-air television. Some of these clips were even selected for international animation festivals and won several awards.

Bumped into one of Synch's member, Sze Yong, who was helping to clear out the thrash of the day:



Synch comprises of a team of extremely sensible students.
As playful as they (except Elyse) are, they know how to set their goals and prorities right.

By now, have you noticed common interests between Team UnicornsAndRainbows;) and Synch yet?
That's right - animation and anime!

As I mentioned earlier, it's important to make friends in the same competition.
To get them to know one another better, I suggested playing some games together that day.
We even had dinner together, wohooooo!

It was late and only the Korean stall was the only stall left opened by the time we got down.
The auntie suggested we order the same dish so she'd cook for us all at once.

Each day, the students will be issued cash vouchers to purchase their meals at Koufu (NYP).





Here's the FIRST group photo of my teams having dinner together:

Left row from the front:  Jaren, Sze Yong, Trish and Yumi.
Right row from the front: Elyse, Jason, Ching Gje and Xin Pei.

I'm glad to know every single one of you.
Thank you for sharing and being a friend, allowing me into your circle of life.

I pray that one day, your friendships will continue to blossom and all of you will become good friends years from now. :)

Follow TeamSynch on Instagram & Twitter. Hashtag #NE8C07.
Follow UnicornsAndRainbows;) via hashtag #NE8C09.

You can follow their pages via Facebook by clicking on their group pictures HERE.

PS: To the korean stall auntie, thank you for the additional dish on the house so that we can eat more. 
You are so nice! The perfect real-life example of the teams' messages to everyone: 

- Spreading colours and help one another (Team UnicornsAndRainbows;) )
- Reduce gap and soreness between one another with a more giving heart and understanding (Team Synch)

Thank you, Auntie!




2nd week of production almost completed, ONE LAST week to go!
I've sent Vitamin C supplies to both my teams:



They are drowning themselves with plenty of water too:


Stay healthy, guys!

To know more about N.E.mation! 8, visit http://nemation.sg.



"While most are dreaming of success, winners wake-up and work hard to achieve it."
CHIONG AH!!!