CCAC X PubSoc: CCAs in Limelight Series
‘Around the World in 3 Days' – this is the theme of the 16th rendition of Camp RE:ACT!, ELDDFS’s flagship event, which took place on 1-3 December 2021. Whilst retaining its traditional structure of a combined activity, guest speakers segment, and wing workshops, this year’s event sought to be innovative with its virtual format and a theme in line with the COVID-19 wanderlust spirit.
“The premise of our theme is that nobody has been able to travel out of Singapore in the past two years – at least until recently,” shared Dong Ziqi (21A15), the President of ELDDFS. “Therefore we wanted to give participants the experience of going around the world virtually and visiting different places.”
One highlight of this year’s Camp RE:ACT! is the Treasure Hunt, a combined activity which the organising team designed anew to replace the real-life trip around Singapore in previous years. In this Treasure Hunt, participants followed a series of clues on a map and solved a global mystery. “To make participants feel like they were actually travelling around the world, we asked them to go to the Google Map street view and look around the place once they’ve found it,” said Gan Zhi Xuan (21A15), the Vice-President of ELDDFS.
The participants were incredibly resourceful and enthusiastic, according to Ziqi and Zhi Xuan. “I had no expectation that they would be able to finish the Treasure Hunt puzzle, but they did,” said Zhi Xuan with amusement. “When I hopped around the different breakout rooms, they were really having fun with it.”
This year Camp RE:ACT! featured two outstanding guest speakers, who are globetrotters themselves. Mr Jim Rogers is renowned as a Wall Street legend, “the Indiana Jones of finance”, and the author of ‘Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Roadtrip’ . On the other hand, Mr Kenny Ting is a sociologist and cultural heritage professional, currently serving as the director of the Singapore Asian Civilisation Museum (ACM).
Mr Kenny Ting’s Presentation
From their long-haul journeys, the two guest speakers distilled many valuable insights. Mr Ting shared about his life, ACM and his job as a museum director. The story of how his love for port cities led to his 7-year work tour around Asia and eventually landing his current job was rather intriguing. One piece of advice he gave was: Whatever you do in life, always be firm and polite!
Resonating with such philosophy, Mr Rogers shared with the participants, “If you want to be a gardener, just be a gardener. And if you become really good at it, then one day your parents will be proud that you are a really good gardener.” Pursue what you love, and love the work that you do! He also advised the camp participants to travel widely, study overseas and experience different cultures.
For Tan Merley Latisha (21S6J), who attended the sharings, it was impressive how Mr Rogers travelled to learn about the world from the ground up. “Every place he stopped in the trip, Rogers talked to businessmen, bankers, investors, and regular people, and learned reams of information that you’d never learn from reading the financial pages or any books,” she recalled. From Mr Ting’s sharing, she learned that we should seize the opportunities presented to us.
Mr Jim Rogers and participants at Camp RE:ACT!
The organisers of the Wing workshops made sure that this segment tied in perfectly with the theme ‘Around the World in 3 Days’. As the Head of the Film Wing, Merley together with her team went beyond purely sharing the cinematography techniques and allowed participants to have an interactive experience. Thus the participants gleaned immense knowledge, from how films evoke foreign locations, to manipulating framing and perspectives.
Film Wing Activity
Even though Camp RE:ACT! involved students from different schools and age range, the dynamics were excellent as the participants managed to find common grounds. From discovering each other’s favourite songs in the ice-breaker game to chiming in to solve Treasure Hunt together, they formed meaningful connections and friendships. Running the Literature wing activity, Zhixuan found it heart-warming to see participants appreciating poetry written by their new friends, “It really showed how art can bond people and help them connect.”
Indeed this year’s Camp RE:ACT was no easy feat. Up till a week before the event, the programme was planned to be half-physical, half-online. The conversion to a purely virtual format brought both pros and cons. “In the past, when Camp RE:ACT! was held physically, it was from 8am to 6pm, but for the virtual edition, we had to shorten it to 4 hours per day,” said Ziqi. “It’s good that you don’t have to spend as much screen time, but there were fewer opportunities to create lasting memories… But in the end, we somehow still managed to make it work!”
Cheers to ELDDFS, the teachers behind the scene and all participants for a successful Camp RE:ACT! 2021.
Written by: Timothy Ong Qi En (21S6J) and Tran Vu Phuong Uyen (21A15)
Edited by: Tan Xuanmin (21S78)
Photo credits: ELDDFS
Special thanks to Ziqi, Zhixuan and Merley
Comments