What a way to clear my compulsory community service hours. Fyi, all SMU students have to complete 80 hours of community service within the time we study in SMU. The initial reasoning was because SMU models after the American universities' system.

And so, what do I do to clear my compusory community service hours? Among a few things, I volunteered to be a "festival assistant" for the Night Festival 2009 (organised by the National Museum of Singapore). What do Festival Assistants do/get?

  • Smile and be polite
  • Give out programme booklets
  • Explain programmes to people who ask
  • Get $50 for transport allowance
  • Refreshments given
  • 1 hour break to do whatever we want
  • Singing in the rain
  • Slack around
Okay, I added the last two myself. It was raining on the 2nd day. And slacking is part and parcel of the job, haha. On top of that, I got to catch the programmes running on that day, and saw fireworks on both days~ :)

The festival was of a span of 2 days. Some of the programmes are held at SMU, and coincidentally, I was stationed there to help. Since most of the programmes are outdoors, the running of the festival depends heavily on the condition of the weather. The weather on the first day was good - humid, but at least not raining. On the 2nd day, it rained very heavily. And almost everyone got drenched in the rain. =.=

Stage in the rain
I think the raining scene looks rather pretty, despite the fact that the rain caused us to be darn wet

There were many interesting things that happened throughout the 2 days...

1. Where's my umbrella?
An attendee asked one of my friends...
Attendee: You all should provide us with umbrellas!
My friend: (thought to herself) Helllooo, we are standing in the rain directing ppl and giving out booklets, and as part of our job, are stationed in the rain. You can find shelter and we can't. We are no better than you man.
*Ppl always tend to think of themselves first. Oh well.*

2. You have an umbrella
As it was raining, I used the pack of booklets that I have to shelter myself. One of the passerbys notice and said:
Passerby: Hey, that's a nice umbrella you have!
Me: Haha, yea.
Passerby: Too bad I don't have an umbrella too, it's in my car! If not I can share it with you.
*Aww, so sweet. Ppl like that brighten up a volunteer's day :)*

3. Where's the ATM?
I needed to draw money to take taxi after the 1st night ended (at 2.30am! cool eh). So my friend (who also needed to draw money) went to hunt for an ATM together. There is one at the basement of SMU, and so we went there. When we reached there, my friend used his SMU card to tap open the door. But alas, the ATM was out of service! So we tried to get out of SMU. Little did we know, that the door was locked from the outside! There was no "exit" button too! And so, we went around hunting for an exit in school...at 2.30am!! Sheesh. Luckily I had my friend with me. If not I'll be darn frightened. Although the lights were still on, it was darn scary to see no one in school. Empty. In the end, we found one door that was not locked - the one near the Arts and Cultural Centre. So if you're ever at school till pass midnight, please remember where you can exit from! In the end, we went to the ATM at Cathay to draw out money.

4. I need the ATM
My friend and I were on our way to Cathay to draw out money, and there were many taxis on the road.
Me: Oooh, so many taxis! I can easily go back home!
My friend: Ya, but you don't have the money to.
=.=

5. The show must go on
There were a couple of hiccups on the 2nd night due to the rain, and one of them was that the main actor of one of the programmes fell down due to the slippery platform. The paramedics had to be called in. Fortunately, she was okay, though she fractured her arm. But after that, the "show had to go on".
The main act - the lady was moonwalking on a mobile platform
She fell down due to the slippery stage

Fireworks!
I was admiring them, so didn't take any good pics of them.

The facade of the museum was had lights and shadows casted onto it.
I personally like the 2nd one. Looks like cheese holes, haha.

It was pretty tiring, having to stay up till 2.30am to volunteer and sleeping at 4am for two days, but all in all, I enjoyed myself, meeting new people, watching the performances. I wouldn't mind doing it again if there's a chance to. :)