Valentines Day 2013

On the 14th of February, the Valentines’ Day Ad-Hoc (VDAH) spearheaded the spreading of love. With the help of all councillors and many others, we took the opportunity to make others feel loved, making the most of this once a year occasion.​

While Valentine’s Day might not be a high holiday but rather a commercialized invention, we chose to focus on the sincerity and spontaneity of love with a sprinkle of cheesiness that was absolutely necessary. A lot of thought went into our projected theme of Ever Ever After, illustrating our hope that love (between friends, couples, family) would be endless and “happily ever after”s would come true. The fantastical theme was further sealed with the sale of sweet treats like organic chocolate brownies, cupcakes with sugary pastel icing and fairy biscuits. Alongside the sale of allthe goodies, flowers and balloons were sold as well. Also, there was a polaroid photobooth in the concourse where students could pose against the hand painted fabric backdrop of a castle complete with a fanciful winding path. A shout-out booth was also formed for students to quip and confess. Notably, nearly all our decorations, like the bunting, were hand-made creations. It was a large amount of effort, with the purpose of espousing romantic notions and to hype up the college, but well worth it.​

This ad-hoc’s most significant challenge was in the form of severely limited time due to preparations for and the running of Orientation 2013. The Chinese New Year holidays then fired off once Orientation drew to a close, and by the time we came back from the break, there was just one day left before Valentines’ Day. It was essentially working on a two-week long timeline, possibly the shortest ad-hoc in Council history; tough, but not impossible. While we managed to overcome these challenges, ultimately we learnt that the perfection and precision of the final execution was imperative and far outweighed any verbal planning. ​

Despite some last minute preparations and haphazard organization, we managed to smoothly run a vivacious Valentines’ Day. The day passed in a whirlwind, much like the ad-hoc journey, imprinted in my memory as a blur of sales money and stocklists and how the school was filled with flowers and balloons everywhere.

​Furthermore, in order to truly ensure the lively and enthralling atmosphere was thoroughly felt and well established, the 37th Students’ Council launched 2 other side projects in conjunction with VDAH. These mini events constituted an Inter-JC Flower Initiative and the magical Movie Under The Stars (MUTS), a Public Relations sub-committee tradition, featuring the musical romantic comedy, Tangled. Through these exciting initiatives, we rose money which will be donated to our adopted charity for this event, The Straits Times Pocket Money Fund. It was indeed meaningful that the unselfish nature of love could be so aptly expressed on this occasion in the donating of an allowance enough to last a Primary One pupil an entire year! And that is really what the day is about: spreading love, being of service and spreading the love.​

It is difficult to determine how enthralling Valentine’s Day would have been if not for the support by the college, MRC and everyone else who played a part in this. We would like to thank the college for all the support and enthusiasm in making the overall event a success and the Parents Action Team’s for their gracious efforts in the contribution of delicious baked goodies for the Sales. Last but not least, we would like to thank our council teachers, Ms Tan Jie Qi and Mrs Tan Su Li for their tireless guidance, support and faith in us.​

As the Valentines’ Day Ad-Hoc 2013, we can truly say this journey proved to be much more than a labour of love indeed. May we never shy from any opportunity to express our affections towards our loved ones, regardless of the day.​

To God Be The Glory, The Best Is Yet To Be!​

Nicolette Sim

Head of Valentines’ Day Ad-Hoc 2013