Following Vinyl: VJC Open House 2024 through the Brochure Sticker Hunt

By Solace A. Dolot (23S41)

Early Saturday morning, the campus was alive as students and staff opened VJC (Victoria Junior College) to the public, eager to entice a new generation of prospective students at VJC’s 2024 Open House.

The FACEs (white shirts) and Open House Adhoc (red shirts) posing for a picture in front of the welcome banner. This was taken right before opening. Photographed by Lo Hiu Fung Shavaun (23S39) from the VJC Photography Society.

Strolling under the welcome banner created by the FACEs (Friendly, Approachable, Caring, Engaging—the main student ambassadors to the public) and ODAC (OutDoor Adventure Club), FACEs ushered visitors to the Welcome Booth, where they were each given a welcome package. It contained an event brochure with a map of the premises, a file, foolscap, and a pad of sticky notes.

FACEs helping out with the Welcome Booth. Photographed by Lo Hiu Fung Shavaun (23S39) and Phan Ling Li, Clare (23S54) from the VJC Photography Society.

Visitors could collect a sticker from visiting each of the 6 locations listed in the brochure. Once stickers from all 6 locations were collected, they could redeem free ice cream from the claw machine beside the Welcome Booth (Location 1).

Location 2: Concourse

The Concourse was filled with CCA booths for the clubs and societies in VJC. Each CCA was in charge of running their own booth, and many of the clubs and societies were determined to attract new members.

To obtain the sticker, visitors had to approach any of the booths and, oftentimes, participate in a short activity offered by the CCA. For example, at the Writers’ Circle booth, visitors could complete a blackout poetry activity to earn a typewriter sticker.

The Writers’ Circle Booth. Photographed by Author and Muhammad Danish bin Hanafi (23S51) from the VJC Photography Society.

Other activities included congkak at the Malay Cultural Society (MCS) booth, telescope viewing at the Astronomy Club booth, and both Chinese and International Chess at the Strategic Games Club booth.

All CCAs each had a unique sticker design created by the VJC Art Club.

The Concourse CCA booths. (Clockwise from top): Strategic Games Club, MCS, Astronomy Club, Student Council, and Photography Society. Photographed by Author, and Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31), Muhammad Danish bin Hanafi (23S51), and Ng Jun Wei (23S53) from the VJC Photography Society.

Roaming advertisers frequented the Concourse, carrying signboards with their CCA details and interest forms. More creative ones included Hockey with their roving goalpost/scoring challenge, and another with a person-sized wearable guitar cutout. The latter of which would direct visitors to the stretch outside the LTs, where the Guitar Ensemble booth was located.

The Guitar Ensemble advertisers. Photographed by Author.

Location 3: Performance Theatre (PT)

From the walkway outside LT2 to the area in front of the PT, the booths for performing arts CCAs and the Student Council (SC) could be found. Instruments, costumes, and media from various performances were on display, and impromptu performances from the CCAs could be heard as visitors explored.

Again, to obtain the sticker, guests could visit any of the booths and, usually, participate in a challenge from the CCA. These included VJChoir’s random singing challenge, where visitors had to randomly draw a song from a box and sing it on the spot to the booth members.

The performing arts CCA booths. (Clockwise from top): VJChoir, Guitar Ensemble, VJDance, Strings Ensemble, Chinese Orchestra, and Symphonic Band. Photographed by Author, and Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31); Lo Hiu Fung Shavaun (23S39); and Phan Ling Li, Clare (23S54) from the VJC Photography Society.

Another way of obtaining the PT sticker was by attending a show inside the PT.

For Open House this year, most of the performing arts CCAs had come up with a performance, usually lasting around 5 minutes each. The CCAs were split into morning and afternoon blocks.

The morning round of PT performances from 11.00 to 11.15 a.m. Photographed by Lo Hiu Fung Shavaun (23S39) and Kim Byeong Jun (23S53) from the VJC Photography Society.

The afternoon round of PT performances, held from 12.25 to 12.40 p.m. Photographed by Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31) from the VJC Photography Society.

After the morning block, Mr. Jeffrey Low came up onstage for his Principal’s Talk, where he shared more about VJC’s school culture. An exhibition on VJC’s school culture was also put up in the E-block next door.

Decorated in black drapes and fairy lights, the projector in E22 hummed as it panned through 3 short documentary-style videos. The videos followed the stories of 3 staff members, Mr. Goh (Hot Drinks stall vendor), ‘Auntie Maggie’ (Economics tutor), and Ms. Sangeetha Segar (Senior Counsellor), on how they were touched by the Victorian spirit and what encouraged them to remain in VJC. Associated display tables were also put up.

The E22 staff exhibition. Photographed by Author.

Location 4: Living Room

Should visitors wish to hear from a more student perspective on life in VJC, they could visit the Living Room for the students’ sharing sessions, located just upstairs from the PT.

The Living Room. Photographed by Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31) from the VJC Photography Society.

To obtain the Living Room sticker, they could attend one of the 3 sharing sessions spaced throughout the day, where 3 students shared at each time. The FACEs promoted the student sharings to encourage visitors to come in a timely manner. Though, visitors were allowed to walk in if they wished.

“There was also a free and easy QnA segment after the 3 students shared, where visitors could go up to any student and engage them informally,” Chang Xin Yi Rachelle (23A14) added.

Rachelle Chang was a FACE and one of the student sharers at Open House. In her sharing, she talked about her experience as a humanities scholar, and the trip to Hong Kong she participated in with the other arts scholars and students over the December holidays.

“I mainly focused on expressing my gratitude for getting to experience such a rare opportunity with amazing people and teachers,” she commented.

Chang during her student sharing in the PT. Photographed by Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31) from the VJC Photography Society.

If visitors missed the sessions, a few bite-sized student sharings were also displayed in the VLA (Victorians’ Lovely Abode).

For Open House, the refurbished space above the canteen had been rebranded as the Victorian Imaginarium. On the far wall, a projector showcased a compilation of videos put together by StudioV. These covered college events and school life in the VJC experience, including JCOrientation 2023 and Faith Zhen Ford (22S32)’s record-breaking win at last year’s National School Games’ (NSG) Track-and-Field finals.

Location 5: Hall

Though as in VJC’s ‘Work hard, Play hard’ culture, VJC was not only about fun events and sports. To answer their burning questions about academic rigour in VJC, visitors could head to the Hall to see the various subject booths.

Run by the tutors, they presented the range of subjects VJC had to offer and information about the syllabus and lessons for individual subjects. To obtain the Hall sticker, visitors simply had to approach and interact with any of the subject booths in the Hall. More people were interested in the more niche subjects in VJC, such as the Science Research booth run largely by Dr. Wu Jiang or the Theatre Studies and Drama booth.

The subject booths in the Hall. Photographed by Muhammad Danish bin Hanafi (23S51) and Phan Ling Li, Clare (23S54) from the VJC Photography Society.

Location 6: Canteen

The last sticker location was the canteen, where the sticker could be obtained from interacting with the sports CCA booths inside.

In general, the sports CCAs were split into two halves with the racket and ball games along the canteen walkway. Other sports such as VJSwims, Cross Country, and Sailing were located opposite the driveway, nearer to the PT.

The sports CCA booths. (Clockwise from top): Sailing, Cricket, Netball, Track & Field, Hockey, Table Tennis, Wushu, Taekwondo, Swims. Photographed by Lo Hiu Fung Shavaun (23S39); Muhammad Danish bin Hanafi (23S51); and Phan Ling Li, Clare (23S54) from the VJC Photography Society.

Visitors busied themselves with various friendly trials of the sports offered. For CCAs where trials were less possible, they created adjacent activities such as ODAC’s self-built working wooden swing, or conducted live demonstrations as with Wushu and Taekwondo.

The ODAC booth, featuring Zhang Jun Wei Cornelius (23S44) on the swing. Photographed by Author, and Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31) from the VJC Photography Society.

Though, if visitors were feeling tired from a whole morning of visiting, they could grab a bite to eat in (and outside of) the canteen.

A few stalls were open to serve food and drinks. However, there were also a few extra options offered especially for Open House. Cotton candy was available on campus, and a popcorn stand outside the General Office served sweet popcorn.

Though garnering excitement from prior online promotion, The Açaí Truck’s temporary booth was stationed opposite the Fruit Juice stall, where they offered mini açaí bowls to visitors and students alike. Even several alumni could be spotted getting a bowl, taking the opportunity to revisit the campus.

Special food options at Open House this year. Photographed by Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31) and Muhammad Danish bin Hanafi (23S51) from the VJC Photography Society.

Re-energised, visitors could go to the temporary stage (just outside the canteen) to watch various busking performances from the students. These were separated into 3 distinct blocks throughout the day, with one in the morning, afternoon, and the Open House finale.

The morning round of student busking from 9.30 to 10.15 a.m. Photographed by Author; and Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31); Muhammad Danish bin Hanafi (23S51); and Phan Ling Li, Clare (23S54) from the VJC Photography Society.

The afternoon round of busking, conducted from 12.00 to 12.10 p.m. Photographed by Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31) from the VJC Photography Society.

All of the acts were recognisable from last year’s Victorian Affair, making a comeback for this year’s Open House with new sets. A notable performance amongst them was Peanut & Extra Jelly Sandwich’s cover of Stephen Sanchez and Em Beihold’s ‘Until I Found You’.

Unfortunately for them, their female vocalist, Chau Yi Ling Sarah (23S55) had fallen sick that day. For a band known for their stellar, powerful duets, this was potentially devastating. However, their pianist, Tho Wee Chong Joshua (23S56), rose up to the challenge and assumed her role. He did an impressive job as a vocalist, especially for someone who had established himself for his pianist work, tracing all the way back to MusicFest 2023. The crowd sensed nothing amiss and the show just went on.

Joshua Tho (left) from Peanut & Extra Jelly Sandwich. Photographed by Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31) from the VJC Photography Society.

During and around the busking segments, a few mass dances and some classic VJ cheers were interspersed, lending the stage vibrancy throughout the day. So, now, to hype up the crowd for the finale, the FACEs started a cheer train.

To a FACE beating a drum, the FACEs and some eager Victorians paraded around the college from the stage, through the Concourse, past the PT, and back, cheering all the while. Cheers like ‘Pump It Up’ and ‘VJ Boleh’ were shouted, and the finale began once they returned.

The parade of cheers. Photographed by Author, and Ng Jun Wei (23S53) from the VJC Photography Society.

The crowd had swelled to its biggest yet. Skipping the Whiney Whiney mass dance in the interest of time, they started with Maroon 4’s performance. The boy group covered ‘She Looks So Perfect’ by 5 Seconds of Summer. Then, ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ by One Direction.

Maroon 4. Photographed by Kim Byeong Jun (23S53) from the VJC Photography Society.

Their fans jumped and waved rockstar signs, and they ended off their set to cries of “Crowdsurf!”

This time, away from the watchful eyes of Mr. Seet Kok Wah, one of the members finally jumped onto the outstretched arms of their fans.

The crowd. Photographed by Author, and Kim Byeong Jun (23S53) from the VJC Photography Society.

They transitioned into RHockerfellas, the returning VJC alumni band that met at NUS Raffles Hall. RHockerfellas too performed 2 songs: One Direction’s ‘Midnight Memories’ and All Time Low’s ‘Dear Maria, Count Me In’.

RHockerfellas. Photographed by Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31) and Kim Byeong Jun (23S53) from the VJC Photography Society.

With an energetic finale, the Open House ended with the ‘The Nights’ mass dance, the Victorian Anthem, and the Victorian Rally. Even when the anthem’s backing track failed to play, Victorians powered through in song. They danced enthusiastically and stomped loudly, ending off the day to whoops and cheers.

The Finale. Photographed by Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31) and Ng Jun Wei (23S53) from the VJC Photography Society.

“As a FACE, we had specific roles to do during different shifts,” the aforementioned Rachelle Chang shared again.

According to her role, she was mostly supposed to conduct tours and enliven the environment.

“But things got a bit chaotic during the day,” she laughed.

She went on to describe how during her break, she ended up ushering people into the PT, finding seats, and handing out stickers. The sheer amount of people she had to manage was “chaotic” and stressful for her. And it added on to her initial fears about upholding college reputation and ensuring visitor engagement.

“As someone more introverted, being a FACE was also one of the first times I would be interacting with so many strangers in such a short span of time. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find interesting topics of conversation or be unable to engage with the visitors until they felt bored,” she confessed.

Though, she nonetheless found it very fun, citing her fellow FACEs and the atmosphere as to why she enjoyed it.

“In the end though, it all turned out alright.”

End photo. Photographed by Kumaravel Yhuvabharath (23S31); Lo Hiu Fung Shavaun (23S39); Muhammad Danish bin Hanafi (23S51); Ng Jun Wei (23S53); Kim Byeong Jun (23S53); and Phan Ling Li, Clare (23S54) from the VJC Photography Society.

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