Flame Awards 2014 HEROES & VILLAINS

Heroes & Villains graces the halls of Republic Polytechnic

By Vernice Tan
Not a belated Halloween Event - Like every year, the committee behind Flame Awards manages to
come up with an interesting theme. Republic Polytechnic (RP) students dress to impress.
Almost filling the 1000-seater theatre at The Republic Cultural Centre (TRCC) on 14th November
2014, Friday, Flame Awards 2014 was definitely a night to remember.
Flame Awards is Republic Polytechnics annual award ceremony held to celebrate the achievements
of students from various clubs. Every year, the committee never fails to come up with an interesting
theme, never repetitive, to further psych up the event. Last years theme was Psychedelic 60s.
This year, to commemorate the many blockbusters released recently, the organising team formed by
CREATE, Bizcomm from Centre of Enterprise and Communication and Club G from School of
Technology for the Arts, decided to with the theme of Heroes & Villains
Are you a hero or a villain?- Upon entering the event venue for Flame Awards 2014, attendees was
required to make a choice and choose a side, whether you would walk down the path of evil, or
justice.

< The set-up crew had gone all out, creating mirrored pathways at the entrance with red and yellow
lights to differentiate the sides. >
Photos contributed by Azmi Athni (Photo IG)
Things got interesting even prior to getting seated inside. Republic Polytechnics very own Hip Hop
Interest Group (IG) started the event with a bang! A well-executed flash mob starting out from red
carpet leading to the theatre, took most of the attendees by surprise but it was certain that
everyone enjoyed it. Official student photographers from Photo IG could be seen rushing back and
fro the red carpet, wanting to capture moments when these talented Heroes and Villains
flaunted their best dance moves.

Turtles, not just ninjas but also dancers. Flash mob by Hip Hop Interest Group (IG) tickled everyones
fancy.
Photos contributed by Azmi Athni (Photo IG)
Flame Awards 2014, however, only officially begun with a collaboration piece by Beats Encore and
Gamelan Naga Kencana, the sounds of traditional and modern percussions in perfect harmony.
Awards were given out to give recognition to the students that show great commitment to their cocurricular activities. Aplenty of Merit awards were given out but only some received the prestigious
Award of Excellence, which requires awardees to be both active in their IG participation and also be
able to balance their academics keeping their Grade Point Average (GPA) a 3.0 or above. Alumnus
who contributed greatly were also not forgotten.
The three big winners of this years Flame Awards would be Beats Encore, receiving the title of
CREATE Group of the year, Hip Hop IG for the dance cluster and Campus Arts Productions (CAP) for
being the most active IG that contributed to most of the events held by TRCC.
The event was interrupted when a video flashed on the big screen, . We need musicians with
attitude to protect you went the commander who was actually played by the sporting TRCCs
director, Mr Ganesh Kalyanam. It led up to performances by Replug IG and Jammers Arena. Their
rendition of the theme song of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers got the audience reminiscing
about their childhood heroes.
For those who dressed to the theme, their efforts were not gone to waste. Shortlisted candidates
were asked on stage to take part in a Best Dressed Competition. The requirement was to do a

catwalk and strut their moves without getting out of character. The winners of their gender got $150
worth of vouchers.
We basically borrowed everything for our costume said Abdul Kadir, Year 2 Student from Dikir
Barat IG. The Ghostbuster team won for the male sector and they only spent twenty dollars each.
The main overall was bought at a neighbourhood shop house and the other bits and pieces were DIY
or taken from home. My mum must be questioning the others, where is the vacumm?

Where is the vacumm?: Winners of the Best Dressed Competition (male), Zulhizwan, Nabil Aidil and
Abdul Kadir, Year 2s from Dikir Barat IG, are masters at low-cost cosplay.
Photo contributed by Marcus Benedict Tan Junhao (Photo IG)
Many students also improvised on their costumes. Amirah from Drama IG, who won the competition
for the female sector, transformed her Uniqlo to a Batwoman costume with a pinned-on paper
logo and a cut-out black fabric as a cape.
The event started with a bang, and of course, it also ended with a bang. A mass dance performance
was put up by the entire dance IGs that were part of TRCC. Bang Bang was the song that marked
the closure of the event. However, it was not really the end as there was an after-party held by
Electronic Music Productions (EMP), spinning tracks that allowed everyone to witness the energetic
side of their favourite comic book characters.

Living dead - livelier and more flexible than the living. Chinese Zombie represents the Wushu IG,
adding bits of humour to the closing mass-dance performance.
Photos contributed by Azmi Athni (Photo IG)

Students were not the only ones who dressed up for the event, Mr Jeremy Leow, the mastermind
behind Flame Awards, was anti-hero, Deadpool for the night. He shared his comments for future
plans not for world domination but for what Flame Awards would like to achieve, To get more
integration between all the three clubs, as for now it is slightly skewed towards CREATE but theres
so much talent from CEC (Center of Enterprise and Communication) and STA (School of Technology
for the Arts ) as well, so were are trying to get them involved as they contribute a lot to the arts
scene as well.