SIDM Charity Event: May the 4th be with you

May the Force be with you

To Star Wars fans, May 4th was the unofficial Star Wars day and it also marked the 35th Anniversary of the first screening of Star Wars: A New Hope. Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of Interactive and Digital Media (SIDM) celebrated this occasion in style by raising funds for the Singapore Children’s Society.

‘May the 4th be with you’ posters  outside LTM1

For those unfamiliar with the Star Wars movie series, the first Star Wars movie was actually Episode IV: A New Hope. This was followed by Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

After the original trilogy fans had to wait 16 years for the series to continue with the prequels, Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

SIDM celebrated Star Wars day for a good cause. There were booths set up outside LTM1, for the sale of cookies, T-shirts and personalized photographs. All proceeds were donated to the Singapore Children's Society.
When I arrived at LTM1 at 3pm, there were huge crowds around each of the booths and the screening of the Star Wars movies had already started in LTM1. The first booth that caught my eye was one which had many balloon sculptures. I was really impressed by the creativity of the SIDM students because they were able to make all kinds of things from the balloons.  I learnt from Jasmin (one of the talented balloon sculptors) that they developed the skill of balloon sculpting as a hobby.

Jasmin with her impressive Darth Vader balloon sculpture

There were also booths selling delicious chocolate cupcakes with irresistible icings and decorated with sweets resembling the light sabers in Star Wars. The cupcakes went for $2.50 each and they were very popular amongst the SIDM students. Almost everyone had one in hand. There were also cookies available for sale. Each cookie had a unique Star Wars character drawn in edible food coloring.

Okay, call me biased but I particularly liked the one with Darth Vader on it.

As I explored, I became attracted to the t-shirt booths.  I have never owned a hand-drawn T-shirt and was excited when I found someone to draw one for me. Because it was a Star Wars event, the drawings were of Star Wars characters - exactly what I wanted. My t-shirt artist was a 2nd year animation student who very kindly drew a red Darth Vader on the back of my SIDM t-shirt. The t-shirt was then passed to her extremely talented teacher, Ms Deda, who drew a cute version of Darth Vader on the front of my t shirt. I am not an artistic sort of girl so my jaw dropped when I saw how the artists were able to draw without sketching in advance.  It was such an enriching experience. The other person who impressed me was Mr. Jacques Muller. Within 15 minutes, he brought Yoda, one of my favourite characters, to life with an awesome drawing giving the t-shirt a brand new look.
 

The SIDM t-shirt Artists at work

Mr. Jacques Muller with his t-shirt Drawing

Attending SIDM’s Star Wars event was an eye-opening experience. For many Star Wars fans, the event rekindled our love for the Star Wars franchise while creating awareness for a worthy beneficiary. I believe that the passionate, creative, caring SIDM students have a bright future ahead and the Force will be always with them.

Kelly is a first year student, pursing an Advanced Diploma in Nursing (Midwifery), who loves reading and cooking. She also likes to spend time with her friends, engaging in relaxing activities. Her friends describe her as unpredictable, spontaneous and inquisitive.