Hallmark of a Great Hall – Our Beloved KE7 Hall

Loving KE Acapella Group Perfoming 'Lollipop'

I had the rare privilege once a year to witness the enormous cultural talents in King Edward VII hall on Thursday night during ICN (a.k.a Internal Culture Night). I have to admit that not all performances are of a great production standard. The kind that you can send to sistic and people will pay to watch, but some are. Not that it really matters. What really does matter is the willingness to step out of one’s comfortable zone and follow one’s passion and perform. It is this first step that I believe is worthy of mentioning.

I vividly recalled words of similar nature mentioned by the emcee of that night:

I hope our performance will spur on people who don’t dance to dance, on people who can’t dance well want to dance better, and on people who can dance well strive for excellence.

Another dance item members

I think this is the true spirit of human being. To have the courage to try something new and have the determination and perseverance to become good at it. That is why I would like to dedicate this blog entry to all KEVIIANs who took that step the first time on ICN and to those who have the perseverance to continue to work on that path. For as long as you continue that path, I truly believe that it will give you the courage to develop your hidden talent and bring it to its rightful blossom. Although I have to also admit that some talents are already well-developed. Take Ryan Sleeper as an example. His beatbox skills are amazing! I do think that all the audiences are in awe after enjoying his stellar performance.

One of KE Dance Item Members

Xin Yao Group Performance

Our very own, 'The Smoking Marshall'

Our talented Chinese Drama Group

Yet, I have to quickly remind that we are not celebrating because of someone like Ryan, we are celebrating our diversity that has united us as one KE7 hall. Let me tell you why is this celebration so important. In many ways, every residents living in the hall equate winning the chancellor’s shield, the IHG trophies, and etc as the epitome of hall excellence. We have defined what constitute to as excellence for a hall to such great extent that even when you hint at another perspective, the social pressures to conform will crash upon you, rendering you feeling powerless to changes. We see this every time when we want to reduce the IHG competition duration or changing the rules of rag or etc.

Ryan Sleeper, Lisa and Valerie (I think)

My fellow KEVIIANs we have to recognize that excellence of a hall comes in many forms just like intelligence. Many people always equate intelligence as rational and logical thinking, like having a high IQ score. But Sir Ken Robinson begs to differ, he reiterates that human being is so diversity that it is silly to assume that there exists only one form of intelligence. For example, have you notice in your life that they are people who need to ‘move to think’? These are people who have a ‘high IQ’ in dancing, why can’t this diverse view about intelligence be also recognized. My point is if you think that we need to win IHG, rag, and etc to become a great hall, I urge you to reconsider your view.

In my opinion, a great hall is defined by the willingness to celebrate and recognize diversity and the richness of talents its possesses as an integral fabric of an excellent hall. In Thursday ICN, this is exactly what we have celebrated. As I step out of the communal hall on Thurs after the ICN, there is no doubt in my mind that our beloved King Edward VII Hall is a great hall. I am proud to be part of this great hall and I am privileged to be associated with all of you, my fellow talented KEVIIANs.

PS: I have to apologize that I have not been able to obtain photos of the other cultural groups to put on this blog. If you have them, please let me know as I would like to link them in my blog.

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