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Temasek Hall Rag Committee 2003  

Rag is an annual showcase of parade floats designed by students at NUS.  The theme for this year's Rag Day is Faces: Celebrate Diversity, Embrace Unity.

With the goal of attaining the much coveted Overall Best Float Award in mind, our 20-strong team slogged through the 3-month long vacation to produce a winning performance.

Taking on the role of Costume Designer has definitely been one of my most groundbreaking (and backbreaking) experiences in NUS.  Costume design has a great element of fun in it, with the possibility of getting my design inspiration from myriad sources, from the Cirque du Soleil to the Venetian blind.

The challenges of my task include

• aggrandizing the dancers' motion

• using materials (not limited to textiles) in a creative and environmentally friendly way

• achieving conspicuity from a distance, through the use of forms, colors, special effects such as color change, etc.

Continually refining my designs, relentlessly meeting deadlines, accepting and getting the best out of critiques - these were all part and parcel of my job, which is not unlike my life as an architecture student during the school term.

Being part of a team in a role of this nature, however, opened up a whole new vista for me.  Working closely with both the choreographer and the costume manager was of paramount importance to keep the aspect of functionality in check, not to mention collaborating with the other designers to ensure coherence with the float and overall theme. 

3 months may seem a short time, but with the perpetual stress - mentally, emotionally, physically - it was a indeed a long haul to the finishing line.

Rag Day

Aug 2003

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