Orchid Day 2010

Greeted by overhead pink balloons and charming little pink ribbons, it was certain that Orchid Day had been prestigiously initiated with the colour pink as its theme, in conjunction with International Women’s Day. Posters consisting of information, statistical data and meaningful quotes were creatively made by a fellow student, Wong Leong Khim of BS2.

Infographic on breast cancer facts and statistics

They were posted on notice boards situated on all floors of our college. The breast cancer awareness campaign which commenced on the March 3, 2010 ended two days later. It was a way for us to give hope to all women who are at risk of being afflicted with breast cancer, raise awareness for Breast Cancer and raise funds for the BCWA (Breast Cancer Welfare Association).

Being a worldwide event, held on the 1st Friday of March, Orchid Day is ambitiously going to be an annual event for TCSH in the coming years. But why orchids? Analogically, orchids are generally regarded as the symbol of rare and delicate beauty besides exuding the charm of strength. Being that, breast cancer survivors are a resilient bunch, just like orchids.

On the first day of the campaign, the famed Leo Club, in collaboration with the Doctors of Tomorrow (D.O.T.) Club, International Baccalaureate students, Food Club as well as The Arts and Craft Club set up booths to promote the awareness.

One of the booths selling merchandise

These clubs’ efforts in this event were truly commendable for their dedication to ensure that everything would run smoothly. Fresh orchids, soft toys, pink teddy bear phone straps, pink ribbon pendants and pins and silicone wristlets were among the merchandise being sold throughout the 3 days. The Food Club sold cupcakes and all proceeds made were to be donated to BCWA.

Miss Komathi, the advisor of Leo Club personally collected the items from BCWA days before the event. When interviewed, she said with pride that all proceeds would go to BCWA. It was evident that enthusiastic TCSH-ians believed in making a difference by offering monetary support munificently. As Kim SooBin of HS5 enthusiastically said, “It’s a great thing; it gave me a chance to help other people”.

The subsequent day was nothing but exhilaration too. Of course, alluring prizes never seized to attract any keen donors who participated in a pop quiz conducted by the D.O.T. club. The quiz was based on the information on the posters and leaflets about the event. The concept was straightforward – to educate the public with information regarding breast cancer.

The sale of the BCWA merchandise was actively carried out and students took turns to man the booths just to make sure they did not miss out on any customers. Every penny counts, especially in this case. Students were seen wearing the pendants and pins on their T-shirts and having similar phone straps hung on their cell phones. There were also personalized commercials about this event being plastered on the flat screens around college. The pink themed advert was indeed an eye-catcher.

The final event of the day was a talk by Miss Dachaini at the Alpha Theatre. She shared her experiences as a breast cancer patient and stressed on the importance of early detection. Orchid Day came to an end after she gave away the prizes to the quiz winners: Sandra in third place, Arthur in second and Joanne Kim in first place.

The campaign definitely inspired many and achieved its objective to create awareness. It familiarized the TSCH student and staff body on the importance of breast self examination (BSE) and showed how close-knitted TCSH-ians are when it comes to doing good deeds.

“A BIG THUMBS UP!"



By CHAN YUEE SUN,  SUGEETA SUKUMAR and HEW KAH MUN

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