The tabletopics master, Hai Xiang, hosted his segment by giving everyday objects for participants to speak about. The first speaker, Piyush, was given a bamboo stick. He spoke about the various uses of bamboo sticks across different cultures and activities. Some interesting examples include the use of bamboo sticks in sports like cricket and hockey while it is used as chopsticks in the Chinese culture. The second speaker, Ri Chen, spoke about brooms. He talked about the different perceptions of brooms in reality in fantasy. In reality, brooms are used to clean while children, on the other hand, tend to associate brooms to fantast and fictional characters such as witches. Following, Yi Xue talked about BBQ pits who he associated to gatherings. She revealed that even though most people may not be aware on how to set up BBQ pits, it is not as important as the time spend with friends. Eric then related balloons to decoration which was used in events that have impacted him greatly. Therefore, balloons reminded him of the joy and warmth he received from his experiences. Lastly, Kingsley explained why bricks are important to building a strong foundation and related its hardiness to determination. He emphasised the importance of having a good foundation in order to achieve greater heights as well as the determination to never give up when times get tough. Using his experience in Toastmasters, he illustrated his point by building on the foundations of speaking skills and never backing down from the fear of public speaking.

Moving on to the prepared speech segment, Hai Xiang, introduced to us his passion for theatrical plays in his speech titled “It’s all about me”. He shared that he enjoyed the unfolding of historical events in theatrical plays and places a lot of effort on theatrical production. Finally, he convinced us to share his passion by explaining how props can be used to tickle the imagination of the audience. Next, James questioned whether “We really know Earth” as he explored the mysteries of the oceans. He patiently explained the different parts of the oceans and pondered on how the oceans continue to hide so many intriguing secrets despite Man’s efforts to uncover them. Next, Fannie shared with us some of the common health problems and that victims should never be afraid to seek help and comfort. She hopes that thorough her speech, she will be able to dispel some of the societal prejudices against mental patients. Following, Shi Yi introduced 3 video games that has impacted his life greatly. Each of the 3 games exhibit a highly interesting gaming mechanism which gave him some insights on the personality and thoughts of the game developers. Our fifth speaker, Yong, talked about his journey as a student. Despite the difficulties he faced along the way, he was proud that he managed to enter NUS. Lastly, Ri Chen, completed his Advance Project 4 as he spoke about the influence of Experience and Information Search Styles of Project Risk Identification Performance. Ri Chen started by introducing the need to identify risks in construction projects. Finally, he shared about research that tested whether factors like experience, risk search style and feedback will improve the risk identification performance.

In room 14, the table topics master, Wayne, kicked off the night by granting the participants special superpowers. The first speaker was granted the power to control other possessions while Cheng Yi explained why he would prefer using his superpowers for his personal benefits instead of for the public benefit. Wei Jian, our third speaker, was granted his favorite superpower- X-ray vision. He humorously admitted that he would be privileged to see the naked audiences sitting before him as it was not an opportunity presented to most. Our guest, Natellie, revealed that if he were able to read the minds of others, he would use this ability to convince his parents to give him more pocket money as he would be able to know their train of thoughts. Lastly, Sergio shared that if he were able to travel through time, he would want to change history. Nevertheless, he warned us that this ability could end up being a dangerous one as it might alter the history we are so familiar with today.

Moving on to the prepared speeches, Rama, the TME introduced the first speaker, Cheng Yi. In Cheng Yu’s speech “Great expectations”, he lamented about the unreasonably high expectations students have about their grades as they blindly chase after academic excellence. He also posed an insightful question for the audience to ponder about: Does good grades actually translate to good knowledge?” Next up, Jia Xu talked about the gap between knowledge and our actions. Jia Xu also warned us to be cautious as our cravings distract and detract us from the pursuit of knowledge. Next, we had Yan Ling, convinced us to “Let IT Go” in her speech as she advised us to let go of the IT products that has become an integral part of our lives. Lastly, Sergio shared an insightful folk tale about a princess.
The action was also not missing in room 15, where Bally, the acting president for the room inspired us to treasure our loved ones. The first table topics contestant Bob was asked what he would have done should he be given the opportunity to travel back in time to change something he had done. Interestingly, he revealed that would play more games and join more CCAs. The next speaker, Mark, was given the opportunity to free someone in prision to which he explained why he had no specific person in mind. Hariom was then asked to choose his preference of gender should he be able to change it. He explained why he would still choose to be male due to the outward look of strength. The last speaker was then asked to share a time where his freedom was taken away from him.

Moving on we have the prepared speeches. Tony shared his motto in life, “Be shameless” in his entertaining and humorous speech. He revealed that his motto has helped him secure a job and gave him the chance to discover for singing. Next we have Faisal who spoke about the importance of first aid. He gave us a useful abbreviation for us to keep in mind when we want to provide first aid: DR ABC. Next we have Jeffrey who gave a speech on lying with special focus on white lies. Our last speaker, Ken did a project in the advanced manual. He narrated an inspiring and interesting tale of how Billy Elliot, a boy, who went against his father to pursue his dreams of becoming a ballet dancer. His determination and passion win over his father at last.

Written by Vishnu, Kang Rui and Fuk Kin, Edited by Koh Shi Ting and Photos by Cool Clickers