Written by: Priyanka Krishna
Edited by: Aastha Gokani
Are you ready for the gala night? After three days of constant debating and lobbying, the Dinner and Dance Night coming up on Thursday offers a great opportunity for participants to relax. Participants indulge in the great ambience, flashing lights, an extensive display of delicacies, and bottomless drinks as they dance the night away. This year, with around 950 participants from around the world, many returning participants and first-timers are excited about the upcoming event.
Cheryl Lim (Ambassador of Benin of GA3, Australian International School of Malaysia), attends her third THIMUN Singapore conference this year and has high expectations for this event. “I look forward to the dancing where the delegates manage to let loose… as opposed to how stringent and work-oriented they are during the conference,” said Cheryl Lim. She further elaborated that, “everyone is equal [unlike during debates], and [most importantly], they are all having fun”. Similarly, Ahaan Bhansali (Ambassador of New Zealand of GA1, Dhirubhai Ambani International School), and Niel Biji Samuel (Ambassador of Afghanistan of GA1, Birla Public School) both look forward to the dance, as they await their first-ever THIMUN Singapore Dinner and Dance night. Particularly, Bhansali looks forward to Samuel’s great Salsa dancing during the event. Samuel jokingly added, “We think the food will be pretty good, but we won’t be eating it because we will be doing salsa”. Anagha Chakravarti (Ambassador of Indonesia of GA4, International School of Manila), believes that “the best part [of the night] is the dancing, and the socialising”, and she looks forward to “having fun meeting [with friends], after long hours of debate”. On the other hand, Jiale Lim (Delegate of Germany of GA4, Australian International School of Malaysia), is highly excited for the choice of music this year, as he is hopeful that his song suggestion (a particular instrumental rap by a member of the black-eyed peas) will be accepted.
Whilst Jiale Lim greatly looks forward to the music choices, many delegates do not. In fact, Cheryl Lim stated, “I think the huge issue with the Dinner and Dance is the ambience and the song choices”. Similarly, Chakravarti agreed that there are many outdated songs, despite admitting that the music was quite diverse. However, Chakravarti does hope for Old Town Road to be played this year. Jiale Lim also expressed his hope for change, as he said, “I hope to see the food change, to include more pickup locations, as the lines were long [last year]”.
In any case, the Dinner and Dance night provides a great outlet for them to enjoy themselves outside of the restless week of the conference. As, Bhansali and Samuel stated, “We are looking forward [to the night], and we hope to have fun!”