Written by: Isabella Wood
Photographs by: Dorian Chen and Zara Yap
All good things must come to an end, just like THIMUN Singapore. As the lights dimmed and all the committees settled down in their seats, Evan Chiang (President of the General Assembly, Pacific American School) began the ceremony with the now-all-too-familiar “May the house please come to order.” The secretariat then quickly left the stage, lending the attention to a video recapping the week created by MUNITY’s own Tijn Van Den Dikkenberg.
The audience was immediately captivated by the video. Delegates laughed and cheered when their peers and themselves were shown on screen. The atmosphere was filled with joy. Delegates were proud of what they had achieved, but also nostalgic for the week’s adventures. Thunderous claps and cheers echoed across the room when the video ended. The Secretariat reentered the stage, with Chiang giving an introduction speech. After he finished, he gave the mic over to each chair and president of the individual committees, starting with Elyse Barg (Chair of GA1, Australian International School Singapore). Barg spoke highly of her delegates, the four resolutions that were passed over the course of the week and thanked her co-chairs for assisting her.
As one chair of a committee left the stage, the next chair of another committee entered. Ariel Chen (Chair of GA2, Hsinchu American School) made mention of the whopping seven resolutions passed within her committee. Julian Levieux (Chair of GA3, Harrow International School Hong Kong) acknowledged the “hards topics and gripping debates” that his committee was faced with. Charles Tan (Chair of GA4, British School Manila) described his committee’s efforts as “impeccable to say the least”. Elina Du (Chair of GA6, Beijing World Youth Academy) made the crowd gasp as she revealed that only three out of the ten resolutions in her committee passed. Presidents of ECOSOC, the Human Rights Council, the Security Council and the International Criminal Court all discussed the humorous amendments made within their committees. As the speeches from each of the chairs came to a close, the Hwa Chong Institution National Cadet Corp presented a compelling performance, eliciting wow’s of fascination across the entire audience.
The closing speeches then begun, starting with Joel Tan, head of the admin team. Tan discussed the entertaining notes that were passed around and the peculiar jobs that were given whilst working as admins. Shavi Rajesh (Deputy Secretary-General, United World College of South East Asia) moved the crowd with her compelling speech about how THIMUN has impacted her life. The ceremony was then officially closed by Omar Kausar (Secretary General, International School Manila), marking the end of the 15th THIMUN Singapore conference, beginning the long wait until next November.