Jung-In and Kang Gary (Image Credit: NTU)

Singapore, 16 August 2014

Ambitious one-day event includes a carnival, charity run and free concert headlined by Korean stars Kang Gary and Jung In

Tonight Korean rapper Kang Gary, one of the seven hosts of the immensely popular entertainment show Running Man and his singing partner, Jung-In will perform for the first time at the Padang in Singapore. The free concert is part of NTU Fest 2014, a one-day event organised by NTU students that is the highlight of the NTU Freshmen Welcome Week.

NTU Fest Chairperson and final-year chemistry student, Wu GuoYi said: “This is the biggest event the NTU Students’ Union has ever organised. Besides having fun and helping the public to get closer and understand NTU students better, we felt it was important to also use this opportunity to raise funds for others who are less well off financially.”

They made the event open to the public and the concert free. Proceeds from the sale of carnival coupons for use at the 55 booths, and the $10 registration fees for the 4.8-km 5TYLO Mile-O fun run will go towards the ITE Endowment Fund which provides financial assistance to needy ITE students.

“This is such a wonderful initiative and the students have aptly themed it “Seeing Beyond Yourself”. They have indeed looked beyond themselves and are raising funds not for NTU but for needy students from ITE. They have shown that NTU students have a big heart and care for others. We are so proud of them,” said Associate Provost (Student Life), Associate Professor Kwok Kian Woon.

Education Minister, Mr Heng Swee Keat will launch the carnival and flag off the 4.8-kilometre 5TYLO MILE-O Run in the afternoon. The carnival booths run by NTU and ITE students feature a variety of cuisines, games and fun activities for all ages. NTU and ITE students also showcase their creativity, dynamism and energy on stage earlier in the day.

Through organising this event, the student organisers have learnt a lot about the different aspects of staging a mega event like this.

“The three key components of NTU Fest – the carnival, charity run and concert – all brought very different sets of demands and challenges on us. But we systematically worked through them with a lot of support from the University and overcame the unexpected obstacles and surprises that we had met,” said GuoYi.

Their final line-up of 55 carnival booths, 2,600 runners, and more than 30 local and international artistes speaks volumes of their hard work and success.

“We don’t need everything to be perfect and to run like clockwork. This event is so meaningful and a remarkable accomplishment by NTU students.  Their success in fundraising reminds us that you don’t have to be rich, powerful or well-established to make a real difference to the world around you,” said Prof Kwok.

The student organisers are grateful for the contributions they have received – both in cash and in kind. These came from sponsors, partners, donors, NTU faculty and staff, NTU alumni and the University. The students expect that these contributions, which are still coming in, will be sufficient to cover the event.

“One alumnus who wanted to remain anonymous even gave NTU Fest $20,000. We were so touched!” said GuoYi.

Besides getting strong support from the NTU community — from NTU’s President and Provost to NTU students, employees and alumni, GuoYi is also very grateful to NTU Board of Trustees member, Mr Kwek Leng Joo for helping the student organisers connect with Kang Gary and Jung In.

“Thanks to Mr Kwek, the two Korean celebrities readily agreed to perform at NTU Fest for free. MediaCorp also came in as our Official Media Partner and besides helping us to publicise the event, they also supported NTU Fest with more than 30 MediaCorp celebrities and performers.

“We are also very grateful to our Platinum Sponsor ST Jobs who pledged $150,000 towards the event and supported our publicity efforts in the various media owned by Singapore Press Holdings,” she said.

Speaking to NTU student organisers before the show, Kang Gary said: “I heard that NTU Fest is a charity event and we are very happy to be a part of it because I love Singapore so much. I’m planning on having a good time today and giving a great performance.”

Fellow K-pop star Jung In said, “This is my first time in Singapore and I’m very happy to be here with Gary and I plan on having fun with everyone at NTU Fest.”

Meeting fans at MediaCorp’s Toggle booth at the carnival in the day are up-and-coming artistes Jayley Woo and Zhang Zhen Huan. Chua Enlai will entertain fans in his comedic roles as Esmond Wan and Pornsak Sukhumvit in The Noose, together with screen ‘bad boy’ Ian Fang, and TV damsels Tracy Lee and Ya Hui. Dashing heartthrob Desmond Tan and beauty Julie Tan will also make their celebrity appearances.

Hosts for the free evening concert are 987FM’s radio deejays Gerald Koh and Kimberly Wang.

 Homegrown bands The Huckleberry Friends and District 12, Final 1 champion Farisha Ishak and the finalists of Project Superstar, Singapore’s popular singing competition, will also belt out their vocals for a good cause.

In addition, the new cast of Mata-Mata, including Rebecca Lim, Pan Ling Ling, Priscelia Chan, Cynthia Koh, Divian Nair, Fish Chaar and Rayve Tay will take to the stage to entertain and play games with the crowd.

A short video clip recorded by Kang Gary and Jung-In about NTU Fest: