Over the 2023 summer break, more than four hundred freshmen and Year 2 students from the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine) and the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies made history by reclaiming the title of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Students' Union Receiving and Giving (RAG) and Flag Day Overall Champion for the first time in more than a decade.
Both the MedNurse Flag and MedNurse RAG teams brought home the coveted gold awards, won in recognition of our highly successful fundraising efforts in partnership with Autism Resource Centre (Singapore), as well as for an unparalleled stage performance on RAG and Flag Day itself. For NUS Medicine, this historic achievement certainly kicked off the Academic Year 2022/2023 on an exuberant note.
Our RAG performance
The most captivating and characteristic feature of the MedNurse RAG performance has traditionally been our incredibly detailed, three-dimensional animated floats. Drawing inspiration from historical periods, Singaporean heritage, popular media and even science fiction, each scene comprises a number of floats painstakingly designed by our student teams. For example, in celebration of Singapore's Golden Jubilee for RAG Day 2015, the MedNurse RAG team recreated Singapore's iconic landmarks such as the ArtScience Museum and Marina Bay Sands in their floats. For our 2023 performance, individual floats were prototyped and built from scratch using sustainable or recycled scrap materials such as wood, aluminium foil, and compact discs; a rigorous process that began as early as ten months before performance day.
For incoming freshmen, MedNurse RAG is an unforgettable orientation programme unlike any other. It offers freshmen a unique opportunity to forge bonds with their peers while making once-in-a-lifetime memories preparing for the performance. Over the years, RAG Day has become a culturally important rite of passage alongside the school's other annual flagship events such as the White Coat Ceremony and Welcome Dinner.
Flag charity initiatives
MedNurse Flag is the charity arm of RAG and Flag. Our charitable efforts reinforce the importance of giving back to those less fortunate in our community as we embark on our medical school journey. Through various Flag initiatives in 2023, NUS raised more than $160,000 for charitable causes, overseen by the Community Chest. MedNurse Flag raised more than $23,000 designated for the Autism Resource Centre (Singapore). As this was the greatest sum of donations raised by any faculty or hall of residence in NUS, MedNurse Flag was awarded the coveted gold award.
In addition to fundraising, MedNurse Flag also organised the flagship Autism Experiential Camp, providing participating freshmen and medical students the unique opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the unique traits of persons with autism through simulated games and workshops. On Social Leisure Day, participating freshmen got a chance to interact with persons with autism and their families through a day of fun-filled activities, including dance and soccer. Through this programme, medical students initiated meaningful conversations with our beneficiaries, cultivating important insights on how we can shape Singapore into a more inclusive and supportive society.
It was breathtaking to see the medical and nursing schools unite to organise MedNurse RAG and Flag 2023. The project directors – Raen Loo, Lester Tey, Joseph Teo and me – are incredibly honoured to be the latest in a long family lineage of students, nurses and physicians who have overseen RAG and Flag efforts annually for its decades of history. We thank everyone who has contributed their time, effort and donations to this good cause.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Dr Kenneth Lyen for making this article possible.
The finale of MedNurse RAG 2023