The theme for this year’s competition is ‘Nirangal’ (Colours). Students have explored the theme implicitly and explicitly. They showcased various representations and understanding of colours, students also explored the diachronic reflection of certain colours in relation to certain actions and incidents from multiple perspectives. Abstract and conventional depiction of various moods, behaviors and seasons were also reflected in their performances. The participants were given the liberty to depict one or more colours in their performance; this equipped them with a broad platform to showcase their exploration artistically, critically and morally.

Nine institutions, namely, Singapore Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic, Pioneer Junior College, Tamasek Junior College, Republic Polytechnic, Yishnun Junior College, Millennium Institute, Tampines Junior College and Anderson Junior College, took part in this year’s Arangam Festival.

THis is the first component is the drama competition pegged closely to the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) drama competition where the central judging provides the opportunity for groups to benchmark their performance standards. Participating institutions will be awarded certificates based on their performance. There is no determined number of gold, silver or bronze awards. This first component to Arangam was held on 14th and 15th February 2008. Arangam recognizes outstanding achievements and performances in the various categories, by presenting them with certificates and awards at the end of the festival. Apart from the certificates which will be awarded to all participants, outstanding individuals have also been nominated for the ten “BEST” awards. Though the top three finalists had been notified earlier to allow them to be prepared for Arangam finals performance, the results of the certificate awards as well as the ‘BEST’ awards will only be announced during the finals. The judges for this round were Mr Mathiyalagan, a prominent and award winning stage and television actor and RDG’s Artistic Director Mr G Selvananthan.