We had coffee actually. Not at Gloria Jeans, One Fullerton, but Boat Quay's Coffee Bean. Waking up early is not exactly our way of celebrating National Day, and the untimely closure of Gloria Jeans (resulting in our long ardent trek to Boat Quay), did not help either. Our ill spirits, however, were assuaged when we met this year's contestants for ariene, NUS's annual Science Pageant.

No bimbos, no beefcakes, just some good-looking freshmen out to have some fun and gain valuable experience. After an intense week of rehearsals and training sessions, 10 of the finalists emerged ready for our interview. It was rather informal, all of them being conversant and open to our grilling in the ensuing 2 hours. Thankfully, issues on World Peace were decidedly not on the day's agenda.

Kicking off with current affairs, we interviewed them about recent issues such as Gulf War II, MOM versus NTU economists, and the Singapore-Malaysia water dispute.

Interesting answers and perceptions abounded, especially Adeline's comments on Foreign Talent: "It is not about the nationality of the person, it's about his own capabilities." Objectivity towards the various issues was apparent among all the participants, as Wei Ern, a Malaysian, gave his take on the water issue, "I read both Singapore and Malaysian newspapers. National pride is very evident from both parties".

On the war in Iraq, most were against the war, with Lyn stating that "Civilians were the ones who suffered most, and there were great cultural losses through museum thefts".

Given their new celebrity status in school, we put them through the wringer: If MediaCorp presented them with a lucrative contract, promising to groom them into the next Fann Wong or Christopher Lee, would they abandon their studies to pursue stardom?

Most contestants steadfastly regarded studies as their top priority. "Knowledge will always be with you," Desiree declared, with Janice adding, "The local entertainment market is already saturated".

Junxiong believes that he "definitely will not take part in Star Search" and follow the likes of Zoe Tay and Chew Chor Meng. Most of the contestants related that they joined this pageant purely to enjoy themselves and make new friends. Jeff brought up that "(they) are not in for the glamour", though Jianwen quipped, "should Hollywood beckon, he might consider."

We were rather amazed by the amount of chemistry generated by this bunch of lookers.

With all of them engrossed in practices and dry runs, the tension and competition has obviously not affected their friendship the slightest bit. When asked whom they think will win the pageant, mutual admiration was apparent. As Dorothy put it, "we all work really well with each other". Ah… the passion of youth coupled with such camaraderie made us old-timers really wistful about the "good old days"!

Now, one would tend to think that being the winsome lot these people are, they are all likely to be attached. Well, we'll let you in on a little secret: quite a number of them are not, but we're not going to let you in on whom! The fact is, they all definitely look alluring in person, so do check them out at the Science Bash to be held at Zouk on 16 August where a preview of the pageant finalists will be held.

More questioning and interrogation ensued, with us concluding that each contestant deserved an award of his/her own!

Here is a list of our very own specially tailored FunkyGrad awards for this captivating bunch!

The Funkygrad Awards for Ariene 2003
Mr. Body Beautiful- Jianwen			Miss Beautiful Skin-Janice
Mr. Congeniality-Junxiong			Miss Elegant-Adeline
Mr. Eloquent-Wei Ern			Miss Sophisticated-Dorothy
Mr. Cool- Jeff			Miss Photogenic-Lyn
Mr. Macho- Roy			Miss Bubbly- Desiree

Of course, there is the final burning question- who would win this year's NUS Science Pageant? Well, as Roy cleverly articulated, "Good tea is best"!

Check out the contestants' profiles on the official website at www.funkygrad.com/ariene and vote for your favorite candidate to be Mr./Ms Photogenic now!