As part of our Great Workplace (GWP) initiatives at SRPH, our employees are free to join the company’s Clique Clubs that cater to a wide range of hobbies and interests. SRPH offers clubs for Sports & Fitness, Dance, Games & Toys, Music, and Arts & Literature, made up of fellow employees who share the same passions. Every employee is free to join as many of the clubs as they want, and are welcome to participate in club activities whenever they wish. By implementing GWP initiatives, SRPH demonstrates its commitment to creating a positive and supportive work environment for all employees, giving them a venue to enjoy themselves, de-stress from work, and socialize with other people who share the same passions.

To get to know SRPH’s Clique Clubs better, let’s meet our newly elected leaders who will be taking charge of each of the Clique Clubs for the rest of the year:

1. Please introduce yourself! (Nickname, team, how long you've been with SRPH)

JG (Sports & Fitness): Julia or JulieG from People Group, 11 years.

AD (Dance): Hello SRPH. I am Sir Fred from CST/PSG. I've been in SRPH since late 2017 and am consistently active in GWP and Clique Club planning/events.

MSP (Games & Toys): Hello! I'm Marc, but due to the sheer abundance of Mar(c/k)s in SRPH (there are four in our project team alone!), everyone just calls me MSP instead. I'm part of the newly formed VDL under the Web Browser project, and I've been in SRPH for almost 6 years.

MLC (Music): Hi, I am Lynette from TMG-RDS. Not sure if everyone is familiar with me but I have been in SRPH for almost 5 years now.

EDC (Arts & Literature): Hello~ I'm Likey from NWT USM. Started as a fresh grad and have been with SRPH for 1 year and 1 month :)

2. What made you decide to run for president of your clique club?

JG (Sports & Fitness): I aspired to create a positive influence within the club and its members.

AD (Dance): I have been part of the Dance Club since its establishment last 2018. I have seen the ups and downs of the Club, and I must say, the pandemic really took a toll on our active membership and visibility. I want to revive again the Dance Club to its former glory -- where everyone can just dance and have fun.

MSP (Games & Toys): Ever since I was a kid, gaming has always been my main hobby. I wouldn't be exaggerating when I say that I've played and finished hundreds of games throughout my life. And over the years, I've grown to appreciate gaming as not just a simple pastime that we can engage in during our free time, but as an incredibly unique form of entertainment that is capable of telling stories and providing experiences that no other medium can. Additionally, as an extension of my gaming hobby, I've also started to collect gaming-related figures, which just so happens to conveniently line up with the toys subculture of the gaming club hahaha.

With that said, as soon as I found out that there was a gaming club in SRPH, I knew I wanted to join. I still remember one of the very first gaming nights I attended back in 2018 - they were still being held in the T3 boardroom, and so many people were there. It was nice seeing such a vibrant community of gamers inside the office! Shortly after, I joined as an officer and have been helping out with club events ever since, even unexpectedly becoming VP last year (*ehem* thanks Pao *ehem*).

When the plan to conduct club re-elections came along, I didn't really expect to win, and I would have been happy continuing my role as a VP or a regular officer, but I figured that if the members wanted me, then I'd be ready to serve. Lo and behold, here we are today. Along with the rest of the Games and Toys Club officers and the GWP Committee, I'll do my best to share my passion for games to the rest of SRPH and provide an avenue for our employees to relax and unwind after t he tiring work day!

MLC (Music): Singing (including listening to music any genre is okay) is one of the hobbies that I enjoyed doing since I was a kid. I find solace listening to music and singing the songs that I can personally relate with. Compared to others, I know that I am far from being a hard-core music enthusiast but this passion makes me express who I am as a person.

After being part of SRPH, I think the first clique club that I joined was the Music Club. Participating during the Cafe Luna Gig was actually one of the most memorable experiences I enjoyed. When Ray (Clique Club head) told us the new process of electing the new set of leaders, I already had high hopes for the next Music Club initiatives and events this year. Since 2019, I am an active member of the club but never intended to be part of the pool of Music Club officers. Perhaps since I think my skills are not enough and I am not ready yet for the new responsibility. Frankly speaking, I didn't expect that after returning from my personal leave, I will be receiving an email announcing that I am actually part of the Presidency candidate for Music Club. I clearly remember going to Ray's place to say I want my name to be removed but to no avail since the period for candidacy revocation already passed.

At first, I felt pressured about it but rethinking that this might be another opportunity to improve myself, I take the challenge and grateful to those who entrusted me this position. Nonetheless, the journey being elected as the new Music Club president is an unexpected plot twist for me but I will surely will not disappoint those colleagues and friends who believed in me. Thank you to everyone and I hope you are satisfied with the current state of the club.

EDC (Arts & Literature): I wouldn't have been interested in becoming an officer without first being interested in the club. The Arts Club was a breath of fresh air for me, as software engineering typically doesn't leave much room for art. Since I started studying web/mobile development in college, the time between picking up my sketchbook grew from days to months to a year. It was unfortunate to see a skill I developed since childhood rusting away.

Initially, the club provided an opportunity for me to reconnect with my artistic side and showcase my skills but unexpectedly, participating in the club activities and workshops introduced me to other art forms like handcrafts, watercolor painting, etc. Joining these prompted me to volunteer in organizing them as an officer.

When I got told that I'd be one of the candidates to be a president, I never expected to win. But I thought na why not? It's a possible opportunity for me to enjoy a hobby I like while also developing my leadership skills - can't pass up on that! :)

3. What are your main goals for the club, and what initiatives or events can your members look forward to for this year?

JG (Sports & Fitness): My goal was to drive positive changes both physically and mentally, with the aim of reducing stressors by introducing engaging activities that members can anticipate and enjoy. I aimed to enhance the club experience by introducing new sports activities such as volleyball and bowling. Additionally, I intended to promote wellness through initiatives like wellness talks, yoga sessions, and a newsletter to keep members informed and engaged.

AD (Dance): We want to open up our club to SRPH in general -- no commitments in performing, rather, everyone can just join our programs as they please. In this way, they can experience first-hand how we handle things inside the club, and hopefully, out of those attendees we can recruit some more members.

Here's an outline of our programs for this year:

MSP (Games & Toys): Of course, the first plan of action is to buy a new console! Our gaming peripherals are still stuck in the last generation, and with the PS5 being almost 4 years old now and much easier to purchase compared to when it initially launched, it's about time that we in SRPH got one for the club too. Once that's done, we want to bring back the regular game nights like we used to do pre-pandemic. But most importantly, we'll always be listening to what kinds of events the members want.

And more generally speaking, I just want to continue fostering a culture of appreciation for games within SRPH. An avenue for people to gush for hours about the games that they love, and find others to do that with them. A space where we can all let loose that inner child we have within us. Then we'll see where it goes from there!

MLC (Music): I have many plans during my president but perhaps given the limited time and budget, perhaps I will be focusing more on conducting / hosting the following:

EDC (Arts & Literature): For our competitive members, we'll be holding contests in photography and writing. For those who just want to chill out, we plan to set up more movie nights and organize another museum tour this year, among other activities. We are always open to suggestions for new activities and welcome anyone interested in sharing their skills through a workshop.

4. Lastly, (for fun) what's your #1 Pixar movie and why?

JG (Sports & Fitness): Cars because it explores teamwork, pressure and challenges in life and it also shows how community bonds together.

AD (Dance): Toy Story -- all of them. In essence, they teach us that the things that helped us get where we are now should forever be cherished. Can be a metaphor for appreciation or looking back on where we came from. Parang yung college car ko, still alive and kicking. Haha

MSP (Games & Toys): I don't know if this answer will come as a surprise or not, since I'm the president of the Games & Toys Club, but one of the very first movie (series) I remembered loving as a kid was the Toy Story franchise. The art style, setting, and storyline were all aspects that really appealed to me even at an early age. I think I liked how there wasn't too big of an emphasis on romance, choosing instead to focus on friendship, since romance wasn't really a topic I was too interested in back then. Hahaha

But if I had to pick just one, Toy Story 3 would be the clear winner. I love how it had a relatively more serious story compared to the first two, and the ending scene really spoke to me as a kid that was starting to grow up! It serves as a reminder that as we slowly grow older and start to take on more adult-level responsibilities, we might need to let go of the hobbies we enjoyed so much for a while. But even then, we should never lose sight of that inner child within us, and these hobbies will still always be there, waiting for us, when we're ready to enjoy them again.

MLC (Music): Up. I find the movie touching and enjoyable at the same time. I learned a life lesson from it as well, that no matter how much we try life will give us challenges that we think is impossible to overcome. Having perseverance and determination may sound cliché but this movie made me realized that indeed having enough balance of both with proper mindset will take you to the end of your journey before you even notice it.

EDC (Arts & Literature): Although others come close, Wall-E is my current favorite. I love how Wall-E (the character) represents an image of future Earth turned into a wasteland due to humanity's neglect, while Eve represents the Axiom—an advanced spaceship where humanity's hope resides. I've always been fascinated by the future: how everything ends, and how humanity would find ways to survive either through the consequences of our actions or through galactic events beyond our control (like the sun absorbing the Earth after billions of years).

Wall-E portrayed this beautifully. It was captivating to see Earth as a barren wasteland full of broken robots after consumerism polluted it, contrasted with the Axiom's advanced, organized system that keeps its inhabitants afloat (literally and figuratively) until it detects that Earth can support life again. Watching Wall-E as a kid sparked my curiosity about the unknown. How humanity ends is a question I will never know the answer to (hopefully lol), so it's intriguing to explore theories and see how movies and games portray a future that I will never get to see.

Congratulations to our leaders for winning at the recent Clique Club elections, and we look forward to all the fun activities you have in store for the rest of the year!