Point Zero: Redefining Otaku

The future of the largest fan-based costume play event in Singapore is put in doubt since the recently ended EOY 08

Good day to everyone.

We come with some serious news. STAC is dissolving. This means the end of Kouhaku in June, and our EOY convention in December. This will take effect immediately.

For those who wonder about their membership cards, don’t. The $2 you paid, along with the amount we collected this year from the event, just barely managed to cover paying for the entire EOY event in 2008. In short, we just barely broke even.

As some have surmised, STAC has been struggling to find new talent to helm the team when the current committee became too old to carry on. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find anyone who wasn’t equally as busy as us. Considering STAC has always been a volunteer club, people here juggle school, work, and other committments while preparing the events.

As some have also heard, it’s become increasingly tough for STAC to maintain (let’s not even talk about expand) the events. Financing has also become a problem – especially when we want to avoid commercialism. Because we’re a group that wants to cater to fans directly – be they doujin circles, aspiring dollfie owners or others.

Because of these, and other reasons which we prefer not to go into, we’ve had to come to the sad decision to pull the plug.

That’s really it. We hope others can come in to fill the void we’ll inevitably leave behind, and we wish everyone in the scene the best of luck.

Merry Christmas.

Chairperson
Shiro Tsubasa Animation Club

Above is the original announcement, re-posted from SGCafe. With this announcement, it marks the end of Shiro Tsubasa Animation Club, and 10 years of EOY organized by them. Most in the cosplay community were caught by surprise, as this news is announced only 3 days after EOY 08 took place. Rumour have been floating around that STAC is running into financial diffculties since the last few EOY events, but that did not stop them from organising their last successful cosplay event for the benefit of everyone interested.

The “EOY” brand is made available to any interested parties, and late last night a new committee has shown interest in taking over the job from STAC. Quoting the message posted on SGCafe by the new event coordinator:

Hi all,
STAC has recently disbanded, and thus EOY2008 will be their last EOY convention that is held by STAC.

It is indeed extremely sad to see STAC go, and personally, I think it’s really a pity. It is the an event (EOY) that I look forward annually, as it not only displays the creative artistic talents of many individuals, but also is a great bonding time where people of like-minded interest can interact with one another.

I have spoken with Kheldar Blackmane, and he has given his agreement that we will be taking over the organization of EOY 2009.

As such, EOY 2009 will still go on, and it’ll continue to be an event where people can display their talents in various areas, including (but not limited to) cosplay, artwork, photography, dolls, punk, gothic and lolita.

Some of you may recognize me as the boss of Black Alice, but I’ll be organizing another group of people to handle EOY, which will be known as a separate entity to prevent any confusion.

EOY is an event that I have been attending since 2005, and I used to watch lots of anime during that period (army days). Those were the days where I met many friends, many whom I still see around today, and also partially the reason why I got involved in the Loli fashion industry.

I do not claim to know everything, but my heart’s desire is to keep the love for Japanese culture alive, especially in the anime/cosplay community. I really don’t want EOY to just dissipate and only remain a past memory.

But rather, I sincerely hope that every individually will always continually be able to exhibit their creative talents in cosplay, drawing, dolls, punk, loli fashion, and to continue to build and maintain strong relationships with one another.

I know this is going to be a tough road of rebuilding ahead, but I will do my utmost best to make EOY09 an extremely enjoyable event, and for many EOY(s) to come. However, that will not be possible without the help of everyone, so please do support the event by continuing to cosplay and contributing your talents.

I pray that the cosplay dream of every cosplayer will never die, and that each one will continue to feel appreciated, loved and accepted for what they believe. After all, cosplay is something that is so very often misunderstood. Let’s work together for that change in the future.

Perhaps, “keeping every person’s dream and creativity alive” might be the best way to summarize everything that I really want to say. It may seem a little exaggerated, but those are my heartfelt words.

I really hope EOY09 will be a big success, and I hope everyone will give us their support for the future EOY committee. We are not perfect people, but we try our best to be as good as we can.

More details, website, etc will be posted and updated along the way in this thread. If you have any suggestions for us, please do feel free to list them here. For those that would like to help, you’re more than welcomed, so please let me know. I am always just an email/phone call/PM away.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for reading this lengthy entry, and also a tribute to STAC, for making such a fantastic annual event that we look forward to every year.

Let’s continue to keep this dream alive, and together, let’s make EOY09 a great one.

Regards,
Tim Wong
Event Coordinator, EOY2009

With EOY switching organizers next year, I believe we could hope for lots of changes. Perhaps the official feedback thread for EOY 08 could be used as a starting point. Suggestions listed inside the thread includes a bigger venue for the ever-growing community, complete with sound system of a certain quality for performances.

It will be quite some time before we know if EOY is going to stay for sure. Do check back here for releated updates.