ELS Word Fair

For the past 2 days (29-30 June 2011), UTAR English Language Society has organised an interesting and fun-filled event known as the Word Fair. This six-level competition was held in several blocks within the campus from 10am until 5pm, where there were different word game in each block.

All the participants were given a card where they had to go from block to block to take part in all the games and collect stamps along the way. And they have the chance to win up to RM200 cash prize. But they have to complete all the challenges in 6 stations to determine whether they are in the running to win the cash prizes of RM200 (1st place), RM100 (2nd place) and RM50 (3rd place). The winners of this competition would be determined based on the total scores obtained from all the 6 stations. Of course, they have to submit their cards first to finalise their scores and claim a special gift for themselves.

Referring back to the card, non-members received an orange card while ELS members a blue one. Why it is different? As members, some students have the privilege to play one round absolutely FREE! After completing their trial round, their cards would be switched to the orange ones and they have to pay RM1, just like non-members, if they wanna play again to improve their scores.

As mentioned above, there were a total of 6 games with 10 minutes allocated for each. Let me briefly explain how each of the games is played:

Block B: Lost & Found
A simple question is given and what a participant needs to do is to search for the letters of the answer to given question within the same block. The letters are pasted everywhere on the walls or any objects around the block (except washrooms and classrooms). The participant has to gather all the letters and returns to the station within 10 minutes. 3 points will be given to the participant whether he/she completes the challenge or not. This game is considered the easiest and the maximum score obtained from this station is 10 points and not more than that.

Block C: What's Next?
In this station, a participant is given a word and he/she has to form a word chain by creating the next word using the last letter of the previous word. This sounds easy, doesn't it? Not as easy as you think. All the words listed have to be in the same category. For this game, the participant is given a choice to choose the level of difficulty: easy and hard. In the easy category, the contestant has to form words either in the animate or inanimate objects. Whereas for the hard one, he/she can choose one of the available categories (countries, colours, occupations/careers, fruits, vegetables, animals). Participants have to list down as many words as possible within 10 minutes and they will receive 3 points for each word if the number of words listed is less than 50 and 4 points if more than 50.

Block D: Eureka! I've Done It!
For this game, what participants are required to do is to randomly draw 7 letters from a box and form as many words as possible. If they are stuck with the 7 letters, they have 3 chances of reshuffle, meaning they can change for another set of letters for 3 times. But the following sets of letters are given by the station masters instead. While participants are forming words, the station masters or helpers will write down the words and calculate the total score for all the words formed by the participants. Most of the letters are given 1 point while some letters are either 2 or 3 points.

Block E: Mix Us! (shifted to Block D on 2nd day)
The way this word game is played it that it is almost similar as the previous game, that is forming as many words as they can. But the only differences are that the participants are given a set of 7-letter word and they can only reshuffle once. The scoring system is also the same as the previous game.

Block G: Zebra Crossing
This is actually a game of crossword puzzle. Participants can select which crossword puzzle they want to solve and try their best to fill in the puzzle with as many words as possible, based to the hints given. The number of correct answers will be the score.

Block H: Fun Search
Basically, the game available in this station is word search. A list of words from different categories are given to the participants, which they have to search for those words as much as they can in a sea of words printed on small pieces of paper provided. There are different themes for this word search e.g transportations, occupations, friendship, musical instruments etc. And according to the station masters, there are 2 different themes available for every hour. The score obtained from this game is the number of words that participants could find within the allocated time.


My own personal experiences
Well, as for myself, I find that the Word Fair is very challenging indeed, but yet I really enjoyed it very much. I managed to complete 2 rounds during the 2-day competition. As mentioned earlier, I played the first round FOC as I'm an ELS member. And I forked out an extra RM9 for additional round as I wanna improve my scores.

For the trial round, I managed to obtain a total of 445 points, the highest being 189 from the 3rd game. I decided to play for another time since I have the chance to play for another 3 rounds. But I have to pay, which I don't really mind anyway. I managed to improve my total score this time, especially in 3rd, 4th and 6th game. I don't know what's my total score, but it definitely has improved a lot.

The scores for each station varies. There are 3 key stations in the competition - What's Next?, Eureka! I've Done It! and Mix Us! - where participants can score very high marks, which they could score more than 100 points.

There's one participant who scores over 400 in the What's Next? game. Wow! That's really impressive! I played the game thrice (easy twice, hard one) and the maximum I could get is 102. I think the reason I couldn't score higher marks is that I face difficulties in finding the next appropriate words to continue the word chain. For the hard level, I chose the Countries category and most of the countries I've listed began and ended with the letter A.

As for Mix Us!, I learnt that one participant managed to score over 400 (401 to be exact). Well, I scored over 100 for both my attempts in the game (131 for first time, 186 for second). Then, for Eureka! I've Done It!, I scored 189 in the first time I played and almost doubled my score (325) in the second. Well, I received some help from others while playing this time.

For the remaining three games, the maximum scoretthat participants can obtain from each station does not exceed 50. Lost & Found offers the least points among all the 6 games, 10 points is the maximum. Due to the low score, I learnt that not much students would drop by Block B to walk around the block searching for letters. As for Zebra Crossing, the score obtained is the number of correct answers in the crossword puzzle, in which I believe the limit is 20.

Fun Search is the word game I've played the most throughout the whole competition. I played for a total of 4 times and attempted 4 categories, namely transportations, friendship, musical instruments and Happy New Year! There is one time I managed to locate all the given words. which is the theme of friendship, for a maximum score of 30.

But I almost forgot to pay while I was playing the last round but said that I've paid the RM1 when Gar Wei asked me. Because of this matter, she was furious at me and confessed that she almost have to pay the RM1 herself. Anyway, I apologised and paid her.

Then, the competition came to the end after I completed my last stint. We started packing up and returned the tables, chairs and notice board back to their original places. While in Block B, I walked around and took down all the letters pasted on walls and other objects. Because of my efforts, I was rewarded. And the organising committee had a post-mortem session right after this while I headed home.

ELS Impromptu Speech Contest

This afternoon, I return to varsity again (after having attended Online Journalism lectures in the morning) to take part in the Impromptu Speech Contest organised by the English Langauge Society. After having lunch, I head to the venue where the event is held (A003) and get myself registered for the contest. I go into the auditorium and find myself a seat and wait for the event to commence.

The MCs for the event is Calvin and Natalie (both my juniors) and they welcome and thank everyone for attending. First they pass the time over to current ELS president Puey Ru for her welcoming speech. In her speech, Puey Ru explains about the rules and regulations of the contest: Each participant is given 3 minutes to prepare his/her speech after selecting a topic and another 3 minutes to speak. A bell will be sounded once at 2 minutes and a green card will be shown. Participants have to try concluding their speeches within the next 1 minute. And at 3 minutes, the bell will be rung twice and a red card will be shown, meaning the participant has to stop wherever he/she is.

After Puey Ru ends her speech, the MCs take over and invite Mr Krishnan to deliver his welcoming speech. Mr Krishnan appreciate eveyone's attendance and wishes the participants all the best in the speech contest. Okay, the contest officially opens the first round with the 1st contestant (Raymond Ong) stepping up to the front and speak on his chosen topic for 3 minutes. While he's speaking, the 2nd contestant is doing the preparation at the same time. (This is to save time so that the event won't be dragged for longer hours.) The same goes for the following participants until the end of the contest. The judges for this round are Mr Krishnan, Mr Renu and Mr Paul.

While waiting for my turn, I listen to other contestants' speeches. There are quite a number of interesting topics as far as I can notice. One of them is The Most Interesting Movie I've Watched In My Life, where Roy Ong mentions about the trilogy of The Chronicles of Narnia. The extraordinary effects found in the movies really amazes him and he states that these things cannot be seen in real life. I agree with what he said because I love the Narnia movies too. Another topic is My Favourite Malaysian Food and Boo Lim (my EL junior) confesses his love for sambal belacan on two simple reasons: spicy and cheap. There's another one which goes The Most Embarrassing Moment In My Life and Chiam Chin Heng mentions about his embarrassing moments.

Well, as for myself, I'm 11th in line. When 10th contestant (Sanjay) is speaking about A Leader I Admire The Most, it is my turn to prepare my speech on my chosen topic. And guess what, I am dumbfounded after receiving the topic The Most Embarrassing Moment In My Life (the same one as Chiam's). Oh my goodness! What am I gonna talk about? I have no idea at all of what to say. Anyway, I gotta try my best since I'm in the contest and don't want to embarrass myself there.

And finally I manage to think of something to mention and after Sanjay finishes on the leader which he admired the most - the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, it's my turn and I calmly take my place to begin my speech. I define the most embarrassing moment in my life was when I fell in love with the wrong girl during form 6. This girl, Nicole, is one of my classmates while I was doing my form 6 in my alma mater SMJK Sam Tet Ipoh. She has a sweet and charming look which has captured my attention. Beside that, Nicole is a brilliant and lovely girl and she seldom get angry without any valid reasons. So I attempted to pursue after her and try winning her heart. In my heart, she appears to be the right girl but apparently she's not and cannot be because of two simple reasons: height and religion. First, Nicole is kinda short while I'm quite tall. There's a distinctive difference of height btwn hers and mine. When we're together, we look more of brother and sister rather than a dating couple. Second, our religions do not click at all. Mine is Christianity whereas she's a Buddhist. As a Christian, I truly believe in holy matrimony. And to fulfill this matrimony, I should get a Christian girl as a spouse. But Nicole's not one, therefore she is not suitable for me. I realised about this and decided not to carry on my pursuit since I knew this is not gonna work. Nicole knew that I liked her. She didn't reject me but neither did she accept my love for her. We remain as friends until present and still keep in touch with each other. I'm not sure if this embarrassed me or not, but the fact that my fellow classmates and friends knew about our love affair really embarrassed me a lot. Then, I rest my case and return to take my seat.

After myself, the remaining contestants go out one by out to deliver their speeches based on the topics they're randomly pick. But some topics are repetitive ones, with the ones describing certain moments in life (The Most Memorable / Embarrassing / Unforgettable Moment In My Life) being repeated at least 10 times. Perhaps the organising committee has ran out of topics and had to use the same ones for a few times. The first round comes to an end after the last speech by contestant Victoria Akiew of English Education course with her title My Favourite Malaysian Artist in which she mentions that local artist Nicholas Teo was her neighbour back in Sarawak.

Time for a short break. All the people adjourn outside the auditorium to have some light refreshment prepared by the committee. During this time, it's time for fellowship where everyone mingle around with one another. Then comes along the Dean of FAS Dr Sebastian K Francis. He is here to witness the flow of the whole contest. Later, everyone's back in the auditorium for the second round of the speech contest. And this time, the panel of judges are Mr Lim, Mr Lionel and one female Malay lecturers.

There are only a few contestants this time (6 to be exact). This time, more interesting topics appear like The Most Interesting Book I've Read, Why We Should Celebrate Teacher's Day and My First Day In Utar. Of course, two topics from the previous round - The Most Embarrassing Moment In My Life and A Leader I Admire The Most - pop out again. Leon James Gautier takes the topic The Most Interesting Book I've Read and guess what, his is the Bible. He informed the audience how he finds the Holy Word of God useful to him. Oh boy! I should read the Bible more often after listening to his explanation. Edward Chin (former SRC president) gets the same topic as mine and speak on several things which he feels embarrassed. Perhaps he got influenced when I revealed my topic when speaking to the Dean during the break. Ming Hen is the one who explains his first day in Utar while Sangeeta Kaur provide her reasons on why we should celebrate Teacher's Day. She even wonders if there's also Lecturer's Day. Good one, Sangeeta!

Hew Wee Ling is the very last contestant and she chooses the topic on the leader she admired the most. The person whom she admire the most is not any other leaders around the world but Yao Jia, her course rep. She explains how Yao Jia takes up the responsibility and carry out her duties well. At first, other coursemates of hers thought she's willing to be their course rep because of her name. But Yao Jia steps up to shoulder the burden of a course rep. Anyway, Yao Jia has been doing her duties well and Wee Ling praises her for all her efforts. I wish that Yao Jia was here, so that she can listen to her fellow coursemate's complements of her excellent service.

The contest is over after Wee Ling concludes her speech. While waiting for the judges to finalise their results, the MCs keep the audience entertained. And members of the floor suggest that both MCs Calvin and Natalie should do the impromptu speech too. Calvin agrees and he chooses a topic. The one he picks is My Favourite International Artist in which he has no idea at all of what to say. So he chooses another one, which is the one that I've spoken earlier. Calvin confesses that one of his most embarrassing moment was being kissed by a guy on his cheek. Later, upon request from the audience, he reveals his girlfriend's identity (which is Clara) and Clara is being asked what's Calvin's most embarrassing moment in her point of view. After this, Dr Sebastian is invited to give his speech and he mentions that he also experienced what Calvin has confessed but the only thing different is that Dr Sebastian was kissed on his lips.

Then, it's the moment that everyone's been waiting for: announcement of results. Mr Krishnan is invited to announce the results while Dr Sebastian is supposed to give away the prizes. Mr Krishnan reveals that some participants did well and the judges had a tough time to decide the winners. The 2nd runner-up goes to Sangeeta Kaur. I predicted her to be in the top 3 beforehand as I really impressed with her performance. Sangeeta isn't around and one of her friends receive a certificate and cash prize RM50 on her behalf. The 1st contestant, Raymond Ong, takes 2nd place and walks away with a certificate and RM100. And now, the winner of the speech contest is about to be unveiled and the crown goes to.... *drums roll* Victoria Akiew!!! Victoria is totally surprised that she has won the contest and believes that someone else deserves it better than her. Anyway, she receives her prizes (a certificate and RM200 cash prize) from the Dean and expresses her gratitude to her fellow coursemates for bugging her to enter this competition. The rest of the participants don't walk home empty-handed. Each of them receive a certificate of participation (which is printed on-the-spot). Mr Krishnan thanks everyone for attending the event and tells all the contestants that they're all winners as they have the courage to speak in front of public.

My brand new achievement

The certificate that I received in recognition of my participation in the Impromptu Speech Contest

Then, everyone is dismissed and return home while the committee members stay back for an exco meeting. But some people cannot leave for home yet due to heavy downpour and I'm one of them. While waiting for the rain to get smaller, I chat with some of the people who are still there. I leave the campus for dinner at around 7pm when the rain isn't heavy anymore. I even get the cert laminated to avoid the ink from getting smeared 'cause as I mentioned earlier, the certs are printed on the spot.

I am really proud of my new achievement as this demonstrates that I can overcome my stage fright. And this will definitely boost my confidence in public speaking. Of course, the reason that I was able to speak well is because previously I've been attending Toastmasters meetings at YMCA Ipoh during my long absence from campus. That's all the story I wanna tell this time. Signing off.

FusionExcel Recognition Dinner 2011

Miss World 2010 graced FusionExcel recognition dinner

Alexandria Mills launched Miss World Malaysia 2011 pageant

By ANTHONY CHAN

The poster says it all: A large poster on the stage displaying the event of the day which Mills is the guest-of-honour. On the stage was Gamul (left).

SERDANG: It was a dream comes true that a reigning Miss World visited our lovely country. And for the first time in 23 years, all the top three winners of Miss World 2010 pageant came to visit Malaysia. This time around, Miss World 2010 Alexandria Mills of USA was here on official business.

Mills, 18, was seen appearing at the FusionExcel International recognition dinner held at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) in MARDI located here on January 23, 2011. She was here to launch the Miss World Malaysia 2011 pageant during the recognition dinner which is held once every six weeks. This time, there were a total of 200 tables in the multi-purpose hall, filled with invited guests and representatives from several countries such as Singapore, China, Thailand, India, Taiwan and the Philippines.

The event of the night began with the arrival of several VIPs which included Mills, President of the Miss World Organisation Mrs Julia Morley; 1st runner-up of Miss World 2010 Emma Wareus of Botswana, 19; Miss World Malaysia 2010 Nadia Heng Min Dern, 25; Miss World India 2010 Manasvi Mamgai, 22; founder CEO of FusionExcel International Mr Paul Ting, who is the franchise holder of Miss World Malaysia 2011 pageant; founder director of FusionExcel International Mr K.S. Lee; veteran singer Dato' Khadijah Ibrahim and ambassador of FusionExcel International's Hope for Children campaign Maggie Loo.

Star attraction of the night: (from left) Morley (partly hidden), Mills, Emma and Nadia

Then, the masters of ceremonies invited the VIPs to be up on stage for the official launch of the Miss World Malaysia 2011 pageant. After that, the dinner officially began with a long stream of young waiters and waitresses serving dishes to all the guests.

There were performances on the stage to keep the guests entertained while they were enjoying the dishes served on their tables. There were several dance performances by Sichuan district Guangzhou dance troop from China, which included a ballet dance. The Chinese dancers impressed the audience with their excellent dance moves.

Then, Dato' Khadijah stepped into spotlight when she was performing a traditional song on the stage. She is one of the appointed judges for the Miss World Malaysia 2011 pageant.

The next performance was thrilling as a young boy from the Philippines led the VIPs, who were invited to join him on the stage, for a song presentation. Clark Gamul acknowledged the distinguished guests before he started to sing Michael Jackson's We Are The World and the VIPs joined him. After his performance, Gamul received a birthday gift from K.S. Lee. Coincidentally, he turns 11 on the auspicious day itself and obtained a laptop. Gamul expressed his gratitude by saying, "I would like to thank FusionExcel for the gift I received. I really appreciate it."

Later, former Miss Malaysia Maggie Loo delivered her speech on the Hope for Children campaign developed by FusionExcel International.

Another significant event was the donation of one million sewing machines to one million Indian households. Representatives from India, including Mamgai and FusionExcel presidential director Rachel Thomas, made their way to the stage and revealed a mock sewing machine which was presented to them. They also received a mock cheque of RM150,000. The Indian community was rejoiced of the honour that they have received.

A time for celebration: The Indian representatives rejoicing after receiving the mock cheque and mock sewing machine. With them is Mamgai (first from left).

Last but not least, the highlight event of that night was recognition of directors, executive directors and presidential directors of FusionExcel International. Names were being called and those whose names were mentioned went up the stage to receive their rewards as recognition for their achievement in the organisation.

Of course, some of the participants were lucky enough to walk away with small gifts. Out of the large number of guests, only 100 were fortunate ones whose ticket numbers were randomly chosen through a lucky draw. They followed the instructions given by the MCs and redeemed their prizes.

At the back of the hall, there were counters where visitors can look at the various products of FusionExcel International displayed there. They can purchase the products if they're interested. The products available there were Quantum Pendants, Premium Quantum Pendants, Quantum Shields and many others. There was even a special where buyers can choose their own designs on the Quantum Pendants and have them decorated on the spot.

Up for grabs: The various designs of Quantum Pendants avaiable on display.

NOTE This event is written in the form of a news story as a contribution to the OJ news website assignment. The news can be found in the news site entitled newsflashutar.

UTAR 1st Karaokay Competition

UTAR Music Club has recently organised its first singing competition, starting from auditions to semi-final to yesterday night's grand final. And Banking and Finance Y2S3 student Lam Sai Yuen (Max) emerged as the champion.

Themed The Path of Dreamz, the whole competition began with the audition sessions held for 4 days from 22nd to 26th March 2010, which saw the participation of 170 participants. The figure surpassed the number expected by the organising committee. The participants were informed of the results after evaluation from judges through videos captured during the audition sessions. And 20 participants were selected to compete in the next round.

These Top 20 participants contested in the semi-final round which was held one week after the auditions. On 2nd April, the semi-final round was held at DDK5 and the contestants were called out one by one to perform their songs. After all the participants have performed, the master of ceremony entertained the crowd while the judges finalised their results. And the Top 10 finalists were announced.

On 17th April, the grand final of the competition was held at the Heritage Hall from 6-11pm. A lot of students turned up for the event. After the arrival of the VIPs, the event kicked off with the Top 10 finalists performed We're All in This Together, a song from High School Musical. After that, the judges were introduced by Masters of Ceremony, Bani and Joey, following by opening speeches by Dr Lim Tuck Meng, the Dean of Faculty of Science and Mr Loy Seng Hoong, the organising chairman of the event. Later, DSA officer Ms Esther Loo joined Dr Lim and Mr Loy for the opening ceremony.

There were 3 rounds. In the first round, all the 10 participants performed a song of their choice and later the judges gave some feedbacks after their performances. Some contestants did quite well while some needed to improve their performances based on the comments given by Ms Evon Soh, Ms Angel Ang and Mr Khoo. After that, members of the Dance Club wowed the crowd with a few dance performances.

Then the competition resumed with the 2nd round--duet performance. All the 10 participants were divided into 5 pairs and performed songs they've chosen together. Interesting performances from all of them especially the boy-girl pair of Contestant #4 Lam Sai Yuen & Contestant #1 Cherrie Tan Xiang Wen (the rest were either all males or all females). Later, there's voting session from the audience to determine the Top 5.

The votes were counted after the ushers have collected them. While they're doing so, the Top 20 came on stage to entertain the audience. There were 3 performances: one from all the guys singing My Love by Westlife, one from all the girls and later all of them joined hands for the last performance. Supposed there were 10 participants, but only 9 were there. The last participant who wasn't there was Ezreena Jasmine, the sole Indian in the Top 20.

The Top 5 was later announced and the 5 participants who qualified for the final round were Contestant #3 Liew Kok Weong, Max, Contestant #5 Goey Heng Ee, Contestant #8 Dang Beh Lee and Contestant #10 P'ng Geok Thye. In the 3rd round, they're required to perform a fast song and all 5 of them did extremely well, turning the whole competition into a concert. And while one contestant was singing, the rest of the contestants went on the stage as well to dance.

After their performances, it's time for the judges to decide who to be crowned as champion. While they're doing that, Bani went around to ask for opinions who's gonna win. Of all the people he asked, only Max and Geok Thye's names were mentioned. Then, Bani went onto the stage to join his friends for some performances, which began with the famous song from Barney the purple dinosaur. Since Mother's Day is drawing near, Bani and friends performed Really Love You (真的爱你) a song in Cantonese by Beyond, which signified mother's love.

Later, there's souvenir presentation to the VIPs and the honourable judges by the organising chairman. Then, the moment that everyone has been watiing for came: the announcement of the results. The most popular singer award was won by Max, based to the votes for the most favourite contestant. The 2nd runner-up was Geok Thye, Goey won the 1st ruuner-up and Max made it double when he was annunced as the champion of the 1st Karaokay Competition. He then performed Black Silence (黑色幽默) by Jay Chou, the song that he sang during the first round. He even brought his girlfriend onto the stage while singing the song. How romantic!

The MCs, Bani and Joey, later invited all the organising committee members, helpers and ushers onto the stage. They also thanked everyone for spending their time to witness such an excitiing event before closing the event.


Editor's note I didn't really noticed what happened during the clasing ceremony cos I've left early. And since I haven't taken my dinner before going, I went mamaking at Ghany after returning from campus.

CGBC Burger Nite

A great night indeed! Everyone's having fun making their own burgers and hotdogs!

This is the last week of the cell group and Campus Connect decided to have a Burger Nite for the last meeting of this trimester. The event was supposed to start at 7pm but it's raining around 6pm. The cell leaders said it would be postponed to the next day (today) if the rain doesn't stop at 6.30pm. Miraculously, it stopped exactly at that time, allowing the event to be taken place. Praise the Lord!

I went there early to help setting up the place. Several members were already there to help out as well. When everything was settled, it's time to make burgers. A lot of things were prepared: burger buns, chicken and beef patties, cheese, eggs, mayonnaise etc. And members used their creativity to produce all sorts of burgers. Some people even had the chance to enjoy frying fries. Due to limited numbers of stoves, members had to wait patiently for their turns.

After making the burgers, members sat down and enjoyed their own hand-made burgers. Then, everyone started talking to one another and had lots of fun there. Some people even went on to make some more burgers, myself inclusive.

Then, some people started leaving while some stayed back to clean up the place. And after some time, the place is back to normal again. Some members even spent some time interacting and fellowshipping with one another before everyone went home.

Mmm... it's tasty!!

From left: Kai Jun, Koon Eu and Isaac Chay

Victory in Christ, God with us

That's the theme for the Easter Musical held in CGBC Ipoh recently. I totally agree with the significance of the theme as Easter is the celebration of resurrection of Christ.

There were two nights: 8pm (Friday) and 7.30pm (Saturday). I missed the first one but attended the second night. It was indeed an awesome night as the youths have put up an egg-citing performance (forgot to mention that the first night was for adults while the second for youths). There's a choir singing hymns at the beginning, followed by a sketch where a father showed his son the the true meaning of Easter. There's dance performace by several teenage girls. Wow.... their dance moves really impressed me as if they're talented ballet dancers.

Later, a brother shared his testimony about his addiction to pornography and how he managed to get rid of the addiction. He even composed a song to demonstrate his love to the Lord. There's 2 more sing presentations: the first one was by a brother and in the second, several brothers and sisters carried a few banners and waved them during the whole presentation. And there's one banner that has Christ is Risen written on it. Amen!

Then, Bro Jospeh Raj took over the stage to share his sermon of the night. Bro Joseph's sermon was mainly about Easter and the resurrection of Christ. In his sermon, He discussed about the relationship of Jesus and Peter, one of his 12 disciples. He also said that the message conveyed from the sketch and the testimony was quite clear i.e Christ is risen. At the end of his sermon, Bro Joseph shared a testimony. His testimony was how the family of one of his coursemates accepted Christ. The father of that coursemate passed away due to cancer several weeks after becoming a Christian while the mother was baptised during Christmas last year. And that coursemate is actually his wife who was interpreting his sermon to Mandarin that night (FYI his wife is a Chinese).

The night ended with Bro Joseph praying for several brave souls who wanted to accept Jesus Christ into their life. While he's doing so, some people started leaving the place, including me & my parents. Actually, I wanted to talk to Bro Joseph since we haven't seen each other since the Amazing Race camp but my dad wanted to leave earlier to avoid traffic congestion. But never mind, I can always keep in touch with him.

Campus CNY Celebration

What an wonderful CNY celebration indeed! Great time we had there celebrating CNY @ Campus Connect 2 night ago. There's food, games, testimony... the event was indeed a great success. Well done to the organisers - Alex, Jialing, Richard & Patty.

Before the celebration began, it's raining heavily outside. I guess the Lord is showering us with blessings from above. Alex was the chairperson for the night and he welcomed everyone who was present. Then, Richard & Jessie stepped in for games and songs respectively. We were divided into 4 groups and played two games. Then Jessie led everyone to singing two common CNY songs before going into the worship session. Then, sharing of testimony by Mun Yee and Alex himself. Then PC shared a short message based on the theme of the night -- man (which means full or abundance). Then refreshment time. There's a variety of food there.... cookies, dried meat (bak gua). Some members even took part in tossing the yee sang.

Fun转中秋夜

Cute little pink bunny

Had lots of fun during Utar's Mid-Autumn Festival celebration... wow, it's entertaining and enjoyable.
Lots of food, perfomances... it's simply amazing.. the event is organised by several clubs & societies namely Accounting Society, Chinese Language Society, Christian Fellowship Society, English Language Society, International Friendship Society, Chinese Orchestra Unit, Entreprenuership Society.
Except for the orchestra, the other societies set up stalls in the Cafeteria, selling varieties of food and drinks. All the items are purchased using coupons. There's one stall selling these coupons for RM5/booklet, lanterns and mineral water.
The event begins at 7.30pm and lots of students are seen moving from one stall to another to buy food. I helped out at the CF booth at first, but all the apple tarts & banana muffins made the previous night were sold out b4 9pm. So laku!! Other stalls also tutup kedai early too cos the items they promote finished off very fast. Then, I helped out at the ELS booth, helping out to sell chrysanthemum tea (other items like curry & kaya puffs, doughnuts & sambal buns habis also).
Lots of interesting & entertaining performances during the event.. it started off with the Chinese Orchestra, then wushu, belly dance etc.. the last performance is from the Chinese CF.. Vincent Ling led two girls to sing some hymns.. before they begin, all the CF members prayed together.. the MCs of the event ends tonite's celebration & everyone start balik rumah masing-masing. And I praise the Lord for gracing the celebration with His showers of blessings.

Editor's Note: There isn't any photos to show for this exciting event.

A privileged visit to Perak MB's official residence

Hee... looking at the title, u should be wondering what I'm doing there? Cos normal citizens seldom have the chance to step into such a place. Without hesitation, I'll reveal the reason why I was there yesterday night.

Actually, I was there with my parents to attend a function held there. It's Majlis Jamuan Hari Raya. And all the government servants in the state and their families were invited by Perak MB Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir for a Raya celebration. My mum is working in Lembaga Air Perak, therefore she was invited as well.

Around 7.40pm, we reached there and my dad parked the car at the carpark beside my alma mater, SMJK Sam Tet Ipoh. Wow, this is the 1st time for my dad and I going into the residence located opposite my secondary school.

As we walked into the MB's residence, I was amazed by the surroundings of the residence. Indeed an eye-opener for me. After getting our numbers for a lucky draw, we went to settle ourselves down at one of the tables there. While waiting for the VIPs to arrive, I glanced around. 90% of ppl there were Malays, this ain't an surprise cos most of the gov servants were Malays.

Around 8.15pm, Dr Zambry arrived tgt with his wife Datin Seri Saripah Zulkifli. After opening speech by the Perak MB, the function continued with presentation of scrolls to Dr Zambry by rep of government bodies. Several artistes belted out few songs to keep the crowd entertained. Then, the race for food began!! All the ppl started to rush to different stalls around the place where the event was held to get different delicacies available there. Nasi briyani, lemang, cendol just to name a few. A local comedian entertained the audience with his jokes.

After everyone had finished eating, time for lucky draw. Only 100 ppl who have lucky numbers picked by MB were rewarded with a hamper. But in the middle of the draw, some ppl started leaving. We left as well around 10.30pm.

What a great experience I had there. Will keep this visit as a memory for a lifetime that I have been there, even though I didn't snapped any photos.

ELS Movie Review

Another activity from the English Language Society of UTAR, apart from the exhibition
Yup, that's right... a movie review. Details are as follows:
Date: 13-14 Aug 2009 (Thurs-Fri)
Time:2.00-5.00pm
Venue: A003 (Auditorium Block A)
Movie: Night at the Musuem 1 & 2
The first movie will be shown on Thurs while the second on Fri.
Agenda:
2.00pm - Welcoming guests
2.30pm - Screening of the movie (the movie is abt 2 hrs)
4.30pm - Clean-up
Those who want to attend the movie review need to get tickets from ELS ticket booth. Members can redeem the tickets for free, while non-members have to pay RM2 for the tickets
Sale of tickets:
Date: 6, 7 & 10 Aug 2009
Time: 11am-4pm
Venue: Cafeteria
Limited seats only! Only 100 seats for each movie! Get your tickets while stocks last!