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for those who would like to read our post-mortem thoughts, here goes:

Venue

Food

Events

Logistics

Protocol

Technical and Equipment

Decorations

Publicity

Money Matters

Survey Results (last updated: 18/9/2008)

General

Final Thoughts

once again thanks for those who have responded. your feedback means a lot to us.

to those who said that Malam was just bad all the way and that you might/will never go to Malam again, thank you for your raw honesty :)

i do feel really bad and with deepest regrets, on behalf of the team, i apologise that we did not manage to make Malam an enjoyable one for you. however i do hope that you will give the team next year a chance to prove themselves.

to those who said that you had a great time - your encouragements do mean a lot to us - to know that our efforts have not gone entirely down the drain. thank you! :)

Malam means a lot to me personally. and that's why i do take each comment very seriously and think and reflect. your comments have shown us what we've done right, what we have not done right, and helped us to learn from our mistakes, and also to accept failure as a stepping stone to success.

in all, thank you for helping me grow up a little bit more ;)

have a great week ahead and hope to see you at the AGM on saturday! :)

Post-Mortem

We just had our post-mortem and final meeting. The following posts will be some responses to the survey and also some matters that we have discussed.

all in all, i hope that the following posts will be helpful to you if you are thinking of being in the Malam committee next year. Even if you are not going to be in any committee, perhaps the following posts might give you some insights on organizing events and running projects.

before i start rambling, grateful thanks to those who have seen me through and giving me a chance - especially Mark Hii and Seng Cheng and Prakash and Joshua (year 2006 Malam coordinators). Also once again, a thousand of thanks to the team! your dedication and commitment made things happen! :)

i won't be able to share everything here on the blog. But i do keep everything in a folder so feel free to grab the Malam folder fromme and you would have lots and lots of information there :)
Please do feel free to have a chat with any of us if you need more information etc. Especially to those who are going to do Malam next year - we will be more than happy to spend some time with you to share our thoughts and help in any way that we can :) Coz that's the spirit of pass it on :)

Post-Mortem: General

in general:

• Great MCs u had there!
• MCs!!

thanks! Navin and Chu May will be really encouraged to hear this! :D By the way, this is the first time that they are emcee-ing a function. am grateful to the friends who have suggested Navin and Chu May! and also super grateful that they agreed to do it! yay! :D

• Nice attempt... Also good job on reducing the ticket price, I know u guys put much effort in that, perhaps put as much effort in the actual event itself, that's the part the audience see and feel...

thanks for the acknowledgment on the ticket price :)

anyway, in all honesty, i think we did put in as much effort as we could for the actual event. well, perhaps, taking a step back and putting myself in the shoes of someone who has perhaps attended Malam quite a few times, well, i might perhaps say the same thing. or perhaps this is your first time attending Malam. well, i dunno who you are, but imagining myself as a guest and an audience, ya, perhaps i might say this too. coz thinking back - not everything was really up to par :p anyway, do refer to the post on performances :p and thanks for your honest feedback! :) it's great!

on another tone, for my team and my dear friends, kindlye bear with my honesty and perhaps even biasness as i say this: yes, we might have fallen short of your (and some other people) expectations, but for four full months - the team has sacrificed a lot to make Malam happen - that effort is already worth applauding. the sleepless nights, the stress, the sacrifice, the commitment, the meetings they have to attend, the plannings, the effort to bring people together for rehearsals etc etc... :)

however, i always have to remind myself that sometimes it's the result that matters.. it's like i could have poured hours into studying but still not do well in my exam.. :p so regardless of the effort, sometimes it's the result that matters. so perhaps, my efforts weren't still enough. the irony of life?

anyway, please bear with me and hope that you will be able to understand my sentiments for my team :)

constructive criticisms leads to growth. so ya, thank you again for your i do believe that we are capable to do better and with all well-wishes, may the team next year pull off a great show!!

• Very well done especially the team members' effort. Keep up the good work.
• Job well done.
• Great job. Well done.
• Bernard looks cool!
• generally well organised. :) Loved the level of commitment put in by the comittee
• It was a well-thought out event! You guys gave much thought to making it like "home"...and the jokes were funny as!
  

i have a feeling that the above comments are mainly from those who have been seeing the team working and preparing for Malam :p anyway, even if you aren't, thanks for the encouragements. and to those who have been seeing us through the whole Malam process, giving us the moral support and encouragements, especially my flatmates when i was so stressed with the financial part, THANK YOU very much!!!

Final thoughts

start early!

i was late in setting up the committee and applying for grants. grr. i suffered the consequences.

so ya, if someone decided that i'm wise enough to give an advice, it would be:
start as early as you can!

especially for the grants! even if you dun have a committee yet - it's okay - as long as you have your top 4 and a sponsorship team - get the money and MAS ticket in A.S.A.P.!!!

a BIG team
one of the reasons of having such a big team (yes, about 30 of us) was so that we could involve more people in organizing Malam. that's 'home' by itself.

if you were with us during our Malam prep, you might have witnessed firsthand the unity and teamwork amongst the team was just so.. warm! that was home.

most of the team are 1st and 2nd year students, some of them have not attended Malam before - that's also why we brought them into the team - you always need to start somewhere. also we need to 'train up' new leaders. can't always be the old people doing the work kan? :p

dear team,

thank you for teaching me things along the way! it was great getting to know each of you better. how to relate to you; how to handle and solve issues; how to respect; how to care.. and even how to have fun amidst the stress :)

i hope that each of you have picked up a few skills along the way; gained some new experiences; made some new friends... and had fun! :D may Malam 2o08 be a sweet memory for you! :)


btw, i know the excuse of time and budget constraints might not be very acceptable... things such as.. aih. we are all students also ma. need to study for tests and do assignments leh! aiyo. no money, how to be grand ler? bili-bala-bili-bala... anyway, one thing that made me proud of the team is that despite their busy schedule, despite the budget constraints, they still managed to work within their limitations and they were still very committed to doing what they are supposed to do. despite the flaws and weaknesses, despite the challenges we have to overcome, i'm glad that we all managed to pull through!

also, not forgetting the CMSA 2008 committee who helped out in any way they could, thank you! :D

and also, to each of you who have been visiting this blog and bearing with my long posts, those who have seen us through and gave us advice, those who have done the pre-Malam and post-Malam surveys, and most importantly, you gave us a chance and attended Malam 2008,

THANK YOU!!!

come to think of it, aren't we all in ONE BIG TEAM? working together to achieve a single goal - bringing home closer! :D

go team! :D

anyway, this might or might not be the final post for the blog. depends. haha. perhaps the team next year will continue on with the blog; perhaps not - it's up to them. we'll see.

thanks for visiting this blog! good luck for your final few weeks of the last term in uni!

(^^)9

Post-Mortem: Venue

Most people thought that it was average.

We had comments saying that the hall was too wide with the reference point as the stage. Guests sitting at the sides of the ballroom were not able to see the performances clearly. A person suggested that it would be better to get a squarish hall rather than a long one.

Had a few comments saying that it was congested. We should also work on the seating plan. Someone mentioned a careful consideration of the location of charis, tables etc for easier viewing. And also allocate strategic space for performaers to dance and move in/out from performances.

the story:

once again, APOLOGIES!!!!!

man, i've been saying a lot of sorry's. but sigh, well, still, sorry.

anyway, these are some thoughts and explanations from us:

• we looked out at least 4-5 venues before deciding;
• btw, CHCH has a limited number of hotels that has a hall that can fit such a large number of people (i.e. more than 150 people);
• after taking into account as many factors we can think of (you can see me if you want to have a look at our analysis folder :p), we decided that though this might not be the best, but it would be the best amongst the rest - not only in terms of the package that they offer us, but also the overall ambience was really cosy;
• basically we have to work within our limitations.
  

some lessons to learn from:

• where would be a better venue?
• make sure that we get to use the venue during the day - and not only an hour before the event. it's a long story for that - but anyway, hope the next committee will be very insistent on this the next time :)
• anyway, having the venue during the day will definitely give us more time to solve unexpected problems
  

A friend suggested to use the UCSA ballroom instead of a hotel ballroom - which wil probably save money and even make things grander. Also, the location of the UCSA ballroom is quite good for most students.

the story:
i had a wee chat with the ballroom manager. however the cost was about the same as renting the hotel ballroom we had this year. and since most people in the survey said they would prefer the hotel ballroom - so ya.

anyway, i think this is definitely an option that the next committee should consider :)

Post-Mortem: Food

my response will be in blue...

• food refill process too slow. couldnt get any chicken or lamb until Ka Mun came to us.
• clarify on buffet table settings. allow for seconds. soup run out. hmm.
  
• Food delay
• Just the waiting for the food.
  
• Besides having to wait until 9pm for the food, there is nothing much to complain about. Just one thing, I didn't like the soup. Hehe. ya, i heard about the soup - it was okay initially but it went cold and lumpy eventually... sorry about that!
  
• You know that food was so slow...we were really starving! Maybe provide abit more finger food on the table next time... so we can munch to alleviate our hunger...

i know it wouldn't help much, but sincerely, sorry, sorry, and sorry.
we have e-mailed the hotel and are waiting for a feedback from them. we are really regretful for what has happened about the food flow; but we have also learnt that from now on, whatever agreements that we have with our events manager or whoever's in-charge: always write in black-and-white! be as detailed as we can get! keep asking and clarifying!

anyway, overall i think the food was still quite yummy - especially the lamb curry! :p

• VIPs were too late! Had to wait for food. there's a story behind it. sigh. anyway, thanks to the person who suggested that we could perhaps pick up the VIPs so that everything can start on time. will bear that suggestion in mind :)
  
  
• I think Lam did a very good job by giving out vouchers and entertaining the people as they wait for their turns to get the food
• I also like the idea of having many vouchers and surprises on the day. It helped easing up the hunger while waiting for the food.

once again, thanks Ka-Mun!!! :D

• Heard the chocolate cake wasn't bad.
• Food was quite good and filling too!!

whew. thanks for some positive feedback :p

• Serve some Malaysian food.
• Should have Nasi Lemak! Haha...

i miss proper malaysian food too! but anyway, let me explain a few issues here and hope you will understand why we aren't able to serve Malaysian food :)

1. The Food & Beverages law here do not allow outside food to be brought into the hotel;
2. The hotel does not allow for outside caterer;
3. If you want to get an outside caterer, normally we can go to a community hall to do so - but there comes a whole lot of other issues - too much to be handled and i dun think we are ready to do so;
   
4. At the moment, we do not see a caterer who might be able to provide for such a capacity. Even if they can do the numbers, what about the financial costs? what about the quality of the food?
   
5. have a chat with Ka-Mun :p

anyway, if you want some good Malaysian food, can always check out the Malaysian halal food shop on Riccarton road!! it's called Malaysian Flavours and it's a few shops away from Cash Converters! :D

anyway, thanks for the feedback. perhaps the committees to come could consider working on this side, i.e. serving malaysian food - but ya, these are our considerations and we decided to stick to something that can help save manpower and time ;)

Post-Mortem: Events

Performances

Fashion Show

• Fashion Show:
  
• Fashion show was great! Should have more of those kind of performances in future rather than always singing and dancing.

i thought it was fun too ;) i remember when Bern mentioned about the fashion show, i was quite sceptical. i told him that it has to be different from the typical cat-walk thing - hehe - being quite bossy then :P but they managed to pull it off! huhu. someone told me about trusting and i'm glad that it was a risk well-taken ;)

some people asked: how about the ibans and kadazans and bidayuhs? urm. maybe next times? there might be quite some issues involved though.. talk to Bernard for more information :p

R.A.M.
for those who have been here long enough and have seen lots of R.A.M. performances which are really good in my humble opinion, i would say that this time round, it wasn't one of their best performances.

however, given that:

• most of the dancers were first-year students;
• most of the senior dancers have graduated and gone home; or either that they are final year students;
• the president of R.A.M. met with a serious car accident and has been on wheelchair;
  
• the main and perhaps sole choreographer had a 5-day field trip during the Malam week...
  

so ya, what happened to R.A.M.? that's what happened. but let's continue to hope and pray that they will be able to get over these tough times. i call it a 'gap issue'. Hopefully with more students coming in next year, R.A.M. would be able to come back again! Gambate!! :D

Boy Band
i am not sure about you but i had fun :p not that i am a boy band fan.. but ya.. these guys were cool! :D

Unplugged band

yes, we agreed that the singing was rather... long. actually, perhaps the next team can come out with something more entertaining that mere singing. hmm. wasn't special enough.

Rehearsals

• more involvement of the tech crew during rehearsals;
• should confirm and prepare earlier;
• punctuality very important;
• be more well-organized and planned during rehearsals.

Overall

• I expected better performances, but I guess it would be too much to ask from fellow students...
• Better performance, more variety... I don't think the theme actually came out during the event...well, maybe the advertisement videos...

yes indeed, i believe that we could have done better and there is indeed much room for improvement. thanks for bearing with us :)

a few of us attended a charity culutral night hosted by the Canterbury Medical Students' Association. it was an awesome night and we had so much fun too! will definitely learn some stuff from them ;)

with regards to the theme. well. urm. apologies that we might not have done enough to bring out the theme. some said that we did live up to the theme. but ya, it's good to know that some people think otherwise.

i think it's much more than just the performances that will bring out the theme - perhaps it's the overall and general atmosphere of the night. personally i feel that the team has worked hard to do what they can to bring out the theme - and i applaud them. but well, perhaps it just wasn't enough or perhaps not what you expected. but ya, we can always do better and will always have room for improvement. so to the next committee: good luck in choosing your theme and hope you can bring it out well! :D

Audience participation
we really wanted to get more audience participation and we had a game ready. but due to time constraints, we cancelled it.

with regards to having best-dressed or beauty queen etc, i personally wasn't keen with that idea.

firstly, time constraint. from what happened during the night, dun think we will have enough time to do one.

secondly, the organization of it. what would be a 'fair' way to decide who is the winner? who chooses the winner? if the crowd, how should we do the voting system? etc etc. might not be too much effort - but it's too much effort for me :p

thirdly, from previous experiences, i found it rather... meaningless. coz i can't see anything constructive or purposeful out of it. ok, maybe it could be fun - but we need to have good crowd participation for it to be fun. i wasn't ready to gamble on that so we didn't do it. but ya, next time round, this is for the next committee to decide.

Lucky draws
many people said that Ka-Mun really did a good job! especially the suspense for the MAS ticket grand prize! three cheers for Ka-Mun!!!

Dance floor

• lack of time... so ya.. oh well..

Post-Mortem: Logistics

Equipment

• we were unclear about certain equipments - say we didn't know that we have to have a certain type of cable to connect to that kind of equipment. this one really require experience or even an expert.
  
• our logistic team was not informed early enough at times to get the necessary equipments - but i think sometimes some last-minute stuff is really unavoidable - no matter how well-planned. so that's why we have a contingency fund :p but ya, definitely should avoid last-minute as much as we can :)
  

Transportation

• yes we took your suggestions from the survey and provided transport. this is our first time doing it so we are learning. hope to come out with a better mechanism. Have a chat with Hafiz or Ing Chia :)
• btw, much thanks to Hafiz for settling the transportation part. i heard that you weren't able to enjoy the night properly because you had to settle various transportation issues. am sorry to hear. but really, thanks so much for all the effort!!!
  

Post-Mortem: Protocol

Tables Allocation

• i wasn't clear and decisive about reserving tables and the table allocation and hence caused quite a confusion. i apologize for that part;
• we should work out a more systematic table naming/numbering system;
• should work out a better system in terms of table allocation and have a name list;
  
• some mentioned that it was congested; some mentioned that it was cosy. it's again another long story which i will share in the post on 'venue'.

Ushering

• there should be proper coordination between the ushers and the reception table;
• should have at least 2 ushers stationed at each wing of the hall.

Reception table

• congested;
• the person(s) in charge of ticket sales should be there.

Overall
the night flowed quite well besides the food delay. i hope that we have served you well that night too! :)

Post-Mortem: Technical and Equipment

Basically there weren't many problems overall.Though we only get to set-up our sound etc only around 5ish pm, i think our tech crew pulled everything real well. Great job guys!

some thoughts:

• could have put subtitles on video.
• the microphones a bit cacat - but that is pretty much beyond our control.
• The tech crew had a hard time communicating with each other as the tech unit was all over the place - the lights, sound and laptops were all in different places. we had trouble looking for walkie-talkies - so a thought is to start looking for walkie-talkies earlier or brain storm a better of communication - actually, it would be great if we could have more time to set up the sound etc, say early in the morning :p
  
• live video for performances perhaps? however we would need the necessary equipments.

Have a chat with Mamat or Jacky :)

Post-Mortem: Decorations

from the survey:

backdrop

• backdrop could be more elaborate - but then again, money and time constraints apply.
• Except for the tables, there isnt much difference before and after the hall was set up. Could have had a better backdrop. It didn't really match the decorations of the tables.
• include some drawings like "wau" or "layang-layang" or something that shows malaysian culture. i mean the "malam malaysia 2008" at the stage..its too simple..
• More effort on the backdrop please... I wonder which part of the theme "home" was shown in the decorations...

the story...

we admit that it was rather plain. even not comparing to the past few years, it's still pretty... plain.

anyway, we actually had 2 ideas.

firstly we wanted to paint on wooden planks. but the stage was too low and so our support for the planks might be falling all over the place. so, nopez.

the stage was pretty... empty. urm. wanted to save money that's why. hehe :p

we did think about using the projector and having slideshows etc as our background. but due to some misunderstanding about the projectors etc - we didn't do it.

anyway, ya, we should have definitely put in a lil more effort on the backdrop! thanks for the feedback!

twin towers

• Twin towers were awesome!
  
• I love that u guys put so much effort in creating the Twin Towers.
• The Twin Tower was a superb success.

the story...

glad you guys loved the towers! Calvin Lim! you're the man! :D thanks to all those who helped out too! Eric Ong especially! overall, it took them about 1 1/2 months to build the towers :) lots of cutting and drawing and uhu-ing :p

overall

• not have the same every year...
  
• something more elegant
• was really nice. loved it a lot.

something more elegant - would be nice if you could elaborate :) thanks!

i wonder if you guys noticed the little details here and there. ok. maybe not.

firstly, if you realised, we had the hall separated in bandar (city) and kampung (village). the ones with the white table cloth was the city side; and the black table cloths were the village side. so the deco for each side of the hall was different.

we initially wanted to have more models (i.e. a rumah papan, kl tower etc) - but ya, time and energy constraints.

kudos to Jacky Tay who drew those beautiful pictures on the walls. Hope some of you noticed them! :D

oh, and we have an advice - candles!! make sure we communicate properly with the hotel about lighting the candles.

it is a long story to tell - but Merlin did a great back-up plan! i called him around 1-ish pm telling him that the hotel said that we couldn't light the candles (they did mention to us earlier that we could light the tealight ones). Anyway, thanks to the gardens at both our flats, Merlin managed to gather some supplies to beautify the tables. great job on that! :D

so ya, overall, great job deco team! :D

Post-Mortem: Publicity

from the survey, perhaps due to the insufficient sample size, i couldn't make out any publicity method that was more efficient than the other. but i guess overall we managed to make our event quite well-known in uni :p

we thought that we could improve on poster and ticket designs. So yup. we will.

we had problems with collecting ticket money. got ourselves pretty confused on who paid etc etc. Do have chat with Wan Yin or Natasha. Firdaus came out with a superb idea too. So ya, do talk to him too :)

Like what Kam suggested in one of his comments on this blog, he mentioned not to get people from only within a demographic group. we did work at that but turned out that.. majority of the team was still within a particular demographic group - so ya, something to work harder on next time. one of the reasons is that when selling tickets, we are only selling to the same target group, i.e. common friends.

Firdaus suggested that we can have a few target groups and have a leader/rep. for each group - in that way, we can reacher a wider population, and also it will help in collecting ticket money. good one Firdaus! :D

ok. think that's about it :)

Post-Mortem: Money Matters

For grants and sponsorships, the people whom you might wanna have a chat with would be Ka-Mun, Ing Chia, Firdaus or me. We will be able to give you some tips on letter-writing, how to approach the shops etc. Not that we are very hebat - but we have learnt from experiences ;)

Some thoughts:

Start Early!

Seng Cheong told me this when i met him:

"Start applying for grants early!"

actually he told me that a lot a lot of times.

Ing Chia reitarated that too.

So ya, start EARLY!!! this is wisdom!

if i have something to tell you about grants and money matters too, it would also be "START EARLY!"

coz i totally felt the pain during 2-3 weeks prior to Malam when we received more rejections than offers.


Vouchers
Aim for lots and lots of vouchers and lucky draw prizes :p i think one of the reasons why we managed to ease the crowd a bit was that we had heaps of vouchers to spare. WHEW! we actually wanted to use those vouchers in case of technical glitches and stuff. Turned out we could use it for the food delay. Whew. Hope you guys made use of the vouchers and lucky draw prizes.


Sponsorship Team
our team was actually doing double-time. i played the cards wrongly. each committee had their own job to do, yet they also have to look for sponsors. in a way, yes, it's good to learn some new stuff. But overworking them amidst the busy study schedule etc? eee. i felt real bad.

anyway, chat with us and we can share our ideas on how we can improve on this. i think there's no perfect method, but there are definitely efficient methods.

Survey results: General

sorry ya. this is the best i can do. coz i'm not subscribed to esurveypro.com so i am not allowed to use the 'export to pdf' function they have there. and it's too much effort to retype everything. copy-and-paste didn't work. so.. i decided to print screen :p

this is an overview of the results. will delve into the details in the next few posts. just click on the image for a clearer and larger view.

Thank you for doing the survey!

so far we have 24 respondents. if you haven't done the survey, it'd be great if you could take few minutes out to do it! would be very very helpful for us! we dun really have enough numbers to have a proper sample size. so ya, wud really appreciate if you could help us so that we can have more accurate results to represent the population, or the total number of guests who turned up. hehe. sorry abt the stats jargon but i'm majoring in Stats :p

Thanks for the constructive suggestions. We truly appreciate them. After all, no feedback, no growth. At least we can know what went wrong and how we can improve. Thanks also for the encouragements and affirmations :)

We had some really honest feedback. Whew. Raw honesty. i think it's good. In fact, a very good humbling process for myself personally. At times, it was very tempting to want to defend the team and myself. But then it won't help us grow. So instead of jumping into defensive mode, sit down, breathe, and reflect on each suggestion and input. Otherwise, why even bother to set up a survey if we can't take any criticism? :p

The guests each paid NZD 45.00 - it's not a cheap price - and mind you, there could be some high expectations from the guests. being quite a perfectionist, i put a lot of pressure on myself during the whole Malam prep. had to also keep reminding myself that i can't please everyone. i am encouraged that most of you had a good night.. and to those who found it 'so-so', my apologies for perhaps not meeting up to your expectations or standards. i hope the next Malam committee will be able to put on an even greater one! :)

i'm still very proud of the team. they have put in their best effort despite the financial and time constraints, especially the week leading up to Malam. the teamwork shown by the team was super encouraging.

Malam 2008 will officially come to an end after tonight's post-mortem meeting and settling the accounts and sending out the thank-you's to the respective sponsors. Will post up the survey results later on with our response to each of your suggestions. Still hoping for more people to do the survey :D Your feedback really does mean a lot to us! :D thank you once again for doing the survey!

Malaysia

September 16 1963
Sabah and Sarawak joined the Federation of Malaya to form - Malaysia.

let us remember the good things of the day

=)

Remembering Malaysia Day?
BY SHAD SALEEM FARUDI

The spirit of moderation and accommodation that animated the birth of our country in 1963 must be continued as we gear for the challenges ahead.

YESTERDAY was the 45th anniversary of Malaysia Day. On Sept 16, 1963 the British colonies of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore merged with the Federation of Malaya to form the new nation of Malaysia.

However, there was opposition externally as well as internally. Indonesia launched an undeclared war. The Philippines laid an international law claim over Sabah.

Within Malaya, the State of Kelantan vehemently opposed the transformation.

It went to court to challenge the impending Malaysia Day Agreement on the ground that under constitutional conventions its consent was needed for any significant amendment to the Merdeka Constitution.

In a historic judgment, Government of Kelantan v Government of the Federation of Malaya (1963), the High Court ruled that Article 159 (the amendment clause of the Constitution) nowhere requires the consent of the states prior to the admission of a new province into the federation.

As to the alleged convention, the court observed correctly that conventions are informal political practices not enforceable in a court of law.

And so, from 11 regions, Malaya expanded to 14. A new name was emblazoned on the political firmament. Significant new rules were established to regulate the special relationship of the new entrants with the federal government.

In many respects the new federation embodied a pact among five unequal entities – the powerful federal government, the 11 peninsular states with limited autonomy and the specially privileged regions of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore with considerable freedom from federal control in designated areas.

The reasons for this special treatment need to be examined.

First of all, there were a number of historical and legal events, among them the Resolution of the Malaysia Solidarity Consultative Committee (1961), Resolution of the Legislative Council of North Borneo (1962), the Report of the Cobbold Commission (1962) and the Twenty Point Manifesto of the Sabah Alliance (1962).

In addition there was the Report of the Inter-Governmental Committee/Landsdowne Committee (1963), the Malaysia Agreement (1963) and the Malaysia Act 1963. All of them recognised the special needs of and acceded to the demands of the Borneo states.

Second, the cultural, religious and linguistic distinctiveness of the people of Borneo is an undeniable fact that justifies some special safeguards for indigenous traditions.

Third, the Borneo states contribute huge territories and massive resources to the federation. Their combined area is 198,069 sq km exceeding peninsular Malaysia’s 131,681 sq km. The coastline of the two states is 2,607 km compared to the peninsula’s 2,068km.

Fourth, despite their huge resources, there were, and still are, continuing problems of poverty and underdevelopment in Sabah and Sarawak.

Fifth, the 1963 pact between the Federation of Malaya, the United Kingdom, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore was not merely a domestic agreement. It was an international treaty.

For the above reasons, the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya was rewritten significantly to incorporate the special position of the new states.

> The three states were given some special and additional sources of revenue which the West Malaysian states do not possess.

> Schedule 9 which demarcates the legislative powers of the federation and the states contains three legislative lists – a Federal list with 27 topics; a State List with 13 topics; and a Concurrent List with 14 topics. For enlarging the legislative powers of the Borneo states a Supplementary State List with 6 topics and a Supplementary Concurrent List with 9 topics was added to the Federal Constitution.

> The Borneo States were given powers over immigration into the States.

> Sabah and Sarawak have their own High Court, their own Chief Judge and their own native courts. Appointment of judges to the Borneo High Court requires consultation with the Chief Ministers of the states.

> Due to the prevalence of non-Muslim religions in Sabah and Sarawak, the Constitution of the two States in 1963 did not contain provisions for Islam. Many federal rules relating to Islam as the religion of the federation did not apply in Sabah and Sarawak.

> Sabah and Sarawak have exclusive rights over land and local government.

> Despite Bahasa Melayu as the national language, the use of English and native languages is permitted in the Borneo States.

> Similar to the special position of the Malays under Article 153, the natives are also given special protection under Article 153.

> Any amendment to the Federal Constitution that affects the rights of Sabah and Sarawak requires the consent of the Governor of these states.

> The 1963 pact gave to Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore special representation in the Dewan Rakyat totalling more than one-third of the elected seats. Perhaps this was to enable these states to veto constitutional amendments.

> Article 150(6A) of the emergency chapter protects native law and custom in the Borneo states even against emergency legislation.

> West Malaysian lawyers have no right to practise before the courts in Borneo without a work permit.

Despite these special provisions, Kuala Lumpur’s relationship with the three special regions has not always worked well.

The union with Singapore lasted only two years. Tensions with the Borneo states have been plenty. In 1966 an emergency had to be declared in Sarawak to rein in the Chief Minister, Stephen Kalong Ningkan.

In Sabah the reign of Tun Mustapha witnessed a period of great state assertiveness. The PBS rode to power a few times by invoking the spirit of Sabah nationalism.

Most Sabahans have the perception – and perceptions are important – that their special rights as embodied in the 20-point agreement are not being fully respected.

What rankles them most is the federal government’s failure to control the massive influx of illegal immigrants into Sabah.

There is even an allegation that thousands of “illegals” have been granted permanent residence or citizenship thereby rendering useless Sabah’s control over immigration. Certainly Sabah’s population has shown exponential growth.

The federal government rebuts all these charges by pointing to international pressures to treat illegal immigrants humanely.

Another sore point is the amendment of the Constitution to appropriate Labuan as a federal territory.

A third explosive issue is that through constitutional amendments to Articles 3(3) and 38(7), Islamisation policies have been gradually extended to Sabah and Sarawak despite the 1963 exemption to these states from religious acts.

The Borneo states also lament that their representation in the Dewan Rakyat has fallen below the proportion in 1963 despite Article 161E(2)(e).

The federal leadership defends these changes by pointing out that most of these amendments were accomplished with the consent of the leaders of the Borneo states and in accordance with constitutional procedures in Article 161E.

In every federal system some tension between the central and regional authorities is unavoidable and even healthy.

In every functioning democracy, disagreements are bound to exist. If federal-state relationships exhibit no discord, that itself is a symptom of other ills. Sometimes the absence of the problem is the problem!

Malaysia has done well to keep federal-state tensions from exploding into open conflict.

The spirit of moderation and accommodation that animated the birth of Malaysia in 1963 must be continued as we gear for the challenges ahead. Our fellow citizens from Sabah and Sarawak have many grievances that need to be heard.

Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi is Professor of Law at UiTM, Shah Alam.

Flatmates!

i've been receiving texts from people asking if i know anyone who needs to a temporal place to stay over summer. These students are going back to Malaysia for summer. But if their flat contract includes the summer, they will still have to pay rent and that also will mean that they will be 'burning' money. So that's why they are looking for people who are looking for a place over summer and then can help with the rent and expenses etc.

So i thought that CMSA can help a bit in this part. What we did is set-up a forum whereby you will have to register to post in the forum. So for example, i am needing to look for someone to stay over the summer. i go to the forum and check out if there are people looking for flatmates. or i can put up my contact details.

same goes with selling and buying of furniture etc.

Check out the forum at:
http://cmsa-flat.coolboards.org

hope we will make good use of the forum and that it will be able to serve those who are needing to look for flats/flatmates/furniture etc. Thanks! :)

I had a great time working with you guys/girls. If I have been a lil sarcastic or out of my mind at times (especially to Zaipong, Q, Nat, Gloria and Wan Yin), hehehe.. sorry =) Hope to work with you people again in the future =)

Post-Malam

if you would like to give us some feedback on Malam 08, please do fill in our post-malam survey.

official photos are out and available for sale. check out the website at http://www.flickr.com/photos/29971990@N05/

apparently there's something weird with the e-mails. we haven't been able to send out any info on CMSA to the members. hopefully we will be able to disseminate the information soon.

just a lil update about CMSA:
AGM will be end of this month - so look out for the e-mails if you are interested to run for any positions next year!

ok. back to the post-Malam to-do list:

1. post-mortem
2. clear accounts
3. sell off some of the deco stuff
4. post-malam survey
5. update sponsor list on the blog and send out thank-you letters etc to sponsors. also to some organisations whom we would like to stay connected with
   
6. give subsidies back to team member and performers
7. sort out photos - wud love to put some interesting ones up here. am especially happy to see stronger bonds and new friendships being developed. bringing home closer ;)
   
8. thank-you notes
9. affirmation
10. find a place to put the twin towers :p
11. study!

have a great week ahead! uni's starting tomorrow! gambate!

Students' Say

one of the videos shown during Malam. thanks to Mamat for the hard work! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP9JXYoxKV0

Malam Merdeka? Malam Malaysia? Malam Kebangsaan?

i was reading The Star and came across this.

It's Hari Kebangsaan, not Hari Merdeka.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/30/focus/22197525&sec=focus

"Our first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, in his wisdom and sincerity, decided on the term Hari Kebangsaan (National Day), which, inter alia, is meant to be a common multi-racial/religious/ regional celebration to re-emphasise the importance of developing and promoting a common national sentiment and patriotism, via the organisation of the main events as we now are familiar with at the national level and other celebrations which should be organised at sub-national levels by the people themselves."

if this can help make some people happy and minimize controversies, perhaps CMSA could consider naming our annual dinner Malam Kebangsaan instead of Malam Malaysia next time. That's just a thought from my side anyway. What do you guys think? Anyway, maybe some expert in Malay or linguistics could help me with this - is 'Kebangsaan' equivalent to 'Malaysia' in any sense? Urm, actually, does it really matter?

Anyway, moving away from that issue - let's have a look at the following articles that moved my heart more.

A true case of Merdeka spirit
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/28/focus/22184127&sec=focus

Unsung heroes of Merdeka
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/27/focus/22174725&sec=focus
(Ka-Mun, you showed me a video done by Petronas that is related to this topic. do you mind sharing it on the blog? thanks!)

Guys, let me tell you this - i had a great time working with my Malay and Indian friends on the team. i believe that we have managed to look past the colour, the race, the religion.. we are after all, part of a melody, that transcends differences. And this melody, is the melody of unity.

Selamat menyambut Hari Kebangsaan ke-51, Malaysia!

Thank You!

Thank you for attending Malam 08! Without you, there will not be Malam!

Some apologies to be made here:

• food flow - some tables only managed to have their food around 9pm. Our sincerest apologies. We wanted to have 2 tables to go out, i.e. there will be 2 different queues at the buffet table. However, due to some unexpected twists of events, we only managed to get one table out every time - that caused a tremendous delay. And the soup ran out! Grr! Once again, many apologies! We will learn from this!
  
  
• Dance floor - due to the delay in the food flow, we had to cancel the dance floor. Apologies to those who had look forward to the dance floor and even went for the modern jive dance class!
  
  
• Table sitting - we only had less than half an hour to change the table layout so that each of you could see the screen at a comfortable position. We apologise for the inconvenience and hoped that you were able to make yourself comfortable.
  
  All in all, once again, thanks for bearing with us and hope that you had a great night! We would love to hear your feedback. You can either e-mail us, leave a comment on the blog, or fill in the survey that we will be sending out in a week's time (i'm currently at Hamilton attending an academic conference.. :p).
  

In the next week or so, the team will be meeting up for a post-mortem and also to clear the accounts. Hmm.. Fingers crossed that we will break even :) Oh ya, remember to send out thank-you letters etc to the sponsors. (man, i think i'm quite a workaholic.. :p)

Till then, team members, if you have any photos or videos to put up on the blog, please do so! :D and thank you lovely people for everything! Very grateful and honoured to be able to work with you! :D and thank God for being in control regardless! :)

Let us remember the day
And the feeling

Happy National Day =)

Petronas 2008 Merdeka Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpWYkEFnl8I

this made me menangis teresak-esak.

once again, thank you, dad and mum!

Malaysia's 51st Independence Day

This year's theme: Perpaduan Teras Kejayaan (Unity is the Pillar of Success)

The theme song is here.

Free parking!

I know, I know.. this post is gonna excite you. Because there's FREE parking!! What else is better than that?! ;p

Simply click on the image to enlarge.


The one highlighted with darker grey is free all day long (for goodness sake, not Avon River!). Whereas the other on-site parking is free after 5pm or so. However, all are on first come first serve basis. So, make sure you arrive early to get a nice decent free parking. It does save you a fortune. Otherwise, you can start singing "here we go round, and round again, round and round, round again..."...

But, if you're feeling rich, or simply run out of time (otherwise you might miss our grand opening..), just park at the building besides Rydges, or at Farmers!

Enough said. Please be punctual. Looking forward to see all of you at Malam Malaysia!! :)

p/s: Do remember to lock your car! :D

Modern Jive 23/8/2008

a big thanks to Sam and Ingrid for taking the time out today to teach us the modern jive.

We had a great time! Thank you! :)

Stefanie, if you are reading this, could you please send me some photos that we took today so that we can put some up here? thanks!

by the way, i would really like to encourage each and everyone of us to be as participative as we can during Malam.

we have various programmes drawn out and we would love to have as much interaction as we can with the guests.

and even amongst the guests, let's all be friendly to each other - a simple smile, a simple hello.. we will have people coming from CHCH School of Medicine and possibly Lincoln. we might even have some non-malaysians joining us. so ya, let's go out and make friends and be an active part in Malam 2008!

let's all do this together!

:D

Feeling tired?

the team has been working super hard.

with talent night coming along and 6 days away to Malam... and just righ after a crazy term 3!

once again, thanks guys!

take a break when you can k! :D

eh... wait wait... siapa ni?

.
.
.
.
.
.

....the protocol and events boss!
aduh. macam sangat letih!
xin ku ni le!
.
.
.
.
.

...and what's the sponsorship director doing there?

btw, we call them kombinasi yang membinasakan
(the destroyers)

can't wait for the rehearsals to start!

we will be putting up more photos and updates on our preparation progress during this crazy week! hope to see you in Malam 2008! let's all have a fun fun time! :D

Blessed!

on monday i was in a super negative downward spiral mood. we have been yet again been denied another grant application.

we scratched our heads. we think and thought. and we began to be more bugging to the various people that we have approached.

one of the things we might have to do was cut down on the food variety (quantity still same but less variety), and that really was our last resort. i really don't want to get there.

so when Ka-Mun, our sponsorship man texted me a good news today, i was surprised and relieved at the same time! i really didn't expect such an amount to be given to us - but basically now we dun have to cut down the food variety. yay! i'm so so soo thankful!

thanks Ka-Mun for your persistence! thanks MSD for being so generous! and thank God! wow! yay!

we still have a couple hundreds to raise to give subsidies to the committee and performers - will continue to work harder!

mind you, asking for money is one of the hardest thing ever! a lot a lot of courage and a lot a lot of thick-faced-ness! sometimes i have to practice my 'speech' over and over again before entering a shop and speak to the owner.

ah! come on!!!! few more hundreds to go and all will be sweet as!!!!

gambate!

Peek...

the whole team is super swamped for the last week of term, so we put a temporary halt to the preparation. things are more or less much settled and all those details will be finalised next week. time FLIES! man! only 11 more days to Malam.. no.. actually.. 10 and a quarter day...

anyway, just some updates...

Logistics
today our conference manager gave us a call and asked if we would like to have a peek at the hall since there was a dinner function that night. Would be good for us to have a look at how they set up.

Ing Chia (thanks for the ride :D), Merlin and me went and had a peek ^_^ man i loved it! :D it's really cosy and classy! and with our deco team going all out to spice things up - man! i'm so excited to see how the hall is gonna be transformed during the night! :D


Sponsorship
the sponsorship team is still on the go. i remember vividly what Seng Cheong (year 2006 Malam organiser) told me repeatedly when i met him few months ago: "start your sponsorship hunt early!!!"

i totally understand where he is coming from right now :)

we have been receiving pretty disappointing news these few weeks. Was pretty disheartening but that will not stop us from working harder and brainstorming to get the funds in!!! we have 11 more days.

quoting my flatmate: "Pressure is Privilege." :)


Protocol and Events
Prior to organizing Malam, i wrote down for myself a few goals that i wanna achieve for each team. And i'm really pleased that the events of that night will be meaningful and purposeful and not just some act/event for the sake of having one. Each performance you see, each event happening during will have a message behind to link with our theme, 'Home'. Good job, P&E team! :D

What's left now are full rehearsals and stage managing to ensure a smooth and well-coordinated flow during the night. Ah. and those minute details! Man. it's gonna be a crazy week! We call it 'the Malam week' btw :p


Affirmation
We are very encouraged by each of you who went to the booth and wrote on the affirmation cards. We will have another booth this Thursday, 12pm - 1.30pm at the UCSA. Do drop by and write on a card. Else you can contact Ka-Mun at kml64 and arrange a time with him. Preferably during the holidays though if you wanna arrange a time :p


Okie dokie. That's about all that i am able to update on. Back to uni work. Oh and if you haven't gotten your tickets yet, do drop by our booth or contact us! We really hope to see you there!

All the best for the last week of term!!! And keep warm too - it's been a crazy wet windy hail-y snow-y winter!

Home

i know this might not be one of the most exciting theme for a ball. maybe something like Starry Nights ke, Moonlight Sonate ke, Northern Star ke might be more exciting and mystical and classy and.... lalala.. you get my drift :)

so why 'Home'?

few months ago...
the team met up for a brainstorming sessions. we were separated into a few groups - and within each group, ideas and suggestions were brought up. the guideline was to have a theme that will bring about a night where everyone will feel one with the crowd, and not merely existing in the crowd.

our vision for this year's Malam is to see people getting together, interacting amongst one another, enjoying the night - with a warm sense of belonging and togetherness. That was also the guideline for us when we did the brainstorming.

there were many great ideas. we had well thought-out themes such as 'Clef', 'Glow', 'Pass it On', 'Guess', 'Malaysiana' etc. And so after much discussion, we finally settled on 'Home'.

Here's why...

From the club's point-of-view,
CMSA's mission statement is to 'Bring home closer'. As one of the committee, i must say that we still have a long way to ago to achieve that mission statement. Indeed, there are many areas that we can improve on and various things that we can do to help our members. i apologize for the things that we hae not done right and thank you for your patience and continual support to the club.

we hope that this year's Malam is not just a wrap-up for the year's events, but as we reflect and ponder on what we have done thus far - we will continue to work to adhere closer to our mission statement - bringing home closer.

From a personal point-of-view...
'Home' doesn't necessarily mean your hometown. Before i continue, i totally cherish and love my family and friends back in Malaysia :) Back to the point, over here, i also have a group of friends whom i cherish and love. The friendship and love given by this amazing people provide a place where i feel safe and belonged. This is 'home' :)

That's also how the Malam theme song was birthed - it was a combination of the themes that were brainstormed during the last meeting, and a story of an international student who have been here for almost 4 years and found a 'home' in a faraway land :)

why is this year's Malam gonna be different? because we are organizing it on a totally different perspective altogether - it's gonna be more than a ball, my dear friends :)

We really encourage you to come to this year's Malam and be a part of what we are doing and wanting to share with you! Your presence will really mean a lot to us!

thank you!

Malam 2008 Theme Song

will talk about what inspired the song. we might perform it during Talent Night (25/8). hehe. help to promote Talent Night too ^_^

hope the message behind these lyrics will help you have a better idea of what we hope to bring out from this year's Malam.

Malam 2008 will be more than just a ball :)

Pass It On

i've found a home
in a faraway land
i know i'm not alone
in this journey

i'm part of a melody
that transcends differences
and now it showed me to how to sing

so won't you pass it on
you will bring home closer
let the fire within
warm the coldest nights

so won't you pass it on
the song you are singing
let the hope that you have found
glow in the darkest nights
for you and i

pass it on

A Tribute to Lee Chong Wei

i'm sure by now most of you would have known about the result from yesterday's badminton finals for the men singles (you can google for more news about the match yesterday).

my flatmates and i stayed up to watch the match. we had to admit that it was totally Lin Dan's day. both of them equally had great pressure on their shoulders to perform; and there will only be one winner.

for me, though a little bit sad of the lost, it was still a proud moment for Malaysia with Lee Chong Wei being in an Olympics finals. His meekness was what that struck me the most. After the game, both Lin Dan and Chong Wei gave each other a friendly hug - to me, it was a gracious acceptance of defeat; and also a gesture of respect and 敬服 (can't think of the english word at the moment) to the winner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psRcrwwUI3o
This is an interview with Lee Chong Wei before the Olympics. It is in Mandarin though. i have yet to find an English one.

Hope there will be some videos on Chong Wei's feat in Olympics 2008 on YouTube :)

this was written before Chong Wei went to the finals
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/17/focus/22106345&sec=focus

we know he will fight harder. just like how he pulled himself again after a car accident in 2006. and he has inspired me to fight harder too. in all honesty, we are facing some financial difficulties for Malam but we will definitely fight even harder to get the money in!

Well done, Lee Chong Wei! We are all very proud of you! Congratulations!

Jive Jive Jive!

this year Malam will have a dance-floor as our after-party!

Besides the usual clubbing music, we hope to introduce some elements of MODERN JIVE on the dance floor too!

As a warm-up session, we are offering a FREEEEEE dance class! Yes, freee! btw, we will never say no to a gold coin donation! ;)

date?
23 August 2008, Saturday

time?
12.30pm - 3.00pm

place?
UCSA Ballroom

who's teaching?
Sam, a teacher from the UCanDance class.

come along!
bring your friends!
let's warm up the floor and heat the house during Malam!!!

Don't Give Up!

Assigmments and lab reports can drive us crazy. Tests. Exams.

Personal issues.

...even organizing Malam.

but thank God, the Olympics came at the right time. at least it is for me.

the sheer perseverance and determination shown by these athletes. i am always so inspired to see how focused they are toward the goal, and how they pressed on to achieve what they set out to at the first place.

CMSA will also keep pressing on. And the Malam team too! gambate team!

here are a few videos that i thought i'd like share with you. Hope it will inspire you in some way or another and also encourage you to keep pressing on, in spite of.

Dan Jansen - Don't Give Up

Derek Redmond - Weak leg, Strong Father
Derek Redmond - Dad helps Son complete Race
(tears just came rolling down when i first watched this)

Women's Road Race
Nicole Cooke on her Olympics Win
(this turned out to be a really exciting race!)

ooo. and some quotes from this website.

i liked this one in particular :)

"When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place."
Unknown

More Photos!

found more photos from previous Malams..

Year 2004:
http://www.pbase.com/evyvekt043/malam_malaysia_2004_at_grand_chancellor_album_2
http://enggangkeramat.fotopages.com/?entry=206183

Year 2006:
http://www.nzview.com/ball/

Videos!

Here in my Home: Bersatu 2008 Edition (kudos to MUMSA)
-for a united Malaysia!-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCK59mCYybo&feature=related

PETSOC 08: Tribute to Bersatu Athletes
-affirmation!-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVprNHX8mhY

Bersatu 2007 Videos:
-Winter in Canter... Winter's Warmth-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1b5nzB_7nQ (Closing Video 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMsGjFCgmM0 (Closing Video 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwKN6qFcH2g (Closing Video 3)

The Power of Affirmation

just a simple thank you or a simple word of encouragement may just mean a whole world to someone! :)

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."

~ Melody Beattie

that's the power of affirmation! :)

Affirmation

Affirmation will start on 11th August 2008 from 11.30 am to 1.30 pm (simultaneously with the Malam ticket sales) The other Affirmation dates are on the left sidebar of this blog.

1. If your name is in my Excel List, your card would have been printed.

2. On the mentioned dates, the committee will be at the booth with your cards.

3. Feel free to write for anyone as all the cards will be displayed publicly on the table.


PS: To check if your name is in the affirmation list, have a check on the Excel file I sent on Wednesday evening (6th August 2008). Any inquiries just hit me an e-mail at kml64@student.canterbury.ac.nz.

Time flies!

it's august!!!

it's gonna be Malam soon!!!

:D

exciting exciting exciting!!!

(...and a lil stressed.. will be more than happy if someone can belanja me bubble tea :D hehe. anyway, i believe that all the hard work will pay off! yay!)

what's up so far?

Ticket Sales

NZD45.00 per person :)

the team is subsidising NZD11.00 per person (actual food price is NZD56.00). After all we are all still students :)

we are still working very hard to raise funds for the subsidy and also for various equipment hire costs and decoration costs and all other costs. please do keep us in prayer and well wishes!

Don't forget to get your Malam ticket from any of our committee members or e-mail us at malam.msia08@gmail.com.

You wouldn't want to miss out on this year's Malam! :)


Publicity
We will have a booth at the UCSA on the following days from 11.30am-1.30pm:
August 11, 13, 15, 19, 21

And we will be on RDU98.5 FM too!

Listen up during the following slots (one ad per slot):
11/8 - 15/8 (except 13/8)
0700-1000
1200-1300
1600-1900

13/8
1000-1200
1200-1300
1600-1900

18/8 - 22/8
0700-1000
1600-1900

Affirmation
look out for Ka-Mun's post!

if you are a member of CMSA, you would have been e-mailed about this!

see YOU at the booth on Monday! :D

Wanted: Performers

This email is from BenJ and YuenLEung...

Interested in performing for Malam Malaysia?

Great!

Cuz we are currently looking for people who would like to lend their services to perform for the upcoming Malam!

One performance we are looking for ppl is the band. It will be an acoustic or a mellow-ish performance a.k.a. an unplugged performance. Instruments will be provided such as acoustic guitars and keyboards. Preferably 2 songs will be good. And if it can be one Malay song and one English song it’ll be even better. If you can do songs that are based around the theme of this years Malam, “Home”, that will be even-even better-better!!

We are also looking for sporting people who would like to dress up for a special fashion show. If you think you got what it takes to take centre stage than contact us. More details will be given later upon request. But trust me, it’s gonna be awesome if you would like to help out! :D

Thanks again for those who choose to help out and making this Malam a blast!

p/s: IF you are KEEN, do get back to us by the end of this week. Latest by Saturday (9th August)!!!! Dont miss the chance..

Contacts:
Benjamin Abraham - 02102218503 or bjk52@student.canterbury.ac.nz
Yuen Leung - 021806488 or yll33@student.canterbury.ac.nz

To The Team

i want to thank each and every of you in the team for all the hard work and sacrifice of time and energy.

especially to the team leaders, thank you for attending the weekly meetings and organizing team meetings despite having 2 reports, 3 tests, 4 assignments. thank you also for your hard work on the sponsorship hunt!

thank you for this chance to work with you and to be able to learn from each other! :)

Malam will be EXCELLENT - pre, during, post!

Woohoo!

:D

You and Me

We started out organizing Malam by doing a survey and took your suggestions into account.
We called out for people who would like to be involved.
We called out for people who would like to give us a helping hand here and there.

We call out - because we want YOU to be a part of Malam.

Malam 2008 is not for the team to syok sendiri. Malam 2008 is not just another CMSA event. Hundreds of dollars, priceless time and effort have been channeled into Malam - it's gonna be more than your typical dinner function.

Malam 2008 is about involving YOU and ME to make this night worth a bookmark in your journey. We hope that each of you who attends Malam will have a great and enjoyable night - with beautiful memories of great company, good times; and a warmth that will linger in each of our hearts.

Let's all do this together, shall we? :) Thank you!

Here In My Home - Malaysian Artistes for Unity

was listening to this song again :) we sent it to RDU for the radio advertisement for Malam.

abosrb the lyrics! :)

http://cmsa-malam.blogspot.com/2008/05/come-on-everyone.html

Here in my Home

Hold on brother hold on

The road is long. We’re on stony ground

But I’m strong. You ain’t heavy

Oh there’s a misspoken truth that lies

Colors don’t bind, oh no.

What do they know? They speak falsely.

Chorus:

Here in my home

I’ll tell you what its all about

There’s just one hope here in my heart

One Love undivided

That’s what it’s all about

Please won’t you fall in one by one by one [with me]?

Push back sister won’t you push back?

Love won’t wait. Just keep pushing on.

Yes I’m strong. You ain’t heavy.

Oh don’t you worry about that….

What we have the shadows can’t deny

Don’t you know it’s now or never?

Rap:

[Malay: TRANSLATED]

Years of fears and years of tribulation

The heart keeps searching for that endless devotion

[Chinese: TRANSLATED]

Hand in hand we’ll march like blood brothers

I speak for my people hope we’ll find peace forever

[Tamil: TRANSLATED]

May the road ahead quench my thirst for success

May the road behind echo a song of the blessed

[English]

So I will let it be known yes I feel it in my bones

No matter where I roam this is home sweet home

Sing!

-
Words & Music by Pete Teo featuring rap by KLG Sqwad &
Altimet. copr Redbag Music 2008. All Rights Reserved

The Concept of Excellence

excellence
noun
1.	the quality of excelling; possessing good qualities in high degree
2.	an outstanding feature; something in which something or someone excels; "a center of manufacturing excellence"; "the use of herbs is one of the excellencies of French cuisine"

excellence. (n.d.). WordNet® 3.0. Retrieved August 05, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/excellence

am currently reading this book by Heather Brown. The following is taken from one of my favourite chapters in the book. Hope it will inspire you in some way or another! :)

• Every one of us has the ability to achieve something greater than we imagine.
  
  
• Every one of us has excellence with us - EVERY ONE OF US.
  
  
• We are all called to achieve something different but equally significant, which is why it's unhelpful to compare yourself with others.
  
  
• Whether we choose to be excellent or not is our own decision.
  
  
• A life of excellence is a journey, but a journey definitely worth taking.
  
  
• Excellence is achievable for every one of us and excellence brings a great sense of accomplishment.
  
  
• Having the desire to put the extra effort into everything we do is something we must cultivate. For most of us it probably doesn't come naturally, but if you desire to be excellent you can develop this into natural behaviour until it becomes an instinctive way of thinking and doing.
  

Make excellence a lifestyle choice and walk in continuous improvement of yourself and your life.

• Excellence is not perfection, but being the very best you can be, putting your very best into everything you do and knowing you have done everything you know to achieve the best possible outcome. This is an excellent effort. Extra effort will always bring a more excellent result.
  
  
• Don't settle for less; 'average' isn't good enough for any one of us. Please don't choose average. You are capable of much more. So be a "Man/Woman of Excellence" and make a difference to your own life and the lives of those around you. Enjoy the rewards you will earn along the way when you step into excellence.
  

Do not strive for perfection, bur rather choose excellence over average in all you do and you will experience the reward which goes with the decision to choose a life of excellence.

• Excellence is not something attained by merely just wanting it, or waiting for it to come to you, it must be pursued. It must be a heartfelt thing coming from deep within you, a desire to do something that shines.
  
  
• When the decision is made in our hearts and minds to choose to be excellent, we begin our journey to higher ground. In order for this to happen, we need to be completely honest with ourselves about areas of our lives which are not working as well as we would like them to be. I believe we all have areas requiring attention.
  
  
• We need to be willing to get out of our comfort zone and out of our places of habit and take a good look. This takes a willing attitude and a determined decision. We need to ask ourselves how badly we want something better for our life and whether we are prepared to do whatever it takes.
  
  
• If we want something better for our lives we will have to do something different. Just wishing will not make it happen; it takes action.
  
  
• Excellence is something to be pursued and sought after; it doesn't just happen along the way!
  
  
• Take your natural abilities and God-given talents and do your very best with them - not compromising or being complacent with opportunities and responsibilities.
  
  
• Commit to doing more than required in every situation. This is how excellence is established. Excellence often comes out of the EXTRA.
  
  
• We have to CHOOSE to be Excellent. It's a decision and there are sacrifices that go with that decision. Are you willing to make that sacrifice?? That in itself is the first choice.
  
  

Excellence - Crave it, Pursue it, and Go After it!

• Not everyone you have contact with will support your changes. Being excellent often makes others feel uncomfortable. When making changes for yourself it may have a ripple effect on others around you. stay focused and determined. believe in yourself and know what you believe in is the right way for you.
  
  
• Do not be discouraged by those who criticise, mock and the undermine excellence.

Foster the Spirit of Excellence and do not be discouraged by others who do not make the same choices.

A life of excellence is a life worth living!