CRAVING FOR CHOCOLATES ?? Exam Stress ??

Solution : Cadbury Dairy Milk Top Deck - $2 /bar

Cadbury chocolates always put a smile on your face =)

in conjunction with our fundraising activities, malam malaysia committees are selling Cadbury Cadbury Dairy Milk Top Deck chocolates for $2 per bar.

what is Cadbury Dairy Milk Top Deck ?
Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate with DREAM Real White Chocolate on top...YuMmiEeEe ^^

Who are our Chocolate Sellers?
Jasmine, Emma, Firdaus, Gloria, Mun yee, Merlin, Natasha, Quratul, Mamat, Jacky, Wan Yin, Bernard, Mee Siew


How to place your order ?
Please txt / or send us an e-mail at malam.msia08@gmail.com to place ur orders. Do provide name, and handphone number.


Thanks! =)

This keeps me going =)

Counting Cars...

so on a cold and frosty morning, as early as 7am (after a meet-up at 6.30am), in striking yellow vests, armed with a clip board, a pen, a counter - and anything else to make the job bearable - off went about 100 people, mainly students - stationed at intersections - counting the traffic.

yes, you count the vehicles going straight, turning left, turning right.

amongst this group of people were few people from the Malam team - who will contribute a certain amount of their earnings into the Malam fund.

yup, that's one of our fund-raising projects ;) it's actually a pretty easy (and monotonous) job - and you earn quite a lot too. So we thought this would be a good way to raise some funds.

thanks to Wan Yin's ingenius ideas! :)

i forgot to take pictures of Azmir and Natasha - they were there too. And there will be BenJ who will be taking up the afternoon shift later.

i had prior commitments in the morning so i couldn't work the full session - gutted. but that's why i also had time in the morning to take some photos and do some stuff :)

There will be more activities to come. Will update them here and do let us know if you wanna help out. you dun have to be in the team to help us with the fundraising btw ;) if you feel like it, why not? glo promises a treat for you :)

Once again, thank you to the team members who took their time out :)

On another note, finally the proposal is finished and awaiting editing from the experienced. We are right on dot with our deadlines - awesome!

June will be the exam month so there will be a slow-down. Nevertheless, do keep visiting us and feel free to leave us a shout whenever! We will be updating as often as we can!

till then, enjoy the lovely sun!

theme ;)

will not reveal the theme until i get someone to do a really cool and awesome trailer.. ;) huhu.

for now - set the date aside!! and set some money aside!

we really really hope to see YOU there!!! :D

ladies and gentlemen....

Malam Malaysia 2008 will be at...

Venue
Rydges Hotel, Christchurch
(http://www.rydges.com/hotel/0/RZCHCH/Rydges-Hotel-Christchurch.htm)

Date
30 August 2008

Time
TBC

Price
TBC

come come come!!! :D

Dance!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd_aLSizoHQ&feature=related

i tot this was cool ;)

not easy to dance Malay dance.. at least for me lar :p and they did well! :) tot it was cool! :)

Hear the music, before the song is over

Let's smile and enjoy ourselves on route to the Day =)

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask how are you
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
with the next hundred chores
running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship dies
Cause you never had time
To call and say, "Hi"
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,,
It is like an unopened gift...
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower.
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

-This is from an Internet hoax.. no joke! but this is good =)

Teamwork

They told me there is no “I” in team.

I am an athlete.
I am an individual.
I am strong.
I am weak.
I have desires, hopes, and dreams.
I have goals.
I have fears.
As a team my opponent will never see my weaknesses.
Only my strength, never my fears, only my goals as they unfold before them.
I am not afraid that my team will see my fears, my hopes,
dreams, or desires.
I trust them to an unlimited level.
I am not afraid that my team will see my faults, because
With them I can overcome my faults, with them I am
fearless, with them I have hopes and dreams.
With my team I am not weak, I do not have the strength
of one athlete, but of many, combined, focused,
And dangerous to my un-united opponent.
I become my team and my team becomes me.
I do not judge, and I am not judged.
I have a goal, and the team has a goal.
The team goal is my goal.
All that matters is that the team reaches its goal.
They always told me there is no “I” in “Team”.
They were wrong.
I am the team.
I became the team.
The team became me.
The team becomes an entity unto itself.
The team is strong, creative, compassionate, caring,
Authoritative, disciplined.
The team absorbs “I”, and then there is “I” in “Team”.
The “I” becomes part of something much more powerful.

They were right there is no “I” in “Team”,
But there is “Team” in me.

...and because of that

Together
Everyone
Achieves
More

this made me wanna cry...

University of Reading:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU87MiqDpZ8&feature=related

man. i love the song and the message brought out from the song and the video - and those smiles - man!! i feel soooooooooo warm just watching that video!!

..and the guitar strumming... awwww... i heart it to the max!!!

super inspired to write a song too!!! ingchia, bernie, benj, and whoever who wants to do it together! come on, let's write a song!! :) i've got some lyrics in my mind dy. a result of a boring math tut yesterday :p

game? :D

Some Trailers

YouTube is super powerful ;)

realised that the Malaysian Nights in some universities are like really hard-core musicals ;)

man. i'm so super amazed at the talents!!!

i'm super pumped up now! come on, UoC!! :D let's rock Christchurch!

Liverpool Malaysian Night 2008

Liverpool Malaysian Night Bhangra Dance (btw, those flickering lights might cost us about NZD200-300 here :p)

UCL Malaysian Night Intro Video 2008 (one of my favourite ones :p reminds me a bit of HSM)

Manchester Malaysian Night Trailer 2

Canary Manchester Malaysian Night 2007

Reading University M-Night "BUTA" 2007: Something Chun (this was pretty amusing..)

Money Matters

ad a discussion with the treasury team today about the budget.

the increase of cost can really dampen the spirits. we sat there for quite a while in silence. stress began to build in. but still we know that we have to stand strong and have the faith that we are able to get those funds.

i guess most of you who have organized events before will know how this feels ;) all sort of costs just pop out from nowhere... oh well. *pfft*

we are firm on charging not more than NZD45.00 for the tickets - but it also would mean that we are gonna lose quite a big sum of money.

but it's okay - we are still working out the budget - whatever it is, food must be enough, deco must be fantastic, transport must be provided - and everyone has a good time!

so tmrw night will be a long night for me as i work on the grant application and proposal. you want the sponsorship, you better make sure you present yourself worthy of that sponsorship ;)

our sponsorship team is ready to go BLITZKREIG! on potential sponsors - just waiting for me to finish the proposal. Hehe. sorry guys for taking so long but i'll definitely get it done tmrw even if it means that i am not sleeping ;)

anyway, i was feeling a bit down about the cost and ya, can't help but frown. thankfully, out-of-nowhere, Bernard came over and in all his enthusiasm, started to brief me on what his team will be doing.

exciting exciting exciting!

i was encouraged to hear that the team was enjoying themselves and also got things planned out.

thanks Bern for dropping by just at the right time!

Bern, or as some ppl call him Bernie, is one of my good friends here in CHCH. He's really funny - man, you should see him at the meetings ;)

Bern, i just want to say thank you for your commitment and effort that you are putting into this event - and i'm really looking forward to see what your team is going to deliver. it's gonna be exciting!

once again, thank you for all that you have done as a friend and brother;
and as one of the team leaders in Malam.

you are a great guy with a great heart!

fighting!!!

bernard and me at Taylors Mistake
we were about to climb a hill... i mean, walk up a hill..

haha.. i do feel as if i'm walking up a steep hill right now
sometimes it feels so hard to breathe
but when i think of God and the people who are walking together in this journey
it's not that hard anymore :)

Let's do this together!

ingchia

cari2 crew

wanyin

Punctuality

i believe that if i dun respect time, time wouldn't respect me either :)

punctuality is a virtue that i'm learning to acquire. to be on time for classes, on time for meetings and appointments, on time for gatherings... even getting up early in the COLD mornings (still working hard on that ;p).

for CMSA committee meetings, we have this 'siape-lambat-kena-bayar' (if-u-late-then-pay) thing. President late - 5 bux; sec or treasurer late - 2 bux; the rest - 1 buck. if you can't attend the meeting and did not inform beforehand - fined :)

it all voices down to respecting your time and also other people's time.

the same will apply for our main Malam meetings. at first i wanted to do it for the first meeting - however some of them apparently din get the notice about the meeting etc - so well - anyway, when we have our next main meeting - this will be implemented :)

same goes for myself - i told WY that whenever i have an appointment with her - if i am late - i will pay. just so that i will stop being late :) coz there are 10001 excuses to be late - and i think i've used them all up :p

i agree with what Ing Chia shared at the meeting the other day (paraphrased):

"not Malaysian time, but NZ time. be punctual! we all come here to learn something - and i'm sure one of them is to be a better person."

she's really firm on punctuality. i remember when she made the appointments with the various venues, she kept emphasizing on us to be on time - thanks to her advice - we surely were on time, and i know that it will also make a good first impression ;)

thanks Ing Chia for those words of wisdom! :)

thanks also to those who turned up early and on time for the meeting - i truly appreciate it.

as for Malam, we do hope to be able to start on time though it can be quite tricky. but i am sure our protocol team will be able to work out something with regards to time so that each second in Malam will be worth your money :)

till then, what are YOUR views on punctuality? would like to hear from YOU. do leave a comment or shout at the chatbox ;) cheers!

The Journey

Last Friday, Glo, Wan Yin, Emma, Mun Yee and Jasmine (and Merilyn) journeyed to the city to look at the prospective venues where Malam could be held. They were eating and drinking at Starbucks in between venues going hard out at the library.

"Don't pray pray"
WY looking for inspiration through that art and craft book

Our Lady Boss thinking
Can see the booooooks?

Then on Saturday, the whole team met to brainstorm about the theme and other stuff. However, being Malaysians we always have food first! =) Tuna and mayo sandwich + chips courtesy of Lady Boss. My guess is that was to make sure we were awake and thinking hard! Heh.

Then we had our 'family' photo:

Clockwise from back:
Emma | Jasmine | Yuen Leung | Merlin | Bernard | Benjamin | Jacky | Firdaus | Ka-Mun | Ing Chia | Natasha | Q | Gloria | Mun Yee | Li Ying | Sharon | Wan Yin

Mamat and Hafiz were the only ones missing. (I think)

"Bernard not cool pun" - Firdaus aka Zai Pong

In action:

I agree!

p.s. As mentioned in previous post, theme and venue will be announced later this week.

Brotherhood

"Brotherhood"

ps: if you have any Malam pics that you wanna post up here, send them to malam.msia08@gmail.com
cheers!

Basic Communication Tools

haha. i've borrowed some project management books from the library just so that i can learn from the experts on how to handle a project.

it's not just gonna be a ball - it's gonna be more than a ball :) (Lam, 2008)

i'm currently reading a book called "Managing peope, including yourself" by Culp and Smith (1992).

Some basic communication tools for effective interpersonal coomunnications:

• actively listen
• do not judge or evaluate the other person
• demonstrate empathy and understanding
• ask open questions
• check your perceptions of what others are saying (*mm, important!*)
  
• check the perceptions that others have of what you said (*agree!*)
  
• concentrate on the other person, even though your mind may want to race ahead at a speed higher than that of the spoken words (*glo nods head vigorously*)
  
• give feedback effectively
• be generous with praise that is deserved
• be open to receive feedback without reacting emotionally
• evaluate verbal and nonverbal signals
• be sure that your verbal and nonverbal signals are in alignment
• be enthusiastic (haha.. i think i have too much of that.. might scare ppl of at times ;p)
• look beyond the appearance of the person for the message
• use language that is understandable to the other person
• be conscious of and control the nonverbal messages that you send

though we may have heard of all these 'principles' through different channels, but i believe that effective communication is a life-long learning process. it's always good to be reminded :) and i will put these tools into practice not only for Malam, but for life ;)

effective communication will definitely be a valuable tool for a smooth flow for the night ;) most importantly, i will get to know the team members even better as we learn from each other.

i like what Carl Rogers said:

"a sensitive ability to hear, a deep satisfaction in being heard, an ability to be more real, which in turn brings forth more realness from others... herein my experience are the elements that make interpersonal communication enriching and enhancing."

will continue to post up stuff that i'm learning as i read :p haha. 3 more books to read ;) pretty much my bed-time story book or toilet newspaper or bus trip books :p

In The News Today

I'm thinking of merging the deco and publicity team, any thoughts? We could do things together since we're the 'creative' part of the team.

Malam 1992

a Google search found us this:

Malam Malaysia in Christchurch (1992)

seemed more like a festival kind rather than a dinner :)

jus tot it was a pretty random and fun finding to share! :)

Photos

Committee group

During meeting

This week's updates

we had our brainstorming session yesterday. Emma will be posting some photos and stuff on the meetings we had thus far some time soon ;)

we will update you with the date, venue and theme of Malam some time this week. Currently waiting for some things to be finalized before we can release the dates and all.

over these few weeks, amidst the studies and cold weather and organizing, i can pretty much relate to this:

The crowd gives the leader new strength.
Evenius

once again, thanks folks! :)

anyway, what's most urgent now is $$$. We will be working on the grant proposal this week and also sending letters out to potential sponsors. Our team will be also doing some fund-raising. We will update you more on that later on :)

As for the decorations and the events etc etc for the night...

Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.
George S. Patton

To lead people, walk beside them ...
As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence.
The next best, the people honor and praise.
The next, the people fear;
and the next, the people hate ...
When the best leader's work is done the people say,
"We did it ourselves!"
Lao-tsu

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
Theodore Roosevelt

have been learning heaps! till then, off to shower, dinner and then uni~! :)

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
John F. Kennedy

have a great week ahead, people! :)

Hello Sunshine!

Gloria says we should contribute.

This is mine.

Lalala.

Merlin is not lame.

Oh remember to share ideas!

Malam Videos...

The wonders of technology, and the greatness of Youtube! :p

This link is a search result for Malam Malaysia's held around various universities around the world:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=MALAM+malaysia&search_type=

Some videos from Malam 2007:
The Secret Lives of Malaysians: Part 1

The Secret Lives of Malaysians: Part 2

Some videos from Malam 2006:
Malam MCs Saying Their Gudbyes

Gypsy Dance

Cool Dance Part 1
Cool Dance Part 2

Joget Berhibur by RAM

more to come, hopefully... trying to find more videos :)

Close your eyes, and listen... What comes into your mind? =)

Strength

when the team takes out the time and makes the effort, sacrificing their time and energy to put this Malam together... it really gives the leaders a lot of strength.

thank you, team, for your enthusiasm and commitment, and for all the sacrifices you've made.

thank you, team, for bearing with my long e-mails too.

i'm honoured to work with you.

[to insert team photo here soon]

love,
glo.

Come on everyone ;)

Building networking and negotiation skills

(on behalf of Ka-Mun: you can e-mail him at kml64, yup, our student e-mail)

Hi people!

CMSA is intending to raise some funds for the upcoming Malam Malaysia.
We have formed a team of industrious people to get the gears working. (*crank crank*)

Our target this year is a half of five digits (NZD 5,000) :-) It's not an impossible target to reach - not at all :-)

We will like to share the arts of the trade. If you are keen to build some networking or negotiation skills - just hit me with a reply. Let us learn from one another :-)

If you are uncertain - hit me with a reply too. Confidence is never spontaneous - it's a learning process. We were once like you - but everything must has a start right? :-)

"If you want more, you have to require more from yourself"
-Dr. Phil-

Special Thanks to...

Lam
Ka-Mun

(Donkey-Man :p)

aka
vice-secretary

aka

sponsorship team boss

thanks for being such an awesome encourager!

and man, you have my utmost respects on how you can juggle between your studies and the many many many many many meetings and organisational work with the many many many organisations you are dealing with!

mon 50% test
tues assignment
wed assignment
thurs meeting
fri ???

endless!

thank you so much for all your time and effort!

and, as what you always say to us:

"studies comes first!"

hope you do well in your studies!

:D

First Meeting and Deadlines

So we had our first meeting. Seems like these people have a lot of crazy ideas. The only main issue of concern now is funding and some twitchy-ness (as Ka-Mun puts it) here and there about various issues. But i believe that we can pull through.

Main focus now: proposal and budget allocation for grant applications; fundraising activities; sponsorship hunt.

i will leave the theme and what-not to the brainstorming session later this month. From the way things are going, i'm sure we'll be able to come out with something awesome. Right, team? :D

And now, some deadlines:

May
Finalize venue and theme

June
Teams at work; exams.

July
Teams at work; Rehearsals; Promotional activities; Ticket sales start.

August
Promotional activities; Full-dress rehearsals and anything necessary

August 30 2008 - MALAM!!!

Right. Glad that things are moving and the ball is rolling a little faster.

Back to uni work. Btw, this is gonna be super random. But you know what, TXT2000 rockssssss! :p

ps: Thanks to Azmir and Raymond who attended the meeting and gave much input and advice. Good to have you there! :)

Malam 08 Team

Might be quite a big team but 25 people would be the maximum :)

Organising Chairpersons
Gloria Teng Lim Wan Yin

Secreterial Team
Firdaus Hassan Lam Ka-Mun

Treasury
Quratul Natasha

Logistics
Phang Ing Chia Hafiz Majied

Protocol and Events
Bernard Khoo Emma Chin Benjamin Jon Ng Li Ying

Technical Crew
Mamat Jacky

Decorations
Chai Merlin Jasmine Ting Wong Mun Yee Nur Adilla Azhari

Publicity
Lim Wan Yin Sharon Yoon

Outcome of discussion with LMSS

Due to the high level of commitment involved in this year's LMSS activities, i regret to inform that LMSS will not be able to collaborate with CMSA in organizing Malam this year. They will be having an international forum in mid-August; and a Malaysian fest in mid-November, not to mention the upcoming Bersatu Games, which, btw, do join in the games and training session if you are interested to be a part of the games. Kelvin Ting, our sports officer will be glad to answer any questions ;)

(hehe..promo Bersatu a bit here.. :p)

It's a bit disappointing that we aren't able to work together this year. They are a bunch of great and friendly people! Had heaps of fun working with them last time :) On the bright side, this allows more room for us to raise up CMSA members for the future.

Right. Time for uni. Stay tuned for the committee list and deadlines this weekend! Thanks for your continual visit too! :)

Survey Response

Thanks to the 49 who participated in the survey. Your feedback is very much appreciated!

i am very much happy with the number of responses we have gotten so far and the many suggestions that we've got. Thank you! We will be discussing on the survey responses during our meeting this weekend. As for now, i will reserve any comments about the survey until after the meeting.

Some of you indicated that you would like to help out in Malam but did not leave names. If you are still keen to help out in Malam, could you please send us an e-mail at malam.msia08@gmail so that we can plug you into the team? Thanks!

Also, if you did leave your name but we have not yet contacted you, please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail if you are still keen to be in the team. Thanks!

Okay. So here are the main results:

(the number beside each answer indicates the number of people)

Respondents:
First year - 7
Second year - 15
Third year or above - 27

Would you like to attend Malam?
Yes - 18
No - 3
Maybe - 28

Reasonable ticket price?
$5 - 1
Under $20 - 1
$20-$30 - 13
$30-$40 - 13
$40-$50 - 12
$50-$60 - 2
Under $80 - 1

Dinner style?
Buffet - 19
A La Carte - 9
Either - 16

Performances?
Dances - 19
Band - 31
Sketches - 15

Some suggested magic showw, stand up comedy stomping. Some suggested having one of each performances. One said: please, no sketches :)

Venue?
UCSA Ballroom - 14
Convention Centre - 11
Town Hall - 8
Hotel ballroom - 21

Some didn't mind anywhere. One respondent said: "Cheap (rent) is good". Another person emphasized that the atmosphere, program and the people matter more than the venue.

After-Party?
Must have! - 11
Don't need. - 7
Doesn't matter. - 24

On negative feedbacks from the previous Malam's:

• Food - not enough food; not worth the price;
  
• Performances - boring; not enough; should be more understanding when using the Malaysian language as there are non-Malaysians and people who don't understand Malay.
  
• Sound system not too good.
• Publicity too late; not successfully advertised; not enough people
  

Some positive feedbacks:

• good desserts
• good lucky draw prizes
• nice sketches and dances
• class, standard, elegance
  

Constructive suggestions:

• please make sure food is enough (this was the top of the list); serve food on time
  
• more lucky draws; good prices; air ticket
  
• less speeches; not draggy
• different cultural dance; variety in performances
  
• have a constructive program throughout the night, can also incorporate ballroom dancing
• make it a Malaysian theme
• affordable and simple, people can mingle and have fun - dance if you want, eat if you want...
  
• publicize early; special discounts
• have more than one laptop to backup
• MC very important to bring the atmosphere
• nice photos or random shots of people during the event
• People would get to know each other better; a time to share and gather for people to mingle around
  
• well-attended event
• classy theme, professional photographers
• interesting theme

That's all thus far. Thanks again to everyone for your time and feedback! It's good to hear from you!

Short Intro

Sorry for the long absence. i have been sick for more than a week and am in the midst of recovery. Btw, i realised that i din introduce myself properly. So ya, just a short intro of wanyin and myself so that you may get to know us a tad bit better :)

i'm gloria teng. this is my 4th year in UC and i'm doing a MSc in Statistics. it's pretty challenging. but well, surviving :)

wanyin (lim) is in her 2nd year, 1st Pro, E&E. it's not an easy transition from intermediate to 1st pro, but ya, she seems to be doing okay :p

both of us are from KL and we both like ice-cream :p

right. Back to Malam, we will release the committee list and deadlines this Saturday/Sunday after the committee meeting.

Next post coming up: Survey response!

Wan Yin and me

Seems like we complement each other quite well :p she's more practical and down-to-earth; keeps me in check whilst i go all over the emotional side of things. It's been great working with her! thanks Wan Yin! :)

So now we more or less have our committee set up. Waiting for a few more people to get back to us. First committee meeting will be on 10th May 2008, Saturday. Time and venue TBC.

Talked to the LMSS rep yesterday. He will get back to me soon about the collaboration after discussing with the club's president. He was quite surprised that we have not set up our committee till yesterday...

ya. i admit that we are quite late compared to 2006; my main concern now is the venue, food and WHERE TO GET MONEY!! duit duit duit!

We are kinda racing against time; sponsors, grants... and if you want more than on-par performances...time does play an important factor too. We are, after all, busy university students who have to study, work part-time, amongst other stuff that defines a 'university student'.

Whatever it is, we will endeavor to deliver a great Malam! (^^)9

Will post up the deadlines here so that you guys can keep us in check and make sure that we are on track.

Till then, nitez. i'm tired from all the texting and talking :)

ps: keep warm!