Our Utsav Journey

We had fun,

We were crazy.

We laughed,

We cried,

We smiled,

We shined.

We sweat,

We played,

We hugged.

We sang,

We dance,

We posed.

We were pretty,

We were ugly,

We were feminie,

We were strong.

We were nervous,

We were tired,

We were anxious,

We were excited.

We were a team,

We were there for each other,

We made new friends,

Strengthen our bond.

Time may fly but these memories will remain forever.

I had enjoyed myself, have you?

Photo credits: Zheng Tao, Yi Laine, Rudy Zain, Yung Yee, Hao Liang

  

Utsav 2012: Standing in the eyes of the world

Utsav 2012 had just concluded. It was less hype than last year but the effort our college put in was definitely 110%. This year we practically tried to showcase our “Semagat Satu Malaysia” in all the events we signed up. Diverse and yet united we stand.

I was involved in 4 events. Instrumental, Cultural Parade, Western Group Singing and Western Group Dancing. I will write about them one by one later. As for this year’s Utsav, I tried to make it a point to show the very Chinese side of me for all the events I participated. Not that I’m being racist but I think it’s important to know the cultural background you come from but yet learn to respect and live with others that are different from you. That, I think is Malaysia for you.

I had two events on the first day. The first was Instrumental. For this year, they have combined classical and non- classical Indian into just one. I had to excuse myself from cons practical class that afternoon. The audience this year was smaller than last year. Ms. Anitha and Qi Ying from batch 26 was there to cheer me on. I was the 7^th one to go on stage. To play on with my theme, I choose to play back the Chinese classical song which I performed in the Interbatch competition. Initially there were some major slips, but I was able to recover and gain back some confident. The audiences’ expressions were all blank; probably the song sounded foreign to them or maybe my playing was just that bad. Well, at least I tried to be different.

Moving on to the second event, cultural parade, I was involved in the Chinese Umbrella dance. Jewel choreographed the dance and we rented the umbrellas from Basha. We also made the long Qi Pao to add up the looks. As a whole, the theme was colour blind Asia. This time we included the Malay’s Kuda Kepang and Piring dance, Indian classical dance and also the Kadazan’s Sumazau dance. The dancers were all blind folded.  The whole event concluded with the dragon coming on stage and we removed our blind fold to signify that regardless of our differences, we see each other as the same. However, despite our colourful outfits, the standards of the dances drop as compared to last year. We only landed at 4^th place. It was actually quite devastating.

Moving on, I had the next two events on the third day. Group singing was first. The group comprised of Esther, Silk, Cheryl, Halim, Digen and me. Jin Heng was our accompanist. Esther led the whole group and help sort out the harmonies. Our aim was just to have the crowd going and singing along.  The practices started some 3 weeks before the competition. We had a hard time in our song selection as the time limit kept changing. After going through many songs, we landed with 4 Non Blonde’s What’s Going On, Hercules’s Go the Distance, Bruno Mars’s Marry You and Katy Perry’s Part of Me. Our concept was to start off with a slow number and end it with a faster and stronger beat. However, we failed to bring out the concept on stage. Nevertheless, it was a great experience and I had a wonderful time jamming together.

Next on that day was Western Group Dancing. We did a fusion between Chinese Water sleeve dance and Malay Javanese dance. We spent 2 weeks to prepare for it. Nabilah was in charge for the Malay dance while I was practically “forced” to take up the responsibility for the Chinese one. The whole dance was for 5 minutes; 2 minutes for the sleeve dance, 2 minutes for the Javanese dance and the last one minute for the fusion part. I’m not really sure about the preparation for the Malay dance so I can only share about the sleeve dance.

I was really stressed out at first as I was involved in many other activities. I wasn’t sure whether I can balance my time with this additional event. It was another merry-go-round to find team members. With Xin Yi and Jewel backing out, I needed to find another 4 more dancers to form a team. Luckily, my ever-sporting batch of juniors came to the rescue. I say, we really do work well together; a new experience. After forming a team, comes the choreography part. I was really nervous on this as I wasn’t really good at learning up dance steps, what more to make up the steps. I tried with one slow song but decide maybe it would be better just to copy someone else’s work. As I was browsing through YouTube for some inspiration, I stumble on one really nice performance by a group of student from Washington University. After showing it to the girls, they asked can they do it as the chorography was really graceful and soft. I spent a couple of nights (or rather early mornings) to learn up the steps; it wasn’t easy. In 3 practices, we finished the steps and after which we were off to polish our posture and synchronization. As for the ending fusion part, Nabilah and the gang taught us the steps. It was actually fun doing the Javanese contemporary dance. Each of us pair up with one Malay girl and we tried to picture ourselves as Hang Tuah as we fling our sleeve, constantly hitting our partners.  

For the Chinese dancer, we wore full white costume. We made our Samfu top at Raj and the skirts, we rented them from Basha. I also decided to remake new longer and wider sleeves for a better effect on stage. As for the Malay dancer, they wore full black with golden yellow cloths tied around their waist and both index fingers. They also rented some gold jewelry to complete the whole Javanese look.

We were the 10^th one to perform that day. Before us, there were really wild and fierce performances by other colleges. They were literally tossing and forming mountains of people on stage which were really mind blowing. When it was our turn, we just tried to do our best. Not forgetting to mention, our audio was taken care by Yilane, lightings by Tian Yuan, backstage, make-up and hair were by Pei Yin and Esther. Really thank you guys, especially Yilane for being with us through every practice session even though you’re not involve. (She even accompanied us at 2 am in the morning to tried the stage)  The results was announced the following day and guess what, we got 3^rd out of the 19 teams performed!

Other than the events I joined, our college did try to send participants for every event. We won 1^st for Classical Indian Solo Dance, 2^nd for Fashion Show and 3rd for Rongoli, Street Play and Cartooning. We earned a total of 50 points, finishing at 7^th place out of 20 other colleges.

Really thank you all who had turned up to support. It was indeed a memorable Utsav.

(Special thanks: Esther for the make up! You really dolled me up.)

Photo credits: Rudy Zain, Zheng Tao, Hao Liang, Yung Yee

The Birth of Horny

Meet Horny, our new member to MMMC.

Even since last year’s Utsav, Jewel and I wanted to make a new Chinese dragon for the college. We wanted to create something more authentic than the previous one. The work began about one month before Utsav.

We made the framework of the head using bamboo and Rotan. It wasn’t easy finding those materials and we literally bought someone trash just to get them. After screening through several design on the internet, we decided to follow this one:

I remember the first day; it was only 4 of us, Tian Yuan, Jewel, Yung Yee and me. Yung Yee did the sawing, I measured the length of the bamboo and both Tian Yuan and Jewel did the tying. The next day, we got our juniors, Christopher and Joel to help us check whether the frame is proportional. They told us it was too big and we started from scratch again. The guys removed every knot and saw down every single bamboo just to shirk the framework.

After that, we used fence wire to shape the details of the head. It requires a lot of bending and bleeding. Yup, Tian Yuan and Jewel’s hand had many scratches as the wire kept hitting back at them. There were also a lot to arguments between them as to how to make it look less crocodile-ish.

Since we were lacking of time, I decided to take charge of the body while Tian Yuan and Jewel continue with the head. I got Chen Wei to help us in designing the patterns on the body. Christine and Elayne were there to help out on the first day we start painting the body. It was later sent to Aunty Raj place for sewing.

After the shaping of the face is finished, we covered the fence wire with 2 layers of newspaper and later with a layer of white paper, all using starch. Our hands were all sticky and slimy. It even smelled bad once the starch dried up.

At the same time, I started making the dragon ball. It was made of 2 spheres. The inner one was made of a giant Christmas ball which I repainted it with golden orange and added sequins, arranged in Chinese cloud motifs. The outer sphere was made of wires which were bent into circle and rearranged to form a sphere. Hao Liang did the outer sphere. It was later coated with another layer of bright red acrylic paint. Tian Yuan help me out in the Chinese fabric bouquet and it was tied on top of the outer sphere. For the finishing touch, I tied some ribbons at the sides to give it a flaming look.

After the layering of the head was done, Chen Wei again helped us out in designing the face. She drew all the outlines and we painted it. There were some minor changes here and there, but it turned out all well. Also, we used strings of pearls to make the beard, resembling the design of the Chinese emperor’s hat. It gives the dragon a majestic look.

After we got back the body from Aunty Raj, I got the juniors to help me in sticking the gold flakes on to each scales. The effect was wonderful. Tian Yuan then put in the wires and sticks which act like the backbone.

On the tail, Chen Wei drew the outline of the tail and Tian Yuan hand stitched it. Although it didn’t turn out well, but hey, at least good effort. We will try repairing that after block 3 exams.

After connecting the body to the head, we added on the whiskers and eyelashes. The hardest part was to tie on the stick for the head.

The dragon project was a joint effort. Many had contributed to make this a success. Seriously, without all the support and encouragement, it would have been a fail project. All that study-less nights, some of us were almost to the brink of giving up. The guys were even prepared to fail patho class test just to complete it.  Luckily we persist on.

It was really majestic and glorious when were paraded it. Our lecturers were all excited and happy. What more all the people that helped out in the making of Horny. Those memories we spent together, endless trips down to Udupi for materials, hours of painting non-stop, getting our hands dirty; it fostered our bond even closer. I definitely will miss it. Hope it serves MMMC well in the future. Keeps the BDS spirit going!

Shall end the post with our diary on making Horny. Enjoy~

(2/3/2012) Something big is coming~ Day 1

(7/3/2012) Day 3. What a day! (@.@)

(8/3/2012) Day 4. 1/16 done. Can't wait to see how the whole thing will turn out! :) - Chen Wei Lee Christine Qp Elayne Moy Foong Ty Jewel Tan

(9/3/2012) Day 5. Even though I wasn't there, really thank you guys for coming. ♥ 1/4 done ; lets jia you! Chen Wei Lee Jewel Tan Foong Ty Yung Yee Parrot Tan Leuk Kheng Jung Silk Yuan Cheryl Plankton Philip Potter

(10/3/2012) Day 6. Body COMPLETED! Thank you so much for sacrificing your precious saturday afternoon peeps! Your hard works will shine bright on the stage. :) Christine Qp Yung Yee Caitlyn Tan Kai Wen Parrot Tan Leuk Kheng Jung Silk Yuan Vinothini Sundaramurthy Cloud ChienYing

(13/3/2012)Day 7. 1/4 dragon belly done. Horns and mini horns are up. Continue to jia you... let's keep up the spirit! :) Foong Ty Chen Wei Lee Leuk Kheng Jung Cheryl Plankton Yung Yee Parrot Tan

(15/3/2012) Day 8. Finished painting the tummy. Now need to stitch it up. Jobless tailor wanted! Earn a new name, Horny. Just left the gills for the head. Foong Ty Jewel Tan Yung Yee Parrot Tan, we are like the elves in "The Elves and the Shoemaker story. :)

(19/3/2012) Day 9: A not productive day. The guys didn't know that we need to cook the corn flour to make starch as the glue. Found out that our plier, wire, marker pen and hammer were stolen. Well, at least, the dragon ball was chiseled clean. Foong Ty Yung Yee Parrot Tan Peiyin Tan Caitlyn Tan Kai Wen

(20/3/2012) Day 10: Hot plate was brought to cook the flour. Some had trouble with making the starch. We got our hands dirty ; sticking piece by piece of torn newspaper onto the outline. Gosh, the pyraminds were hard. Still, we had fun making the first masking. Finished the inner dragon ball too. Lets continue to jia you. Be proud of our culture! :) Andrew Goh Jewel Tan Foong Ty Yung Yee Parrot Tan Silk Yuan

(23/3/12) Day 11: Started dragon making at 2.30pm. Was a little gloomy at 1st until Hao liang appears. Finally done with the newspaper base. Now left the final white layer and colour. New name for the dragon, 'dragon rider'. As hao liang wanted the head to on his bike. Thanks to Yung Yee, Parrot Tan, Jewel Tan. Job well done guys :)

(28/3/2012) Day 12. After the 1st layer, Parrot Tan, Yung Yee, Andrew Goh and Leuk Kheng Jung started off with sticking the white layer. Well it was partially done due to the shortage of paper. Thus, we ended quite early. Anyway guys, your help is much appreciated. :)

(30/3/2012) Day 13. Finally, the final layer of the dragon head is done. Waiting for Ms.Chen Wei Lee to draw the outline of the dragon and then we can start to paint. Thanks to Jewel Tan and Christine Qp (perhaps you wanna tell us why u came and help XD ) for helping out. It was a rough day, but it looked majestic when we finished it. :) Keep it up

(31/3/2012) Day 14. A million thanks to Ms. Chen Wei Lee for drawing the outline of the dragon head. Just realised that there is a whole lot more to do before the deadline, (9-4-2012). It is going to be a busy week ahead. Anyone interested in helping?

(3/4/2012) Day 15: Finally adding some colour to the dragon. Even though there are times where colour spilled all over the floor and all, I hope you all have much fun as I did. Can't wait to see the end result. :) Thanks to your talent Chen Wei Lee. And guys, I really thank you all from the bottom of my heart for helping me out with the dragon. If not, I will not be able to finish on time. Thanks to Yung Yee, Annishka Asairinachan, Parrot Tan, Andrew Goh, Leuk Kheng Jung and Peiyin Tan for your help, BDS rocks!

(4/4/2012) Day 16. Today, 50% of the dragon have been painted. Well, there seems to have a little problem with the horn but I am confident that our art master can do something about it. :) Special thanks to Parrot Tan for starting up with the D. ball, Andrew Goh, Annishka Asairinachan, Leuk Kheng Jung, Yung Yee and our 'all-time-busy' ldr, Rachel Yap. Thank you for your help guys :) I smell Attil/Sai Parivar is coming really soon. Haha. Good night

(5/4/2012) Day 17: Collected the body from Raj. Thank you Foong Ty for monitoring the stitching process. Cheryl Plankton Esther Tan Caitlyn Tan Kai Wen Eileen Teoh Michele Chew sacrificed some sleeping time to help paste the golden decorative pieces. Thank you peeps! The body look awesome and fierce now. Hope everything goes on smoothly for the next few days. countdown: 3 days to go.

(7/4/2012) Day 19. Guess what?! BDS dragon is finally completed! After sacrificing so much of sleeping, study, and rest time. We finally came up with something that can 'mark' our BDS territory in MMMC. Thanks to Jewel Tan, Rachel Yap, Yung Yee, Parrot Tan, Chen Wei Lee, Andrew Goh, Annishka Asairinachan, Christine Qp, Xin Yi Leuk Kheng Jung and the juniors. (i will tag u all in comment section). Thank you you all for making it a success. It was a dream. But on this very day, WE made it into a reality. :) Well, this will be the last post for the dragon making. Hope this will add something special in all of your memory lane, keep up the BDS spirit. Good night and Take care.

Photo credits: Yung Yee, Hao Liang, Caitlyn, Jewel, Zheng Tao