It’s been
quite some time I can sit down and write something. Drafts of blog posts are
piling up in my desktop, half written and waiting for attention. There’s a lot I
want to share here, I promise to keep them coming. Just finish my exams which
ya…. Anyway, I’m quite excited for the weeks to come, much to do. Been recently
irritated by so many things around me, kept praying to keep cool. For this post I have open and continue writing
for almost 4 times and today I finally had the urge to finish it. Readers, you’re
in luck!
Just last
month, the FOD hosted our first ever student scientific conference and national
level dental quiz. All the final years had the chance to give an oral presentation
of their research work. To spice things up, the dean made it into a competition
where the top 5 groups will represent the college to present in the NDSCC. The
national level dental quiz “Impaction” (name coined by Dr.Renjit) was also held
on the same day where students from other school came and test out their dental
knowledge.
Let’s talk
about the preparations of the event first. 3 weeks before, I approached Dr.Prashanti
and found out hardly anything was arrange yet. The staffs themselves have
formed a committee but the students were not really involved in the planning.
Honestly, we were in the mist of the whole picture. Dr.Jose only asked student
volunteers to handle the registration, prizes, MCs, marks tally and time
keeping. It was obvious we needed more people to assist the whole event. Once
we were on it, there was much more coordination work to be done than we ever
imagine. Best thing was the budget, limited. To make everything look
presentable, my batch forked out a little to fund the door gifts and water
bottles. Even to get the college goodie bag from the marketing team (for the
quiz participants only) was tough. We were working under many restrictions.
For the
opening ceremony, Dr.Prashanti and Chen Wei decided to make a giant tooth model
after much discussion. In the center of the tooth model will be a monitor
screen with the Manipal logo below it. The VIP has to complete the logo by
slotting in a cylinder-kinda-thing into the tooth (like somehow putting a
filling on the tooth) and the officiating video will play on the screen. It
took us about 1 week to build the model. We used metal bars, fence wires, and a
whole chunk of newspapers, mahjong paper and mural paint. A layer of varnish
was coated for the finishing touch. Our
very own robot scientist, Abang Shah and Andrew did the computer wiring and set
up the scanner to activate the video. Annishka and Eileen lend us their hair dryers
to blow out the confetti. Those involve somehow got a scratch or two from all
that work. Thank you Syasya for getting the
permission from the authority to use the hall.
The table
arrangements for the quiz kept changing until a day before the event. In the
end, the lecturers decided to bring in all the laptops from clinics to be kept
on the table during the quiz. Syasya, Yati and Ain helped out in sewing the
table cloths. (Yes, they brought their iron and sewing machine to the hall.)
Kheng
Jung and Chua handled the laptops under the guidance of Dr.Renjit. Nish
supervised the stage arrangement, marking the position of where each table will
go etc. Tian Yuan and Naurah was in charge to “bug” (remind) Mr.Hamka for the
tables, chairs, toilet soap, tissue etc.; all the basic necessities. Syasya
helped call the quiz participants from other university to find out on their preferred
accommodation.
Besides
that, I have two lovely ladies, Nabilah and Myra helping to oversee the
certificate printing and prizes which was done by Kak Aznum. All certs were
only printed a day before the event. How can I forget to mention the marks
tally team. They worked closely with Dr. Jose and Dr. Eby. Vino and Min had to
also prepare the mark sheets for the quiz.
There were
times when things were very discouraging, but I was glad almost everyone in the
faculty turned up and gave their contribution. Special thanks to Dr.Renjit to
help get the whole BDS 3 to help us out.
There was a
sense of excitement in the morning clinic a day before the event. Afternoon
classes were cancelled for all 3 batches. The seniors had a full rehearsal of
their presentation while the rest were like busy bees arranging the chairs,
helping up to prepare the booklets.
The tooth model was up and ready. The
students in charge of backstage were all brief on their job scope, so was the
Food and Beverages team. The man behind the PA system, Dylan was getting
familiarize with the mics and lightings. The backdrop was also up; VIP tables
and sofas in placed.
Photo credits: Zheng Tao
Everything was check, check, double check. Syasya also prepared
nametags for the committee members (yay!). Yati and Ain stayed back late to
finish up the prize table while Dr.Koshy forced the rest of us go back and
rest.
We started
the day at 7.30am. Tian Yuan was stationed at the main entrance guard house to
receive our guests from other universities and of course our VVIPs. The FnB were already getting ready the food
for breakfast. The prizes were also laid up elegantly over shiny cloths. Lyana
kept the VIP table ready. Pretty lads were also stationed at the registration
counter. Cameraman and woman (Yung Yee & Ping) were already clicking away.
Everything was going according to plan.
Photo credits: Zheng Tao
The registration
started around 7.30am. Fried Meehoon and hot tea was served as breakfast. After
the arrival of all the big shots, the event started.
The Mcs for the day Esther
and Munn-Yy first address the floor followed by the speech from our Dean and
then the Vice-Chancellor. All went well with the tooth model for the opening
ceremony and the first presenting group for the conference was up. I managed to
listen to a few presentations and was quite impressed at how our seniors
carried themselves. Although they were nervous, most of them managed to answer
confidently to the questions thrown by the judges. Hope I can do that too when
my time comes. Once all presentations are done, Prof Abdul Rashid handed a
small token to the judges.
(Photo credits: Zheng Tao)
We break
for lunch around 12.45pm. Nish and I were relieved that the student conference went
well, congratulating Dr. Prashanti and Dr. Jose. As the rest were enjoying
lunch, one group of students were getting the tables and chairs arranged,
laptops and wiring fixed on stage for the dental quiz.
The quiz
started at 2pm. Our college sent out 2 teams of whom were picked through a
small test. Each team consisted of 4 members. There were total of 5 other teams
from UIAM, UM, PIDC and SEGi. Dr. Prashanti and Dr.Prithi were the quiz
masters. We first began with picking out a group name. A representative from each
team had to draw a lot from a glass bowl. The name would be one of the names of
a standard dental textbook, for example Peterson, Sturdevant, Carranza etc.
After that, the teams were asked to sit in their places. All teams first when
through a preliminary round wherein the top 5 can later advance to the final
round, without having their marks carried forward. Unfortunately the 2 groups
of UIAM didn’t manage to make the cut.
We had another 30 mins break around 3pm
for our Muslim friends to go for prayer. UIAM participants left us at that
time, catching the daylight to travel back to Kuantan.
For the final round, the
5 teams get to move up to the stage. There were total of 5 rounds which all
were quite interesting to watch. The buzzer round was indeed entertaining but
sadly I felt it was a little too short. (Did I mention we had fun testing out
the buzzer the day before?) The audience also got a chance to participate in
the quiz when the teams can’t get the answer; with a chocolate bar as a reward
for the right answer. Whether participating or not, everyone was enjoying that
afternoon, some on the edge of their seat.
There was a
light refreshment of fruits serve after the quiz ended. The marks tally team
was working hard to total up the scores. Everyone gather back in the hall and the
student performances started. The first was from our senior, Dinesh and his
dance partner Duwaraka blew the audience with their always clean and swift
steps of traditional Indian dance. (Love their makeup. Hee~!) That was followed
by Esther’s performance. She serenades us with a mash up of Passenger’s Let her
go and Frozen theme song Let it go. (I’m telling you, Dean was at awed)
The results
for the Student Scientific Conference Oral Presentation and Dental Quiz were announced.
The top 5 for SCC, CCL and Daniel duo got first place, followed by Eunice Chong
and Li Ting, Agnes and Wesley, Li Li and Jilian and lastly Jane and Jovian. The
top 2 groups would represent the college for the oral presentation in the
National Student Scientific Conference, this year held in AMIST. The next 3
groups will represent in the poster presentation. As for the Dental Quiz, we
were glad that both our team made it to the top 3. PIDC was the 1st
runner up and they were indeed a strong opponent throughout the quiz. Congratulation
to all that participate in that day events, everyone is a winner in one way or
another.
The prizes
and certificates of participations were all given out and Dr.Jose as the
organizing chairman gave the closing speech. Once everything ended, the
students stayed back to tidy up everything. Though everything went smoothly,
there was much room to improve. One thing for sure, no more last minute prep.
Anyway, I really
thank those who did lend a helping hand throughout the event. Don’t be sour if
I didn’t mention your names here. Everyone was wonderful that day and you
should be proud of yourself. It was
great working with all of you. Muakz~ <3
All other photo credits go to Yung Yee and Ping
