UMSA Ball 2009

30th August 2009... It was a really big day for me... It was also a really big day for everyone in the UMSA (Union of Malaysian Students in Auckland) committee :D Yea, it was the annual UMSA Ball! A lot has been done by all of us... Actually nearly all of us in the committee to make it a success... We had laughter, we had tears, we had misunderstandings and we also had tons of fun in the process of making it a hit!

Just now in the Engineering computer lab, I read Ati's blog post on our Ball... Well, it really got me wanting to write a little more on how I managed to pull through the whole process...

It all started early this year when we were deciding on the theme... Will it be Mafia? Or Ebony and Ivory? Or perhaps Dance Into the Twilight?? Yes, that's it! Dance Into the Twilight sounds awesome! And so, there's our theme... Next thing was to separate the committee into teams.. Marketing, hiring, decor and skit... I was in the skit team...

Jie Huei, Kauthar, Jack, Angeline, Rachel and me... 5 of us are all in the skit team... We met up a few times before to discuss and decide on the storyline of the skit... And so, we came up wuth some funky ideas! haha... not to mention dodgy ones as well... XD The details are all finalised before the Winter break, which is during the start of July... Then in the whole of the Winter holiday, I went to Bersatu Games, bring my Aussie friends around and also attend the Brighter Future Musical (BFM) practices... Busy hor? XD

After the break, we had to plan the practice times and venues... We had lotsa difficulties cuz we initially wanted to do everythg in the dance studio in our uni's recreation centre but then friday evenings always fully booked... :( So, we had to think of other places like the iSpace (International Space) or even classrooms...

Throughout the practices, many misunderstandings among ourslvs occured... Which taught me lots of things... I learned how to deal with people, how to work with them and how to keep my mouth shut smtimes... Haha! Even though there were so many misunderstandings, I really get to see who are my true friends and who are just superficial...

Other than UMSA skit practices, I also had BFM practices, where I danced, stomped (beating those kuali kuali and mangkuk mangkuk) and also sang... I had to balance these two with my uni assignments!! Trust me, it wasn't easy... A typical schedule for my week would be UMSA meetings on Monday evenings, BFM practices on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, rest on Thursday nights and UMSA practices on Friday nights and towards the end, Saturday mornings as well... I hardly had time to even study or do my assignments... It was hard but I got through it... Thanks to people who encouraged me throughout and shared my burdens... Especially Joanne, who had been really supportive of me :) Of course, I am also not forgetting the others, particularly the UMSA people who had shared my workloads... haha...

My birthday was actually during the final one week before the Ball... Exactly one week before!! And so, I also didn't really celebrate my birthday... Sad, I know... But at least I got lots of wishes and presents!! hehe... The following day, there was a skit practice in iSpace and I actually received a surprise from the UMSA people! They gave me a huge card and two cakes!! That's really nice of u guys! :) But on that nite itslf, some misunderstanding occured and I was like "OMG! Not tonite, please....." but it happened... It muz hav left some scars on ppl's hearts but what's done can't be undone... Sad but true... Anyway, apart from that, I was grateful for the cakes and card! Thanks again UMSA committee!! Refer to this post...
We had lotsa skit practices, like I said... This one here is at the Engineering building... In one of the tutorial rooms... There's Allan, me and Azhan playing the Ah Lee's Angels... hehe... We were supposed to be "gentle" guys la... XD Both Allan and Azhan were really good actors!! Talented...
We also put in lotsa efforts and "spices" into our skit... Jie Huei, our skit team leader suggested that we use the green screen to edit some of our footage in the skit!! She's so pro eh? hehe... It turned out really nice...
Remembering the nite before the big day, me, Ati and Tuan went to Warehouse to get some paint to do the backdrop... We actually stumbled across these!! Spray Kote, man!! Hahahaha!! I nearly burst out laughing like crazeeee.... XD
Then, we went back to Ati's place to quickly finish up the backdrop... There's also a story behind this backdrop! I shall roughly tell the story yea... Before the backdrop shown above, the decor team actually did one already... It was done by using a vy thin, vy permeable black cloth... Ati, the decor team leader and her team actually painted the backdrop two nights before the Ball...

That night when they were painting the backdrop, we met Dominic, an architecture student.. He told us that if we were to paint red on the black cloth, it would not work as the paint will juz absorb into the cloth, leaving no red colour at all... He was right but Ati and gang were already halfway through it... So, they decided to continue and all of em finished at 4 am... They then left the whole backdrop to dry downstairs of Ati's apartment cuz it's actually quite safe to elave thgs unattended in NZ... Moreover, to access that area of her apartment, u'll need an access key... Later that day, we actually had a skit practice at 8 or 9 am in the business school... It was really hard out on Ati and her team!! After the skit practice, to Ati's dismay, she actually found that the backdrop that they did was missing!!!!! OMG!! Missing!! After giving the management a call, it was found that the backdrop was thrown away cuz her apartment's premises are private properties and u can't simply leave thgs there...

So, Ati went to check the bins for the backdrop but couldn't find it... :( Sad eh? aiks~ She suspected that the cleaners muz hav taken it... After emo-ing a while, she finally pulled herslf together and decide to make another backdrop! This time, we used recycled black cloth from the previous event and we heeded Dominic's advice to paint a white base before proceeding into the reds and blacks... And so, the night before the Ball, me and Tuan decided that we shud help Ati out la... Ati, feeling really guilty, didn't ask for her decor team to help out anymore cuz they already had worked sooooo hard the nite before...
Finally, as u can see, our backdrop is done!! Kudos to the decor team!! In the picture above, from left is Allan, Ati and Ipin... They were doing some final touch-ups on the backdrop before hangin it up...
Besides the decor and skit, the marketing team did an exceptionally gud job too!! Ticket and poster designs are from Florence and they are really nice and brings out the feel of the theme... The black envelopes are designed by Dimi... They are to be stuck on chopsticks and stuck into apples to bring out the fairy tale feel... These are all really nice designs!!
Finally... It's the day!! In the mornings, the decor team rushed in to decorate the whole ballroom... The above device, the Genie is actually an elevator... It gave us a hell of a time cuz we dunno how to use it... In the end we figured how to use it though... haha~
This is the rest of the ballroom before decoration...
After decoration... Cool eh? We did it all by ourslvs!!
Some of us booked a hotel room across the road in Sky City Hotel to prepare ourslvs... This here is me after I got ready...
That night, we had lucky draw and here's the winning ticket!! Guess what, I won a return flight ticket from AirAsia X!! Melbourne - KL... How cool is that?!
I tended the ticket counter with Kauthar and Ipin...
This is the table's centrepiece.. We had this on every table... Nice eh?
Not to mention the food! hehe... I eat until I felt like I was 4 months pregnant!! XD Need to eat more mar... Then only worth it!
And so, we did our skit, did our dances and our performances.... All of us were great!! The actors were at their fullest, the dancers and songers were all at their best that nite... This pic shows the committee dancing to the Jai Ho music... an Indian dance of course!
Also, we took lotsa photos... hehe... From left, Jie Huei, Dimi, Azhan, Allan, me and Ati!!
Finally the night was over... Packing time!! UMSA Ball was one of the last few events that we work together as a committee to organise... So, right after that night, though we felt like a huge burden was lifted off our shoulders, we also felt kinda sad cuz most of us will go down separate paths already... Some will graduate and go back to Malaysia, some will stay but not join UMSA and some will continue to stay... They say life's but a brief candle and so, do make the most of it! Treasure the people and the moments before it's too late... Stand up if u tumble, learn from ur mistakes and be satisfied with what u have... All of these I've learned from them... Through the hard way and the easy way... Thanks, people!!
U all make me a stronger and more reliable person!