Its the mid-term holidays now. A two-week stretch of forseeable idleness, if anything.

And what's more, the Oxbridge applications are due three days after we come back, 8th September. At a time most crucial for fixing your sloppy personal statements, inquiring about problems with the UCAS form and the occasional meeting with your referees to influence their write-up of you, the holidays seem far from being godsent. Granted, the stress levels were rising back in the little valley, but two weeks is just two long! One week is more than what we need (although probably unassuming juniors would disagree). Then at least we have a week in college to prep up our applications.

Heck, we had only a one week break last year and nobody complained.

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Dedications have started again, thanks to the GreenThumb Club. They sure must be making lots of profit from those Cameron Highland roses. Won't be long before more like-minded groups jump on the bandwagon to get a piece of the pie. And knowing the students of KYUEM, most would encourage these enterpreuners with their fat scholarhships and undaunted spirit of giving. Merry X'mas.

Am I bitter? Well, until they come up with a singing telegram dedication, yeah, pretty much.

Heh. :)
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June A Level 2004 results ? It's official. We have 73 straight A's, slightly less than the 77 of last year but impressive nonetheless.

Congratulations Seniors!

Any surprises or upsets? Well, there supposedly was one student who scored straight U's. Don't ask me how, I never thought it was actually possible. I'm not even sure I believe it.

On a more pleasant note, all 5 Cambridge bound students cashed in their conditional offers with their string of straight A's. This piece of news, I wouldn't have believed it if it was any different. :)

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The Batch of 04/06's Cultural Performance 2004 ? Its over. 'twas held on the 20th of August and it was spectacular. Well, it was for the most part humourous, and full of "culture". It seems that they tried to put in as much "culture" as possible into every single scene. Thus, we ended up with 5 different dances in one scene (and one of the first scenes at that), one after the other. This scene was supposedly an international culture fair or something. Clever, very clever.

Entitled, "Allaedin and the Magic Lamp", it was a reinterpretation of the classic Disney's Aladdin, but set in China. Among the more memorable characters for me were Jaafar (played by a very deep-voiced junior); the lovely Princess Jasmine (played by a real-life "princess", no less.); the the All-Blacks inspired Javanese Pirates; the two genies three gargoyles and other magical creatures; the Siamese Prime Minister and an Indian Street Merchant (both played by the CP president himself, Mr. Joey)

But they were all good, really. The first thing we noticed was the backdrop. It was something. And the props. Wow. :)

So much hard work has been put in by the juniors to come up with last night's performance and I congratulate them.

In the words of Mdm Kat, the teacher advisor, "Your induction is over. You are now full-fledged members of the KYUEM community."

Overall, I really enjoyed myself. Brings back lots of memories of my own CP a year back. Which we still think is the best ever. The same way they would probably disagree. :)

They came, said: hi; hello; how are you?, and promptly left.

One minute its all good and nostalgic, the other, its already Monday. I guess time does fly when you're having fun. Sigh.

So the verdict on the Alumni Weekend ? A success. :)

Here's a summary of the many events held during the wonderful almost two whole days:

1) It was decided during the alumni's AGM by a two-thirds majority that the name AKMATYS be changed to AKYUEM (pronounced Aa-Qeoom) to coincide with the equally ugly new college name.

2) An alternative prospectus produced by UKEC was distibuted containing students' views of their own university, particularly to issues pertaining to Malaysian's students needs. These include the Malaysian Games Carnival, best places to get halal food and the many Malaysian Students Societies available.

3) Having met some of the super (super x n) seniors from the London universities, a majority of my batchmates have converted and shed their misconceptions (really?) of the many perils associated with big city life. In the same vein, a few others have either confirmed or retracted their decision to apply to Oxbridge. Thank you Seniors for the University Talk.

4) The students lost the Football match against the Alumni but got back their pride with a comfortable win in b-ball. The other matches that were played included Badminton, Netball and Table Tennis.

5) The Weekend culminated with the Alumni Dinner (of which the Student Council were invited, and subsequently felt out of place. But I guess we're probably going to be joining them next year anyway.) This is where the teachers and (ex-) students can sit down and catch up on old gossip. Like who's married and who received that first class degree. You know, things like that.

6) Speaking on marriage, 3 senior couples tied the knot on Saturday (which was why there weren't any activites on Saturday night.) And two of the couples had met here in this college. How sweet. :)

7) Did I mention I met some of the coolest seniors ? They came in all shapes and sizes; some spoke with funny accents, most had long hair (especially the guys) and almost all are top students in their respective varsities. There were great SC presidents, everlasting couples, certified geniuses and the odd troublemaker or two. All have been touched by this melting pot we call home (which others still adamantly refer to as KMYS.)
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As I said earlier, it was a success. Kudos to AKMATYS (or rather, AKYUEM)! Thanks once again and hopefully we'll see you guys next year :)

AKMATYS (Alumni Kolej MATrikulasi Yayasan Satu/Saad) is holding their AGM later today. They are currently made up of 5 batches of ex-KMYS students and they meet up every year around this time in college. Talk about being homesick. :)

Besides the AGM, one of their other reasons for being here is the University Talk. Its where the presiding seniors of the college get "real info from real students in real time.". Its also one of the few instances where we humble pawns get to breathe the same air as the Demi-Gods and the Legends that we've been hearing so much about. There's too many to name right now (plus its past midnight and I can hardly recall any names. heh.)

They're staying at the Block F apartments. I'm there now. Its good to meet them. It really is.

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The IELTS was yesterday. It was a whole day of torture. Glad its over though. Say hello to free blocks. Yeah.

But for some reason, I do believe some will be resitting for their IELTS. It wasn't exactly easy this time around. *sigh*

You may not have noticed, but there's some sort of chicken pox (or "Pox Ayaaim" as mr cranwell puts it) outbreak in college. At least 3 people I know have caught it and been sent home for a week (much to their delight.) since the semester started.

But it doesn't stop there. The aformentioned KYUEM male songbird, Aman, and Computer Whizz Mr Faez have both caught the measles and they both are currently on "forced vacations". The school apparently has a no-compromise policy about health issues. Not that we're complaining, of course :)

Seriously though, getting chicken pox, the measles (or any sickness for that matter) at this time is very risky. This week's the Alumni Weekend AND about 53 students are sitting for their IELTS this Saturday. Would be a great shame if they miss those.

Any band nine hopefuls ? most certainly. But then again, nine's a Holy Grail (another mr cranwel line). It all depends on your luck that day. Besides, does it really matter? Come on, does it REALLY REALLY matter?

(the answer should be no, but it sure would be nice to get one. hmm, yeah.)
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Last Sunday was the IAW closing ceremony. Sapphire bagged most of the prizes and (surprise, surprise) was adjudged the best house. As a point of interest, most of the Muscom members and both SC religious excos are from Sapphire. Of course, I'm not suggesting anything. Its just an interesting coincidence is all. :)

The Sapphire Nasyid group did an encore sans Aman (measles, remember?) as part of the closing ceremony. But even without Aman's great vocal presence, they still managed to put on quite a good show. Way to go Sapphire :)

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Another outbreak (and possibly a more fatal one) is the RESULT FEVER. For the uninitiated, the June 2004 A-Level Examination results are out. The slips will be officially handed out on the 19th this month, but if you're like the many that just can't stand the anxiety, send an email to mailto:examresults@kmys.edu.my with your ID, Full Name, Subject Code and Subject Name.

Good Luck, Comrades! =)

Just just now was the Male Nasyid competition. The Female's was yesterday night but boys aren't allowed entry because as we all (should) know, the female voice is an aurat. But i'm pretty sure we didn't miss much. Their nasyid show couldn't have outdone the male's as there are certain boundaries of dignity that I'm sure our girls would not lightly overstep.

Case in point : The Topaz Performance. It started out very very promising (They came on stage with the old candle-bearing trick). Excellent choice of songs and so was the execution. But well into the second song, the Great Joko came on stage and did a rap number. Somehow, the juxtaposition didn't quite work as had been hoped. Plus, his rap message didn't get across since his words were barely audible. Regrettable, yes but a worthy effort nonetheless.

Which warranted the "What the hell was that?" comment by Mr Jamal (referring to the Joko bit). Oh, the judges had a comment session after every performance ala Malaysian Idol. A very nice touch.

Topaz were third to come on after Diamond and Garnet, whom were mediocre to say the least. Well, to their credit, they were probably good, well above average, but the last two performances wiped out all memory of theirs.

Which brings me to the last group : Sapphire. They were superb. Yes, I'm actually typing this to be published. I just have to hand it to them, they stole the show. They even did a little sketch at the end which was really cute. Aman the lead singer (and probably the most prolific male songbird in the college) has just succesfully expanded his fan base.

And the icing on the cake (or the salt on the wound, depending on your house affiliation) was that 2 out of 3 judges said that they were the best performers that night. So much for anticipation for the results come Sunday night for the closing ceremony.

Heh. Again, congratulations Sapphire. :)

I am typing this on a metal bench outside my chalet in the Topaz compound.

The wonders of WiFi.

I am not kidding. We are now connected. Though its only a one month trial period according to the Bursar. Its amazing, it really is. Forgive the over-enthusiasm, but if you've been deprived of a quality connection from your room for about a few months or so, this is God-sent.

And with every other hallmark of college-life, I'm blogging this.

The people responsible for the WiFi installation have been seen around college (doing some research I suppose) since the first week of the new semester. One of those hub thingies is around the girl's chalets. Another one is in the Academic Block I think. Over here near the boys' side, if you tilt your computer the right way, you could still get very good signal strength. So it's not so bad.

Again, this is just a one month trial period. But I don't mind it one bit. :)

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This week is Islamic Aspiration Week (IAW), an event organised by MUSCOM to, well, increase the aspiration for Islam. I guess. heh. The whole week is packed with activities galore, from nasyid to talks to an elocution contest to mosque building. Everyday they will give out these little pamphlets that contain some info on Islam and other relevant stuff. The motto? Revert to the virtuous path. Funnily enough, the motto implies that we are not on the virtuous path. Of course, nobody would dare claim that he is ON the path, but it would be a bit more positive and encouraging to say Stay on the virtuous path, no? heh. In any case, they're doing a very good job. Especially last night's talk by Brother Shah which I found very enlightening :)

Ironically, just today, the third day of IAW, some students were shouted at by Mr K for straying from the virtuous path. Apparently they were still busy with basketball at 7.30 pm, half an hour after they were supposed to have stopped. What's worse, it was already Maghrib, and the Azan could be heard clearly from the surau. Shame on them! Tsk. Tsk.

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Speaking of basketball, today's matches were Topaz vs Garnet and Sapphire vs Diamond for the boys. Topaz and Diamond won their respective matches. For the girls this time it was Garnet vs Topaz with the Garnet girls proving that they are the better team.

And so ends today's report. Before I sign off, I would just like to remind my dear readers (or to whomever who just happened to drop by) to take heed and revert to the virtuous path. Amen.