Tjinn Lyim and Wei Ling’s Wedding (28/9/19)

I have been to countless of weddings, mostly are from my maternal grandmother’s extended family. The last time I was really involved in a wedding when I was five years old when my bei ku (my mummy’s youngest brother) got married. I remembered I was under watchful eyes of my uncles and aunts, as my mummy had to care and attend my (younger) sister.

My only role at the wedding back then was to serve the tea to the bride and groom- my uncle and aunt, of course! I was carried by my sa ku (mummy’s third elder brother; third uncle in Hokkien) when I served the tea. I remembered I gave them each a peck on the cheeks, they are my immediately family members.

17 years later, I’m reprising my role again! This time is on my dad’s side of the family. My cousin Tjinn Lyim is stepping into next phase in life- marriage. A little bit of my cousin, he is the oldest among the six of the cousins, and I would say he is the best cousin in the world!

One thing I share with Tjinn Lyim gor gor is the love of photography. In fact most of the cousins love photography, and I think that is one of the interests that made us click together. One of the memorable gifts that Tjinn Lyim gor gor gave me was a photo of my star sign- Scorpio. I had no idea how did he manage to capture the constellation? Yeah it’s the best gift that he had given me and I’m still keeping it and even reposted on Instagram.

I’ll take you to the wedding scene. Yesterday I got to know that the colour theme for the morning session is yellow. Although red in the Chinese culture is an auspicious colour, it's still up to the couple to choose which colour for the bridal entourage (heng dai 兄弟 and jie mei 姐妹). I don't want to upstage the newlyweds but I want to stand out in the crowd so I wear a bright yellow cheongsam with seqiun shoes from Pazzion. It's off to the ceremony!

As I arrive at the house, my bak leong (大伯母) asked me why I didn't join my cousins to fetch the bride. I overslept, which is true cause I couldn't get up that early. While waiting for the couple to arrive, I have some food to fill up my tummy since I have a simple breakfast at home.

At 11.48am, the bride and the groom have arrived. Tjinn Lyim gor gor (表哥) is bringing home Wei Ling jie jie (表嫂) as his wife. As according to Malaysian Chinese wedding tradition, we have to hide in the corner when the bride comes in until it is time for us to come up and greet the couple. I'm not sure what is the meaning behind this but anyway, I get to see the couple serving tea to my gu gu (姑姑) and gu cheong (姑丈).

While Wei Ling jie jie (表嫂) is with  her jie mei (姐妹), I walk up to my Tjinn Lyim gor gor (表哥) and give him a big hug and the four of the cousins which comprise  of Tjinn Lyim gor gor (表哥), How Yan gor gor (大堂哥), Yhi Ling (堂姐) and me. Unfortunately How Yi gor gor (二堂哥) is not here, so does my sister as she is in Great Britian furthering her studies. If not the six of us would be together after a long time! 

Not long after, the couple change into a more traditional wedding attire. There is a long history of the red wedding gown that Wei Ling jie jie is wearing because it was worn by all the ladies in the Chin family (my mummy and bak leong) and it was belonged to my gu gu when she got married. Wei Ling jie jie is the second generation to wear this traditional wedding gown.

While waiting for the younger generation to serve the tea, How Yan gor gor, Yhi Ling and I have bites of siew yuk. Until the cultural hype person calls all the younger cousins of the groom. How Yan gor gor goes on first as he is the oldest, followed by Yhi Ling and me. When it is my turn to wish the couple, I take a deep breath and Tjinn Lyim gor gor said: "Marn, you seemed got everything prepared!" The next thing we know is wishing the couple for a long-lasting and happy marriage.

For the wedding night, I change into another cheongsam but this time is in pink and it's longer as compared to the yellow one which I wore this morning. I didn't use the photobooth during the cocktail party (tip: if there is a photobooth at any events, please use them). I did manage to take a picture with the bride and groom. Tjinn Lyim compliments that I look pretty in pink and definitely like a princess for the night.

We head into the ballroom and the best part is we are seated near the main table, and of course the stage! As everyone settles down in their seats, the emcees announce the arrival the parents of both the bride and the groom, and finally the main characters of the night- Tjinn Lyim gor gor and Wei Ling jie jie!

In every Malaysian Chinese wedding dinner, there is a champagne popping follow by the three toasts (yum seng). Tjinn Lyim gor gor even sings a song or two as a surprise for Wei Ling jie jie, so romantic! We also have a best man and maid of honour speeches. After that, a video montage is shown on the screen of the gate crashing, which the groom had to cross some "obstacles" in order to get the bride and How Yan gor gor is in it too, since he is part of the heng dai. The night ends with picture taking from both sides of the family.

I just love weddings! I'm so happy and honoured to be apart of the journey! I wish Tjinn Lyim gor gor and Wei Ling jie jie for an ever lasting love and marriage!

 Tjinn Lyim with his favourite cousin 

All the cousins in the Chin clan, missing two of them 

Tjinn Lyim looks super handsome in his suit 

I'm with the bride with herself- Wei Ling 

Showing off my princess pose 

Wishing the newlyweds

UN SDG 4th Anniversary: Rock the Goals (25/9/19)

Last year, we make a pledge and join hands on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), this time it's to rock the goals! I clad in my Team Sunway t-shirt, with my trusty blue Hawkeye shoes, it's time to rock the goals. But wait before that, a pose on the mini red carpet is a must! My best friend, Hanis and I pose our best red carpet pose with the 17 UN SDGs in the background.

We make our way to the college's North Building, apparently the lift is not working with the notice on the wall states that the lift will be closed from 6pm to 10pm. How can we get to the concert in time? "Let's go the South Building of the college, the West side can lead us to Jeffrey Cheah Hall," One of the concert goers is kind enough to share her free popcorn with us! As we reach the forth floor, the Sunway Student Ambassadors lead us to the fifth floor, that makes me wonder, why are we going to the highest floor?

There is another, entrance which leads to the balcony of the hall. Well, throughout my four years on campus, this is the first time at the balcony and it's the best seat in the house! What's more? Hanis and are the firsts to go in before everyone else does. We get to see a short video of all the 17 UN SDGs and a sneak peak of the performers who are doing the sound check before the big night.

"Katelyn, you'll wait for a bit, I'm going to grab food for us okay? Be sure to stand by your phone at all times," Hanis said as she heads out to the roof top garden to grab free food. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that whoever has the "Rock the Goals" for tonight's concert, we will have everything free! From drinks to food, and you know we Malaysians love free stuff right?

As the time nears 6pm, students are starting to fill up the hall, and VIPs are coming in too. I see two royal chairs at the hall. I guess the yellow chair is for HH the Prince of Selangor and the other is for the Prince of Negri Sembilan.  One more thing if you can't go into the main concert at the hall, there are three places where concert goers can watch the live telecast- Sunway International School hall, JC 3 and the Art Gallery at the university.

The concert starts with an opening video of the initial venue due to the haze we have to switch from outdoor to indoor. "There is no planet B, but at Sunway there is always a Plan B," the emcee comes out to greet the crowd. We have a few "warm up" session before the concert begins. The VIPs have arrived and everyone has settled down. Let the concert begin!

First off, we have the Sunway University Choir leading the crowd in the room, singing the national anthem- Negaraku. All the 17 SDGs flag bearers are in their position. The opening song is the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson's Heal the World, which I really think suits the theme of the night. Last year, they played "We're All in This Together" as the opening.

The second performance in line is our Sunway University 24 Festive Drums to pump up the beat. It has to be one of my favourite performances of the night. Since it's a rock concert, there are few more performance to hype up the moment but first let us listen to the speakers of the 17 SDGs. We first go to SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities by YB Michelle Ng, the state assembly person of Subang Jaya.

As I mentioned before that I'm passionate about SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being, Mr. David Ng, the speaker of the goal talked about mental health which gets me really excited! I'm not in any organisation, but I'm passionate to champion the cause of mental health, especially in children.

Besides SDG 3, SDG 4: Quality Education is in my list well. Who knows better about education other than, Dr. Elizabeth Lee herself, the Chief Executive Officer of Sunway Education Group. She is a crowd favourite to the students. In her message, Dr. Lee says "Receiving an education is a privilege, however there are some children didn't have the opportunity. Every child has the right to receive the best education," With the first four speeches made, it's time to pump up with some music! A rocketchestera was performed by MPYO alongside with the Malaysian autistic music group.

Around 8.45pm, the emcee announces the arrival of His Highness- the Crown Prince of Selangor. I curtsy to the Prince of Selangor when His Highness makes his way to the VIP area. More speeches on the 17 SDGs are made. SDG 15: Life on Land, by my best friend, Pratima Tamang. As a survivor of the Nepalese earthquake back in 2015, she urges everyone to stop deforestation and save the earth as well as protecting the environment as much as we can! The Prince of Negri Sembilan gives his speech on SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institution.

More music from Malaysia's rock group Muzza, who sing classic songs from Prince's Purple Rain and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. The last goal- Partnership for the Goals, made by High Highness the Crown Prince of Selangor. The night ends with a big group photo! After that, it's more from Muzza!

Before we head downstairs to the main hall, Hans and I clean up which are left by the students at the balcony, now that's what I called shining a light on sustainability! I'm Katelyn Chin  and let's shine a light  on the UN Sustainability Development Goals.Tell me, how are you going to shine a light on the UN SDG with your chosen goal? Feel free to comment below.

I'm looking forward to the next UN concert on campus. It might be my last one but I'm hoping to come back as an alumnus to support the goals.

Hanis (L) and I at the red carpet 

I'm going for Goal 3 

Shining a Light on the SDGs 

FairMUN 2019: The Final MUN Journey (6/9/19-8/9/19)

It's time to head back to the MUN scene! This time it is FairMUN, last year it was my third MUN of the year and now this is the final journey. I was late for the first day as I had internship briefing on campus. When I arrived at Fairview International School, the registration hall was empty, I guessed all the delegates were in the hall waiting for the opening ceremony.

I was escorted by one of the secretariats. I came out from the lift and I was greeted by Aliff! He gave me a big hug, "Hi Katelyn, it's been a year since I saw you!" he said. The hall had changed so much! The last time I came was just an empty hall and a few chairs, now it transformed into an auditorium! Delegates were seated at the top, while the chairs, admins and the FairMUN team were in front. Before the opening ceremony began, I took a picture with the big screen behind me.

Once all the delegates settled down, the emcees came on the stage to greet everyone a warm welcome, followed by a welcoming speech by Dr Vincent Tan, the principal of Fairview International School. After a few talks from invited keynote speakers, it's time to head to our respective councils. Surprisingly, most of the councils were located on the same floor as the hall.

An ice-breaking session in the Press Corps to ease the atmosphere. When it's my turn to introduce myself, I briefly told my fellow journalists what my news agency, The Star, was about. There were eight to nine councils, so each of us had to choose which council that we wanted to go and observe all the actions.

I chose none other than ECOSOC, cause that was the council I was in last year's FairMUN. I was given the green light by the admins of the council, "Delegates, we have the journalist of The Star from Press Corps," Tuck and Gordon, the chair and co-chair of the council informed the delegates. I was given a chair and table to write all my juicy news and took pictures which will be sent to the live updates via a WhatsApp group chat.

I was interviewing the delegates in ECOSOC on the topics they were discussing, Ahnaf, the chair of Press Crops, dropped by to check on our progress at our chosen council. In mid-interview, there was a power cut out, but after that everything was just fine.

We were summoned back to our office and give an update of our progress. That's the end of the first day! As I was heading to the lift, I bumped into Chia Yong, my Melaka MUN buddy, and Ernest (the Sherlock Holmes of MUN) while passing by IAEA council, I gave both of them a big hug.

On the second day, I was switched to the United Nations Human Rights (UNHRC). The council was located on the second floor and it's in the library. The delegates of Canada and Iran were debating at the moment, so I "sneaked" my way in. I was writing all the important points, suddenly I got a note from the delegate of Iran that he would like to have an interview. Wow, that was a first! I did ask the chairs for some delegates to have an interview with. Not long after, it's time to head back to office cause a model press conference was about to take place.

The first two councils were UNODC and UNWTO. For UNWTO, I asked the delegate of North Korea how is he and the delegate of South Korea were going to implement SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, in both countries and really cracked the journalists up during their mini-debate time. When it's IAEA's turn to have the press conference, somehow Chia Yong sneaked in and posed as the journalists of The Guardian. And I got a shot of my co-chair, Caylene, was giving the "real" look to Chia Yong.

It's dinner time, after all, three conferences that were held today, sure made my tummy hungry! We were at the table talking about the actions that happened in our respective council today. After dinner, we headed to the basketball to have some pictures before socials. The school's official photographer also came in to take our pictures as well. Gabriel and I had one-on-one BFF movie time watching Spiderman: Into the Verse. 

I came out from the party room, cause the movie was buffering due to low Internet connection. One of the secretariats Ryan, asked me "Did you enjoy the party?" I said "Yes, yes I did!" my shoe came off, I had a Cinderella moment when he helped to put my shoe back on. The moment was caught on camera! For the first time ever, I partied all my heart out! Usually, I would sit in the corner and chilled out. I left the party early because I had to write up some "breaking news" on the councils I visited today.

On the third and final day, the last three councils came into our office for the press conference which was EU, DISEC and UNHRC. Especially the delegate of Iran in UNHRC, he kinda spiced up our office after the Q & A session, that's when the delegates from each council up can "fire" at each other. It was fun to watch!

After the last press conference, it's a MUN tradition for delegates to go around the office to have their signatures signed on each other's plaque cards. While waiting for the closing ceremony, we played a game of Kahoot! which tested our general knowledge and national flags from all over the world, cause when you're in Model United Nations, you have to know these as a basic.

I headed over to ECOSOC where it was opposite of the Press Crops office, I signed the delegates' plaque cards from other councils and I got a candid shot of picture from Sharlize on my phone. Not long after we were given the green light for the closing ceremony. This is it! The final journey of MUN is about to begin. The IT crew presented video highlights throughout the three days as well as photos. The best of all, I got a verbal mention!

My MUN journey had finally come to an end, I'm gonna miss all my friends who I met throughout the MUN career. That doesn't mean I'm going to be completely cut off from the scene, but I'm going to involve in UN activities.

马佛青甲州联委会：佛青之夜2019 （31/8/19）

去年的马佛青甲州联委会的佛青之夜落在中秋节，而今年的佛情之夜落在我国马来西亚的国庆日！我也期待这一天很久了！外婆（阿嬷）带我去马六甲家乡家喻户晓的文化街，老一辈就会称它为 “鸡场街” 。当我到现场的时候，几乎座无虚席了！有一位老伯伯让出他的位子给我，但是看他老人家也觉得不好意思。幸好大舅找到位子：“妈，阿文！这里有位子！” 比去年的位子，我离舞台的距离更近了。

佛青之夜正式开始！第一组表演由一群可爱的小朋友演《佛陀的眼睛》。这一首歌我有在面子书有听过，还有《快乐天堂》—— 也是一群可爱的小朋友演出。接下来是三人组的相声，他们是以中秋节为主，再多两个星期中秋节就要来了！当演出进行一半，我看到多久没见的学长、学弟和学妹们。我向他们挥了挥手，本来是想过去和他们叙旧，由于位子狭窄的关系，还是留在原位较好。

我最有活力就是生命中的朋友的《没有翅膀》—— 这是我在中三时候听的歌，还有黎升铭的《给》。在《给》的副歌时，我比 “好话、微笑、心意和美好” 。我还拍这两个的演出然后上传到社交媒体的限时状态。

下半段的节目开始之前，我们进行一个小小互动。义工们派国旗和佛旗给现场的观众，“来各位佛友们！我们会拍视频是为了庆祝马佛青成立四十九周年，而明年我们的五十周年；再说，今天我国的国庆日，所以记得挥挥你们手上的国旗可以吗？” 在司仪的带领下，我们提早祝马佛青五十周年快乐！

我最喜欢的表演就是唱享6度歌唱团！虽然音响在演出中有技术问题，但是歌手们把每一首歌曲完美演出。第一首是黎升铭老师的《三好》就是——做好事、说好话、存好心！前面的阿姨问：“你为什么没上台唱歌啊？你的歌声很好听啊！” 我说：“我还在等是否有被录取。” 去年的《一种爱万分关怀》再次呈现，今年唱享6度再添加多两首佛曲—— 《Brahma of My Heart》和《路要自己走》。

节目的尾声，大家到台上为大家献唱《长征万里》以及马佛青的主题曲。法师带领全场祈福回向，佛青之夜2019正式圆满落幕！我很开心用这一种方式来庆祝国庆日！今天也是我国马来西亚第六十二周年独立，在此祝大马人民国庆日快乐！大家一起建造国家的未来以及维持社会的和谐！我是马来西亚人！I'm a Malaysian! Saya anak Malaysia!