20th Birthday (2/11/17)

  The moment I woke up, I was not a teenager anymore! I officially stepped into the big 2-0! That's right, it was my 20th birthday. My mum was the first one to wish me a very happy 20th birthday. My birthday started off smoothly with a meet up of a fellow MUFY junior, Hui Yee. We had breakfast at the university cafeteria to get the birthday atmosphere warmed up a little. 

  I took a few bites of Hui Yee's yee mee, as I already had breakfast at home before coming to campus. I also bumped into two of course mates, Metta and Madhura- they both wished me happy birthday and I said "thank you". Hui Yee even bought a small chocolate cupcake- no candles but what important is the sincerity. Oh, I even got a Silky Girl lip balm from my senior- Priyanka. 

  I've always dreamed of owning a Silky Girl product since I was 10!  To kill the time before Organisational Communication lecture starts, I took out a magazine titled- Diana: Her Life & Legacy. One by one, birthday wishes from my course mates kept pouring in. "Hey guys, I know the request it's a little odd but do you mind sing a Happy Birthday song please?" Vi Wern said: "Hey everyone let's sing a Happy Birthday song for Kar Marn!" 

  Another birthday lunch with my best friend Derrick, who was done with Psychology lecture. Qiong Fang came to drop by to let me know about the recent updates on Sunway University Buddhist Society, since I'm the secretary, some things I needed to pay close attention to. Communication Theory and Practice was about to start soon, I went to the washroom. 

   When I came back, the whole lecture theater was pitched black. The first thing came to my mind was: Are we watching a movie? Did I miss anything when I went out? Zhi Wen and Jaya came down from the steps of the theater singing Happy Birthday, the whole class joined in.  "Happy 20th birthday, Kar Marn! From all of us! Here's a cake, enjoy your big day!" Zhi Wen said. "I'm gonna cry soon!" I said. "Don't cry Kar Marn. Go on make a wish!" Jaya said. 

  I blew the candle and everyone in the room clapped. This was the second time my birthday was celebrated in university, the first one was pre-celebrated with the Sunway University Buddhist Society. 

  The rest of the night of my birthday, my parents brought me to a Japanese restaurant at KLGCC for a birthday meal. It's simple yet heartwarming. I almost cried again during the birthday dinner but I managed to hold my composure. A birthday photo was taken to end the night. Thanks mummy and daddy for the birthday dinner, my tummy was super happy for the whole night! 

  Hey, teenager no more! I still need time to adjust myself in my first twenties, one more year is my key to freedom- that's when the real journey as an adult truly begins. 

菩提工作坊：《走在阳光道上》实验剧场 （28/10/17）

  续Taylor's University 第五届的iLead Shine Conference，我到回双威大学学院等爸妈来接我去雪隆佛教联谊会（Buddhist Gem Fellowship）出席菩提工作坊的《走在阳光道上》实验剧场。一路上，车上的气氛很沉有僵硬，我只好望出车窗看风景让心情平抚。

  我们到了雪隆佛教联谊会，第一时间就到报名处。我再乘坐电梯上去到二楼，上星期见到菩提工作坊的佛友认出了我：“咦，你也有来啊？” 其中一位师姐问道。我说：“是啊！” 师姐说：“哪到里边请！待会聊哦！” 我找不到璟芳的人影，听到有人叫我：“凯特琳！” 我转头就到看到璟芳。妈妈放下我之后，就走了。

  身旁的姐姐自称是Whale，就读宁波渃丁汉大马分校。节目开始之前，全体竖立歌颂《赞佛偈》。这让我打开眼界，平时在马六甲家乡参加佛教活动是已《三宝歌》为开场。Whale姐说：“这是对佛陀尊敬。” 

   节目开始就是揭晓菩提工作坊的三十周年的徽章，主持人说：“你们也可以盖上耳朵，如果你们怕的话。” 礼堂的观众哄堂大笑，其实林坊长和凉茶婆婆把手柄推下就是揭晓三十周年的徽章。镜头里的照片带大家回到1988年—— 菩提工作坊的成立。1988年我在 ”空中” 呢！九年后，我才来到这个世界。

   台上灯光开始暗下来，我们回到29年前的菩提工作坊。一个热爱佛曲的青年—— 叶景华（Gary哥 饰）和一班的伙伴们在唱歌，突然间灵感来了就说：“不如我们开个地方让所有热爱佛曲的青年们用歌声传达佛法。” 伙伴们点头同意表示这注意不错。日子过久了，大家回各自家乡，但他们有一个承诺就是他们一定回来工作坊相聚。

  刚回吉兰丹家乡不久的景华得了一通电话来自柔佛的方志明（林振威 饰）是否能够再到首都吉隆坡一趟，自从伙伴们走散了工作坊也没有消息了。于是要重新建立菩提工作坊，景华决定到吉隆坡一趟。重新建立菩提工作坊，却被遭拒绝因为外界认为佛曲不是唱歌或娱乐之类的。景华要放弃，但是一路以来支持他的干妈（也就是现在凉茶婆婆）告诉他：“只要你有恒心、坚持和信心，你一定会把菩提工作坊建立起来。你也别忘记有你支持的伙伴们和家人。” 

  这句和外婆说的一模一样！最后，菩提工作坊建立了！最后的一幕，所有的演员为大家献唱《走在阳光道上》。演出的尾声，台上的演员、台前幕后工作人员以及志愿者们都得了一张奖状慰劳他们的努力。

  演出结束后，我马上去找饰演尤国林的俊伟哥哥和青年景华师兄—— Gary哥哥。Whale姐姐对俊伟哥哥说：“俊伟，她是你的‘粉丝’ 。一直问我靓仔哥哥在哪里。” 俊伟哥听了也笑了，我唱一段《生命中的朋友》给他听。“你的歌声不错！你应该我们工作坊的歌唱训营。” 俊伟哥说。

  我也秀了歌声，这次唱TF Boys Karry王俊凯的《树读》。我也买了一件菩提工作坊三十周年的T恤，衣服上写着：舞台就是一个道场！就算是送给自己的提早二十岁生日礼物吧！很适合我，因为我一站在舞台，我不会被批评或指点，反而我是以歌声展现出我的故事。希望明年可以参加菩提工作坊。我要用歌声来传达佛法。

Can’t Touch This Campaign Closing Ceremony (17/10/17)

  After eight weeks of the anti-sexual harassment- Can't Touch This Campaign, had finally came to a close. It was right after the morning class, I headed down to the university boulevard, that's where the closing ceremony was held. "Hi Kar Marn, you're early!" said Priya, the director of the campaign. "I just wanna to get a good spot," I said.

  Aliah, who was the emcee of the day, she was doing some final rehearsals. "Hi Aliah!" I greeted her, Aliah gave me a big hug. "Hi, so sweet of you to come and support us," she said. I couldn't miss it for the world! "Why not you take a good seat, so you can take a look at us," she added, guided by my seniors, I was placed in my "VIP seat".

   Every seat had a survey form to get feedback from the students and staff of the campus. It was supposed to be filled at the end of the campaign but I filled in straightaway. Goodie bags as free gift were given to the guests upon arrival and energy drinks from RedBull were distributed as well.

  A few minutes to 10.00am, students and staff started to arrive for the closing ceremony. Invited guests such as Ms. Nisha Ayub, a Malaysian activist, Vice Chancellor, Professor Greame Wilkanson, the Dean of School of Arts, Professor Harold,  and the Head of the Department of DCLA, Dr. Chan Nee Nee.

  The closing ceremony started off with speeches from the campaign director herself, Priya. She was proud of her team that during the eight weeks of running the program, they received positive feeedback from the students, staffs as well as lecturers. "It's time to stop touching the campaign and start touching in our sleep," she said which earned laughters from the audience. A highlight video of the campaign was shown on the screen featuring the students of Diploma in Performing Arts (DPA) and some were from the maze challenge.

  A magical performance from Wayne Liew and singing from Sunway Music Society (SMS) . The ceremony ended with a big punch of the Bobo Dolls and souvenirs as a token of appreciation to the sponsors and VIPs. The moment everyone was waiting for- lunch time! Light snacks and refreshments were served. I had a few rounds of popiah and curry puffs. I took selfies with the seniors to end my day at the ceremony and it was time for me to head back to class for PR lecture.

  Hey, who knows I could run my own campaign when I step into my second year in university next year? 

马佛青甲州联委会：《一步一愿行》暨嘉年华（8/10/17）

  前天我们和Aunty Rose去吃沙爹时候，经过马六甲英雄广场大草场时，我对外婆说：“外婆，我要去！明天带我去，可以吗？” 外婆说：“可以，当然可以！” 然而我要去的时候，阿姨不肯载我们，我快崩溃了！三、四年一次在全马举行的佛教嘉年华，不去不是很可惜？在没办法之下，外婆只好托二舅来当我们的司机。

  我们差点迷路，幸好我们还是到了现场。我和外婆进摊子的时候，有一位阿姨问我们是否要购买素饭，价格只是十令吉，便宜嘛！还算合格的价钱！突然间，有人搭在我的肩上。我一转头，是教我中一华文的曾老师！“袈文，你几时回来？” 老师问我，我说：“星期五就回来了。大学现在在休假，又碰巧到这个嘉年华。不如回乡看看吧！”

  第一个闪过我的脑海就是去找中学母校—— 马六甲圣大卫中学 （St. David High School, Melaka）。我看到 “圣大卫中学佛学会” 的八个字不在远处，我径直走去。外婆在后面暖心叮嘱要小心。“哈咯！我回来了！” 我给学弟妹们一个惊喜，“学姐！你几时回来的？” 学弟妹文我一连串的问题，我说星期五就回来，碰巧在面子书看到他们摆的摊子。

  身为学姐的我，当然要支持新一批的佛学会理事会。“学姐，真的谢谢你过来！” 学弟学妹们说。“不客气！佛学会是永远的学会，永远的家。” 我也在他们的摊子玩一场游戏，可惜没有抽到十八号，不然我就得 “大奖了” ！我还想要玩，但是二舅说我已玩够、玩疯了，是时候回家。我很感谢外婆和二舅愿意为我牺牲来陪我到这难忘的嘉年华。

  外婆还说我花了不少，但这是项佛教活动，就当做修炼布施，没有任何的企图，用一颗真诚的心来支持这项活动。我参与了！你参与了吗？

Can't Touch This! Anti-sexual Harassment Campaign Maze Challenge (3/10/17)

  Can't Touch This! Anti-sexual harassment campaign organised by Year 2 Public Relations and Corporate Communications students of Department of Communication and Liberal Arts (DCLA). It is raise awareness on sexual harassment among Sunway College and University students to provide a more accommodate environment to those facing such hardships and educating the Sunway community's knowledge to overcome such predicament.

  I headed to the Gallery View right after my library time. I was greeted by the seniors upon arrival, "Hi Kar Marn! Are you ready for the maze challenge?" the seniors asked me. "Yes, I am but a little scared," Prior entering the maze, we attended a mini self-attendance class. To defend off the harasser, we can use different parts of the body such as hands and legs. As for me, I have an extra weapon. which is the crutches!

  I was a little hesitated of going into the maze as it was like a haunted-house theme but it just replaced with catcalls and wolf-howling kind of stuff like that. With encouragement from the seniors, I decided to brave myself up for the maze challenge. My team mates were way ahead of me to find the "victim". I was not far behind.

  I wanted to turn back at some point because it was too scary but my seniors kept on giving me words of encouragement to complete the challenge. Finally we found the "victim" by saying the theme of the campaign "Can't Touch This!". There's a VR Lab challenge too but due to my physical condition, I left it to my two teammates. One of them able to defend the virtual harasser, while Lavanya, well she didn't get through. At least, she did her best.

  We realised our "victim" had been "kidnapped" by the "harassers". Man, I should look over the "victim" instead of getting engrossed with the VR Lab challenge, haha! Okay, jokes aside and let's get back to the serious part.  Kirtana accompanied me on the way out, our "victim" was saved! We were greeted by the lovable Sofia, our campus' new mascot. She gave me a big bear hug, "she'll always be there for you when times in need," Kirtana said.

  Aliah, another senior of mine asked me whether I like the challenge. "It was fun and scary," I said. "Glad you love the challenge and thank you for supporting us," she said. A group photo with Sofia to wrap up the maze challenge! Mission accomplished! 

MUFY Sharity Carnival 2017 (28/9/17)

  After Organisational Communication lecture, I was about to make my way to the college boulevard. I saw Farah Ann was talking to one of the students. I walked up to her to have a small chat with her. "You were one of the athletes I wanted to meet when I first stepped into college two years ago," I said. "Really?" she asked. I nodded my head. "Well, your dream finally came true! I gotta go, Katelyn. You're a lovely person," Farah said giving me one big hug before she headed off.

  I saw some my juniors were trying to sell the coupons but I was carrying my bag, it was hard for me to take my purse out since I'm walking with the elbow crutches. I headed to the ice cream stall to get my vanilla ice cream- I had two of them and a cup of coke to help cool off the heat. I walked around the boulevard to see the yummy food and drinks which were on sale.

  I bought three packs of waffles and one plate of Terrenganu's famous fish ball satae. I even got a free treat from rojak from James, who is the team leader of the stall. There were some students came by to promote their products especially foods and drinks.

  They even had two lucky draws- for the first one, if you wanna get a total amount of RM 2500, you gotta get two "7". Unfortunately, I got 4 and 9 so I didn't win anything but I did get a cuddly koala bear plush, even though it's the prize of the lucky draw. The other one was the normal lucky draw- your name got picked out randomly and you get the prize.

   The time was getting late, most of the stalls were packing up to call it a day but some of them were doing their best to attract the customers. Hui Yee and Wang Nan came to the boulevard to promote their Nerf gun game which was held at the third floor of the college's South Building. Soon after, we decided to call it a day when the last customer bought the last package of rojak.

  I helped out by cleaning up the table. Ms. Haslina dropped by for a bit to check on the progress. "You even got a new volunteer to help out," she was referring to me, the alumnus of MUFY! Not long after, my primary school friend, Colleen was trying to sell out her nugget celup. James was such a gentleman, "For the lady," he said. Wow, a treat from the juniors. I'll treat them next time around!

  When the time was about 3.45pm, it's time to head back to the university building for the last lecture of the day. I cuddled the koala which I got earlier during the carnival. I'm happy that the MUFY Sharity Carnival is getting bigger every year, as a alumnus I'm proud to support my juniors and it's so good to be back at the carnival. It triggered the good old days of my time studying the pre-U course back then.

  Hope to see you guys next year at MUFY Sharity Carnival 2018!

Sunway SEA Games Heroes Homecoming Ceremony (28/9/17)

  The 29th Southeast Asia Games came to a close on 30 August 2017- a day before Malaysia's 60th Independence Day. With the out standing performance made by our athletes by achieving 145 gold, 92 sliver and 86 bronze which added a total of 323 medals. Thanks to them, we had a day off on 4 September 2017.

  As for Sunway University, a homecoming ceremony was held to welcome back our athletes who are the students and alumnus of the campus. Two days ago, I saw the Malaysian flags were put up around campus. My first thought was: Is there something special going on campus? Till I logged on to my Facebook page while checking out the Newsfeed, the official page of Sunway Student Life that there will be a homecoming ceremony. I was super excited! It's always been my dream to meet our national sports heroes.

    I invited my buddy, Kai, to join in the celebration. He brought camera along to do a video blog (or vlog) on the homecoming. Representatives of Clubs and Socities of the campus gathered at the "I ❤️ SU" logo which was just right outside of the library. Mr. Kenneth and Desmond were the host of the event. They taught a few cheers like such as Tepuk-tepuk Sunway, Let's Go Sunway! Let's Go! And We Are Strong, Champion and Sunway. 

  To give a warm campus welcome, Samson and Sofia- the official mascot of the campus, were all geared up! For us students, we were given mini versions of the Malaysian flags. Around 11.00am, our heroes are "home"! We gathered at the main entrance of the university building to welcome them. A special appearance from Rimau- the official mascot of KL SEA Games 2017! Under the escorts of Tan Seri Jeffery Cheah (founder of Sunway), Vice Chancellor, Prof. Graeme Wilkinson and Sunway Education Group Senior Executive, Dr. Elizabeth Lee, our heroes made their way to the stage. The crowd went wild!

 Dr. Lee congratulated our heroes for making the country and especially Sunway proud! She hoped the students and staff of the campus will be inspired by them and strive harder in order to be successful. A token of appreciation were given to them, the cheers came in again. A group photo was taken, the confetti were blasted! I sat the nearest of the stage, I didn't see that coming so got a little startled. 

  A group photo was taken to mark the end of the homecoming. After the group photo, it was time for our one-on-one selfies with the heroes. Chan Jie and Caroline were one of the firsts to take selfies. I was super star struck when I met Farah Ann- she's the person who I wanted to meet when I stepped into college two years ago. My dream finally came true! I even gave her a kiss on the cheek! I even had a small chat with Li Jane and Ing Yueh who were in bowling and gymnastics respectively.

  Welcome home, Sunway Heroes! We are strong! We are champion! We are Sunway!

四籍家话 Tales of Four Dialects (23/9/17)

  我一直很想看《四籍家话》音乐剧—— 它是在2015年十一月份首演，可惜当时的我刚考完学院的大考，在马六甲家乡渡过漫长的休假。我还以为没有机会看了！怎知某一天我无所事事在面子书看朋友们的最新状态时，突然间就来到熟悉的宣传的海报和四个字—— 《四籍家话》，心里非常开心！两年后，这部音乐剧回归舞台啦！

  晚上八时，我们一家四口往吉隆坡艺术馆，我心里很兴奋！只是我不敢表达出来，怕爸妈会说我，还是保持平常的心态吧！爸爸让我们三母女下车后，再去泊车。一踏进门口的时候，就看到大大的《四籍家话》音乐剧宣传海报。拍了张照后，我们乘坐电梯到二楼的舞台（一），我还有走几个阶梯下到座位。

  晚上八时三十分，音乐剧正式开始！第一个是客家音篇—— 年老的妈妈对儿子—— 生哥说赶快离开这儿，逃去安全地方避所。但孝顺的生哥不舍得离开妈妈，要走就母子俩一起走吧！妈妈不想拖累儿子，她对儿子说：“无论你去哪里，别忘记你是客家人。永远都是！” 他泪别母亲并逃生南洋岸就是现在的东南亚。

  观众席的两边走道突然间亮了起来，一身穿蓝色中山装的演员献唱《我是客家人》为开场。场面把观众到稻田，一众的客家姑娘在稻田收割，而来着一群的客家的男子正在想办法如何 “诱惑” 姑娘们。阿英（Elaine李宜玲 饰演）是生哥的青梅竹马，但阿英不能和心爱的生哥在一起因为她家人为了要报答李家的养育之恩，就把女儿嫁他们的儿子。阿英对生哥说：“生哥，你保重！”

  第二音篇是福建。年龄一甲子的张伯，想要追求年轻的女孩们。同乡们看就摇了摇头，不该如何是好！大家熟悉的《天黑黑》就进来了，张老太太看见自己老伴的 “风流” 死性不改，拉耳朵当教训。一旁青年的福建同乡看了不禁扑哧一笑！同样还在福建音段，但是场面展示阿花在等待雨停的同时，她遇到一位叫陈建民的男子从大城市来探望表姨——坤嫂。

  隔天，阿花带建民看看村子。不过建民就要回去城市了！他对阿花许承诺：为了他们俩，他会回来看她。怎知阿花等了几天，却没看到建民的身影知道碰到坤嫂。坤嫂告诉阿花建民他不幸在意外中过世，阿花心碎不已！

  十五分钟的中段后，就到我的籍贯—— 广东。在四十年代—— 战争的时代，日军不断袭击各个东南亚国家。为了大家的安全，戏剧院的老板打算要把该院关闭。可是忠诚的员工愿意和老板同甘共苦，一起度过难关！温馨的一幕是虾仔不能睡着，妈妈把他抱在怀里哄他睡着。在他耳边唱《月光光》。

  最后一篇—— 潮州篇。阿成为了要过好的生活，赴到泰国营生。但每次回到家都会被妻子嫌弃，身为丈夫的阿成常对妻子说：“再给我多一点，我保证我们会过好的生活。” 后来阿成的后代人向观众说：“各位，他是我的阿公！我们的前人为了我们后人过好的生活，他们的付出不少的努力和牺牲。没有他们，我们就不会享受现在的生活。所以大家珍惜我们前人的一切！正所谓：前人种树，后人乘凉。”

 音乐剧的尾声，演员们向观众打招呼及互动。Elaine姐姐看到我在观众席时，她和击掌，我给她一个拥抱。我们走出去的时候，碰见到白琳阿姨和饰演虾仔的小男孩。拍照环节的时候，一位小女孩天真地问：“你是不是真的在睡觉吗？” 小男孩摇摇头，在一旁的我，不禁嘴角微微上扬。孩子的世界永远是无比的天真！

  我找不到Elaine姐姐。怎知，我转过身就看到她了！我走向前再次给她一个紧紧的拥抱。“谢谢你来哦！” 妈妈对Elaine姐姐说：“真是一个不错的演出。” 她对我说：“Katelyn, 待会我找你。” Elaine姐姐和朋友们合照后，就到我啦！我们还自拍几张。

   我是广东人！看了这部音乐剧，我更加珍惜我们的归根！身为后代的我们，继续把我们的籍贯传下去！

Sunway University Malaysia Fest 2017 (14/9/17)

  Sunway University Marketing Society (SUMS) and Sunway Rukun Negara (SRN)  joint forces to hold Malaysia Fest in conjunction with the upcoming Malaysia Day which is coming this Saturday, on 16 September. The event took place at the NUB (New University Building) foyer. I had half a day to myself before my lecture started at 12.00pm. Settling myself down, I decided to walk around to warm up my legs, after spending two hours in the library.

  The stalls were setting up and some of them had already started their business. They had a variety of Malaysian snacks from muruku to mua chi to the famous rojak and of course my favourite, cendol! Since I'm from Melaka, I gotta taste the dessert. It turned out the coconut extract was a little salty. Salt prevented the coconut extract from decaying. Overall, it tasted good! It made me felt that I'm back home all over again. 

  What's with a festival without any performances? Sunway Chinese Independent School Alumni's (CISA) students were bringing the 24 season drums over to the university foyer. A big fan of the drums, I tried a few beats with my bare hands before they shifted them to the stage. I had a chat with Ming Han, who taught me how to play the drums during last week's Clubs and Societies Carnival. The first performance was a traditional Malay dance. 

   I was having lunch with my primary school friend, Colleen, at the university cafeteria. The beat of the drums started to play, my attention shifted to the performance. "You really like the 24 season drums performance, do you?" Colleen asked. "Yup!" I said. Organisational Communication lecture ended an hour early, so my friends decided to look around the stalls, I just tagged along. I bought a small box of mua chi. 

   Caren and Stephi bought fish ball kebabs and Taiwanese noodles respectively. We headed to an empty lecture theater to watch The Internship. It's their group assignment for Organisational Communication. Some of our course mates also dropped by to watch the movie as well. Just left about 10 minutes to another lecture class, we headed back down to the ground floor. 

  

  

《爱。成长》粉丝见面会 + Nick龚建华生日聚餐（10/9/17）

  出席了《爱。成长》微电影的首映礼，今天有机会和演员们见面。而且我们提早庆祝Nick龚建华的第二十四岁生日！爸爸放下我和妈妈在Njoy Planet Cafe之后，建华他已进去里面了。我第一位见到在门口是Winson林胡昇。在首映礼他也是我见到的第一个演员。“嗨，Winson哥！” 我和他打招呼。

  一踏进咖啡厅的哪一刻，桌上摆放了小礼物和可爱的蛋糕，另一边则有小吃。咖啡的小厅有柜台让客人们为自己倒一杯饮料。迎接我和妈妈是今天的聚会主角—— Nick！“嗨，Katelyn！” 妈妈问他几时生日，Nick说：“阿姨，我的生日是在9月16日。是下个星期。” 我补充他是马来西亚日宝宝！

  于是我安顿在座席区把自己安顿好。我看了身后以粉丝会颜色为主的气球，就拿起智能手机拍照。妈妈把制作卡片给我，Nick经过我身边的时候，我说：“Nick, this is for you！” Nick一脸惊喜接过我手上的卡，“你亲手做的？” 我点了点头。他一脸认真看我写给他的祝福，还开玩笑：“你下次透露我的岁数，我觉得 ‘老’ 呢！”

  我还唱一小段的《青春的印记》给他听。Nick说：“你那么快会背歌词？如何在短时间内把它学好？当时我学的时候，花了一段时间才把歌词背好。” 我傻笑，说：“听了两、三次就学会了。” 他说：“下次见到你的时候，要听你唱《蔓延》哦！”

  我不禁哈哈笑。还在二十来年的，还年轻啊！“你今年几岁了？在哪里求学？” Nick问我。“11月的时候，我二十岁了。我就读在双威大学。” 他说大学的环境不错，这我也无可否认。我说：“图书馆是最佳的温书地方，尤其是喷水区。” 待会大家到齐，主办单位才点算人数。我们被邀请到舞台前就座，《爱。成长》的演员们和我们分享拍摄的过程及爆料谁是NG王。

  问答环节的时候，主持人问我要选谁？我不知道要选哪个演员，我还在犹豫的当儿主持人说：“哪你就问Newman蔡长葆吧！” 我直接点头。游戏时间开始啦！每位艺人找位粉丝为伙伴，可是Scarlotte一直找不到人选，我和她打个眼神。我们分为两组，各自组员要演出微电影里的情景，或是复制情景。游戏的尾声，参与者各自得了一个小礼物。

  我们在吃的当儿，他们播放《爱。成长》微电影。演员们也通过社交网站做了现场直播。不久，我们到回舞台区为Nick提早庆祝他的二十四岁生日。《青春的印记》播放时，我熟练把歌词唱出，Scarlotte对Winson他们说：“她会唱呢！” 我也再次傻笑。

  快乐的时间总是过得快，转眼间聚会来到尾声。我也和演员们一一拍照留念。我很开心参与首场的粉丝聚会。

《爱。成长》首映礼（9/9/17)

   昨天我在正在整理电邮的时候，我看到辣手网寄过来的信箱。打开一看，我赢得了《爱。成长》首映礼的门票！下午三时三十八分就寄过来了，过于忙大学功课的我差点忘了自己有参加有奖答游戏的比赛。

  我们送妹妹去舞蹈课后，就前往去Pavilion KL。一路上，我哼唱《青春的印记》—— 《爱。成长》的插曲。爸爸放下我和妈妈后，我们到询问处如何要去Golden Screen Cinema。服务员说：“走向你的左手边就是最附近的的电梯了。” 我们乘坐到五楼，拐一个弯就看到《爱。成长》的宣传海报。

  到柜台处，工作人员问：“你是属于谁的歌迷？” 我说：“Nick龚建华。” 他们在名单找了几遍，似乎我的名字不再里面。幸好我有印出了比赛的证件，他们看了就说：“这是辣手网的。请您稍等。” 不久后，工作人员在证件上再三确认才让我和妈妈进场。我正在等妈妈的时候，不时往楼上看，Winson林胡昇在阳台。他向我挥挥手。

  我从洗手间出来，只见Winson和慧瑜和几个人聊天。我走上前向他们正式的自我介绍：“你们好！我是陈袈文来自马六甲。” 我和他们合照，还跟Winson自拍。之后Winson说：“待会里面见吧！” 我说：“好啊！” 再到回戏院就座。

  由于一些技术问题，微电影无法按照时间播放。但为了“安抚” 在场的观众，他们播放《爱。成长》的原声带。演员们和观众见面，他们也解释在微电影里饰演的角色。微电影播出之前，来个大合照吧！我转过身子的时候，竟然遇到四年没见到的洁莹姐和界辉哥也有出席！Jordan哥也不例外！

   令我伤心的一幕是华仔（Nick龚建华 饰演）因病情严重得在医院的加护病房观察，状况不是很乐观。在一旁李家的龙凤胎—— 李筱明和李筱宁（何若瑄 饰演），在病床旁告诉华仔他一定会康复的。我差点流下了眼泪！电影的最后一幕是华仔的手动，似乎从昏迷从清醒过来。电影播完还有幕后花絮。我离开之前，Newman蔡长葆和几位粉丝在说话但我却被妈妈拉走，她说：“你在外面可以和他们拍照啦！” 

   我踏出戏院的时候，第一位见到的是Newman，“你好！” 我说。他说：“谢谢你来捧场哦！” 我只是傻笑说：“不客气！” 不远处看到Nick, “Nick哥！” 他看到我，说：“Katelyn，谢谢你过来！” Nick、Newman和我拍了一张照，我 “调皮” 接过Nick手中接过了花束。也有和Nick自拍。我走之前，给他一个温馨的拥抱。“我们明天见哦！” 他说。我说：“好啊！” 

  我在中学是一个怎样的学生呢？不是学霸，也不是校花。我只不过是你的 average high school girl，但我是留下深刻印象的学生—— 这是我留下中学的青春印记。无法出席首映礼的朋可以到YouTube收看哦！让我们重温中学青春的印记吧！

The premiere of Love.Life 

Promotional poster of the Love.Life 

Winson Lim, plays the "bad boy" in the film

Meeting the cast. Left: Newman Chai , Right: Nick Kung 

By MY Side the Movie Campus Tour at Sunway University (7/9/17)

  We were having Organisational Communication lecture, Ms. Serena asked the class whether any one of us in the lecture theater knew the people from JinnyBoy. The class nodded and some of them were whispering among themselves. They were on a campus tour to promote their first ever movie called By MY Side.

  I got to know about the event while I was browsing the News Feed on my personal Facebook page a few days ago, but when I looked at the time, it stated from 3pm to 5pm, that made me hesitated a little because it collided with Communication Theory and Practice lecture. Luckily, only one tutorial group had to attend the lecture while the other group was excused because we had ours during the Tuesday tutorial.

  We were given the green light to leave the lecture theater early so we had enough time to grab lunch before heading to the event. I practiced the 24 season drums until 2.50pm, I packed my stuff and headed to JC 1. I bumped into Sean, who was my junior since primary school. I had to say it was a St. Davidian day out, well sort of! The room was pitched black as they were playing past YouTube videos of JinnyBoy. Sure enough, the hall was packed with students! We had a hard time to find a seat but luckily the usher reserved a seat for me which was right in front. Phew! What a relief!

  Once the VIPs came in to take their seats, the event started at 3.04pm. Nadia, who was the host of the event came on stage to greet us. A thunderous roar was earned from the students. "Okay, if you scream loud enough, we'll bring the guys from JinnyBoy!" Sure enough, with our loud scream the guys from JinnyBoy- Jin Lim and Rueben Kang came on stage. They introduced their production team and shared their experiences from producing a good video to what it's like to be working on the team.

  The moment we had all been waiting for- the appearance of the cast of By MY Side! Including our very own Sunway student- Arwind Kumar, was one of the casts in the movie! Ah, most of you want some movie spoiler right? Well, it's based on a Malaysian high school love story and showcasing the life of Malaysian high school students. It was time for the Q&A session! I took on the first question to the two main characters- Ben and Faye, played by Brandon Ho and Marianne Tan respectively, what can they learn from their characters in the movie, which earned  "ooh's" and ahh's" in the hall. Every student who asked questions to the cast received a goodie bag.

  "Wow, that's a very good question!" Jin said. Marianne said what she learned from her character, Faye, was how to be a strong and independent young lady after graduating from high school. Despite she and Ben (Brandon Ho) being away from each other, she still believes love- believing that Ben and her will have a happy ending. She has to stay strong for their relationship. Ben, on the other hand, he learned that being in a long distance relationship has its challenges. You have to trust one another, also making your own decisions.

  The event ended at 5.05pm, a group photo is always the best way to end the last movie tour. What's with a movie tour without the meet and greet session? I was one of the last to meet the cast of the movie. Marianne was so down-to-earth and Brandon was handsome and I had a mini reunion with Arwind! I took selfies with Brandon and Marianne. I kissed Marianne and Josephine on the cheek! The best day of my life! A warm hug from Brandon too!

Thank you for making my dream come true! This Malaysia Day, let us take a step back in time to reminisce the good old days of high school. I may not have a first love now but somehow time will tell.

C & S Carnival Cycle 2 2017 (5/9/17-7/9/17)

  The final cycle of C&S Carnival 2017 at Sunway University College has come to an end. Let's take a look at the highlights during the three-day event.

  On the first day, everyone was getting ready to get their booths set up at the NUB foyer (New University Building) and some of them were at the college's boulevard. On the eve of the event, we had to attend a briefing to draw lots for our location to set up our respective booths. Unfortunately for Sunway University Buddhist Society (SBS), we didn't get a good spot as most of us were at a youth camp and studying for exams especially ACCA students. As a result it was last-minute planning.

  After my lecture ended at 10.00am, I waited at the Sunway Chinese Culture Society's booth. Around 10.30am, Chia Tee and I headed to the boulevard. Our booth location was right at the end of the boulevard, near to the Graduate Centre (GC). I took care of the booth until 12.00pm because I had a PR lecture to attend. Luckily, the lecture ended an hour early so I went back to the booth to check on the progress but sadly no one came by. But at the end of day 1 of the carnival, I got my hands on the 24 seasons drums (In Mandarin: 二十四节铃鼓).

   The second day I dropped by the booth for awhile after I took the mini quiz for Organisational Communication. As every Wednesday, I had a full day of tutorials from morning till afternoon. Luckily I got the quiz done early, so I did have a little time to spare. I was planning to practice the drums when the tutorial ended, sadly they were already kept for tomorrow. I even auditioned for SunVoice Season 2 held by the Chinese Culture Society, I didn't make the cut to the top 30 but it's okay! At least I had the chance to be on stage.

   The third and final day of the C&S carnival, SBS decided to take a day off because during the last two days, our response from the students were not active and due to our location of booth, it was not the strategic place, so I helped out at Chinese Culture Society. Since it's located at the NUB foyer, it's an opportunity for me to practice the drums and learned some of the new beats from the students of Sunway CISA (Chinese Independent School Alumni).

  Well, that's all for now! We'll see you at the next C&S Carnival in 2018!

First Day of Year 1 Semester 2 (21/8/17)

  After a month's break, it's time to hit the books and head back to university for a whole new semester. Along the way to Sunway University, I'm super excited to head back to campus because I can't wait to see my course mates. Every new semester, only lectures are conducted in the first week. While waiting for the rest of the class to arrive for the first lecture of the second semester, I take out my iPad to watch yesterday's Evening Edition on their official Facebook page.

 At 7.53am, our Graphic Communication lecturer, Mr. Lyon Laxman has arrived. I put all the gadgets away except the iPad and iPod because I use it for lecture slides and self-attendance respectively. The lecture ends at 9.45am, the first lecture of the day has concluded. Kaz drops me off at the university foyer and he heads off with his friends for lunch.

 I have nothing to do so I just sit there and observe the students' behavior, just pick up the good traits. It's also a good thing to evaluate yourself as a person. So the next time when you are alone, slow down in your steps and take time to observe the things around you because observation is the best communication.

  My first day of university also coincides with the Pre-U August intake orientation. I see a couple of students leading a new batch of college freshmen on a campus tour. I have a lunch with my ex-college mate and best friend, Joni at 11am.

Since it's half an hour, I guess singing a song or two will do the trick. With my earphones plugged on, I log on to a karaoke app. While I'm singing, I glance up every minute or two so that no one is giving me weird looks. At 11am, Joni and I walk over to After Black for lunch and catch up what are we doing these days. After lunch we head over to Family Mart.

 I thought Family Mart is a big stall, turns out to be a mini market but have a wide variety of snacks such as dim sum, sandwiches and sushi just to name a few. As this is my first time to Family Mart, I don't know which snack to choose. Joni recommends me to try the ice cream as it is the most popular among the students. I have cheesecake ice cream. It's delicious! Matcha flavored ice cream is the most favoured by the customers. One last bite, it's time for me to head back to campus and Joni back to Monash University Malaysia for her class.

  Wow, what an adventure on the first day of the new semester! There's still more to come

Nalanda Family Fun Fair 2017 (20/8/17)

  The last time I helped out at a carnival was at my high school- St. David High School, Melaka, last two years ago. This time around, I had the opportunity to be involved in Nalanda Buddhist Society's yearly Family Fun Fair. The fun fair was aimed to raised fund for a new Buddhist school called- the K. Sri Dhammananda Centre in Seri Serdang. With this new learning facility, the future leaders in the Dharma will have a comfortable place to learn.

    As I arrived at Nalanda Buddhist Society, Nalandians were doing some last-minute preparations to make sure everything at the fun fair was in top form and not a single time to loose. Under the guidance of the Nalanda volunteers, Sunway Buddhist Society's stall was located in between Y9 (UPM Buddhist Society) and Y11  (Serdang Buddhist Society). Along the way, other participated Buddhist societies were Bodhi Heartz, Monash University, IMU (International Medical University), Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR, Sungai Long campus) and of course the host, Nalanda Youth. Some Buddhist societies hailed from Kedah, Kelantan, Johor as well as Singapore!

   Before the fun fair was kicked off, the national anthem- Negaraku was played and a small prayer was conducted. With the hit of the gong three times, the fun fair has officially begun! Some stalls even started to sell their food as early as 8.50am. Herbal jelly, muffins and butter cookies were on our side. We promoted our products by selling to the participating Buddhist youth societies, later on we shifted our targets to the customers. Since it was the weekend, the fun fair was packed with people from all walks of life.

  Even though the sun was scorching hot, it didn't burn our spirits down as we were doing our best to attract the customers to buy our food and drinks. We took turns to take care of the stall, while some of us walked around the big field to look at other stalls and possibly get our tummies to be fed along the way? As noon approached, we decided to take our products outside of the stall so more customers will buy, especially the Sprite and Ribena combination drink- the perfect way to cool yourself off from the intense heat.

  When Chia Tee, Qiong Fang and Sil Leong came back, it was time for Cynthia and I to get legs stretched out by taking a break as in walking around the stalls and had lunch to boost up our energy. We came back from our break, Bro. Ajit was conducting interviews at the Youth stalls and I was the lucky one to play the "spokesperson"  for Sunway University Buddhist Society. Hopefully through this mini interview, the society's reputation will boost up and attract more students to join the big family.

  The fun fair ended at 4pm, a small prayer was conducted to conclude today's fun fair. It was also an opportunity for participated Buddhist youth societies to know each other, we even exchanged phone numbers and social media accounts for future collaborations. Thank you Nalanda Buddhist Society for the invitation!

Baby Driver Pink Carpet Malaysia Premiere 2017 (17/717)

  My final examination for the first semester in university has ended. Finally, a break is needed after all three months preparing the examination! To celebrate, I have the chance to go to the pink carpet of Baby Driver at Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! Thanks to my sister who wins the tickets through a contest.

  After arriving home from university, a rest is needed to charge up my energy before the big night. At around 3.00pm, I put on a recycled red dress number by H&M. I wore it on CNY 2014 and 2016 respectively. I paired with a pair of my trustee bronze Pazzion flats. Half an hour later, a taxi picks us up to Pavilion. Once the car comes to a complete stop, my mum get my "wheelchair" out of the car, I hop on. After adjusting myself, it's time to head in. 

  Unfortunately, there isn't a lift inside so I have to walk down a few steps. When we arrive at the pink carpet, the place is packed with fans of the movie. My sister goes to the counter to redeem her ticket and the movie's merchandise while I read a book to let the time pass. I even take a photo of the word sign of Baby Driver along the carpet. What's with a premiere movie party without any food right? I have two cups of popcorn, my childhood friend, Nicole and my sister thought I have 5 cups of popcorn. 

   As the skies darken, fans start to pile up the fan box which is kinda stuff but luckily one of the crews who notices me in my wheelchair, tells my mum to put me in the guest box. Two emcees, who are Fly FM DJs are hosting the premiere night. While waiting for the Hollywood superstars to arrive, DJ sandman cranking the music up to keep us entertained. 

  Around 7.45pm, the stars are here! I have regret standing up because I'm squash by the fans who are eager to see them. Luckily, I'm just playing cool. After a few meetings with the Malaysian stars, it comes to the same old tactic for international stars. I'm a huge fan of Lily James! You know her from hit British series, Downton Abbey, then you know the girl who played the Disney live action of Cinderella! 

  I'm meeting my favourite Disney princess in person! When Lily comes to our side of the guest box, everyone is rushing to her direction, I almost can't breathe! "Hi Lily!" I greet her. "Hi, how are you ?" she asks me. "I'm good! I'm a big fan of Cinderella!"Lily says: "Thank you so much!" I also have the chance to get a selfie with her too. Ansel Elgort is such a gentlemen, he takes with selfies with the fans and even signed their tickets! 

   It's time to head the cinema hall to watch the show. We haven't dinner yet so my dad buys each of us a hot dog, two cups of coke and popcorn. Before the movie even starts, we are digging in our hot dogs but the other two have to wait until the film rolls. The movie ends at 11.30pm. The stars of the movie are in another cinema hall! Time to head back and have a good rest! 

  I'm looking forward to the next Hollywood movie premiere in Malaysia! A warm welcome to the cast of Baby Driver: Selamat datang ke Malaysia! (Welcome to Malaysia)! 

MITEC Raya Open House 2017 (15/7/17)

  I haven't been to any of the Raya celebrations this year as I'm busy with university's first semester examinations during these past weeks. Luck is on my side as I attend a Raya open house at Malaysia International Trade Exhibition Centre (MITEC), my dad was invited by one of the staffs who works at the centre and we're on the VVIP guests list! Around 3.30pm, my mum gets me ready for the big celebration. I wear a green and black long sleeves shirt, alongside with black long pants and my trustee bronze flats from Pazzion to finish off the look.
  The centre was just a stone's throw away from my KL home but ends up, we take a longer way instead of a shorter one to reach our destination, I find it quite weird but what's more important is to go there to have fun. My dad drop mum and I off at the entrance. We can't where is the lift, luckily the securities show us the way and inform us that the open house is at the third floor. The floor was slippery and I almost "slip" my way in to the lift. For safety wise , my mum hold on to my hand. Like I said earlier, it's exam season for me so I don't want to have any injuries.
  When the lift reaches the third floor, there's a red carpet for guests to feel welcome for the celebration. Somehow I feel like a superstar. The staffs greet us warmly upon arrival. As we enter the hall, we are shocked because it fills with people from all walks of life coming together to celebrate the Raya joy! We manage to find seats. They have a wide array of traditional Malay cuisines from ketupat, satae, lemang, kuih bangkit you name it!
  There are performers who perform traditional Raya songs to keep the guests entertained. While I'm enjoying my satae, the emcee's voice blast through the speakers "Good afternoon everyone, we here at MITEC wishing you all Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri! Later on, we will be welcoming HRH the Raja Muda of Selangor," A celebration with Selangor royalty! Around 4.15 pm, we all stand up to welcome HRH the Raja Muda of Selangor. I want to go in front to have a good view but I'm stopped by my parents, might as well enjoy the food. Now I know what is the purpose of the red carpet for.
  I want to have ice cream but my dad comes with a bowl of cendol instead. It kinds remind me of the dessert back home, Melaka. After a second cup of orange juice, we leave the celebration at 6.50pm. I have so much fun celebrating Raya with Malaysians. A photo opportunity of the decoration outside is not to be missed!

Wacana Conference 2017 (1/7/17)

  The second half of 2017 is here! Half of the year had gone in just a blink of an eye, which means more challenges are waiting for me to conquer one by one. I attended Wacana Conference held by Nalanda Buddhist Institute Malaysia in conjunction with its 10th anniversary, at Saujana Hotel, Subang Jaya, Selangor. The theme of the conference was- The Buddha's World: Discovering the Essential.

  The registration form was put up online two months prior the conference, we were a little hesitated because we couldn't decide whether to go or not. After much discussion, our former president, Hon Pong, encouraged us that all of the current committee of Sunway University Buddhist Society should go to the conference. Unfortunately, the registration closed a week earlier before deadline due to the massive response. Our chance almost blew off but since I'm the correspondent (aka, the secretary), I managed to get all of us in!

  The day has came, I woke up as early as 6.00am. I put on the SBS' attire, paired with my trustee light blue jeans and a pair of Sketchers sneakers, I'm ready to go! I was the first one among the committee to arrive Saujana Hotel. The members of Nalanda Buddhist Institute welcomed me with opened arms, I already had breakfast at home so I was still stuff but I'm saving all that space for lunch time later. I searched high and low but none of the committee members were there, time for us to go in if I waited longer. Not long after I entered the ballroom, one by one the committee members started to slip in.

  Just in time for us to welcome the monks and venerable, we started the conference with a short verse of prayers before proceeding. A total of 637 people attended the conference. Wow, what a huge crowd! The speakers on the stage said: "Brothers and sisters in the Dharma, we are gather here today to rediscover our concepts in Buddhism and the teachings of the Buddha," I tried to concentrate throughout the conference, turned out I almost dozed off because the air conditioner is too cold, like the ones on campus.

  At 11.15am, it's lunch time! We had a hard time finding a seat as most of the rooms were packed up. We finally found one table at the Mutiara Wing. Before eating lunch, we had to say a short verse of prayers. I still left a little food on my plate, I wanted to finish up but I was too full, my tummy was super happy. Chia Tee said:"Katelyn, if you can't finish your food don't force yourself." The boys, Hon Pong and Yee Tang told me to finish up. Bro. Ajit came over to check on us, "How's everything so far?" Chia Tee and I told him that the conference was like having lectures on campus. "There's another forum for you guys to attend later. It's time to head back to the ballroom soon, I'll see you guys at the forum later," Ajit said before leaving.

  On my way back to the ballroom, I bumped into a few VIPs- Datuk Charlie Chia and Uncle Vijaya. Nalanda Youth Choir Group sang Buddhist hymns to entertain the guests before the Nalanda Award. A short video was presented to the guests to show highlights and achievements that Nalanda had been throughout the 10 years. Five forums are held during the afternoon session of the conference. We were under Forum 4- Empowering the Youth, which is appropriate for us. Youths like us need to a stage and platform for us to shine because our voices and thoughts were not heard.

   Tea time at the fountain view- it was so relaxing! The incessant sound of the water, calmed your mind down. I took a few pictures. One final bell has rung, time for us to head back to the ballroom for the closing ceremony of the conference. All speakers of the five forum summarised their presentations, a last prayer was recited and Wacana Conference 2017 had come to an end.

  A photo opportunity at the fountain view is a must to wrap up our day. I'm looking forward to the next conference. I'm sure my knowledge on Buddhism will expand after this. 

《鹅卵石》DVD首买会 (27/6/17)

  一年一度的大众书局书展回来了！而今天是Astro小太阳许友彬电视系列—— 《鹅卵石》DVD 首卖会！早上十一时，我们往吉隆坡双峰塔 （KLCC）的路程走，我心里非常兴奋，但最好在父母的面前装一脸严肃。我也赢到书展的入门券，可以借用它出席首卖会。怎知，一到哪儿，我忘了带身份证和大众书局的会员卡片。妈妈只好拨电话向在马六甲家乡的妹妹求救，幸好过关，不然的话我不能进去了！

  爸爸到的时候，妈妈就打开我的轮椅让我坐因为书展的场面要穿过人群。有一些民众差点撞我呢！妈妈就问我：“文，你要去哪儿先？” 不必思考，我直接说：“去Hall 1 的主舞台吧！” 我们进去的时候，可以听到司仪在和小演员们谈话。而小演员们就和一众的大小朋友分享他们拍摄《鹅卵石》的过程和经验。司仪竟然是Yuii姐姐！我们在找位子的时候，刚好有人离席，我赶快从轮椅跳下来直接坐在空位。我托爸爸帮我购买《鹅卵石》的DVD 和小说。我要拍照的时候，有个小妹妹不断的枪镜，无法让我拍一张完美的照片。

  这时Yuii姐姐要小演员摆最酷姿势，得到最热烈的掌声就是赢家！最终，Gabriel的姿势得到全场的热烈掌声！子恩在台上唱一小段的《心石》，歌声还不错嘛！Yuii姐姐说：“好，哪有请Nick龚建华为我们献唱《鹅卵石》的主题曲—— 《心石》！” Nick哥哥这时候，踏在舞台唱歌，简直就是完美！分享会圆满结束，来个大合照吧！签名环节会在舞台的左手边。我去排队，我突然间离队，妈妈赶快把我拉回来：“你站在这身穿鸿鸿的男子吧！” 轮到我的时候，我向小演员们说：“你好！我是陈袈文！” 我不小心把慧瑜的牌子掉了，我马上弯下身子把牌子捡起来再放回桌上。

  Nick哥哥看到我的时候就说：“嗨，好久不见！” 我微微一笑，我说：“来支持你啊！” 他问我：“你在哪里读书？” 我说：“我在双威大学就读。” 他补充一句：“你独自一人吗？” 我指了指父母。经过Gabriel的身边只是打声招呼。我问工作人员：“请问Yuii姐姐在哪儿？” 他们指了指前方，我走过去要给她一个 “小惊喜”。刚好她在和一个男子说话。这时我走去，我叫Yuii姐姐一声，她转过身马上给我一个温暖的拥抱。她说：“Katelyn，好久不见！最近好吗？” 我说：“很好啊！” Yuii姐姐疑问：“是吗？哪你来支持谁呢？” 我点了点头就说：“我来支持Nick哥哥、Gabriel和《鹅卵石》的小演员！我不知道你是今天的司仪呢！” 妈妈把这个温馨的画面拍下在我的智能手机。

     离开之前，我再给Yuii姐姐一个大拥抱。我很开心！

《9零》音乐剧（25/6/17）

  我一向看的音乐剧是百老汇（Broadway），从来没看过大马的音乐剧。如今，我的梦想终于实现了！早上十时四十五分，我们往吉隆坡艺术馆（Klpac）出发，一路上我们没说话。我心里超级兴奋，但不敢露出在脸上怕爸爸有话说。其实离我家不远，二十五分钟的车程就到了。抵达目的，爸爸把车子停在入口处，他说：“文，你先下车。爸爸去泊车。” 我便从车子跳下来，爸爸的车离远之后，我看看四周围。好漂亮啊！

   我到门口，但开不到。我看到三个青少年在自个儿谈天，我鼓起勇气问：“请问可以帮我开门吗？” 有一个少女说：“可以啊！让我来吧！” 她开门让我进去，我再问：“《9零》的演出舞台在哪儿？” 少女说：“哦，你往又走，你可以看到《9零》的演出地点。” 我向她道谢，并走去。我看到大大的《9零》的海报，我轻轻抚摸它。我找个地方安顿自己，有一对身穿红衬衫的情侣在哪儿，我问他们：“请问我可以坐这儿吗？” 男方做了“请” 的手势，我坐下等爸爸来。

  不知不觉，我看到一个熟悉的背影但我不确定他是否我大学同学—— Ezac。他走过我的时候，我向他挥了挥手。正好我把头转去，我看到爸爸走过来，爸爸到我身旁的时候说：“我找不到你。” 我看到一个熟悉的名字在《9零》的书册—— 彭学斌。我常常看到他的名字在历届的新秀音乐作品，我对爸爸说不到两句，他就泼我冷水就说：“明星、明星！你整天就会明星梦！” 至少听我说完，不到两句就泼冷水！

  剩下的几分钟，我们在舞台（二）的门口等临位员工亮绿灯让我们到里面就做。在等待的时候，我和Ezac 聊聊天。“我想不到会在这里遇到你。” 我说。他附和说：“是啊！听说这部音乐剧很好看。对了，你是如何得知？” 我说：“我是在社交网站得知。” 不久之后，临为员工开门了，他们先让我进。我便低下身子进去，我还被安排做在第一排呢！一个大大的白荧幕在播放着Ruby狄妃的《Who Am I》的官方MV。接下来的视频时《9零》的彩排幕后花絮。

  突然间灯光慢慢暗下来，剩下一片黑漆漆，看不到五指。音乐剧的女主角—— Jolin （Ruby狄妃 饰演）唱《Who Am I》为开场白。后来，就移到Jolin的工作地方。Jolin 是一位90后的女孩？每次提出的疑问是：什么是90后？90后是90年代出生的青少年。他们总是被社会标签是草莓族、叛逆、缺责的代言人。

  在事业上，她和同事们得不到公司老板—— Benedict（Eagle李明杰 饰演）。而唯一得到老板的同意就是筱箐。在家里，Jolin 尽力当爸爸妈妈的乖女儿；为了满足妈妈，她宁愿放弃音乐梦想，继续当90后的上班族。音乐梦想，爸爸非常支持她，而妈妈就反对因为她认为音乐梦或所谓“明星梦” 是不可能在社会脚踏实地。乐队的方面，她最近很少出席，甚至要乐队解散！

  直到有一天，她回公司的时候，同事筱箐突然间辞职。同 事们问筱箐为什么辞职，她说：“我的梦想是当一名蛙人。据说，可以在海底世界拍摄或有些人失踪在海里，需要这些蛙人的帮忙。” 离开之前，筱箐鼓励Jolin 不要放弃她的音乐梦想。回到家，她终于和父母坦诚要辞职现任的工作，改行去音乐当一位歌手。这掀起母女俩吵架，Jolin到附近的公园和Ronny谈谈心事。再次得到Ronny的鼓励，Jolin决定归乐队完成她的梦想。

  音乐剧的尾声，演员和观众见面啦！司仪说：“想要和演员拍照的观众，可以到前台。谢谢！” 我在排队的时候，听到一位工作人员说：“Ruby还没出来。” 不久，《9零》的演员们出来了！Ruby经过我身旁，我叫她一声 “Ruby姐”。我想见到的演员就是饰演吉他手，August的William陈建宏！“William！” 他经过我身边的时候说：“嘿！好久不见！” 爸爸为我和William拍照，我们再自拍。我问他：“William，新秀们没来吗？” William说：“他们昨天来了。” 他补充：“谢谢你过来！” 我说：“我想看这部音乐剧很久了！很好看！” 所有的演员跟我合照，非常开心的一天！离开之前，我给William一个温馨的拥抱。

  90后，我们不再是草莓族了！让我们勇敢踏出第一步，属于90后的时代！

The Death of Advertising (19/6/17)

  After attending "Fly with GOLD" opening ceremony, I went to the library to get some work done. Unfortunately, the upper ground level of the library was full so I had to go down to the basement floor to use the computers. As I was about to head to the Instructional Lab, it was almost packed up. Luckily, the seat beside me was empty and it is my favourite spot! I can take a look of the fountain once in awhile when I feel tired. The seat was a bit hard to handle as the chairs are on rollers. Fortunately, the student helped me to stop the chair from rolling. Otherwise, I'll be on the floor!

  After logging on to the computer, it was time for serious work. I tried to lighten my mood by logging on to YouTube to listen to my favourite hits and catching up the highlights of this year's Trooping of the Colour over the weekend. As I was about to get on with work, I realised I brought the wrong book to study. Oh no! I was supposed to bring the lecture book but I brought the tutorial book instead. Luckily, I saved some tutorial exercises in my pendrive. Around 12.50pm, my friend, Kaz, came to pick me up as we had to go to the college side to attend an advertising forum organised by the Department of Communication and Liberal Arts (DCLA)- The Death of Advertising.

  Both of us went up to meet our other classmates who were waiting for us. As we were at the college side, we were trying to figure out which way was the easiest to go. I suggested that we should go to the third floor from the South Building, there's an exit which would lead us to the North Building of the college but the boys suggested that going up the forth floor because the venue of the forum. Four against one, I guessed stick to their plan.

  We reached the forth floor, passed by the rooftop garden of the college and the Jeffery Cheah Hall (that's where my orientation as a university student and MUFY Talent Quest back in 2015). Turned out we reached for the forum just in time. Mr. Woody, our Principles of Advertising and Design lecturer welcomed us with opened arms. I was about to take the first row as always but it was too glaring to see screen so I shifted up a few rows to have a good view. The first few rows were for the VIPs- Professors, lecturers and Senior Executive etc. Finally I had my lunch because in the library you can't have food.

   We have three distinguish speakers from the advertising industry- Mr. Vince Tan, Mr. John Louis and Mr. Shafiq. The emcee of the forum, Benjamin opened the forum with a warm welcome to the audience. Advertising is really "dead"? No, not really. Mr. John said "We are still using banners. In 40 years to come, we'll still be seeing banners," Mr. Tan talked about on how to create a social media platform through advertising. He mentioned that the target audience is important. Who are we aiming at? Children? Students? Housewives? With enough budget, you can create your own advertising platform in no time.

  Due to the Q&A session, the workshop was late for 5 to 10 minutes. Only eight of the students attended the workshop for Copywriting. I'm not sure how many students attended the other workshop for Design Art. After the workshop, I headed to the university's student hub to meet my friends. Most of them were finishing the assignments we had to hand in this week. At around 5.50pm, we left the student hub and it was time for us to go home to charge up and rush our assignments later on.

Lose the Blues Campaign Closing Ceremony (9/6/17)

  After Principles of Advertising and Design presentation, Joanne & Co bring me to the university foyer where there is a closing ceremony of "Lose the Blues" campaign which was organised by BA (Hons) Communication Year 2 students who are specialising in Corporate Communication and Public Relations. What is "Lose the Blues". To answer your question: "Lose the Blues" is a campaign that to raise the awareness of depression. Did you know that 1 in 4 of the people suffering from depression? It's a serious mental health issue that most of us would just "ignore" and carry on with our own life. Okay, now you know how depression "kills" people silently, let's just lighten the mood and move back to the scene.



  I find a good spot so I can take a good look on the stage. After settling myself down, I walk around the foyer to get my energy pump up. I walk up to the registry booth to sign myself up for the closing ceremony. I get to see my seniors practicing their opening lines and speeches, while I just sitting in my seat observing how they host the event. The emcee, you've guessed it, it's none other than Ruwan! He is wearing a "Lose the Blues" t-shirt with a grey overcoat. He walks over to me and I reach my hand out, he is clueless at first but I give him a hint: "You know what I want." Ruwan says "No, no, not today Kar Marn. The microphone is for the closing ceremony," Well I can have the microphone next time.



  At 10.48am, the VIP start to arrive by the escorts of the crew members of  "Lose the Blues", lecturers, and Directors of Sunway University under the School of Arts and DCLA's lecturers. An opening speech made by the director of the campaign. Her story was moving as she told the audience how her friends willing to get her an Oreo McFlurry even though it's late at night, this follow by the speeches made by Sunway Education Group Senior Executive Director, Dr. Elizabeth Lee and Her Excellency Hannah Yeoh. They show the highlights throughout the campaign from "Happiest in Sun U" Instagram contest to "Colour War" which is also known as the water fight.


  Prizes are given to the winners, and what's with a closing ceremony without a little bit of entertainment? The crew members, lecturers and VIPs are welcomed to the stage to take a group photo. "Lose the Blues" ceremony is officially ended. Now the moment everyone is waiting for the whole day- food! I have two rounds of miniature egg sandwiches. I even got the chance to speak Her Excellency Hannah Yeoh herself. The advise she gave us students is "Don't let attitude change you," Which is true because we are the ones who in charged of our personality and attitudes, it's not the other way round which might end up being depressed at some point.



  If there's something bothering you, don't be afraid to speak up because one voice can change your whole life. Talk to your parents, teachers or lecturers and friends. If you're not comfortable with the people around you, just call up BeFrienders, a Malaysian help line which can help you to go through your times because keeping it to yourself it's not an option, instead it will become a burden not just the one you love the most but also to yourself. If you speak up you help yourself to walk out from the dark to see the bright future ahead of you. If any of your friends or family members suffering from depression, talk to them and understand the situation you might safe a life.

First English Presentation as a University Student (1/6/17)

  Hey guys, new month of the first half in 2017! Wow, time does really fly when you are having fun! For the first time ever, I was having my first English presentation as a university student. I'm sure you might ask: You had presented in college, why this is your first time? Well, college giving you the basic steps to present in a smaller crowd while in university it will be a bigger crowd (it also depends how the size of your classroom or lecture hall is).
 
Before the presentation, our English lecturer divided us into groups. Then we were given a task to choose the product of our choice or come up with the product of our own as we are presenting in front of a group of "investors" to "convince" them to "invest our company". My team and I decided to come up with the idea of a massaging bed alongside with a pillow speaker. Each of us had a "role play" when presenting our product. I'm the Creative Director of the "company"- Venflow. We even shoot a video to "promote" before we started on the PowerPoint slides. I was doing the first part of the presentation which was the Introduction, my otter team members did on the benefits, process and conclusion respectively.
 
We also did a few meet ups during break time and free periods in the morning for practice as we wanted to give our best shot to impress our lecturer and classmates. I was a bit tongue tied during the rehearsals of the presentation as I didn't have points to present. Thanks to my team leader, Youlanda, she helped me to sort out the points to get my facts right. Although I was still tongue tied at some points, not so bad as compared to my first attempt. We did change a bit on the presentation slides to touch up a few points.
 
All of us agreed to wear white as the colour coordinator because we wanted to look "professional". On the day of the presentation, we rehearsed one last time during morning free period. We even brought a pillow and mattress for demonstration. After two periods of tutorials, there was a one-hour break. It gave me the time to practice at the last minute. At 2.00pm, it was time for me to head to English tutorial. Our group was presenting last which was a good thing because enough time for us to gather ourselves up.
 
One group came up with this air fryer product and you've guessed it- free chicken nugget for everyone to try! After the group presented on their product which was E-Cig, time for us to step on the stage. I cuddled the pillow for a few seconds to keep my nerves down but during presentations in my college days I just grabbed the end of my dress. Thanks to the constant practices we had gone through, all of us managed to present without a single hiccup. After the presentation, there was a Q&A session for the "investors" to know more about our product. Ms. Priya was impressed with all the teams' presentations.
 
First English presentation as a university student is done! There's more to come

DCLA Communication N Networking Student Club Soft Launch (2/6/17)

  After tutorial for Principles in Advertising and Design, Joanne, Phooi Khew and Mei Fong drop me at the Gallery View, NUB Level 1. When we are about to enter the room it's dark, so we just go in and ask whether it's the right room of the Communication N Network (CNN) student club soft launch. We open the door to see the seniors preparing for the event. "Hi!" Aliah greeted me, who ws the emcee of the DCLA Alternative Media Talk.

  The committees of the student club are wearing in their best, I was thinking: "Maybe I should wear my dress." As you know, I'm just the average university girl. Who knows I'll be one of them some day, only time will tell. I asked Aliah whether she is gonna be the emcee of the day, "No dear, I'm not gonna be the emcee but Ruwan is," she points to the tall boy who looks sharp in his suit. While waiting for the event, I decide to walk around the room to get my energy hyped up, I sign the guest board and had a snack or two with drinks.

  I even get to see my seniors rehearse for the event. I'm hoping that I can host an event one day because when I step on the stage, the spotlight is on me. Yes, I love the spotlight! I feel a little hungry at one point so I go to the back of the room to grab myself a popiah and a box of mango juice. There's a guest signature board for us students and lecturers to leave our autographs behind.

  One by one students are filling in the room. The event begins with the countdown of the launch of the student club, follow by the entrance of the VIPs (Head of Department, Professors, Dean etc.). The committee of the club introduce themselves before we are treated to a magic show by Wayne and a performance by FeedBack. The remaining of the event is a game of charades, you know you can't say out the answer but you can give clues for the person who is guessing.

  My team won so got a big bag of  snacks! And with that ladies and gentlemen, the soft launch of the CNN student club has come to an end! I can't wait for future activities

Back to University (23/5/17)

  One week of semester break just ended, it is time to get some energy and head back to university! It's back to university for me and yes, I have a test later today in the afternoon. What a coincidence my morning lectures and tutorials are cancelled so which leave me a lot of time to prep myself up for the test, more or less since I studied at the last minute when I came back from my hometown, Melaka. I try to kick off this "last minute" habit but turns out it didn't. I guess it's every student bad habit in every part of the education journey. Let's just face it, being students we will always this bad habit- doing everything at the eleventh hour. Jokes aside, let's move on to the serious part.

  At 7.58am, I reach at the parking lot of the campus. Two minutes till the library is opened. The moment when the doors of library is opened, the students are lining up to get their cards scanned prior entering to the library. I arrive just in time and go to my usual computer spot to check out the latest announcements on the campus' learning portal- BlackBoard eLearn. I was caught up with countless assignments over the semester break which I forgot that I have a role to fill in for the upcoming presentation. I went to Google Slides to fill my "empty spot" up. I was too late, my group mate helped me to back up with the details so what I can do is just adding some pictures to make the slides look attractive and a change of font colour to make it more vibrant.

  I booked the computer for two hours, 15 minutes left before the time expires I quickly pack my stuff up and ask one of the students to bring me down to the basement floor. Lucky me, a student just done with the computer. I almost fall off the chair but luckily I ask a girl to help me with it. You know it's really tricky to control the roller chairs when you have bad motor skills coordination.

  After spending four hours in the library, it's time for me to head out to get some fresh air. After having my lunch, I move to the tables near the fountain. I love to listen the incessant of the water which can calm your nerves down. My classmates and I meet up for an assignment which is Corporate Communication. Although I supposed to hand in my part of the report last Saturday but I was too caught up with English synthesis essay.

  Once the test is over for Introduction to Consumer Behaviour, it's time to get my hands on the Crisis Communication report for Corporate Communication. I can do this! I'm happy I'm back to university to reunite with my friends.

DCLA Alternative Media Talk (20/4/17)

  It's as just as any of a normal day in university, you filled up your free period by going to the library to have your "me time" before tutorial class started at 10am. I didn't really care about the pop-up ads on the PC so I decided to ignore and logged on to the campus' email system as always. An email which I received from the Head of the DCLA Department was related to the talk which I saw on the pop-up ad, I ignored it for the second time around.

  At 9.30am, Junta and I always leave half an hour before class because you'll have trouble to get into the lift and you have to wait for another around all walk up the stairs, I think it's 14 flights (a rough guess). As we reached to the 7th floor, I always "popped in" to the Sunway University Business School Office (SUBS). Around 10 minutes before class, I got up and gathered with my friends for a small chat. Once the students from the first class was done, it's our turn to enter to Corporate Communication tutorial with our lecturer, Ms. Priyadarshini.

  We had a little "role play" which was each student will count the number from 1 to 9, the students with the same numbers were gathered into a group. After that, Ms. Priya will assign each group to a sub-function of Corporate Communication. My group was assigned under the Crisis Management. At some point, she asked whether one of us would like to be the host or moderator for the "role play". Oh wow, this is my chance! I've always wanted to be a host. Without second thought, I shot up my hand. Besides, it's a step to my future career as a newscaster. Once everyone got their discussions and names done, some of the boys helped out to arrange the table so that the classroom looked like we were attending a "forum".

  I had to go the back of the class when my placed is set. Once I was seated, each group will represent a "spokesperson" to describe each and every of their sub-function. Thanks to my addiction to television programs, I watched one or two talk shows as well as watching the news every night before bed, I could use some of the tips which learned, turned out it came in handy! After Chivonne's presentation, I warapped up the "forum" saying: "Thank you to our nine speakers on their roles in the Corporate Communication industry and thank you everyone for attending the 'forum', I hope you guys learn from each of the speakers. Therefore I end this forum, thank you."

  Ms. Priya praised me for doing a good job as well as the students who represented the teams. She also encouraged us to attend the talk that every student in the course was talking about. Mr. Philip Chong, our Introduction to Consumer Behaviour substitute lecturer also encouraged us to go. The tutorial class was cancelled and we were "forced" to go to the talk. When we arrived, I was attracted by the food because my tummy was making rumbling sounds. To kill hunger, I dig in the food which they provided. My favorite was the spring roll. While I was eating one of the seniors told us to go into the hall as the forum was starting soon. 

  One last bite of my spring roll, my friends headed inside to the hall. While I was going in, I could hear Dr. Chan, the head of department of DCLA saying to Sunway Education Group Senior Excecutive, Dr. Elizabeth Lee: " That's Kar Marn, one of our DCLA students," Did I mention that the emcee looked grace and poise? She is in Year 2, majoring in Corporate Communication. Each of the speaker talked about the role of social media and how people like us use them on a daily basis and sometimes we misused them. Questions were asked by students and lecturers as well as the Dean of School of Arts (SOA). A photo opportunity is a must at the end of the forum. 

  I even took a selfie with Aliah and it was time for me to head back to class for English listening test. What an experience! 

 

Beauty and the Beast (2017): Movie Preview (16/4/17)

  I finally had the chance to watch the latest Disney classic remake of Beauty and the Beast. It's one of my favourite movie when I was a young girl. It taught me that inner beauty is the true you and stay true to yourself.



  There was a handsome young prince (played by Dan Stevens) in a far way land, who had everything he wanted- a big castle, beautiful servants, power you name it! One night during a party, an old woman, who was an enchantress in disguise seek shelter from the cold. She offered the prince a single rose but he shrugged it off. With the second rejection, the old woman transformed into her true form- a beautiful enchantress. Dazed by her beauty, the prince begged for forgiveness but it was too late. As punishment, the enchantress cast a spell on the prince which transformed into a Beast. To break the spell, he must love another before the last petal falls, he would remain a Beast forever as well as the antiques who were once servants. The question is: Who would learn to love a Beast?



  Due to spell, everyone's memory had been erased. Years passed, there was a village called
Villeneuve, a young girl named Belle (played by Emma Watson), who lived with her inventor father, Maurice. The scene where Belle sings the opening line of the first song- Belle. The villagers thought Belle didn't fit into their society because she of her love of reading book. Meanwhile Gaston (played by Luke Evans) returned from his latest hunt with his trustee sidekick LeFou (played by Josh Gad, you might remember him who voiced the bubbly snowman, Olaf, from 2013's hit Disney movie- Frozen). He had his eyes on Belle and planned to marry her.



  Belle was on her way back to her hose when Gaston approached her and asked her out to dinner but Belle refused. Belle didn't fancy Gaston at all due to his arrogance and narcissism towards her. Back in the cottage, Maurice was making some final touches on his latest music box which he is going to sell. "Papa, am I odd?" Belle asked Maurice. "My daughter? Odd? What makes you said that?" Maurice said. Belle told her father that the villagers think she is but not to her father.


  Maurice embarked on his journey to sell his music boxes. Before departure, Belle requested him for a rose that she always wanted. On his way, Maurice encountred the Beast's castle. To prevent the cold, he went into the castle to seek shelter but was amused the castle was enchanted. Terrified, Maurice fled away but keeping his promise to Belle to bring back a rose upon his trip, he went to the garden to pick one but this time he encountred with the Beast, who later imprisoned him in the castle for stealing. Shocked by Philippe's arrival, Belle braved herself to the castle to save her father's life.



  In trade of her father's freedom, Belle took her father's place. Along she befriended with the castle staffs- Mrs. Potts and her son, Chip. Lumiere and his love interest, Plumette as well as castle's head household, Cogsworth. Due to Belle's curiosity, she went to the forbidden West Wing. As she discovered the rose, the Beast chased her out but she was attacked by wolves while fleeing. The Beast came to her rescue but was injured in the process. Belle nursed him to health and asked why the staff chose to stay loyal to their master. They told her: "We believe you are the one to break the spell. The last petal falls, the master will remain a Beast forever while we remain as antique households."



  What Belle and Beast both have in common is they both lost their mothers at a very young age. Belle was just an infant when she lost her mother while the Beast lost his as a young boy (probably seven to eight years old). Gaston asked Maurice for his hand in marriage to Belle but he refused. With anger, Gaston led the villagers to kill the Beast. The Beast was too depressed to fight back as he was thinking of Belle. When Belle arrived, he regained confidence. Sadly, the Beast was shot Gaston, who fell from his death.



  When the last petal of the rose fell, Belle confessed her love to the Beast. Agathe, who transformed her true self into the enchantress, used her magic to transform the Beast into his human form- a handsome young prince. Belle was hesitated at first but she recgonised the blue eyes which she saw the picture of the prince. They shared a romatic kiss which transformed the castle into its former glory and all the household servants were no longer in their antique forms. Well, the most heartwarming scene where they reunited with their families.



  To celebrate the cursed is broken, the castle held a dance ball with Belle and the Prince leading the way. Proud father, Maurice painted the magical moment. They all lived happily ever after! 

  We can't look judge a person by the outside,  what's more important is on the inside. I would recommend to watch the Disney classic. Who knows you might inner Belle?

DCLA Library Referencing Workshop (13/4/17)

  I have a free period before my class starts at 10.00am but this time we'll be in the library! Why would I be in the library? We had a library referencing workshop for English at the Instructional Lab. We were divided into two groups based on our tutorial groupings. Lucky for me, I'm in the first group so I was placed in the library while the other group was at the university's IT lab.


  Around 9.35 am, most of my classmates from English tutorial group 1 started to fill in the library. We took the lift down to the basement floor- where it was my usual study place and it's popular among the students. There were a few students at the Instructional Lab, we were 15 minutes early before the actual time. "Let's just go in," suggested Mudita, "Oh okay," I said. I also bumped into one of my juniors in my former pre-U course, MUFY (Monash University Foundation Year).


  I chose the first row to get a better view of the screen. At 10.00am, more of our classmates started to fill in the Instructional Lab. The librarian gave us some handouts at the beginning of the workshop. The paper sheets were familiar to me as I attended a similar workshop during my Pre-U days. Once everyone settled down, it's lesson time for library referencing 101! The first few part of the workshop was okay but then the speed started to fire up, that's when I started to slack back than the rest of the class.


  Mudita had to step in and help me with the part which I left off. The rest of workshop, I was struggling but managed to step up in the end. At the end of the workshop, we were asked to fill up a survey and give feedback. After that, it's lunch time!

SBS Welcoming Dinner: Linking Boundaries (6/4/17)

   My last lecture ended at 5.30pm, which was half an hour early. I texted Cynthia that she can pick me up from Hall 2, Graduate Centre but she replied me that she was busy welcoming guests at the Art Gallery. Along with my course mates, we walked along the canopy walk where it led us to the university building. We were in mid track, then I saw Cynthia walking towards me. "Hey, Katelyn! Are you ready?" she asked. Without hesitation, I said:"Yes, yes I am!" As Junta passed my bag to Cynthia, I thanked him as well as other friends for help.

   We took the lift up to the first floor. When we arrived, everyone was busy doing some last-minute checkking to make sure everything was on top form. My duty of the night is simple- collecting tickets when guests arrived and a form for them to sign up before heading in. While I was doing the registration, I saw Loke Zai (young boy in Cantonese) was sipping a cup of peach tea. "Katelyn, would you like to have one?" he asked. "I would love to, thank you!" I said. He then turned to Cynthia whether she would want a cup as well. "Yes, please," she said.

  Not long after Loke Zai came out with two cups of peach tea. I went to the wash room to get myself clean up. Cynthia accompanied me, Chia Tee was inside practising her opening line as she is the host of the night. After cleaning myself up, I asked the girls whether my dress it's okay. Chia Tee said the inside layer of my dress was a bit messy so we headed back in to the washroom to get fix my dress. I don't want a wardrobe malfunction especially on welcoming dinner. Earlier that day,  Loke Zai complimented that I looked pretty.

  Well back to work! I was doing the registration half way, Hon Pong- the President of the Society came to me, he said:"Katelyn, it's time to go in," Cynthia took over my shift as I was guided inside by Hon Pong. Chia Tee was giving a welcome speech and a brief introduction to our speakers of the night- Bro. Tan Huat Chye and Dato Charlie Chia. They are both from my hometown- Malacca, yay! Okay, okay back to the scene. Both of the speakers gave good advices to us.

  Whatever you do, you have to do with passion, interest and full heart, that will give you a 100% success. Besides that, never ever compare yourself with other people, do it at your own pace. It's time for the juniors to meet the seniors. I was lucky to reunite with my seniors and some I've got to finally to meet them in person! I heard a lot about them since joining the big family.

  What's with a welcoming night without any music? iGemz definitely rock the night! A group photo was taken to capture the memorable moment. It's back to the mingling. I'm very happy the event is a success! Thanks to the people of the SBS Team 2017 for giving a 100% effort to make it happen! I would like to welcome the new members to join our big family!

C&S Carnival: Part 1 (4/4/17-6/4/17)

  It's my favourite time of the year on campus- The C&S carnival, or also known as Clubs and Societies carnival. It's event where students can find out their favourite extra curricular activities on campus from sports to cultural to  music, you name them! The event marks my first campus event as a university student.

  During past C&S carnivals, it was usually held at the college cafeteria's Energy Hub and some booths were even held at the Student Life (formerly known as Student Service Department). All the clubs and societies were held together at the same place, we could walk around and look for other clubs if you're not on duty to take care of the booth or boredom takes over you (I'm kidding!).

  We have a new Boulevard Area, some of the clubs and societies' booth are held while most of them are at the NUB (New University Building) foyer. Sunway Chinese Cultural Society is going to have a stage play called The Dream Catcher  on 12 April 2017 for their 2nd Annual Chinese Cultural Night. Besides that. Sunway University Japanese Club (SUJC) is having Undokai (Japanese sports). Chinese Independent School Alumni (CISA) having their 24 season drum performance on Thursday, I get to try my hands on the drums. It's not bad for the first try as I came from a national type Chinese primary school.

While us Sunway University Buddhist Society is promoting on our upcoming welcoming dinner!  For the very first time, we are having our first themed dinner called Linking Boundaries! Sounds exciting isn't it? We want to show our new members that our society is just more than that, it's a place you will call home in years to come. When a student signs up for our society, we give them an origami lotus or a paper crane as a "blessing". Some students just walk past by even though we try to slow them down to promote our welcoming dinner. You know, whatever works.

  As Cynthia and I are taking care of the booth, our campus' mascot, Samson the Sun Bear comes to say hi to us. Guess he is checking out which society or club that is suitable for him. At the end of the C&S carnival, we manage to get 30 students to join our welcoming dinner which is a good sign for our first ever event in 2017. I can't wait to see all of them!                        

Come and drop by at our booth at the Boulevard Area (just below the college linkage bridge) to find out more on our upcoming activities. I'll be posting on the welcoming dinner too, stay tune!

First Week of Lecture (27/3/17-31/317)

  After the three-day orientation and the weekend to relax, it was time for me to hit the books as I headed to Sunway University as an undergraduate in BA (Hons) Communication. I have a thing with Communication in my early teen years. I developed in interest in writing since 12 years old. My very first diary was given by my friend, Shi Min on my 12th birthday. I was in my senior year completing my primary education.

   Growing up, I made sure that I mastered the three languages- the national language also known as Bahasa Malaysia, English and Mandarin (or Chinese). Whenever I go, these three languages will come in handy in their ways. As I completed my senior year in high school, I started to the news every night, that's where my interest in communication started to kick in. I was lucky enough to meet some of the newscasters in person on big events. One of them even asked what would I wanna do after I completed high school. "I wanna be a newscaster or something that is related to the media," I said. Okay, enough of that! Let's take a look what I did during my lecture week.

  I didn't have any tutorial classes on the first week, it was just only lectures. The first lecture was Principles in Mass Communication and it's an 8.00am class. I'm a morning person but I do get power naps in the car along the way. I was supposed to have two lectures on the first day unfortunately the afternoon session was cancelled so I had a whole day to myself!

  On the second day I had double lectures. I didn't know there was a shortcut to the Graduate Centre. You know whatever works. One is English and the other was Principles in Advertising and Design. English lecture was so fun because our lecture, Ms. Priyadharshini had a little game for us to get everyone mingle around. In the afternoon session for Principles in Advertising and Design, Mr. Woody put on some advertisements for us to watch. One of them was the movie trailer of the Disney's live action Beauty and the Beast.

  The third and final day which was on Thursday, I had to wait a little longer until 4.00pm. Luckily, I had activities on so that would kill the time and keeping me busy. We used the shortcut through the canopy walk of the campus to get to the Graduate Centre. It was late afternoon, most of us were exhausted and I almost fell asleep because of the air conditioner. Lesson learned- never sleep in any tutorials or lecture.

  That sums up my three-day of lecture. There is more to come

Inner Beauty is the True You

  Claire is a girl who diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at eighteen months old. She doesn't have any friends when growing up because everyone thinks her disability is kind of "disease" but that doesn't mean all the teasing and the rejection crush her cheerful spirit and her kindness because her parents taught her that inner beauty is the most important in the world.

  Claire just finished her college and started her degree at a local university. Yet again, her friends aren't much. One day, Claire dropped her books while walking to the university's cafeteria. She was about to pick up the books, a boy student came over to her aid and helped. "Thank you. I'm sorry for the trouble," Claire said as she looked up to the student who helped her. "I always see you around on campus," the boy said as he handed back to Claire. "Oh really?" Claire said with a blush.

  "What's your name?" Claire asked the boy. "My name is Austin. What's yours?" Austin asked. "Claire," she said. "Nice to meet you Claire!" Then came a clique of popular girls at the university dropped by. The head of the clique, Mandy, apparently claimed herself as Austin's "girlfriend". "Austin, what are you doing with this girl?" Mandy asked giving Claire a cold stare. "Just helping her out, Mandy. Come on do you have to be mean to everyone on campus?" Austin said.

  The scene in front of Claire made her uneasy. "I better go. I'm late for class," Claire said hurrying away for her next class. "Later, loser," Mandy said followed by the laughter from the other girls. Although Mandy is beautiful on the outside but the inside she is a mean and cruel towards other students especially the nerdy ones and students with special needs like Claire. Just left 10 minutes before class, her best friend, Clover, was waiting for her. "Claire, where have you been?" Clover asked. "I was at the cafeteria," Claire said. "I bumped into Austin while I was there," she added. "Austin? Mandy's boyfriend?" Clover asked again. Claire nodded her head in agreement. "Don't care about Mandy and her popular clique. Just be yourself and you'll be fine. What's more important is the inner self. Not the outside," Clover said.

  "That's what my parents tell me all the time," Claire sighed. As they wanted to talk more, it was time for their lecture. After two hours, Clover and Claire headed to the library as their daily routine after each lecture. They bumped into Austin when they were about to enter the library. "Hey Claire, can I talk to you for a second?" Austin asked. "Sure!" Claire said as they walked to a corner. "I'm sorry about Mandy and her clique today. It must be hurtful to you," Austin apologized. "No, no it's okay. I get used to it," Claire said with a smile. Austin felt guilty about the incident earlier. "Do you wanna to go to the movies with me this weekend?" he asked. "Sure, why not? Which movie you're watching?" Claire asked. Austin said he is watching Beauty and the Beast. "I thought it would be an amazing movie to you," he said.

  Claire agreed to go out with Austin this weekend but she thought about Mandy.  "What about Mandy?" Claire asked. "Would she be jealous?" Austin said:"Mandy has a girls' day out on the weekends so I'm not worry about it.  I'll pick you up at 7pm?" Austin asked. "Yeah, okay," Claire said. After that they both parted ways. "Did Austin just ask you out?" Clover asked as they both headed to their usual study place in the library. "Yes, yes he did! Why?" Claire asked. "You know, Mandy," Claire told Clover that Mandy and her clique always on a girls' day out on the weekends.

  As the weekend approached, Claire was excited about her night out with Austin. Dressed in her best, she waited for Austin to pick her up at her dormitory. A knock was heard, Clover went to the door to open as Claire was getting ready. "Claire, Austin is here!" Clover said. "Coming!" Claire viewed herself into the mirror one last time as she adjusted her yellow headband. "Have fun you two!" Clover said as she looked on her best friend leaving with Austin.

  When the movie ended, Claire always visits the book store. "Do you like the movie?" Austin asked when they entered the book store. "I totally love it! The Beast proves himself that to break the spell, he has to learn to love. The look on the outside doesn't matter, it's the inside is the most important," Claire said with excitement. "That's why the movie suits you," Austin said. As they passed by a cosmetic shop, Austin stopped in his tracks. "Austin, what's wrong?" Claire asked. She followed Austin's direction and saw Mandy and her clique were at the shop. They were about to leave, Mandy saw Austin in an instant. "Austin? What are you doing here?" Mandy asked. "I'm with Claire to watch  Beauty and the Beast. The movie I wanted bring you but you have your weekly girls' day out. I had an extra ticket, so I brought Claire instead,"

  Mandy was shocked, "Austin, I'm your girlfriend! You should bring me instead!" she yelled. "Maybe it's the best choice to bring Claire because you won't stop mocking and teasing people around you! I had enough of your nonsense for one year! We're through!" Austin said as he and Claire quickly left the place leaving Mandy in tears. "Austin, you shouldn't do that," Claire said. "It's okay, I broke up with Mandy. Now I realized what is the meaning between pretty and beautiful," Austin said. "You're kind, brave and courageous. That's the girl I want and that's it's you!" he added.

  Claire could feel her cheeks turning red. What Claire's parents told her is true. It's the attitude and the inner beauty reflects one's true self.   

First Day of Univerity (22/3/17)

  After a four-month break, it's time for me to head back to university. Today I'm heading back to Sunway University College for the first time as a university student. We reach the campus at 8.10am, I take a good look at the campus, nothing has changed much at the foyer. I head to the Monash University Foundation Year (MUFY) academic office since there is nothing to do at the foyer.


  As I'm about to take the lift, I bump into Ms. Haslina. " Hi, Ms. Has!" I say. "Hi Kar Marn, it's so good to see you again!" Ms. Haslina says. I tell my mum that I'll go to the third floor. While we are going up, Ms. Has asks me which course I'm pursuing. I say: "I'm pursuing BA (Hons) Communication at the university under the School of Arts," She says:" How wonderful! Congratulations!" She gives me a motherly hug. When the lift reaches the floor, my parents head out to the registry office to settle the university fees.


  I reach the third floor, Ms. Has tells me that she has to make a move as class is starting real soon. I head back to the study room of the MUFY academic office. The place had been my companion for three months when I was doing my third semester in July. It brings back a lot of memories! The new students didn't know I was an ex student but the lecturers are happy to see me again after four months. At 8.50am, I head out to the corridor waiting for my parents to get some "important work" done.




  I spot Ms. Helen James, the MUFY coordinator. "Hi Ms. Helen!" Ms. Helen turns around, "Hi Kar Marn, how are you?" I say: "I'm doing good!" She asks me whether I'm back for university degree. "Yes, yes I am!" After a short chat, she goes to the study to have a chat with my parents. I look at my watch, it's time to go down to sign myself for up the university programme. The foyer is packed with students and the line is so long to get yourself sign up. After signing up, I take the lift at the North Building to Jeffery Cheah Hall at level 4.




  While waiting for the orientation, I have a chat with my two new friends, Derek and Regine from Penang. At one point, Regine reveals that Derek sings. My face immediately lights up and asks him "Do you want to sing together one day?" Derek says: "Why not? Do you sing too?" I nod my head. I mean singing is my passion, it would be great to have a duet! "Do you mind sing a few verse for us?" Regine asks. I sing the chorus part of Start of Something New by the cast of High School Musical. Derek is quite surprised, "Wow, you have an amazing voice! How did you learn to sing that well?" "Well nothing much! Just constant singing at home that's all!" I say.




  After all the speeches made by the Vice Chancellor and Professors as well as the staff of the campus, it's time for a break. At 12.30pm, the students are back to the hall for the next activity. The Sunway Dance Club (SDC) put a performance of dance for us to lighten up the mood. The song they dance to is Shape of You by British singer, Ed Shearan. Later, the Sunway University Student Council (SUSC), organizes an amazing race for us to get know each other more.


  I'm on Team Dodge. Each team consists a group of ten. We are given an hour to complete the task but we need to do accordingly that is stated on the list. We go through the whole campus! There are two things:
1) It's a good exercise
2) You'll be sweaty after all that running and walking


  I try my hands on water bottles flipping but none of them turn out well. By the time we head back, everyone is tired and exhausted. The introduction of clubs and societies which take up the ending time by half an hour. I head down back to the foyer to wait for my sister. While waiting for my uncle to pick us up, I had a small chat with Shu Yie, my senior. Little did I know, a mini St. Davidian (my high school) reunion.


  My university life is about to begin, there are more to come.

CNY Gathering Round 2 at Cofeology Cafe (8/2/17)

  After the first one on CNY Day 4, we decided to have another one but this time grab a drink at Cofeology Cafe- the place where I performed last October. At first, we decided at the old Jusco Ayer Keroh but the cafe's prices are too costly so we decided to switch a place where it fitted our budget. I had early dinner at home before joining them. At 7.23pm, I waited for Yu Xuan to pick me up. 10 minutes later, the car came. I hopped into the car and we're off to our gathering. We phoned Shi Wei, who was doing some shopping at Jusco. He suggested to have the gathering at D' Puteh. We didnt know where it was. Mostly I come to Bukit Beruang for tuitions back in my high school days.

  We passed by a Taoist temple along the way and passed by a few shop lots. When we passed by D' Puteh, one look at it we knew the place was not so appropriate for a gathering. We decided to drop by at Shi Wei's place to invite his god sister along to join in the fun have but she declined the offer. It's okay! No choice, we chose Cofeology cafe since there was no place to go. The moment I stepped into the cafe, the manager recognized me in an instant. I performed at the cafe last October when they held Melaka's Got Talent. I got a certificate for that.    

  While waiting for the boys, I could hear my tummy rumbling. A dessert won't hurt right? Since it's still Chinese New Year, I guess a bite or two of cake would do the trick. I thought the cake would be medium size or a small but it turned out it was a really big! I also ordered a glass of chocolate milkshake. We also invited Shi Chong too. I also bumped into my primary friend, Her Xin. While Shi Chong and Her Xin, the rest of us just chatting what we've been up to these days. I felt a little bored because I wasn't really listening to the conversation they had so I decided to say hi Her Xin. "I'll be okay," I assured Shi Wei. "Hi Her Xin!" I greeted him. "Hey Kar Marn! How's it going?" Her Xin asked. We started to chat about university and the things we did recently. Before I headed back in, I told Her Xin to drop by a message if we want to meet up. "Okay, sure, cool!" That was easy, no awkwardness around. 

  I took a last bite of the cake and it's off D' Puteh. When we were checking the bill, Yu Xuan told us that the staff knew me so they gave us a discount. Okay, which was good.  The weird thing was I forgot to take my bag but luckily Jia Wen went back to retrieve it before the cafe closed. We went by separate cars to the place. I went with Shi Wei while Jia Wen went with Yu Xuan. It was a such an amazing feeling to ride in Shi Wei's car, a comfy ride. When we arrived, the four of us had to walk through a dark alley which was quite creepy. I can't even to look back! We went to say hi to some friends who we didn't see for three years. Joel and I even took a selfie. I got curious with the cards they were playing. Joel told me they were anime cards. 

   After the short chat, Shi Wei escorted us to the car. Before we leave, he said "You girls text me when you reach home," Before that, I even joked whether want to go a "date" for this coming Valentine's Day. "Seriously? You must be pulling my leg, sis!" Shi Wei laughed at the comment. On the way, Yu Xuan fetched Jia Wen and I home. I'm so lucky to have friends like them. 

快闪能之初 XTY Young School Musical: The Z Tornado (4/2/17)

 Astro小太阳青春电影—— 《快闪能之初》叙说两位学生—— 林闪闪（Stephanie刘佩芯 演饰）和祝快乐（Gabriel Noel Pountney 演饰）来自不同家庭背景，但是他们俩就读同一间的学院—— 梦想艺术学院。林闪闪是个开朗爽快、学习认真的学生；祝快乐则是个有点叛逆、轻微的自闭过动儿，但他出众歌舞才华，得到奥达拉院长的赏识。

  有一天，祝福倪，快乐的爸爸（温绍平演饰）到梦想艺术学院和他的好朋友奥达拉院长谈谈电视台企划即将举行的才华比赛，校方必须派出两位学生代表学院参加。奥院长要快乐代表学院但是祝爸爸坚持反对。正这时候，奥院长的八卦秘书——赵瑶晶送茶点就偷听奥院长和祝爸爸的对话。她就胡乱猜测快乐是“靠关系” 参加比赛，就是因为一个谣言，让全校轰动起来，而快乐活在黑暗中。

  快乐他到学院的一个角落。他开始问自己是不是不够好？还是对别人来说他是个内定和“靠关系”的学生？在演唱《过动的脑齿轮》，学院的校工把快乐的一举一动全程拍下再发送给奥院长。在学院的院长室，柯丝拉主任和奥达拉院长在谈论着那个学生该代表学院参加比赛。自我好胜的洪晓姬挑战开朗快爽的闪闪，看看谁即将代表学院参加比赛。但这两派人马也有同个人选就是快乐。

  当她们在议论着，快乐就无影中出现把当场的学生们尤其是闪闪骂得一头雾水！这一幕真的让观众们吓得目瞪口呆！内疚，闪闪问自己是不是做错了什么，她只是想帮快乐而已。正她在内疚中，快乐的好朋友—— 唐小虎就出现。为了不要看闪闪自我内疚，他告诉快乐的家庭背景。灵机一动，闪闪她知道要怎样帮快乐。而K-Pop Gang的晓姬为了要让快乐跟她合作，隔天在大草场等他的脚踏车经过。晓姬邀请快乐一起吃早餐，但被他拒绝。在跳车的那一幕，两人就互相看不顺眼（演唱《缘分乱跳电》）。

  被晓姬乱骂一顿后，快乐就出一个条件：他想有一个妹妹，想知道她是长什么样子。这让晓姬惊讶！他们俩到一间理发店。快乐告诉理发店的阿姨让洪晓姬做一个整形，而下星期的功课是拍一个MV。回到学院，祝快乐遭柯班主任和全班的“攻击” 令他、林闪闪、梅礼茂、洪晓姬和唐小虎都通通离开课室。快乐就梦到自己在妈妈的怀抱睡着，听摇篮歌曲—— 《希望纸飞机》。而从实现回来，原来是在晓姬的腿上睡着让快乐怀念他和妈妈在一起的时光。在朋友们的鼓励下，快乐决定要还自己一个清白。

 事情闹更大在学院令祝爸爸和奥达拉院长公开道歉。奥院长和祝爸爸在争论的时候，五个学生在屋外等待直到闪闪牵快乐的手进屋。快乐唱《希望纸飞机》给祝爸爸听。这时祝爸爸感动了！五个学生协心合力写属于自己的歌，创造自己属于的舞台。

  在电影的最后一幕，祝快乐在下课的时候向全校的学生，他不是内定或“靠关系” 来参加即将的比赛，是靠实力、坚持及梦想。无论有没有比赛，他还是会继续唱、继续跳，完成他心目中的梦想就像龙卷风。快乐最后得到班主任的肯定。

  如果错过这横冲撼动的节目，可以通过Astro On the Go应用程序或On Demand (OD)。让我们更有坚持完成梦想，形成龙卷风！你是不是也有一个梦想，但得不到别人的肯定？这部青春电影就献给Z时代闪亮时刻的你！

歌谣帮 

K-Pop Gang 

(Credits: Astro小太阳许友彬电视系列面子书专页）

Free Style Gang