veritas - uncensored and live.

Breaking News!

2007-05-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

This blog is outta date.
Please redirect your browser here.

:P

Garnival and Swimming Gala

2006-04-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

Two upcoming events which I am highly anticipating! Garnet has done a good job promoting the event - you can see posters practically EVERYWHERE! With catchy lines too - clever use of the letter 'G' there promoting squad..Hahaha..It somehow makes me realise that we don't really use the letter G that much in our daily lives. So it feels funny seeing all these sayings like "It is Goming" and a logo of Batman with the phrase "Garnet Forever". Cool stuff.

(Veritas has also heard from certain *reliable* sources that many teachers *nudge nudge* have been complimenting on Garnet's effort. Now, for more brownie points - make sure it's as great as it seems to be!! Yeah Garnet, you can do it!! *wink*)

Needless to say, I'm psyched for tonight! Can't wait to see what they have in store for us :D I did hear something about a rumah hantu though..That would be interesting ;)

As for Swimming Gala, it's going to be held on Monday and Tuesday afty (3rd and 4th April). Events include the compulsory races and relays of differing techniques (butterfly stroke being the WORSE, IMHO). However, do keep a lookout for the Men's Water Polo - it's bound to be splash-errific! (haha!). Too bad for the girls though, you only have 'sukaneka' kind of activities planned for you. Muehehhee...

Just come down to the swimming pool on those days to support your houses alright! May the best house win! :)

Some college updates!

2006-03-29T04:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, as promised this is the mega-awaited college update you guys have been pining for! Hehehe.. Sorry it's not really afternoon anymore as promised, but the camera did some funny things with me. Nevertheless, here are some pics of college! Yay!

Behold the fact that I'm not that much of a good photographer (compared to the likes of Teck Kang and the gang) - I dropped out of Mr Foord's photography club last year, to my own disadvantage...Muhuhu..But I figured you all would like SOME pics no matter how ugly they are, no? ;D

++ The sparse jungle ++

Remember that earlier post about the jungles near our college being cut down? Well, here's some pictorial proof of the tragedy :

FLASHBACK : Remember these green stuff?

Okay, so I cheated! It's not really the REAL flashback - it's actually the still-untouched jungle behind the tennis courts, but at least it jolts some memories...buek!

Anyways, it's kind of sad that we didn't take some time and appreciate the beauty of it while it was still there. Since it is now all reduced to -

*Yes peeps, it IS indeed, a sad sight*

It doesn't look half as bad as it really is - it kept on raining the whole day! (hence the soggy trees :P) But I can assure you people that it looks far WORSE than that on a hot sunny afty, when the sun reflects the earth and it looks like a big patch of orangey substance. Yeesh!

Besides that, we also have the construction in front of the DH. Although I've kind of noticed that they've stopped working this past few days. Perhaps due to the monsoon?

This one is not that bad actually, since we DO need the new buildings (don't ask me what they are for actually..No friggin idea!) But as a common fact - all construction sights are NOISY and SMELLY. Everytime I pass by this place I'd be holding my breath while doing a 100m sprint so that I don't have to inhale the elephant poo-ish scent this place so fondly smells of! Thank god for air-conditioning in the DH!!

++ Some other, slightly smaller changes ++

It took me a couple of walks down this walkway to realise that our clinic now has a 'roof'! Small contribution, but still...On those rainy days, and you're as sick as a dog - you'd be thanking you're lucky stars that you don't have to get wet (and increasing your degree of sickness) thanks to the roof :D Hahaha..

(you can so tell that I have nothing else to update about :P)

And oh! I love this little thing that Arvindd has created during his manifesto to win the hearts of us, lazy bums.

It's a italiano-cafe-billboard sign that writes the daily menu of the DH! Yippee! Thanks for the great innovation pal, you DO know that was one of the reasons you won right? Hehehhe..Kidding! ;)

(but seriously, don't stop doing this ok arvindd deary? *bats eyelashes* It's such a long walk to the notice boards... :P)

And that wraps up this edition of mega-updates. Do come back next year for the next update yea? Hehehehe, joking ;)

Let's talk about ME!! (Strategies to deal with whiners)

2006-03-18T08:55:00.000-08:00

Picture this : You have just finished your first mock exam paper, and you exit the hall feeling upset about your performance. You think you haven’t revised enough and feel guilty spending the last few hours of your preparation time playing games/chatting/reading magazines instead.

Along comes Mr Kiasu/Mrs Perfect and starts whining out loud how question 7, part A was tricky and how he/she might have lost 2 marks because she wrongly analysed it and is now doomed to failing. Or worse, he/she cries and you feel bad for them and feel obliged to offer your shoulder of comfort to them. They sob, you try and make them feel better.

The day results come out, it’s an A for the cry baby and you get a C. You feel awful, angry and plain upset that aforementioned drama queen exaggerated about his/her inability to answer the exam questions and is now happily batting his/her eyelashes, bashfully saying that it was pure luck and surely there was a mistake. He/She doesn’t bother comforting you, and you’re left to deal with the disappointment yourself.

Common situation in KYUEM? You betcha!

Lets face it peeps (especially us girls), most of us fall under this category – the attention seekers. If you’re the kind of person who can’t keep a problem to yourself, if you love to pore over every fear and emotion in exhaustive detail, face it – you’re addicted to attention. You may think, “Hey, it’s not a big deal, after all it’s not good to keep everything to yourself right?”

Well, sorry to say it’s a YES and NO m’dears. There’s a vast difference between sharing your problems with your buddies and being a constant stress cadet who constantly leans on anyone and everyone as crutches!

Attention Grabbers – Are you one of them?

You know you’ve got an addiction to attention if you constantly:

*Call your friends not to say “Hi!” but because you want an agony aunt.
*Complain to anyone and everyone about how busy/unlucky/unwell/unhappy/unsatisfied you are.
*Could not conceive the idea of keeping a problem like a fight with a boyfriend to yourself – when a problem arises you feel the NEED of giving a blow-by-blow account to friends and expect them to analyse them and offer their feedback.
*Respond to every story a friend shares with something similar that happened to you.
*Have trouble being alone
*Always feel as if you’re in crisis and can barely remember the last time someone asked how you were and you said “I’m great!”
*Exaggerate to get sympathy – like the situation mentioned above.
*Take on responsibilities you shouldn’t take – then complain about how stressed out you are and how problematic being in demand is.
*Engage in prima donna behavior – throwing hissy fits, storming off in a huff, slamming doors and bursting into tears.

The underlying question is, how do we balance being open towards other people and being labelled as a drama queen? It’s obviously unhealthy to constantly be stressed out, and not being able to live on your own – how do you expect to survive on your own when you go overseas? Do you expect to find sympathetic people for you to lean on everywhere you go? And what if you can’t find one? What will become of you then?

Breaking the habit
Fortunately, we can TRY and reduce our dependency on others’ with these simple first steps :

Zip your lips Stop hogging the conversation. Fight the urge to dominate the conversation or directing the conversation towards only one subject – YOU. Sure, you were woken up by the warden 20 minutes late for your maths class, burnt your toast, locked your bag and keys in your room by mistake then slipped and fell on a patch of mud in front of your chalet while you were sprinting off to class. You will definitely feel the urge to tell people of your horrific misfortune; however, recounting the events to everyone you meet will only increase your irritation. So, take a complaint break. Your sanity AND your friends will thank you for it!

Control your responses When you feel absolutely helpless and the need to talk about the situation arises, try saying “It upset me” instead of “I’m depressed/devastated”. Remind yourself that no matter how unpleasant it is, you WILL get through it! It is the complete opposite of what many of us do – we tend to regard ourselves as the victim, which encourages us to whinge and complain and feel as if we have no control over our lives. Take charge and control your attitude and responses, you will find that you can, in some way or another carve your destiny and ensure you’re indeed happy, despite your problems.

Tune in to the positives Happiness is not something that slaps you in the face – you have to tune into the things that make you feel good; such as the morning sun streaming into your room, the pleasure of knowing you look good in that shirt and satisfaction on finishing your homework in good time. Always look at the bright side of life – a negative outlook on life would only make you feel as if the whole world is against you when it actually isn’t! It’s all about perspective – change that, and everything changes.

Forget your fears When we’re obsessed with worries and our mishaps, we become self-centred and forget about the people around us. Therefore, to avoid alleviating your concerns, programme yourself to let go of fearful thoughts without judging or identifying them. Don’t let them affect you – ‘Strangle them at birth’ as Mr Conquest would put it. If this fails, try counting breaths until the thought passes. Make this a habit, and you’ll find your fears starting to lose their control over you. This will leave your mind free to focus on the finer things in life which bring you happiness, joy and comfort.

All in all, let us all try and be better people and stop weighing ourselves (haha, punny!) down with self-pity (especially since exams are coming around this time of year!). Look at the positive side of things, and keep depressing thoughts at bay. Hopefully there will be less people whining after any examination after this yea? :)

The demolition of KYUEM's Flora

2006-03-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

It's a cruel thing, really. I'm not quite sure why this is going on, but the heat has come to the point that even the most unobservant fool (like yours truly) has realised this sad fact..

The pristine trees which give our college the identity of a jungle are being chopped down. As I write this, the whirring sounds of their chainsaws penetrate the otherwise, peaceful hum of our quaint college.

The trees behind the boys chalets (you know, those BIG HUGE rubber trees that used to obscure the view) is now reduced so much, the blue of the sky (and the scorching sun!) can be seen now. It's THAT bad!

It also doesn't help that the wide open ground in front of the DH is also undergoing construction. Hence, more trees are being chopped. Rumours say that they're building new labs because we have insufficient labs around here. Some college-peeps have been heard saying "Oh no!! Now we won't be able to see the front gate!" (a.k.a FREEDOM)

If this goes on, there won't be a jungle anymore. The heat is going to fry our brains like eggs on a hot pan. Lembah Beringin won't be 'berangin' anymore - we'll be just another Cyberjaya/Putrajaya. Uwaaaaaaaaa!!

How I wish I had my camera around to show the extent of the damage...*sigh* :(

The long awaited Bangsawan Post!

2006-02-28T21:27:00.000-08:00

My humble apologies for the delayed post, so many things to do, so little time!
(perhaps I should've listened to you, Nick about joining as a senior..Haha :P)

Anyways, BANGSAWAN was GREAT! Honestly, it was waaaaay better than last years - especially since all houses won something, since let's face it; NO ONE likes to go home empty handed right? ;)

So, the first house to perform was Sapphire with their usual rendition of the empire of Salsabilah and it's royal family. This time, it was about treachery in which the Sultanah herself has supposedly betrayed the trust of the Sultan while he was in battle by having an affair with the 'Pendeta Istana'. All hell breaks loose, especially since the own Sultan's mother (victoriously acted out by Syrrushaqwa!) had an unspoken vendetta against the reining Sultanah. Accompanied by her naive daughter, they manage to influence the Sultan to believe this lies and he decides to blindly take their words whole. It has a tearful end when the Sultan finally stabs the Sultanah's pregnant belly, and a curse breaks out - killing everyone on stage (a funny sight saw our own Firdaus Rahim dying a horrible death! haha!) leaving only the Sultan alive. Tragic death of innocent souls, a classic! Sapphire managed to cleansweep all the female awards - Best Actress to Amira Anis (second time! Woot!) and Best Supporting Actress by Wawa. Besides, that Sapphire also grabbed the top spot of Best Drama and Best Director. Yay!

Next was the House of Reds - Garnet. The story had a very colourful approach - with backgrounds that immediately caught our eyes (a sudden contrast to Sapphires soft blues) and the costumes were really grand! Anyways, the story was about this Sultan who felt that his own men were plotting against him, so he feints his death. When it becomes obvious that there was indeed, betrayal going on, he came back to life and sorted out his men. The loyal ones joined his forces immediately to fight with the King and it all ends with them frozen in action as they try to win back the throne. The highlight of the show was seeing Ozair's hearty laugh - and of course Syafi'e as one of the pembesar (I think!). Garnet, with their amiable house-spirit managed to win the People's Choice Award (first time held by SMS-votes in College history!) and also Best Supporting Actor - for Pi'e!

Up after the short break (where we refilled our tummies with oh-so-yummy Karipaps and Popiahs), was the house of Diamond. Speaking as a Sapphire-an, this was one drama I was looking forward to, especially after their breath-taking performance last year (as for you juniors, go watch the VCD in the RC to marvel at their performance!). Boasting actors like Nasyitah, Shahirul Syafiq and juniors like Nuddin and Farhana, they really pulled it off well and won a total of FOUR awards - Best Props, Best Costume, Best Dance and Best Technical. The story was about a rich merchant's daughter who has premonitions that after she marries the man of her dreams, things start to turn bad. The Sultan gets annoyed that he wasn't enlightened on the existence of a fair maiden, and thus seeks revenge.

Last but not least was the best crowd-amuser of all - The Great Topaz! As usual, they didn't leave out the comical bits that make us yearn for Topaz's performance; although it WAS a bit more serious. Finally, there was a 'jalan-cerita' where three childhood friends cum brothers journey to become kingsmen. When one of them finally succeeds, the other two left behind find it hard to accept their failure, especially Megat (brilliantly brought to life by Zulazwan!). His envy turns into rage when he also loses the chance to win the village sweetheart's (Dalilah) heart to this so-called 'buddy'. He starts to poison minds and it finally leads to murder and regret. Truly captivating performance, especially when Totok quoted the line "Lauk sepinggan, kongsi berdua!" Whoaa...that one shook the audience really good! It's no surprise then that Totok won Best Actor and Topaz also managed to grab Best Script for the night!

Oh wow, talk about a recap..Haha..

Now, for pics..You can go to Poh Teck Kang's blog for more pictures as these were taken from there too!

Some of the Sapphireans posing together

The Garnet Sultan and his soon-to-be betrayers

A terrifying moment as the Sultan displays his fury..Yeeks!

Topaz's dancers - and it was so nice to see BOYS dance for a change!! :D

Last but not least - the SUPPORTERS!! Without you guys, there would be no meaning to the performances :)

TOPAZ

DIAMOND

GARNET

SAPPHIRE

Kudos to the Cultural Club for organizing such a smooth event. Here's to a memorable Bangsawan which shall be cherished for years to come, and may the juniors continue this tradition just because it's FUN! :D

Important Announcement

2006-02-19T16:39:00.000-08:00

As there has been an impostor using my name at the tagboard, I will stop doing so from now on. At least until the person gets a life. So in the meantime, ignore anyone who appears on the tagboard using my name.

Newsflash: Veritas Online's secret revealed! It Is An Instrument of EVIL!

2006-02-16T20:57:00.000-08:00

Sheesh.

I don't understand people sometimes. Considering the fact that the nature of the last article was completely neutral, we now have fingers pointed at us for being 'biased' when it comes to relaying news, with claims that we 'side with the liberals and diss Malays and the MUSCOM'. Firstly, I would like to happily point out that the sentiments and statements regarding the new SC, whether defending or attacking them, were done on the TAGBOARD. See that thing on the right side of the screen, that looks like a chat window? THAT'S a tagboard. Now, the thing is, Veritas does not control the people who write their opinions there. What we DO control is the ARTICLES, in which, if you read through the previous article again:

'Popularity wins? We'd say so, yeah. But is that entirely a bad thing? We leave that for the public to decide.'

'But what's done is done, and the best that we can do now is to stand behind and support the new SC all the way. We put them there, anyway. Meaning that these people are the best that our batch has to offer.'

You'll notice that we made no such direct attacks on the Malays OR the Muscom. And some of you say that we're the ones being paranoid about there being a Muscom conspiracy. We made no such claim. And so I hereby stand by my stand that the article, along with most of Veritas, is NEUTRAL. Anyone who claims otherwise either needs to have their eyes examined or deserves to be shoved off a cliff. Who's paranoid now?

In the meantime, we do not condone what the people say on the tagboard either. It's your right for free speech, people. You're using it, and we're taking the fire for it. Look, we're all too happy to take the blame for the expression of YOUR opinions, we don't mind being the sacrificial lambs, but we would like to request that, for the sake of keeping the peace (and the sanity of us Veritas members), please keep your comments on the tagboard from being too offensive.

And before you start claiming the tagboard for being the 'liberals-only' voice, I would like clarify that we don't have the kind of technology or software that automatically blocks out and doesn't allow 'non-liberals' from expressing their views. In fact, quite a few people stood up to defend the SC on the Tagboard. If you're not happy with what 'x' says on the tagboard, it's your job to counter and put YOUR views on the tagboard. If you shy away from standing up for your views, then it's not our fault if the tagboard gets swamped with 'evil liberal' messages from the devil.

Furthermore, even Veritas gets attacked on the tagboard and in the comments section, but you don't see US moaning about it, and deleting it, do you?

I present to you exhibit A from the TAGBOARD:

'bloodline: VERITAS= very testosterone very tards ve-retards hahahaha'

And exhibit B from the comments section of the previous article:

Yup.. we tend to be followers.
But followers use their minds to decide on whom and what to follow, right?
Why do we need to go to the manifesto when we already know these people and their pros and cons from their daily actions?
The manifesto are actually for the idiots who are easily persuaded by fascinating presentations and words.
If you think you are better, then go someplace else because Malaysia is definitely not for you.
damien_snow | 02.15.06 - 3:42 am |

These people don't seem to like us much, and they don't bash the new SC or the Malays, or the Muscom. In fact, the comment, in particular is aimed at the 'liberals' generally, to ask us to stop 'thinking that they're better'.

Go to the comments section of that article- that comment is still there. We did not delete it.

And so, with the evidence that I have provided, again I would like to reaffirm my stand that Veritas is NEUTRAL. Anyone who claims otherwise... Well go do whatever you want. I give you my condolences and I apologize for the grieveances that have been caused towards you. I hope you find happiness and much joy in life, regardless of the agony and the problems you've caused us.

'Fitnah itu dosanya lebih besar dari membunuh', as we are taught in Islam. (The sin of false accusation or slander is greater even than the sin of murder) So next time, please think before you jump on the 'Veritas-is-evil' bandwagon.

On another hand, these complaints from the 'Veritas-is-out-to-get-us!' clan have caused a devastating amount of damage- in the sense that we are no longer allowed to call this site Veritas Online, since 'Veritas' is sponsored by and owned by the college.

Because of that, I regret to announce that...

We're here to stay. We might have to change the title of the blog, but for the sake of everyone, we will keep doing our jobs to keep an update of the happenings in college. We hope to be able to keep the URL, but if we have to change that as well, we will inform you in advance.

We from Veritas, rest our case.

SC Results Announced

2006-02-10T01:47:00.000-08:00

The following is the results of the recent Student Elections, announced at today's assembly.

President: Adam
Vice President (Male): Shazli
Vice President (Female): Kauthar
Treasurer: Don
Secretary: Imran
Academic Excos: Hazwan Ariff and 'Aqilah
Sport's Excos: Zul and Snoopy
Food Excos: Arvindd and Farhana
Welfare Excos: Naili and Azrieal
Religious Excos: Badrul Hisyam and Faezah

Shocking? Veritas doesn't think so. Look's like the new batch's SC is a classic example of how it pays to be connected to the 'higher powers' of the college. It's saddening how many didn't turn up for the 2 Manifesto Nights, however- a sign that either bangsawan was just too much stress, or that, sadly, people in college just don't care about manifestos- that they've decided who they were going to vote for from the start. Popularity wins? We'd say so, yeah. But is that entirely a bad thing? We leave that for the public to decide.

One thing's for sure is that there will be a major change in terms of how the new SC runs things compared to the now-retired 7th Batch SC. No two SCs are the same, we are often reminded. Personally, I would like to say that we in Veritas, and possibly a lot more people are going to miss Hizami, Abby and the gang. They could do no wrong in our eyes. Adam and the gang are going to have a lot to live up to. Veritas wishes them good luck for that.

Veritas also looks forward to the Student Dinner (which, if we're lucky may be renamed Kenduri Tambatan Ukhwah), which will be one of the new SCs main proving grounds. We're sure you can pull it off marvelously. And for that, we wish you boys and girls the best of luck!

In the meantime, however? What went wrong for the other contestants? Like Amir, our beloved CP director, or Nat, whose speech was arguably the best speech of all throughout both manifesto nights? What about Aqtar, who, (despite his vicious assault on Veritas) provided the words and charisma that Adam had to use a video for? Would things have gone better for them if more people had turned out at their manifesto nights?

That's one of the things that we'll never know.

But what's done is done, and the best that we can do now is to stand behind and support the new SC all the way. We put them there, anyway. Meaning that these people are the best that our batch has to offer.

Every individual in the committee, from Adam to Faezah, from 'Aqilah to Kauthar, they each have their own unique and colorful aspects, which we believe will bring life and color to the SC.

Again, Veritas would like to congratulate Hizami and co. for a job (or well, numerous jobs) well done throughout their time at the helm of the ship that we call our college. We're not blind. We've seen the things you've done. We've seen the sacrifices you've had to make. And though we may not come up to you to thank you people as often as we should, just remember that we do appreciate your efforts, and we always will.

Thank you.

Interview with the Candidates, Part Five

2006-02-07T20:53:00.000-08:00

Firstly, forgive me for having maintaned a self-imposed silence in the Blog, but as a senior, I have always believed that the juniors should best be left to do their proverbial thing. My itching fingers, ready to stir the murky waters of journalism, ensured, of course, that I am a man not of my word.

What's happening in college? The notice board has undergone so many transformations it sometimes daunts me, that there is SO much I can join in college and so much I have wilfully escaped. At the end of the day, the 3A offer still stands, and without that grade, my development as a better individual via tertiary education will stop at A-Level, so studies first.

Snoopy had other ideas about his education though...thus, this interview with Quek Chok Yew, who you will never hear being called by that moniker, fondly known as Snoopy

Enter chalet. Snoopy and unidentified chaletmate, wearing less clothes combined than I do, leap from their seats, startled.

Snoopy sets down guitar. Aghast. Asks me, querulous tone, why the hell I am here.

Interview has now officially begun. All "what the hells" and expletives uttered are now on record.

Queried on why he ACTUALLY wanted to run - he has often said he wanted to do it to prove himself, but that rings hollow considering the fact he IS athletically active, having played squash at state level - he muttered he wanted to serve the college. He maintained he was not just in the game for the game itself, but to contribute to the college as a member of the SC in other, non-sports ways. Good point, considering how much stuff unrelated to one's actual portfolio the SC members ACTUALLY do.

We continue pressing him on why he wants to do SC. Is he interested in the post? No, he claims, it is for the recognition. He lets us in on a dirty little secret which, if reprinted, I fear will lead to my untimely death - he's always believed the public perceives him as a flippant, disorganized, slapstick young man, never up to anything serious, and via his imminent SC victory, he wants to prove to the world he can serve as a leader in something serious, something that will change courses and lives.

Queried on his past, he admits he was president of the Basketball Club, where event organization became his unintentional pastime. He was indignant at my suggestion that he didn't know what he was getting himself into, saying his experience would put him in good stead to be a more flexible and creative individual in running college events, which in essence, are not much different from school events.

As one of us was sleepy and the other was itching to play the guitar, we called it quits, with a good dose of back-slapping (metaphorically, of course) and best wishes before I was ejected from his room at 1.25 am.

Interviews With The Candidates! Part Five

2006-02-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

Interviews with Yaya (Sarah Abdul Halim), Hazwan Ariff and 'Aqilah- runners for the post of Acad Exco.

By Punitha.

Now, to break a norm, for once, we are offering downloads! Since Punitha felt like trying something new- we did these interviews by audio recording, and you can download them by clicking the links below. However we would warn you that the files are in .amr format and can only be played by QuickTime or RealPlayer. Secondly, that the downloads are limited and will only be on for about seven days, so first come first serve. Requests for the file may be done by contacting Iqbal at his email address...or one of his side blogs (since the main one seems to be mysteriously missing)

Interview with Yaya and 'Aqilah

Interview with Hazwan Ariff

Oh, and one last warning, the Yaya/'Aqilah interview is 20 minutes long, and involves three girls (if you count the interviewer) Expect meaningless banter. Hey, it's Punitha. Did you expect anything less?

Interviews With The Candidates! Part Four

2006-02-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SC CANDIDATES VYING FOR THE RESPECTED POSTS OF:

By Oz

SPORTS EXCO, Zulkifli bin Ismail, 18

WELFARE EXCO, Wan Mohd. Syukri bin Wan Mat Zain, 19.

It has been an opportunity of a lifetime not to be missed when I had the chance to get ahold of two of the candidates for the Student Council. Zulkifli bin Ismail (Zul), relaxed in his yellow cotton shirt and neatly-pressed jeans, swaggers into the room, comfortably waving with a smile plastered to his face; obviously in a good mood to answer some questions. Shortly after, the familiar silhouette of Wan Mohd. Syukri bin Wat Mat Zain appeared into view, himself donning a pair of slacks and a T-shirt, ever eager to oblige to submit himself into an interview session. I was wide-eyed and starstruck. However, realising the amount of time I was permitted for the interview, I quickly began to fork out my tape recorder and my wits! They nonchalantly declared that they wanted to settle down to business with haste as they had had prior engagements involving cellotape, a big box, some rope, pillars, a pair of scissors and some pieces of paper with their pictures on them…God knows whatever they are up to. The atmosphere was warm and friendly amid gales of laughter in the cosy common room of a place called P-21, which I later learned by a twist of fate, that this was actually their home. They’re chaletmates!! And I happen to live in P-21 as well which means I am their chaletmate!! Whatever…let’s catch up with them. Notice that as the short interview progresses, well…let’s just say that things were starting to progress. =]

Q: First question first to be fair. What drove you towards aspiring to become a member of the Student Council?

Zul : I just felt like applying. That’s it.

Wae : It feels very nice to run for it…

Q: Okay…what do you think of your chances? I mean, do you feel that you’re a strong enough candidate to win the people of KYUEM over?

Zul : (Thinks) What will happen will happen. We are in God’s Grace now. And by the way, have you seen our ‘Hanging Box’?

Wae : Well, it depends on their decision. Do they think I can?

Q: It has come to my attention (being your chaletmate) that there has been some really disturbing activities involving you two…any comments?

Zul : I’ll let Wae answer that first..

Wae : Disturbing?! What disturbing?! Don was in it too!! Oops…forget what I said…

Don : (barging out of P-21 C) Wei, ape aku buat?! (What did I do?!)

Zul : It wasn’t me, I wasn’t there…wasn’t my fault..

Wae : No comments. (glares menacingly at Zul) Next question, please.

Q: Right. Let’s say the both of you won. Anything of interest about your ambitions for this college that you might want to share whilst holding the role of SC?

Wae : I want Saturday off!!

Zul : Hmm…why don’t we have Friday off as well?

Wae : Hey, that’s a good idea. The guys might like it. They don’t call T.G.I. Friday T.G.I. Friday for nothing!

Zul : Most probably the board of directors are going to shoot down our ideas anyway, but ah well…

Q: We have run out of time I’m afraid. Any last words or shout-outs to the community?

Zul : I would just like to say…

Wae : Kids, stay in school. Mummy loves you. Daddy loves you. And most importantly, we love you.

Zul : Yea, that and if you haven’t checked out our box yet, do so now at the junction.

Thank you for the interview, kind sirs.

Zul : Yea, thank you.

Wae : Pleasure.

Zul and Wae : JOM ORDER BURGER!!!

Interviews With The Candidates! Part Three

2006-02-07T08:54:00.000-08:00

Now this one I did over MSN Messenger with Hazwan...the one running for Treasurer, not the one running for Acad EXCO

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

Hazwan

You have just sent a Nudge!

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

you there?

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

sup

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

i am about to interview you

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

just three or four questions, then i leave you alone

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

you game?

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

okay

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

bring it

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

right, first question- you're running for treasurer, right? where are your posters and stuff? Dickson's got his ALL OVER college

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

that....well im sorry to say that ive prepared my posters but due to some printer error,i cant print them

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

so...tomorow ill just make a simpler one and stick it near dh

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

can i ask you a q?

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

why dont you ask questions that ppl wanna know?

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

i mean ive heard ppl complain about the dh interview

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

I'm the interviewer here, i decide the questions

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

and this isn't the DH interview so shut up

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

now, on to the next question

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

so what do you think your chances are?

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

I mean, seeing that you've got no posters and all

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

depends on my luck.i have the capacity but not the drive.to actually win i have to change 180 degrees.so ive got less than 24 hrs.wish me luck

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

yes. good luck

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

im gonna be the best student if this succeeds

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

yeah, you probably will. now another question...

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

your MSN name there is uhm...intriguing. what exactly do you mean by responsibility to kick ass?

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

okay,i got it from the internet

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

so ask the sitesd ive visited

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

okay

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

bal i wanna say something

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

yes?

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

have you ever felt that you can do anything

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

that they aree no boundaries you cant cross?

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

that the world is at your fingertips?

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

only when i'm playing Silent Hill, or writing my stories, cuz when I write stories, I create the world I put my characters in. ^^ Playing God, in a sense

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

no,bal,when your body moves on its own,when you speak everyone listens

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

then you ask yourself whose that guy

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

that was me bal,

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

you feel different,you are a better version of you

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

ive experienced it once or twice

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

and if i experience it toorow,then im sure to win

hazwan London~with great powers,comes great responsibility to kick-ass!! says:

you there,im gonna go now

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

yeaah

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:

sure

Bal- Sleepwalker, What's My Line? says:
best of luck (You’re going to need it)

Interviews With The Candidates! Part Two

2006-02-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

Short Interviews with the two Presidential Candidates

Another one by Muhammad Iqbal

With the Male VP manifestos out of the way as the first night’s main event, the big one was yet to come tomorrow. So before anything can be said or done by Adam and Aqtar, I decided to approach to hold a pre-manifesto interview, considering the fact that if they screw up during the manifesto, they’ll be able to apologize for it in a post-manifesto interview.

Firstly, I cornered Aqtar on his way back from the GH.

Bal: Aqtar! Can I shoot a few questions at you? This won’t take long.

Aqtar: Sure. Go ahead.

Bal: Firstly, well, you’re running for the big one- the President post. Now Hizami’s an Art Student, and arguably most posts in co-curricular activities are held by Art Students. Don’t you think that this-

Aqtar: No, I don’t think it impairs my chances.

Bal: Yeah, it in fact gets you more support from the Medic Geeks, (oops, I’m one of them), since you’re our ‘spokesperson’ and all.

Aqtar smiles.

Bal: But seriously, as a Medic, you know that we tend to have heavier workloads, and tend to you know, need to have more time to read and all? How sure are you that the SC won’t constrain your studying time?

Aqtar: You see, the thing with that is that whenever people think about SC, they see Hizami. Hizami’s a workaholic. He does work even when he’s not supposed to do it. Now I don’t think that that’s proper time management. A leader should delegate work. As long as I do that, I should be fine.

Bal: Meaning you’re not a workaholic.

Aqtar (smiles): No.

Bal: Okaay.. Now what do you think of your chances? Seeing Adam seems to have an underground society backing him…unless you have one that I don’t know of.

Aqtar: I might have one that even I don’t know of. (grins)

Bal: (I bet you have)

Aqtar: No, seriously now, I think my chances are really fair. Adam’s going to be a tough opponent, but I don’t see why I can’t win.

Bal: Now that I think of it, I don’t see you hogging the microphone as much as uhm, A- oops, someone else does. Have you had experience as a speaker? Debates? Anything?

Aqtar: I used to be a Head Prefect in my old school. I know I can handle it.

Bal: Yeah…alright then. Now, I know you might not want to give anything away, but we’ve had some colorful performances tonight (especially from the Food Excos). You have any gimmicks up your sleeve?

Aqtar: No. The President post is a serious one, so it’s all about the speech.

Bal: Okay then, thanks for your time.

I later then cornered Adam in his chalet bedroom, where he was doing, well, something I’m not at the liberty to disclose.

Bal: Just a few secs, then you can get back to it.

Adam: Okay then.

Bal: We saw you at the ICAN opening, you looked kinda nervous. Still nervous now?

Adam: Just a little. But then everyone gets nervous all the time.

Bal: So, you’ve got a well, you’ve got a whole group of uhm, friends backing you up. What do you think of your chances?

Adam: Well…about 50-50 I guess. It’s going to be a tough fight.

Bal: Yeah, it would appear so. So how do you find college life, Adam? Is it hectic?

Adam: Not really. I think I’m coping well.

Bal: (I'll bet you are) Meaning the additional SC burdens won’t stress you out?

Adam: No, I can handle it.

Bal: You sure?

Adam: I’m not Hizami. I’ll know how to manage my time. I’m not a…

Bal: A workaholic?

Adam: Yeah, I’m not a workaholic. I think with proper time management and delegation of work, I can get things done without too much stress.

Bal: So, you got any gimmicks set up for tomorrow night? After seeing the videos and slide shows and stuff?

Adam: I’m not going to reveal anything. It’s a surprise.

Bal: Alright then. Now, hm, you said you have experience as a Head Boy?

Adam: Yes, in my old school.

Bal: Both of you seem to be banking on that. Frankly said, isn’t being a Head Boy in school different? I mean, you’ve got more power here, and hence, more responsibility. The posts in school were mostly controlled a lot by teachers.

Adam: Well, even though the power may be increased, in essence, it’s still the same thing. Communication skills, being able to handle events… So I don’t really think it’s all that much of a difference.

Bal: Alright then, Adam. I’ll leave you to get back to…what you were doing just now. Good luck for tomorrow.

And there you have it. From the two future Head Boys. Well they’ll talk much more tomorrow night I’m sure, so I’ll just leave it here. In the meantime, well, what we can be sure of is that we won’t be seeing future ‘Hizami-clones’ in any of these two. ^^ Sorry Hizami, guess you’re not that much of a role model after all.

Interviews With The Candidates! Part One

2006-02-07T08:44:00.000-08:00

Short Interview with Amir, Candidate for Male Vice Prez

By Muhammad Iqbal

While some of the candidates were approached pre-manifesto night, I only had the opportunity to interview Amir after due to the fact that I spent the evening writing *censored*. So anyway, wouldn’t wanna bore you with the details of what *I* did, so let’s just move on to Amir!

Bal: Wonderful wonderful speech back there Amir.

Amir: Why thank you. (grins)

Bal: In your speech, you mentioned Ipoh a lot. You’re quite high on Ipoh aren’t you? Don’t you think KL-ians will be offended?

Amir: Well, Ipoh is a great, great city where we can find cultural integration. Things are just so harmonious there that I can’t help but want to bring that here. It’s where I grew up. But I’ve been to KL, and I’ve been around. Most KL people haven’t been to Ipoh. I think I can be the best of both worlds.

Bal: In your speech you mentioned that you wanted not to ‘Westernize’ us but instead make us true Malaysians. Then why didn’t you make your speech in Malay? Shazli did.

Amir: Not speaking Malay doesn’t make you not a Malaysian. Being a Malaysian isn’t about the language- but the pride and the mentality.

Bal: Ah, yes. So you also mentioned CP in your manifesto. Everyone knows you were the director. And everyone’s had their views on it. Some negative, some positive. What did you think of it?

Amir: Personally, I think it was great. It was fun getting to know and work with so many people. Even if some seniors did slam it, I say it was great for the experience of it.

Bal: To each his own. I think the CP was fun too. The *script* was awesome. Oh yeah, last question- did you write that wonderful, heartfelt manifesto speech yourself?

Amir: Oh no, I didn’t. I had help- from people who I won’t disclose.

Bal: Thank you for your time. (huge grin)

And that was all the time I had for, as I had food waiting for me at a then-closing cafeteria. I’m sure Amir had spoken enough about himself during the manifesto, so I didn’t really have that much questions left to ask. Meanwhile Amir was yanked away by his supporters, leading him on to God-knows where. Now I can only hope that Oz covers Shazli and Punit corners Bazli…

The Initial Resurrection

2006-01-23T14:07:00.000-08:00

The Initial

Initial Apologies

To the loyal readers of this blog.. The Initial sincerely apologizes for the blog's recent inactivity. It is an unforgivable crime to keep the readers of this blog from acquiring day-to-day info on their beloved alma-matter...

However, the Initial would like the dear readers to not forget Heza Dodo's Law of Inactivity. What is this Law you might ask.. Well, this is actually a law tht was discovered by Rommel's chemistry professor here in the states on the 20th of Jan 2006. The law states that the level of activity in a group is inversely proprtional to the number of people in the group. For example, on 20th Jan, the chemistry class was split into two groups consisting of 8 people. According to Heza Dodo's Law of Inactivity, the level of activity and productivity displayed by any particular member of the group would be 1/8 of the level that you would get if they were to work alone. This theory was proven correct for this particular case as Rommel was caught surfing the web 10 minutes after the groups were assigned. The same law can be applied here. Because of the 600% increase of writers for the blog, we now have a 600% decrease in productivity. And this Law (disregarding other factors that may play a part) thus pseudo-explains the recent lack of blog updates.

Initial update

As the title may suggest, this is just an initial perspective of the current events in KYUEM. The Initial is reporting this based on rumors from the word of its sources. The initial does not have actual witnesses to the events at hand. Reader discretion is advised.

SC Stress Cumulating

The SC nominations are in. Though not thoroughly sure of the actual nominees, the Initial has managed to determine the top players of the election.

*drum rolls* And the nominees are:
President: Adam & Aqtar
VP: Amir?, n some othr people... sorry....
Kauthar, Jhuen Ri, Natasia

*Drum rolls end.*

Yeah thats all the initial knows. Pathetic isn't it... The Intial hopes that other members of the Veritas Online team would provide the readers with additional info on the SC elections

ICAN? DO IT!!!

The Islamic Cultural and Arts Night is coming up. The event promises to be very interesting indeed. The Initial has also learned that students are loosing sleep again because of this. And that it is going to be held at night. Yeah, that's all folks. Once again, The Initial hopes that other members of the Veritas Online team would provide the readers with additional info on ICAN.

Zombie Attack

The Initial has also received reports that KYUEM was attacked by a horde of rotting cadavers. The attack was rumored to have taken place on the night of the 19th of January. It seems that the student body has suffered 3 casualties of whose identities still cannot be determined by the Initial. It was also reported that the marauding zombies were finally stopped by a certain individual called Ahmad Dhiyauddeen b. Abdul Shukor. The method of slaying is still unknown to the Initial. The only thing that the Initial can confirm is that the food served at the Dining Hall recently have smells very much similar to the corpses of the living dead. Again, the Initial would like to advise that the reader practice discretion when reading this post as the Initial cannot fully determine the actual validity of these events. The Initial hopes that other members of the Veritas Online team would provide the readers with additional info on the Zombie attack.

Until the Initial's next beginning, may you find truth in the articles you read.

Horror! Tragedy!

2005-10-28T05:09:00.000-07:00

The entire college went numb with grief earlier today, as rain delayed the already twice-delayed gotong-royong event which everyone has been looking forward to. The event, which was originally supposed to be last Friday, was cancelled at the last minute today at 2.30 with everyone gathered at the foyer, pumped up and eager to start cleaning up the parts of the college which were suspected to be prime Aedes mosquito breeding grounds. With the tools gathered and the students ready, in the end it started raining. As Hizami announced that the event would be postponed, there was an air of sadness as all present wallowed in grief...for about two seconds before they started heading back to their chalets.

'Disappointed, just disappointed' says Ashraff, a junior Garnetor. 'I was looking forward to this, but then there's nothing to do. God wants us to rest in our chalets today. At least if do this after break, us Muslims won't be fasting and we should be able to work twice as efficiently.'

With the college closing tomorrow for the much-anticipated Raya break, the 'raya' spirit is already in the air. Teachers are handing out homework, students are skipping class to avoid recieving homework (or in the seniors' cases, to prepare for their AS exams), and sounds suspiciously reminiscent of fireworks have been heard coming from the boys' chalets.

So people, have a safe journey home, pack up on all the fat you lost during fasting month with all the rendang and ketupat you can stuff in, then come back in one piece.

Happy holidays!

EXAMS! yawn

2005-10-22T00:51:00.000-07:00

Finally! Exam week is over for us juniors, it was our first experience ever. Now that we've had our share of the IELTS-three-hour-straight chilling treatment in the Great Hall, we can really stake claim to be called 'true KYUEM-ians'. Yours truly forgot to bring back his jacket from his last trip at home, and thus had to learn the hard way that when KYUEM claimed to 'prepare you for the UK', they were very well talking about the climate as well.

To the disdain of some seniors, juniors were given study leave throughout the exam week. Meaning that on days that there were no exams, academic periods were spent lounging about studying in the comforts of the RC, or studying the pillowcases back in their own rooms. To this, one female Garnetor bitterly scoffs,

'When WE were juniors we didn't get any study leave!'

And she probably has every right to say that, as it was rather unnerving to see people who were supposed to be busy cracking their heads lying about and having a good time. Some junior chalets were spotted holding 'movie nights' on Thursday and Wednesday, other juniors were spotted hanging out in the cafe' like they would during any normal weekend, others who have *ahem* gotten lucky enough to find *ahem* have been spotted at late night junction meetings and so forth, with textbooks noticably missing (if their intention was to study together to begin with).

The general state of apathy could possibly be due to the fact that some of us still have free blocks (AS subjects that haven't started), and so some had only 3 subjects to worry about. Those who had the most fun, however, were the people who took 3 and a half A-levels, but a) their AS subjects hadn't started and b) one of their three A-levels was Chemistry. Yes, there was an instant uproar when it was announced that there Chemistry wouldn't be tested during this exam. Nerds such as myself were heartbroken, but it was a pain that healed instantly with the help of late night movies and more pillow sessions. So some lucky people had their schedules looking like this:

Monday: Bio practical
Tuesday:Bio written test
Wednesday: IELTS for first three hours of the day, pillow session for the rest
Thursday: Pillow session
Friday: Public holiday
Saturday: Math test

While others (ha ha) have schedules looking like this:

Monday: Bio practical
Tuesday: Bio written test
Wednesday: IELTS, followed by English Lit
Thursday: Physics practical
Friday: Public holiday
Saturday: Math test, followed by Malaysian Studies, everyone's favourite GS

So there, we juniors aren't kiasu like some seniors claim. We are all just as human as the next senior. We just have things easy for now. Don't blame us. Imagine how WE felt. The tragedy of it all! All we wanted was more stress but oh well, guess that can wait for next semester.

With some AS subjects starting this Monday (refer to the notice board on the second floor for details), you can almost hear us junior nerds quivering with anticipation. No, really.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to weep over the tragedy that was my Maths paper.

2005-10-22T00:11:00.000-07:00

More tales from the local community, as Nicholas has once again discovered his sense of purpose in life, to radiate to death in front of a monitor so others can remain glued to the exploits of KYUEM students.

Bal and his fascinating tales of junior nerds - true on all accounts. Thumbs up to Bal for portraying junior life as being FAR more hectic than it actually is. A random senior observation indicated the RC was still highly undersubscribed, but with Ramadhan and Terawih prayers eating into requisite RC time (it's now only open at 8.30pm - highly illogical considering buka puasa starts at 7.05pm here.

SENIOR CAMBRIDGE INTERVIEWS - The haggard looks on many seniors' faces are no more. Seniors all reacted differently to the impending tragedy - some holed up in their room with one years' supply of MSG-based products, some perfecting the Perfect Frown for public display, others taking the comfortable way out - Coupling. Kinda sweet to see many senior couples and "couples", ad hoc, working together for the interviews - sure beats going in the interview room and leaving it feeling even more lonely than before.

Random seniors' soundbites:

"He's such a nice, genial man!" *big grin* - Aaron (not her real name)

"Felt like I went into the bathroom and emerged without soaping" - Iman (not her real name)

"Very good lah. I make a lot of funny jokes with him and he laugh along." Teck Kang (CERTAINLY not his real name)

"Hurray! I'm going to Newcastle!" - Nicholas, unashamedly.

In retrospect, I think I screwed it up.

But is the interview all there is to a vitally enjoyable experience, befraught with perils, yet bedecked with happiness from all levels, at finding my growing brain pressing on my skull?

To us all, blessed be our interviews.

Bridges Crossed, Here Comes The Ox

2005-10-21T03:41:00.000-07:00

First...my profuse apologies for SUCH a long hiatus, I suppose the newly departed UK(by now, certainly, ex-readers) of this blog would have quit attempting to source any info from here. But rest assured, we have not been destroyed by a wireless network thermonuclear explosion or a sudden decline in Dining Hall food quality, and are all alive, well and stressed.

In the intervening weeks since the last post appeared:
First Junior Veritas! Admittedly, a BIT of internal bias there, if we were in the Securities Commission we'd have been fired, hung, drawn and quartered already. Nevertheless, it is with a mixture of pride and surprise that I announce the birth of the first Junior Veritas issue, hereafter known as the "green issue", for obvious reasons. She weighed roughly 556 grams, making a RATHER small splash in the KYUEM time-space singularity at assembly, and later, in boxes near the Surau, where rumour has it, 100 copies of the new Veritas went unclaimed for A NIGHT. Either they overestimated, or college residents are just too straight to nick a copy despite the glaring absence of a "Please Take One" instruction.

The verdict? Many blummin' good writers in dormancy out there - we particularly enjoyed the Top 10 Machas list, despite SOME doubts about the partiality of the two writers, AND a MASSIVE "mis"print in which the (decidedly female) authors' chalet numbers (L30) was mysteriously amended to P30 in HALF the distributed copies. No points for guessing whose chalet that is.

The gay slant of the magazine was, unfortunately, the object of derision amongst the seniors, and rumour has it, many senior staff members. Junior Veritas, if you have yet to notice, ïnserting "rumour has it" strategically every paragraph or so is the best litigation shield, alive or dead. The CHIEF EDITOR's invitation to male college mates to drop by his room at 9.30pm did not go down too well with the girls, seeing as he is also coincidentally in the Top 10 (ostensibly Straight) Machas list.

Oh, and Macha means something on the lines of "Good Looking Only Answers to Flirtatious Advances" boy. Rumour has it (there you go!) only one person in college responds to said given name.

Owing to eager desire to head to dining hall to break fast after 24 hours of fasting, more out of negligence (to set louder alarm clock) than piety, author will stop this post here, rendering above title irrelevant.

Oh well, here's to a happy Ramadhan to all, and may this spate of piety last long well after the holy month is over.

The Nighteyes Report- Interhouse Debates, Final

2005-10-02T06:01:00.000-07:00

Well, after about a month of hard work it has finally boiled down to the finals. The eagerly anticipated match between Sapphire and Garnet took place in our Great Hall on Friday during the assemby, which of course meant that everyone had to watch it, like it or not. With the entire college as the audience, the motion for the final was 'This House Believes That Competition is a Virtue', a motion which probably didn't require as much research as the previous three due to the fact that the teams weren't given research time- the motion was given one hour before the debate itself. With Dann, Hannah and Jhuen Ri leading the opposition charge for Sapphire, in a startling turn of events, the Garnet seniors, Abby and Pai were notably absent from the bench, leaving juniors Farhana, Punitha and Brendan to fight for Garnet. When questioned for what drove them to making such a decision, the seniors refused to provide any comment further than 'This contest is about giving the juniors a chance'. Well if it was, Sapphire obviously didn't see it that way, and noticing that putting Dann in on Wednesday was a lifesaving move, they kept him in on the bench.

With Mr. Small himself as the chief adjudicator this time, both houses struggled over the claim for the tournament cup. The Garnetors, with their seniors absent fought on bravely, proving that they wouldn't give up even without the legendary Pai or Abby backing them up. The Sapphireans on the other hand were out to get the cup that they were denied by Garnet last year, and fought hard. As usual facts were given, (phony) statistics were provided, and the heat was up. Speakers Jhuen Ri and Punitha, notably spoke with such passion and conviction that you'd think that they were fighting for their lives.

And at the end of it, Mr. Small gave his comment on the debate, before announcing that the best speaker was Dann and the winner was indeed Sapphire. One could say that the Garnet team made a mistake by not putting Pai and Abby on the bench, but then, winning isn't everything now, is it? Both teams fought honorably, and there were no hard feelings.

Not much, anyway.

Either way, there's always next year.

The Nighteyes Report- Interhouse Debates, Round Three

2005-09-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

The events of last week which left all teams with a total of one loss and one win made this week the defining moment for every house, the part where who gets to go to the final and who gets sent packing is determined. And as expected, some hostilities between certain houses were sparked. Suspcious glances were thrown at any member of the opposing house coming towards any debate discussion site, and sometimes, it felt like the debaters were ready to throw knives at each other. Well any pent up tension was relased tonight, and the winners were chosen to wrack their brains on Friday while the losers were granted release from the stressing procedure of researching, discussing, writing cue cards, etc. etc so that they can spend more time worrying about tomorrow's International Food Festival and what they're going to wear.

Today's motion was 'This House Believes In Meritocracy', not exactly as bloody or sex-related as the previous two topics (though Shahrin managed to make it almost sex-related, more on that later), but an interesting one nonetheless. Due to complications, the Garnet-Diamond match was held in LT1 instead of the GH, and the Sapphire-Topaz match was held at LT2. In LT1, the house of Garnet, represented by Abby, Puntiha and Pai acted as the government, while the house of Diamond, sporting the same lineup from last week acted as the opposition. For the Sapphire-Topaz match on the other hand, Sapphire acted as the opposition while Topaz, again sporting all black attire acted as the government. Like Abby and Nicholas from the week before, Sapphire had resorted to placing a senior on the bench, Dann, while the Topazians were again represented by an all-junior lineup (Amirul, Feera, Amir).

On the whole, after three rounds of debating, most of the junior debaters seemed a bit more calm and composed than during the first week. Punitha wasn't as nervous as she was during her debut, and managed to shine alongside the TKC-ian stars while Hannah from the Sapphirean team managed to bag the Best Speaker title. After gruelling matches on both sides, in the end Garnet and Sapphire were announced as the winning teams for the night, with Abby and Hannah as best speakers, slated to meet in the final this Friday, which interestingly, is exactly like last year, where Garnet defeated Sapphire in the finals. Will history repeat itself? Guess we'll find out soon.

In the meantime, the Diamond-Garnet match was a truly enjoyable watch. There were slip ups, there were jokes, and one of the nights most memorable lines was said by Shahrin, who went,

'Malays need a crotch to fall back on'

Last time I checked, I still have mine. Sheesh. Oh well, I'm sure he meant to say CRUTCH. On the whole, as Abby said and I quote, 'The match wasn't a head-on match', as the Government argued on the principles of Meritocracy, the opposition was busy trying to point out that life isn't fair and never will be, since people are born differently. To this, Pai happily adds, 'If everyone were born the same, then it'd be 'attack of the clones'. Though some would say that it is illogical that Diamond should bring up birthrights, since that is an uncontrolled factor, Pang insists that their loss was 'A case of bad presentation'.

Either way, it was a relief to see that the debates haven't affected any friendships. Pang treated the entire Garnet team for drinks at the cafe immediately afterwards while Shahrin pretended to get himself drunk on root beer. Oh well, you can't blame him. He's a very very stressed person, being Secretary General and all, and he's got that big event coming up tomorrow.

Tomorrow should be quite interesting, at least if you look at the people who bothered to get 'exotic' foreign clothes to wear. It would go without saying that there should be at least some (if not a LOT) of people wearing plain formal attire, claiming that they're from some European country. Oh well, we'll just wait and see what tomorrow brings then.

The Nighteyes Report- Interhouse Debates, Round Two

2005-09-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

With the bloodthirsty topic of the First Round of debates well behind us, tonight witnessed the debate of an equally (if not more) interesting topic. 'This House Believes In The Distribution of Free Condoms and Needles to Prevent The Spread of HIV'. For some unknown reason, the word 'condom' itself seems to generate an air of 'excitement' amongst us teens. The only other word that would excite teens more other than the word condom would undoubtedly be the word 'sex'. But let's not go there now.

Tonight, the Garnetors took on Sapphire in LT2 while the Diamonders took on the Topazians at the Great Hall. In LT2, the Sapphirean team became the Government team while the Garnetors became the Opposition. In the Great Hall, the Topazians acted as the Government while the Diamonders were the Opposition. All teams displayed a change in their lineups, where both of the teams that lost in the First Round (Diamond and Garnet) had their Seniors, the fabulous Abby and the notorious Nicholas Pang come out of retirement to save their teams chances of securing a place in the finals. Where Pang admitted to joining in to make up for the First Round loss, Abby had this to say,

'It's strategy. It's all about strategy.'

Whether it was about saving the team, strategy, or reclaiming the spotlight, both seniors proved that they still had it in them, with both houses Diamond and Garnet claiming victory. An interesting thing to point out is that some debaters had been complaining on how the topic was lopsided towards the Government's advantage, and yet on both occasions, the Government lost, which proves that having a lot to say doesn't help unless you know how to use it.

In the Topaz-Diamond match, the Government could have saved itself had they pointed out that the free condom and needles program is a part of a larger effort to prevent AIDS, whereby there are other sub-programs which cover the 'morality' issue that the opposition were happily attacking. Overall though, the Topaz team at least went out with a bang, with third speaker Amir being as loud, funny and (might I say) informal as he usually is. He went one step further from last week and addressed the third speaker of the opposition by first name basis, which Nicholas only too happily responded in kind. Notable absent was Amirrrrul, who couldn't debate due to his involvment with the National Health Sciences debates going on. Last week's first speaker, Feera took over his spot, with more confidence and better style than the week before
while the first speaker position was taken by newcomer Aisyah, who spoke fairly well for a first-timer, with her only flaw being her reading from the script. Diamond's first speaker, Syat showed much enthusiasm for her role, displaying style and emotion as would be expected of a person in a drama (which the government happily pointed out). Shahrin was as calm and composed as ever, albeit being a bit more stiff, and Pang just stole the show back from Amir, determined not to allow the Topazians to have the only joker in the hall. Nicholas won the Best Speaker title, and with the rest of the Diamond team, won the match. Undoubtedly putting Pang in was a good move for the Diamond team, and we can expect to see him on the bench again next week. On a side note, the only member of the Diamond team wearing flashy attire was Syat, while Pang turned up in an unironed white shirt and Shahrin dressed casually. Since dressing extravagantly in the First Round (they were all in batik) didn't help them, less formal clothes probably brought them more luck, and if so, we can expect them to turn up in singlets and kain pelekat should they make it to the final.

In the Garnet-Sapphire match, Abby's return also marked Garnet's return to victory, with Pai again winning the Best Speaker Title. Also making their debuts for this year were Brendan on the Garnet Team and Aishah from Sapphire. Both displayed a commendable level of talent, with Aishah using her pleasant voice and manner of speaking to full use and Brendan using whatever experience he had from participating in Worlds Style debates before entering KYUEM. As Sapphire sent in an all juniors team consisting of Aishah, Jhuen Ri and Hannah, Garnet sported more two seniors, Abby and Pai with Brendan as the sole junior. Experience won out, in the end, as Abby and Pai put 5 (6? more?) years of debating experience to good use.

Thus leaving everyone on equal ground. Every team has suffered at least one loss so far. The next debates will probably be more fiery, with everyone fighting to defend their right to go to the finals. We've had a 'bloodthirsty' topic for Round One, an (ahem) 'lusty' (somewhat) topic for Round Two, one can only wonder what Hizami's brain is cooking up right now...

The Nighteyes Report- Interhouse Debates, Round One

2005-09-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

It’s that time of the year again for us KYUEM-ians. Being a junior, I’m not really one to say that, but as I am loosely involved with the inter-house debates (playing a VERY prominent role on the Garnet debate team) I could say that this much could be expected from the start. The vicious cycle of researching, yapping, making/buying coffee, breaking into classrooms for discussions, and finally unleashing all the forcefully fed information in a crowded room, vying for claim of the the ‘truth’ has begun. Even before the holidays, seniors have begun ‘testing’ the new juniors for the next potential debating star, so that they can a) lie back and let the juniors handle the burden whilst attending to their studies and b) give the juniors much-needed exposure for the long run. Seniors have been spotted imparting vital words of wisdom for the ‘fresh ones’, in hopes that victory can be achieved (or retained) for their houses. With the newly implemented system where every house needs a minimum of three juniors per debate team, senior stars won’t be able to hog all the limelight anymore (if they had any intention to do so), as there will always be at least one junior debater on the bench.

And with the first round over tonight, it would be safe to say that the junior batch has its share of stars, ready to shine. The seniors who have decided to stay on, however, have also managed to prove that one year is hardly enough time for them to lose their ‘gift of gab’. The first round motion, ‘This House Opposes The Death Penalty’ is definitely a bloodthirsty one, and promised for an interesting debate. The Garnet vs. Topaz match at the LT2 and the Sapphire vs. Diamond match at the Great Hall were attended by a fair amount of people who, were eager to watch these talented speakers battle it out on the debate floor, and at the same time, possibly take note of a few potential SC-runners.

Although some might say that some of the junior debaters were chosen based on their past experience, some houses had juniors who had, before setting foot in KYUEM, never ever even watched a debate match before. Yet even these people managed to deliver, managed to put up a fight for what they (forced to) believe in.

The Garnet team surprised some tonight, sporting a lineup with two juniors and one senior, with the fabulous VP noticeably absent from the bench, leaving compatriot Pai with the ever famous Punitha (who, I might add already has a huge fanbase since before ever participating in debate) and Farah Farhana, a junior who appears quiet and shy but is obviously more than that, considering the fact that she was on that bench to begin with. Topaz, on the other hand, sported and all-juniors team, with Feera, Amirul and our CP director leading the charge. Sapphire was represented by Azrieal, Hannah and Jhuen Ri all junior with Dann taking a coaching position while the house of Diamond was represented by Farhana (Queen) Roslan, Syat, and IAW Diamond Hero, Shahrin.

After one hour of quarantine, all teams took their positions at their delegated ‘battlegrounds’, with Garnet being the Government, Topaz the Opposition in LT2, while in the Great Hall, the Diamonders played the ‘bloodthirsty’ role of Opposition, supporting the death penalty while the house of Sapphire were the Government.

On the whole, the both matches were said to be ‘tight’, and regardless of having experience or not, mistakes were made on all sides, as expected. Yet at the end of the night, all teams brought home something, in a sense that the best speakers from both matches were not from the winning teams. In the Great Hall, the Government became victorious, giving Sapphire a headstart over last-years rivals, Garnet. The Diamonders didn’t go home completely disappointed however, as Shahrin proved to be more than just the IAW Elocution Contest Hero by bagging the Best Speaker title.

Meanwhile, in LT2, Topaz earned their victory as the Opposition team, while Pai, as the senior rightfully showed the rest of the audience ‘how it’s done’, winning the Best Speaker title.

All in all, everyone showed their talents, everyone with their individual styles, weaknesses, accents (even fake ones), proving that they weren’t just normal students, or normal directors, for that matter. Amir reminded us of why we chose him as CP director, Punitha showed us that singing isn’t her only talent, Hannah proved that she can talk as well as she can act and ask questions in class, Feera proved that her skills aren’t just limited to technical skills, Amirul proved himself as a potential lawyer, Azrieal proved that he can (apparently) debate in English regardless of the fact that he used to be a BM debater in his school, Farhana ‘Queen’ proved that (puts on girly, squeaky voice) “SHOPPING!” isn’t the only thing on her mind, while Syat proved that she can be just as firm and threatening as she can be warm and friendly. Even Jhuen Ri and Farah Farhana deserve a mention, since, hey, debating in front of a crowd is not easy feat, people!

When asked about what his secret to his success was, Shahrin commented that it was due to his ‘batik shirt’. Apparently, all members of the Diamond debate team were spotted wearing batik shirts or purple baju kurungs tonight. When asked about what the reason for this was, Nicholas Pang had this to say.

‘At least if we lose, we lose with style.’

As for the Sapphireans, however Dann says that their victory owed to a fair mixture of ‘luck’ and ‘skill’, showing that he has as much faith in his young protégé’s as he does respect his opponents.

So will these lineups be maintained for the next round? Or will the seniors want their limelight back? With all this new talent on the front lines for all houses, let’s just say that the next few weeks are going to be interesting, with there being no such thing as a ‘clear winner’ yet.

But seriously, is winning all that important? (I can hear some people shouting ‘YESSS!!!’ in the background) As cheesy as this may sound, in the end it’s all about the fun and experience in my opinion. Based on the comments from the debaters I have interviewed, the rivalry between houses has so far (and hopefully always be) remained on a civilized, professional level. Of course, civilized doesn’t mean ‘not fiery’. The houses of Diamond and Garnet can be expected to make comebacks. When asked to comment about the first round loss, Abby had this to say:

‘We’re not out of the race yet!’

No statements could be gotten from Pai, however, none that can be revealed here at least, if I value my life. (I’m still a part of the Garnet debate team, where my loyalties lie…at least when I’m not either working for Veritas or receiving death threats)

Now we can only lie in wait while Hizami concocts a motion for the next round. Will it be equally bloodthirsty? We’ll just have to wait and see.

For the record, Hizami does not support the death penalty.

International Day Attires

2005-09-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to another episode of KYUEM - Compassion in the Jungle, this instalment will be 3 months long, and for the seniors, it will feel that long. What with UCAS, interviews...oh, the joy of another rejection slip, mere collectibles for non-medics, but for medics, an oft-repeated sight...inter house debates, with some houses being more equal than others...Health Awareness Week on the verge of exploding into a full-fledged week-long massacre of the innocents - juniors, even the Dining Hall staff are in the plot! Gasp! - and the inevitable AS exams...this plans to be a pulsating semester, full of action and gunshot wounds.

To kick of a colouful semester, we have...costumes. International Day is 29 September, one big Halloween party, and all students (and teachers) will have to show up for college in a (non-haram) international costume. That night, we let down our hair (metaphorically, of course) and partaaay to international cuisine! Rumour has it Mr Zabed has Bengali food in store...and the Parker and Khadijah families will not let go their chance to flaunt their culinary talents.

Here, we have. The Dummies' Guide to Costumes, all pictures copyright violated.

17th and 18th Century Turks

Brazilian Costumes

Brazilian Costumes 2

British Navy Officer

Chilean People

Finnish National Costumes

Finnish National Costumes 2

Mongolian Costume

Mongolian Male

Moorish Lady

Persian Ladies Indoor Costume

Persian Lady Outdoor Costume

Persian Women

Peruvian Women

Peruvian Women 2

Polish Arque Busers

Reinassance Portugese Attire

Roman Soldiers

Russian Costumes

Syrian Village Women

Turkish Janissaries

Women of Bethlehem

Yeni Ceri

Initial 5 (Finale?)

2005-08-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

THE INITIAL

CP Kicks Into High Gear

Ah yes the CP… Time is RUNNING out, cash is RUNNING short, and tensions are RUNNING high. But how are the RUNNINGS of the CP preparations going? The Initial has done one last investigation in order to determine the current status of our batch’s brainchild.
According to the Initial’s sources, the word ‘unorthodox’ is definitely first word that comes to one’s mind when referring to the 2005 Cultural Performance. ‘Why?’ one would ask. Well first of all, instead of basing themselves on a familiar, traditional, monotonous and pro adult (above 35 years-old ) storyline, the 8th batch of KYUEM has opted for something fresher, something innovative, something that we teenagers (young adults?) could relate to. The ‘MOVIES’ idea has a few obvious differences that can be spotted by the common KYUEM-ers. For example, instead of the character of Aladdin from the timeless classics category, we, the first-years have opted for the funky green ‘Shrek’ for our protagonist. As a replacement for the evil old witch with the stupid black cat from the black and white movies era, the 8th batch has opted for the asthmatic Darth Vader to lead our antagonist armies. Substituting handsome prince charming for the enigmatic Neo; replacing the iron clad Black Knight with the iron-pressed black suit of Agent Smith, the 8th batch is definitely targeting the younger generation with their eccentric performance. But that doesn’t mean the adults would be pushed aside. No… Familiar characters such as Hang Tuah and Romeo are also present in the list of characters. So adults… Don’t feel left out. We first-years have not forgotten about you all. And best of all, it's free. So Mr. Highton, there is no excuse for you to not be there.

Preparations wise, the Initial believes there is more to be desired. According to the Initial’s interview with one of the staff in the props department, the only material that is currently available to the department is cloth. Other materials such as planks and nails are still in short supply (Or should I say no supply?). The clothing department (Staffed at last! Thankfully) is currently working overtime with ONE sewing machine to meet the dateline. The Initial has also received rumours that a HICOM member has resigned from his post. But despite these setbacks, no matter how chaotic it may seem, spirits are high. Juniors can be seen practicing till late at night; departments working overtime to meet their datelines; and HICOM members can be seen sticking posters of their faces all over the college like they had nothing else better to do. Whatever it is, the Initial would like to pledge it’s full support to the 8th batch, and may your CP be the best ever in college history.

Super Senior Invasion

The appearance of an entire new race of super seniors has left us first-years in awe and to some extent, awkwardness. 'Why?' you ask. For those of you who didn't notice, some of us first-years were moved around like objects among the crowds of seniors and super seniors, proudly displayed like new products of the KYUEM assembly line. There was one instant when one first-year was shown to her so called twin sister super senior. Of course, this was followed by denials from both parties and echoes of laughter in the cafeteria. Why are the seniors doing this to us? After interviewing a few first-years who are taking sociology, the Intial believes that we have finally determined the cause of this uncalled for humiliation of the first-years. It appears that the reason that they are doing this is because the seniors actually fear the super seniors. Despite the smiles and the jokes that are exchanged among them, the seniors are terrified of this new race, for only they know the past stupidities of our seniors. Imagine the uncensored histories of our seniors that these new beings can tell us if they were not so preoccupied laughing at us. Imagine the sheer humiliation of our seniors when we, the first-years finally find out the truth of their hidden past. Oh the knowledge that these new beings can bestow upon us is just unimaginable. And yet this is just the first wave. Think of the enlightenment that we first-years would recieve when the full-scale invasion arrives. Imagine the tools can these super seniors give us that can be of use to our never-ending quest to humiliate our seniors. So what are you first-years waiting for? Get rid of the middle men and start digging for info!

Sad Departure

The Initial is sad to report that this would be our last edition on veritas online. This is caused by the fact that our writer, editor, and sole source in KYUEM has been transferred out of the college. The Initial hopes that Nighteyes and Nicholas would keep Rommel’s name on veritas online should he decide to write again. However, the Initial would also like to remind all KYUEM-ers to catch the first and last hard copy edition of the Initial in the next issue of Veritas. Don’t miss it.

Till the Initials’ next beginning, may the Cultural Performance be the first of a long line of other great achievements that the 8th batch of KYUEM would accomplish. And may Mr. Highton be fortunate enough to get some money from his wife.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

2005-08-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

An astute personal comment by Mr Small (certainly meant as a joke) yesterday hit home - "Why is it that with so many medics in this college, we haven't called off the KYUEM-KMB basketball match in open air?"

Haze levels in college are gradually escalating, and surprisingly enough, this has not been followed by a corresponding increase in the numbers of people hiding in the RC or other locations that resemble a war bunker in college. 5 students leaving Chemistry class just now were seen with books on their faces, looking as if they had just witnessed a particularly gory dissection.

Many students have lost their taste for standing in the middle of Saad Square so the college population can spot them, instead preferring to congregate at the Notice Board. Notice how something as simple as a health problem can change the migratory patterns of human beings. An added plus point, at least for the girls, was that there were less predatory males lurking in the Notice Board area, ostensibly hiding in the Cafe in an effort to preserve their potency.

KYUEM-KMB Friendly Report

KMB swept all the titles on offer save two, with their basketball and badminton teams whitewashing the hapless KYUEM-ians. To our credit, we lost by the most slender of margins - needing merely 1 more game to win the badminton team event, while in male basketball, to the voodoo-like accompaniment of Hizami and team's cheers, we set the pace of the match. Sadly, a minor lapse in the last minute gifted them a shot - and they took it, winning in style, with 1 point to spare.

On the bright side, we have the best table tennis and junior basketballers this side of the straight A scorer fence - our table tennis team devouring all the medals, led by Nathaniel. Our junior b-ball was just magic - Snoopy scored like a dartboard, racking up a point total in the fifties, while everyone else just melted into one harmonious, fluid motion, winning us the game.

And of course, we have the scoop on a Day in the Life (or more accurately titled "An Attempt To Live") in KMB, coming soon to an Iqbal near you.

KYUEM-KMB...Friendly?

2005-08-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

Good days are here..again we get to show the citizens of KMB around the bird cage with gold bars we call KYUEM. They are here for another (hopefully) friendly match, last we heard, a table tennis, basketball, football and badminton tourney. Many are looking forward to catching up with their old friends, comparing cleanliness levels of Dining Hall trays (which I agree is one of our little plus points), airconditioning or lack thereof in common rooms, and many other niggling details that we, at KYUEM, so often take for granted.

Personal Statement Season

An sudden influx of seniors jostling for use of the IT Labs has coincided with an equally unsettling increase in the number of Computing classes taking place...it seems a popular choice among the juniors (God bless their poor projects.) IT Lab 1 printer is still behaving like a spoilt child - but then, many of our students do the same, especially when confronted with said printer. It is not uncommon to hear students mutter under their breath when the printer starts spewing out rubbish.

A-Level Results are Here to Stay

Three more days...we seniors wait in trepidation, for the day Matron visits and sales of reasonable lengths of rope go up. The sudden bulge in Biology and Chemistry candidates THIS year means more heartbreak is bound to occur...Rumour had it there was a proposal to put up OUR results on the notice board. Last we heard, the SC, who by no mean coincidence, ARE receiving their results too (results traumatised by, in no particular order, Teachers' Day, College Birthday, Student Dinner, and Awards Day - if YOU think you had it bad, spare a thought for them. We salute you, martyrs.) have shot the propsal down.

RC Cost Cutting?

In a strange twist of policy, the RC has adamantly shut their upper section to users every SINGLE night, for as yet inexplicable reasons. Enquiries with RC staff have failed to elicit a response, but since they DID open it up last night, finally, we take it those mysterious circumstances are no more.

Library Skills Test Records Large No-Show

The number of the students not passing up the Library Skills Test now fills one good piece of A4 paper...attesting to the audacity of today's students. Covering the length and breadth of sponsors (apparently only Bank Negara is not represented - shame on you bankers :-) ), these defaulters have NOT been threatened with the good old visit to Puan Rog's office as in previous years. The winds of change?

All I want these winds of change to do is to blow away the haze that has enveloped this college for the past 1 week, preventing me from reading the HIGHLY controversial Veritas notice on the board.

Heh. Now you'll drop everything and dash off to squint at it, eh?

Malaysians are so predictable.

Gotta run fellas, I've gotta go read the notice board.

VERITAS FLASH - New Lineup

2005-08-03T02:30:00.000-07:00

EDITOR: Iqbal of Nighteyes fame
SUBEDITOR: Ashraff of Kuching fame
Natasia of...Kuching rocks!
SECRETARY: Acap @ Ashraff of Ipoh fame
PRODUCTION: Maryam Melissa Punithaa, Noreen, Hannah, Dickson
DISTRIBUTION: Hamzah and Crew of Thugs

Good luck, and remember, keep the ROTFL up.

Of Mice And Men

2005-08-03T02:07:00.000-07:00

College is fast turning into a fast-moving blur, eerily reminiscent of the proverbil bright light in near-death experiences, for seniors. Seniors eavesdr...I mean interviewed...at the notice board today Wednesday are torn between THREE activities at 4.15pm - the Medical Forums (and just in case there was enough room in your sanity to make another choice, there were TWO to choose from - AIDS and Abortion), Thinking Skills class, the Yearbook Committee meeting...and that's ONLY the plum jobs. Imagine the Marbles Club and Mongolian Cultural Club meetings that must have been scuttled in the overwhelming light of the above three.

ALL IMAGES syndicated from the GRAPHICS WHIZ (cue ephemeral, god-like music) who is employed by 8th Batch KYUEM. We will certainly endaveour to buy out the remaining 1 year 11 months of his contract.

CP is, incidentally, moving at breakneck speed - barely three days after the script was finally approved by the Inner Sanctum, they have a SCRIPT. And a junior batch meeting is ongoing as I speak. Topaz's astute choice of selling Dunkin Donuts in front of the Notice Board ensured all juniors knew about it. Which, funnily enough, does explain why they sold out so fast.

Pet families are certainly the major beneficiaries of this blatant attempt to poison future world leaders - Topaz is certainly making a killing from the many pet parents who are putting in that little extra effort to keep the family alive. To these pet parents, a pat on the head. To the others, shame on you, a junior spirit is dying every day, a junior heart is breaking because of your negligence.

Elocution Contest

In conjunction with IAW, for the first time, elocution on...what else..."Akhlak, the Flower of Morality of Life" - the theme of IAW - was held, with distinct male and female categories again, ostensibly so the prize money budget can escalate out of control. Due to my obvious inability (and obvious desire) to cover the female event, I shall make do with relating the male show...which, we hear, was stolen by Diamond Shahril (spelling? So sue me.). Topaz Amirul, as the audience put it, was "good and reticent" while Sapphire Hamzah was "fluent". Any Garnetors (OOPS, TIM) on the editorial board who wish to spring to your house defence, please.

Overall, it's been a good three days, except for a few frazzled members of the JPA party commitee (don't recall US working so hard when we were juniors) whose sole purpose in an imperfect life is to put up notices for JPA subcom meetings.

JPA SUBCOMS? Heck, even the SC doesn't have subcoms. Good work though, juniors, and may we expect a blast...hopefully not from the past...this coming Tuesday, 9 August, where, we hope, flour will flow free.

Till then, here's to another lifespan-shortening day in KYUEM.

The Initial 4 EVA!!!

2005-08-02T22:03:00.000-07:00

THE INITIAL

Islamic Aspiration Week

Ah yes... the islamic aspiration week... A week where we reflect upon the noble values of of Islam... A week where we ponder upon the guiding light that is the quran and hadith... A week where we search the Internet for the meaning of akhlaq... A week where we wear our long lost tudungs... The opening ceremony was advertised thoroughly on every chalet door. However, judging by the empty seats, the turnout was less than expected. Apparently, the average KYUEM student usually blinks the very millisecond his eyes are pointed towards the chalet door. Thus explaining the lack of attendance that night. But the attendance aside, the opening ceremony was quite nice. It started of with a Quran recital. I, being unable to understand a single recited word, had reverted to admiring the magnificently decorated stage. The recital was followed by a speech by Mr. Small, who talked a whole lot about tolerance, understanding, and other stuff that you would usually hear from today’s politicians. Please note that Mr. Small too had praised the decorations. So people in the stage deco department, give yourself a pat on the back. You all deserve it. Next up was the airing of a particularly catchy tune. The song was about the importance of one’s mother in one’s life. In fact the song’s still in my head. Talk about ‘WHO’S NEXT’ huh?! No seriously, it’s a nice song. Can’t remember the title though. Next up was the silat. But then it was abruptly canceled. A cloud of dismay filled the hall. Obviously, a lot of people (including me) were looking forward to it. Thankfully it came back at the end of the ceremony. Talk about suspense. Then came the Islamic Quiz. The word ‘Alhamdulillah’ had obviously replaced clapping as the form of cheering that night. The eventual winner was the Topaz team. So to all three contestants from the house of black, the Initial would like to congratulate you on your win. All in all, it was a good show. Quite enjoyable and somewhat funny. The Initial is expecting the same, if not better for the closing ceremony next week.

Veritas, elected and ready

Hooraa!!! The dear writers of the college magazine have elected the new committee members for its small little guild. Our new boss is none other than the GREAT Iqbal. The Initial would like to congratulate him on his election; and convey our deepest regret for all the hours of sleep that he would lose because of this. Apart from that, the Initial also hopes that the newly appointed director would consider giving the Initial extra columns on the upcoming Veritas magazine.

Until the initial’s next beginning, may you discover the true meaning of akhlaq in yourself, and not from Google, Yahoo, Dogpile, and or Ask Jeeves.

Rotaract Installation - Egyptian Aura

2005-08-01T04:28:00.000-07:00

Rotaract Club installations are always highlights on the school social calendar...but of course, "school social calendar"'s an oxymoron. Oh well. Rotaract is a pretty active little beehive of community service - you can tell us apart by the halos circling our heads - having done 5 major good works last semester, barely 2 months after our Board's installation...and we felt it was time to paaaartaaay.

TIME STAMP: 2PM Holiday Villa Subang Jaya was trampled flat by 30 students in varying degrees of flashy clothing - some with flashy dance moves to boot. Five students (I shall REFRAIN from calling us, legal adults, "students" from now), a little on the glum side, were transporting what looked like...a coffin. Commissioned by Nicholas, Jhuen Ri, Punithaa and team, it is still one of the architectural wonders of our fledgling college. If anyone detected the faint whiff of turmeric powder in the ballroom...well, you see, we ran out of paint, so...'Nuff much said.

TIME STAMP: 3PM To ominous, Egyptian music, a mummy staggered out of the coffin, tore off his face wrapping to reveal poor Nath...and co-emceed with Nat. Nat Senior and Nat Junior, anyone? Or Nat Dashing and Nat Pretty? (Editor: That's enough ass-wiping for a day. Save your extravagance for Avinder.) Oooh...Avinder, President-Elect, dazzled in a (rumoured to be) custom tailored Cleopatra outfit...while on the male front, Sit showed up as an Arab sheikh. Needless to say, both bagged the Best Costume award...only to hand it over to Mrs Foord and a Rotaract Club of Bangsar rep.

Speeches, the bane of the idyllic teenage existence, was followed by a video - an outrageous distortion of the Board's roles...all members were given a sinister twist, the storyboard revolving round the abuse (and abusers) of Egyptian pyramid workers. You'd have thought, working in what was then the tallest building in the world, there'd be some benefits. Oh well, the view comes with a price.

Avinder, new President, was installed by Belinda, outgoing President, in a ceremony steeped with tradition - the regalia solemnly placed round her neck, and a complimentary hug. When t was Avin's turn to install US board members, she passed on the favour. Mmm. Nath and Nat were, as usual, resplendent in delivery, considering Nat had had barely an hour of preparation.

Later...the high tea...a distinctly aquatic touch. A quantity of (admittedly heavenly) cakes sufficient to feed a small Pacific island state was carted off thirteen to the dozen even before the poor diarist had had time to sample one. THEN the games. Oooh, these juniors are GOOD. Punithaa and Jhuen Ri led a limbo, won handily by our own SNOOPY!!! while Hannah and Dickson took a game of charades to...highly insane levels. Top of the guffaw list was Kenrick, and later with Aaron's gamely help, acting "porn star". The casual shirt act was just priceless.

Interspersed were Junior and Senior performances..the Seniors going all cosmopolitan, one spirited Jive and a Bhangra capped by Avin and YC's gorgeous salsa steps. The Juniors had their fair share of teary eyed surprises, one "Kau Ilhamku" - is there a college policy it has to be played at college events? - followed by the girls raising the mercury of the dancefloor with a hot, hot number.

Last game...dancing. This time, schadenfraude. Couples were dragged out to dance, often with calamitous results (to them) - who can forget Mr Dant vainly trying to "Shake That Thang" with a bemused Jollivet? Or the Beadsworths frolicking around to "All The Things She Said?"

Then, we have the farewells, and while telephone numbers were exchanged and subsequent secret date locations surreptitiously scribbled on the back of Post-It Notes, the hotel staff discreetly took the decor apart and dimmed the lights.

But nothing could dim the radiance on Avin and Jollivet's face on a job well done...and well attended.

The Initial Strike 3!

2005-07-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

The Initial

Topaz Fiesta!

Yesterday night, i had the privillage to be able to witness the magnificently executed party that the Topazians' had organised. Indeed it was a night to remember. Distancing itself from the used venues of Saad Square and the Foyer, the Topazian held their beautifully prepared gathering at the tennis court. Pet families were reunited, orphans were taken in. The first performance was by a group of girls. Exactly what their performance was all about still remains a mystery to me. But after close analysing and interviewing numerous spectators that were present there, the Initial has concluded that it was some sort of Topazian cheer that was suppose to ignite the spirit of Topaz in all of them. Unfortunately, it only sparked confusion. If only they had cheered during the basketball match... Garnet would have won that day.

Next up was the request show. A first-year named Yong Jie requested a song that was presented by a few other Topazian first-year. Among them was the infamous Snoopy and the CP director Amir. Clearly all the singers had a good time. In fact, the Initial believes that the spectators too had a great time. Clearly distorted noise and lousy choreography didn't bother them. Amir stole the show again during the airing of the infamous YMCA song. Witnesses commented that he was the most 'gay' (gay being happy. What were you thinking?!) of the lot that night.

The Topaz Jamboree ended with smiles, laughs and white flour. All in all, a job well done Topazians. May your further endeavours be as successful as your House Party last night.

CP Has Been Decided!

After slaving day and night on the tables of numerous venues, the theme and storyline of the CP has finally been decided! The Initial's sources has revealed that the ************** (Censored By CP HICOM) has been approved by the teachers. That means we can all be expecting the appearance of many familiar characters such as ******************. HICOM members are particularly pleased and grateful to the teacher's decision and would like to express their utmost gratitude to all of them involved. The HICOM would never have made it this far if it weren't for the guidance, wisdom and support. The HICOM, with the big decision made, would now like to urge all first-years (regardless of whether you agree to the story or not) to give their full support the HICOM to make this CP a success that we'll remember. All eyes are upon us now First-Years, and trust me, none of them are gonna blink any time soon.

Until the Initial's next beginning, may you be cleansed by the purity of a handful of flour.

PS: The sewing department needs you!

The Intial #2

2005-07-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

The Initial

Juniors of Garnet rejoice! By passing the Garnet ritual of soap water cleansing, you are all now official Garneters. Including yours truly. To read more about the Garnet house party, please refer to nighteyes’ article.

Now, on to current affairs. The Initial has gained exclusive information that the Cultural Performance theme and storyline has been rejected by Puan Rogayah and Puan Kat. The original idea of a movie theme has been rejected because of the movie’s lack of originality. An in-depth Initial investigation has shown that the two teacher advisors were also not really in to the movie because of the introduction of familiar movie characters such as Darth Vader, Shrek, Agent Smith, Hang Tuah (PGL), etc. Perhaps they think it may come as a shock to some parents. It is also said that the movie was also rejected because of its lack of moral values. However, The Initial’s sources who have actually read the script have opposed the statement. According to our sources, the beta version of the script contains numerous scenes with morale values so obvious that it would be possible for a deaf person to identify them in the performance. The CP’s HICOM is currently preparing a ‘morale values’ filled counter-proposal in hopes of getting the green light from the teachers. It is rumoured that the teachers have insisted in adopting the Radio Station Programme theme that was unanimously voted out by the First-Years’ during their second CP meeting. It is also rumoured that there is an emergency back-up storyline that the HICOM members have planned should the movie theme be rejected again. None of the HICOM members were available to give comment on the rumoured back-up storyline. The Initial will bring you more CP news as the events unfold.

On a more charitable note, The Initial has received request from the CP HICOM to promote the sewing department. It seems that this particular department is in the dire situation of being understaffed. The targeted number of volunteer sewers for the department is 16 people. The number that signed up however is a measly 0. Sad isn’t it? So sign up first-years’! Contribute to your batch. Show off your exceptional sewing skills to your friends. Don’t have sewing skills? Sign up and learn! Cease the chance of being able to say ‘ If it weren’t for me, they would have been naked’ on CP night. So what are you waiting for? The form on the notice board has been awaiting your name for a week already.

Till the Initial’s next beginning, may you have a nice time sewing for the CP sewing department.

Wet, Wet, Wet

2005-07-26T07:56:00.001-07:00

The Memoirs of Nighteyes
~
Through the eyes of yet another one of Nicholas Pang's Junior Cronies

Tonight was the dinner party for the house of Garnet, where after about a week of sending letters back and forth to unknown pet bros and sisters, we would be 'repaid' for our efforts (or lack of) with a warm celebration to welcome us into the family. After spending the evening doing slave labour, all us Garnet juniors gathered at the Japanese Garden, waiting anxiously to be let into the Saad Square where our loving pet brothers and sisters waited for us, all with (evil) smiles on their faces. Surprisingly, even those who couldn't identify their designated brothers and sisters were let off easy (or so we thought). All we had to do was give up and wait until we were claimed, which we all were eventually. No sign of eggs, flour or anything else we had been threatened to be punished with. And with food, long (boring) speeches and performances on queue, not to mention the fact that we were graciously convinced by the MC that we were going to be let off easy, seeing that the seniors were 'merciful', we put our fears of being punished behind us and settled down for dinner with out pet families.

As far as the performances went, the night had its ups and downs. With vocal performances from well-known seniors Abby and Bad, and even more singing from a band of juniors, the night seemed to be all about singing. Undoubtedly the sexy duo of Punitha and Farah stole the show with their screeh- er... I mean singing (They performed Kelly Clarkson's 'Behind These Hazel Eyes'. You could say that they were as good as the original singer if you had earplugs on) But the seniors understood that the performances weren't merely about talent, but they were also about spirit. And so they cheered the two girls on (hopefully the duo won't get overexcited over their new fanbase and plan an early comeback). And even after that performance, we still had... more singing, this time without backing music as the juniors emulated an audition session for American Idol, with Noreen, Punithaa and me (complete with a fake British accent in a desperate attempt to emulate Simon Cowell) as judges. Determined not to let the two girls get away with all the fans, Azmi eagerly displayed his (lack of) singing and dancing abilities, once again with the audience cheering him on. It makes me feel sorry for the other singers who were actually quite good- the fact that they weren't pathetic garnered them less sympathy and thus less love and support from the crowd.

The only performance that did NOT involve singing came from a group of dancers, led by our very own Qin (who was also dancing during the Senior Batch Anniversary) to a Hindustan beat. Despite not being able to change clothes in the blink of an eye like Hindustan people do so often on TV, they were convincing enough, and we loved them nonetheless.

And with the last performance behind us, we were led on to the photography session, were all us naive juniors gathered outside the walkaway on the right side of Saad Square, posing and showing as much teeth in our smiles as humanly possible. It was to the sound of 'CHEEEESE' that we recieved our 'rewards' from above (the second floor).

The reward came in the form of pails of detergent water. Lots of it.

So the seniors weren't that merciful after all. But frankly said, after what the Diamond juniors had to go through, we didn't feel so bad. At least, being doused in detergent water saves us from having to do any actual washing. Those 'clever' juniors who managed to evade the water were given an even better reward- a free trip into the fountain in the center of Saad Square. So we all got wet, one way or another.

In the end, it got me thinking of everything. Samurai, limboing into the Great Hall for the Garnet House initiation, dousing us with pails of detergent water, making us write love notes to people we barely knew, getting involved with all of these wacky traditions only make us feel more and more like we belong here, and if I'm not mistaken, you people have got loads more in store for us. (what's this about trees and birthdays?)

To be honest, I can't wait. Bring it on.

every weekend is a winding road

2005-07-24T22:43:00.000-07:00

First, a warm holler to our two fledgling intrepid journalists who will, hopefully, in due time, be well acquainted with Pn Rog's office - welcome on board Rommel and Nighteyes, both of Garnet fame. They're funny, that's a certainty - we only take people who have lost the ability to laugh at their own jokes.

Weekend update...Rommel, you know not of the trials and tribulations of attempting to endure a weekend here. I stayed, and wished I hadn't. With the laundry snowballing and the quality of DH food experiencing sudden quality fluctuations, it's a miracle any of us survived the weekend alive.

Beneath our noses, the KYUEM Open Chess Tournament was held with minimal fanfare...the only sign of activity in the Great Hall a Sapphire fundraising booth. Top finisher in college was Epy, beating 4 out of 6 people on the way to a joint 5th place finish. Considering he was battling a legion of NATIONAL players, that's a pretty credible finish...(cue - digitalized round of applause)

The number of Harry Potter books in college is escalating to a frenzy, with ONE chalet I visited last night having 3 copies. Seberang chalets, by the way, have MALFUNCTIONING windows - and with a gleaming laptop rumoured to be present there, it isn't long before tears, and allegations, flow freely again. The warden, if you're reading this...

DEVELOPMENT: Seberang is expanding! A ludicrous living arrangement is shaping up - One Seberang chalet (L07) is located in the MIDDLE of the girls' Diamond ring. Thus, that chalet's residents will have to gain access via the BACK of the male Seberang chalets proper, while the other girls in that ring try to avert the gaze of the upcoming wolves in their midst. That chalet is currently unoccupied, while, presumably, the school authorities jinx it will all measures of hexes and counterhexes to prevent the female voice from penetrating its windows.

Veritas (Senior) has authenticated Rommel's report, having spoken to the hapless pet bro himself who is resorting to animal torture. The lizard has been spotted feeding on the Musollah field. This year Topaz is hanging out letters on a Topaz Mail Line while Garnet has a Pin Board. MARA and Petronas - and probably most other sponsors - are not running their pet family systems this year, turning JPA juniors' rooms into beelines, due to the insane amounts of chocolates, Maggi, and milo that must be clogging up every inch of floor space.

And letters. Oh, the amount of IELTS practise JPA students have in store...

Which reminds me...I've got a letter to write. And a growing python to feed.

The Initial Initial

2005-07-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

The Initial,
Through the eyes of a First-Year
For the First Time
Welcome to the first ever posting of the Initial, a column on Veritas online, solely dedicated to the juniors’ perspective. For all of those who don’t have the pleasure of meeting me in the flesh, I am RoMmeL, the online incarnation of a newly recruited veritas member. I am sure Nicholas would do the honours in unveiling my anonymity. Nyway, enough of these silly introductions. Let’s get to business.

The Pet Sis N Pet Bro activity has reached its peak. With deadlines approaching, First-Years’ are fast becoming restless and are resorting to all sorts of underhanded tactics to uncover the true identities of their pet family. Techniques involved range from bribery (Chocolate Milk & Candy Bars Nyone?) to ‘excavation’ (The Initial has acquired exclusive information pertaining to a certain senior who goes by the name N.P who has assisted at least one First-Year in attaining the identities of their pet family members). The most intriguing of events related to the PET phenomenon is the appearance of a ‘Pet’ Lizard addressed to a certain Goh Kheng Ghek (hope there’s no spelling mistake). After interviewing the sender, the Initial has found out that the sender has done this to punish the pet sis, Kheng Ghek who has not yet replied two of her pet sis’s letters. The Initial strongly advises Kheng Ghek to respond immediately and appropriately. Who knows what these seniors would do next. For all those RSPCA supporters, Kheng Ghek’s Pet Sis released the lizard later that night. No animal life was lost in the making of this drama.

On to a more cheerful note, today marks the First-Years’ first escape from the still exotic KYUEM environment. First-Years’ can be seen happily whisking away in Audis, Protons, BMWs, & Mercedes’. A number of them, especially the boys have been sighted carrying bags of dirty laundry accumulated throughout the week. A pretty thoughtful gift for their moms at home. Mothers…, I wonder what we would smell like without them.

Well, I guess that’s all for this first edition of The Initial. Hope all you First-Years’ would enjoy reading it. And to all you super seniors/ super-super seniors/ super-super-super seniors, and etc., we the Junior Batch of 2005, would like to thank you all for coming up with all the various traditions and shenanigans which have both enriched and tormented our lives so much. We salute you!

Until the Initial’s next beginning, may your pet sis and pet bro be so kind as to present you a pet reptile in a Tupperware.

Dedicated to Diamond

2005-07-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

First house party out of the way...Diamond inducted its juniors in style. Friday night, 8pm, juniors await their punishment at Jap Garden, while the seniors had closed...door? meetings in the Foyer. A stage setup where the security guard sits...then they were brought in, to raucous name calling, one by one, a la Harry Potter's Sorting Hat. Everyone did a little courtsy of sorts...cute.

A fantastic night ensued - all met up with their pet families, SOME with the wrong ones. The seniors were given strict instructions, under pain of death, to accept any "illegitimate kids" who owned up as their own. REALLY hilarious scenes of 2 pet parents and 6 kids mushroomed, no thanks to bad letter writing habits.

Then...the food, standard issue dining hall fare...then the junior performances. As befits tradition, the junior boys INVARIABLY ripped off Malaysian Idol, while the girls danced their way through the annals of time, from the 60's Dancing Queen to the Linkin Park of the new millennium. Glad to see ALL girls were not afraid in parading their stuff...we boys have but the purest of intentions.

Seniors...video, tearjerker, the Muaz-es and Taj-s of Bangsawan reminding what kinda seniors we'll have to be. Then the assassination ceremony. With as little fuss as possible, the juniors were blindfolded (judging by the way they could still stare squarely into each others' faces as they gabbled on nervously, you'd imagine the blindfolds weren't working), led gently (in most cases) by their leering pet parents off to the Orde Cosmos...and seated in a circle. Samurai-esque.

THEN the Scream. Nabila (host for the night) told them (cue: ominous music) SOME juniors had found the wrong pet families...and therefore, as Diamond focused on teamwork, all were to be punished together. A dizzying spectacle of water and flour followed, all seniors tucking in happily at the Feast. Juniors, of course, in true KYUEM fashion, retaliated by hugging their favourite seniors.

THEN the diamond cheer, then the inevitable milling around to say teary goodbyes to newfound family, then the promises to stick together for better or worse...We'll see, Diamonders.

But then again...Diamonders this year are a very unique breed, artistically able and gung-ho about everything, and we seniors promise we'll give you a unique dose of Tender Love and Care...

...we owe it to our seniors.

SENIOR BATCH ANNIVERSARY

2005-07-20T22:23:00.000-07:00

Live, hot and eagerly anticipated from the shelves of the Student Council office came the Senior Batch Anniversary...but trust me, seniors stole the show for about as long as it takes to cut a cake. Otherwise, the juniors have SERIOUSLY, TRULY earned our respect.

The batch anniversary is our batch's "trademark new" activites...most batches DO celebrate their anniversaries...but this time...a unique twist ensued. Juniors had a thirty-minute performance lined up for Seniors...and Amir and Farah Syaz, wherever you are, hats off to the two of you for keeping us in stitches, ROTFL, for much longer than that.

We seniors crowded the front stage - with spanking new brown-ish curtains, if I may point out for the benefit of graduated batches - of the GH (still Great Hall, not Graham Hanson) and sang ourselves our birthday song...it was a raucous affair, everyone was enthusing over "batch spirit"...curiously, the scene poignantly reminded me of last year's post-CP lovefest.

THEN we had our...complimentary dinner from the dining hall. The beautiful thing was that it was organized WITHOUT a budget. Next year, if all goes well, Puan Rog promises 2K in the kitty, so breath easy, prospective junior SCs.

Sidebar: This batch is just OOZING with prospective SCs. This is the first batch to FIGHT for the mike during induction; this is the first where Mr Zaidi had to step in to ORDER them to contemplate giving up during Samurai; and this is the first batch where post-Samurai complaints are few and far between. Seems everyone survived it without any scratches...and the quality of the speakers are just pheonomenal.

Of course, this college is not founded on the strength of quality speakers, and some of us can seriously write. Juniors wondering where to sign up for the local chapter of the National Cynics Association, make your enquiries here.

Sidebar over.

Now the main course...the juniors.

Amir, looking good in a jazzy outfit, and Farah Syaz, stunningly attired in black (they ARE a fantastic impression, at least in personality, of Joey and Furbz...oops. sorry, Abby, I mean...one of many TKC secrets that will emerge in due time with her juniors here) hosted the event, with a...refreshing...a capella performance by up-and-coming funnyman Seth and Friend. (Sorry Friend. will check what your name is and publish an apology live)

Then...Anak Gembala. The ROTFL WTIMY (with tears in my eyes) high point. A dance, Chua Zie Yang stole the show with his expert manipulation of the Malay womenfolk, while the dances were...shockingly tip-of-the-tongue familiar. After we were done laughing Amir gleefully told us they were all sourced from Batu's morning exercise routines...hilarious.

Next, the shampoo ad. Hosted by Hamzah and Co, we bled tears of hilarity. The two hosts' spot-on, semi-blur delivery, coupled with the many spots of quality acting...their B.U.S.U.K shampoo could, at once, fend would-be rapists off, attract women, kill mosquitoes, and best of all...grow hair. The scene of Seth rising from the toilet bowl with his new mane of hair sticking out of his...uh...rectal zone...is destined to become one of the enduring KYUEM memories.

Next, the joke-cum-intellectual-advise session...then the Coooool Kids/Effeminate Male Petronas Ad Parody, helmed by Noreen, Natasia, Hannah and Punithaa (FINALLY some people whose names I all remember) and three of the most menacing looking guys in the batch as the softies...VERY good.

Lastly...they sang us Kau Ilhamku...and vouched with their lives we were their "ilham"...to applause...then ended with the whole batch on stage with a stirring rendition of their Induction song, "Warisan."

A love song, by the way, but in the heat of the moment, all is secondary to the stark realisation that dawned upon me.

If this is what these kids have planned in 2 days, their CP will be extradionaire. Marvoloso. Fantabulous.

Juniors, you have earned your spurs.

Welfare Trip to the Apartments

2005-07-18T22:50:00.000-07:00

The apartments are an anomaly in KYUEM - too far from anywhere, any student who lives there generally only returns to sleep. We paid a surprise spotcheck to the apartments, to ascertain there were no students building a nuclear reactor there, and emerged with a few pertinent issues.

FIRST - there is NO proper route there. Students either traverse the mini-football field at the end of the girls' chalets, in the process incurring the wrath of every single female inhabitant on the way, OR they take the main road detour and spend at least 30 minutes on the road every day.

SECOND - living conditions are atrocious. Garnet apartment dwellers report the "unsightly stench of cockroaches" scurrying round - one bedroom has BOTH a door with a semi-faulty knob and a wardrobe with a lock that insistently fails to lock. Thus, they have no place to store their vital items, making us wonder when would-be thieves would stumble on this gold mine.

THIRD - the kids there are just TOO far off homebase. They do not present themselves at taklims, are left out of many house activities at night, and don't even have a PROPER meeting place. One student has to stay in his room, all alone, at night, thus he has moved to the next-door apartment. The fact that staying in his room alone gives him the chills speaks of the desolation of the apartments.

Oh, and by the way, the floors have an inch-thick layer of dust, with more to come, without proper cleaning equipment.

Hizami and I left disturbed, and wondering...what they would do one day when it begins raining at 8.15am, right before class.

God bless their poor souls and commend their fortitude.

Live and Kicking - Clubs and Sports

2005-07-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

One of the more remarkable changes in Induction Week - it is a seven day week. No more do they get Sunday to recuperate from Samurai-itis - but then, no more does Samurai seem to hurt them. A random survey conducted among juniors indicated Samurai has not left an indelible mark on their muscles. Well, let's hope the female swimming test last night did. The pool was floodlit, it was like a football match without the yells of drunken fans, and we hear a Natasha has the potential to outswim our reigning female college champion.

Juniors, enjoy your 5 seconds of fame online. You guys are a cool batch and my only wish is that I ACTUALLY could remember your names. Therefore you'll be seeing a lot of "Junior-in-that-cool-black-shirt" and "Junior-with-the-black-rimmed-specs" from this amnesiac of an editor.

SUNDAY: After a morning spent in pleasant contemplation of the many ways to not miss one's parents, the day began at 2pm, with the Clubs and Societies promotional blitz in the MPH. This is a first for KYUEM (on the dubious terms of my memory) with all clubs getting a booth (a glamorous name for a table) and free creative rein.

Notable standouts: Veritas. (Snigger.) With absolutely no thought beforehand on The Plan, we recreated the stupendous mess cum food wrappers cum stewing bowls of unfinished Maggi cum laptop scene that occurs 2 days before publication deadline. AND unfurled it on a carpet. We ended up chatting to a gang of girls, sitting on the carpet, inducing them to join English Lit with packets of instant coffee.

Music Club dragged all their equipment to the site, with impromptu live performances - Scrabble Club, ditto. Chinese Cultural Club were pretty innovative, getting students of all blood groups and shoe sizes to write their names in calligraphy on big red good-luck paper. Model UN and the Delta Rho Sorority (graduating seniors, watch this space for more) took the middle of the MPH with their almost exclusively female presenters.

4pm, break, 5pm, sports clubs. Silat Cekak and Taekwondo did a presentation - many clubs broadcast snappy videos of their sporting activities. The Lifesavers did a demo in the pool, juniors of both sexes welcomed, MC Dann and Bob as Baywatch stars and Joey as highly convincing victim.

6pm, it was all over, and this Induction seriously was inclusive - most seniors feel a part of their juniors' lives now. Kudos to the SC for this smart move.

Well done, Samurais.

2005-07-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

...and with Samurai, the juniors are now officially juniors with KYUEM credentials. This year, Fez, Hann, Ren and Ala were seen around, with swirling rumours that a Tasha and a Payau were operating incognito amidst the milling juniors.

SIMILARITIES: The yell-scream tradition was adhered to - everyone received a vile dosage of it before their Samurai. For the uninitiated, it involves getting eager students (for THIS batch, a WEE bit too eager)'s hands to dart in the air as they survey how many students were top of their academic, sporting, etc. fields and THEN scream mercilessly at them for being arrogant. Good tradition, that - KYUEM is the great leveller, where straight As and hard work are not curios.

Samurai - same story. Same set of movements, same ending, induction week group spearheaded by Anwar passed on the mantle of Samurai to the group led by a Dickson Low. Now that's a honour, junior, being featured in Veritas Online, so sleep tight.

DIFFERENCES: The great Firdaus gave Aaron a run for his money, mixing his characteristic menacing tones with some intimidating whispers. New costume, darker and more Dark Side-ish.

A notable change - the SC members are world class practitioners of the ancient art of torture. They let them go on and on, then Mr Zaidi steps in to - uncharacteristically - tell them "You can quit. This is not important. Watch your bodies." The ever irreverent P.E. even mentioned "This is not going to affect your A-Level results", unconsciously, perhaps, revealing a glimmer of the nature of our batch.

Samurai dragged itself out pretty well, with juniors being pushed to the brink before Nic-O stepped in to yell timings. Seniors reported the cheering wasn't as raucous as ours - perhaps related to the more punishing Induction Week schedule.

Dining hall cliques are already forming - this batch seems intent to make fast friends fast. A remarkably English-speaking batch, with a larger proportion of day-school kids, the nature of the college is yet to be ascertained, but change will be inevitable.

Anecdote: Ibrahim, Mara medic, Topaz, during Key Values: stepped up to the podium and told all his first priority was to "get into Cambridge"...idealists shall inherit the world...then sent everyone into stitches with his declaration that he would "get married during his housemanship" and then "go to the Royal College of Surgeons to do surgery research.

Ibrahim, if you're reading this, hats off to you. KYUEM is where you dare to dream. Maybe because you can ACTUALLY see the stars in the night sky here, midst Malaysia's verdant jungle.

a week's tears

2005-07-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

One week later, many new voices are being heard. Many new voices are, in fact, STRIVING to make themselves heard.

THURSDAY:

FRIDAY: Morning session Artistic Appreciation - four songs this time around, a Sudirman tune, "Hero" of Mariah Carey fame, and the two staples, R.Kelly's "The World's Greatest" and "Standing In The Eyes Of The World", the Ella reworking. This year was sensational - reports are a junior fled the hall to cry halfway through "Hero". For a change, Nathaniel and Iman, representing the Literature class, delivered the talk this time, focusing on the innate meanings within the tune.

Afternoon session - who WILL forget assembly? Tutorial group presented a strange quandary - juniors roaming the school grounds searching for their new tutors, conveniently forgetting that all activities ARE based at the GH, then branch out to their new locations. Assembly...was an MC Dann/Sapphire affair...Dann memorably calling upon the "second most religious person in Sapphire" to lead the prayers before famously declaring that "the most religious person is unavailable because he's busy emceeing". Roars of laughter by the appreciative juniors.

Night session - Jauhari Window (yes, grimacing seniors, the schedule has been lengthened by one day, and many items have been moved from their traditional slots) NO offence to anyone, but the juniors didn't exactly look like they were telling each other their deepest and darkest secrets...most juniors surveyed were perfectly happy with faci intervention (known in some quarters as blatant flirting.)

The evaluation session, attended by a certain Lopes, quashed any such fears. Upon request a Daniel Hazman and buddy, and another set of girls, all came out, voice seemingly breaking, to declare they had found a true understanding friend...the girl even alleged her partner was "egoistic" before she Jauhari-ed her.

Pejai delivered a fabulous analogy on how our eyelids are the closest to our eyes - BUT we can't see them unless we look into a mirror. That's what friends are for - friends allow ourselves to look into ourselves deeper and examine our strengths and weaknesses.

Nico's turn. He spoke at great length on how his friend had backstabbed him, withdrawing money from the ATM card Nico had entrusted him with - then, voice cracking, between tears, exhorted the juniors to "stay together as a batch, don't backstab." Pejai gave him a tearjerker hug, and Mr Zaidi wrapped up the night with the apt observation that "this college teaches you how to display and express your emotions."

Fine words.

SAMURAI update VERY soon. Seniors who have the (mis)fortune of being away on that fateful date, watch this space.

I promise I will charge my camera batteries. I promise I will remind someone to remind me to charge them.

two days and counting

2005-07-12T22:07:00.000-07:00

Juniors went through their first session last night with the SC. All house taklims (originally a meeting of all Muslims in a house, conducted at 11pm every night, but for pretty obvious reasons, it has now evolved into a house solidarity activity) were conducted - for some reason that escapes me, males only. No female taklims have been conducted yet. Smell a rat. Word has it their taklims only start next week.

Diamond house taklim was a testament to the sheer number of males who turned up this semester. A quick inspection of the Induction package reveals they have sturdy hard plastic files now, pink, of course. And they ALL have huge nametags, with cute little KYUEMs all over the string. Most mesmerising, of course, are their superbly cool KYUEM notebooks, with pictures of KYUEM all over.

Many will be pleased to know the Senior Batch Anniversary is now thinly disguised as a junior meets senior activity. To be held in the Great Hall next Wednesday, it already claims pole position in the list of impending college activities, with...a half hour junior performance occupying centre stage.

Can you beat that? Juniors entertain seniors on OUR batch anniversary...which, by the way, is NOT our batch anniversary (it was today). Now that's ragging.

Oh, and by the way...juniors start class one day late. The simple explanation, and in this case actually on the mark, is that the induction week programme has been lengthened by a day. For what, we are yet to fathom.

it's been a long ride, baby.

2005-07-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to college, seniors. Revel in your new role, start walking around college with a little more grace and finesse, we're role models now, we set the trends let's make more than just a splash in college history.

Back to college: Scenes of carnage. Of free refreshments for students and parents. This year was a tad more organized, a welcome change when they did a real briefing for everyone before the meaty stuff began. Registration, kids milling around, trying desperately to find their first friend, to get their first smile, to hear their first familiar local patois...suddenly all the memories warm my heart and I let my heart go out to them.

Surprises - There's a nanotech engineer, a couple of biology teachers, but apart from that, no major surprises. Well, we have our first JPA accountants, economists and actuaries in ages - leaving the grand sum of 7 Medics. Calling this batch Medic deprived is an understatement. The 113 biologists have been slashed to roughly 43 at last count.

And still counting. 199 juniors expected, 150 showed up.

And still wondering where have all the girls gone. 110 guys have showed up. Simple maths will tell you we will experience a huge female shortfall if (and we do not encourage it) everyone decides to couple up.

Maybe they should send less engineers and more lawyers to this college.

Maybe I should stop making stereotypical statements.

Maybe I should just go greet some new juniors.

Oh, I forgot, they're being screamed at in the great hall now, for only filling up half the designated number of seats when Puan Rog arrived, clockwork, on time, at 9.15pm. The remaining half never ran so fast before in their lives from their chalets.

Infrastructure updates, seniors and concerned superseniors: The wireless has been totally remodelled during the holidays. Information hot from the Bursars' office indicate they have finalised their stabilising of the network. No downtime is expected in the near future.

TWO issues of Veritas have rolled off the presses in the meagre time span of 3 weeks. One goodbye edition, in chic black, for our seniors as a farewell present, one welcome edition, the Dummies' Guide to KYUEM, in sleek yellow.

The first round of English students will be departing their classes, hopefully never to return again, after the first IELTS exams on 3 August. Three weeks to be exact. More Task Twos, anyone?

Many students, reading the notice board this morning, had the fright of their lives - their MABECS personal statement workshops scheduled for this morning. Commenced by a certain Nicholas Pang, who is still sore about having to churn out a PS in 3 hours at 6am today, 22 seniors, all Oxbridge applicants, were grilled on their hopes dreams and aspirations. Let's hope they're still Oxbridge applicants after that torrential time.

Good luck seniors. May the Interviewer be with you.

Long Live the New Hub!

2005-05-27T04:32:00.000-07:00

More college news! To the astonished stares of at least 10 bystanders, Abang Azahari and crew conducted maintainance on the college wireless hub today. They later walked into chalets and checked the network settings, which ultimately translates into "Don't leave the skeletons in your closet lying around your desktop.". You can imagine the number of students who were logged into the Administrator account when they conducted their surprise raids.

Note to self: Remove items of suspicion from chalet computer anyway. News from the IT Committee: All chalet computers will be cleaned of debris and formatted during the holidays. And, we can assume, all holidays from now on. It would be best to remove questionable items that may overly distress your sponsors NOW.

---------------------------------

Point to ponder: Roughly 70 juniors have finished their AS-Level exams.

Welcome to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Sub-Juniors.

2005-05-26T22:29:00.000-07:00

One year later, we have looked back at our stay in this college, and we wonder how much we have learned from the college, and how much of the college's facilities we have extracted for personal gain. The sight of juniors dashing around wondering who scored the highest marks for the recent Chemistry mini-sub-quiz is always a most convincing way to tell yourself the students here really mean it when they sing "Study is the road to truth" every week during college assembly. (FTSJ: Yes we HAVE an assembly.)

But seriously, do we ever torment ourselves with the inevitable question: What has the college learnt from us?

Do the fabled Oxbridge, or for that matter, any university worth its weight in textbooks, in the UK, while away precious interview hours searching for the most able student, the one who

Or do they yearn for the one magical child whom they know will benefit THEM the most?

There are more students than universities, thus university seats are limited resources no amount of existing family wealth can purchase. Are you applying to a university where you can bring out the best in yourself, or is the university searching for the student who can bring out the best in the university?

All things for batches past, present and future to mull about when the allure of acing examinations die down as you realise everyone else here's doing exactly the same thing as you and that you are rewarded once you get an A, nothing more.

Teachers' Day

2005-05-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

A college (we're talking mature adults here!) that celebrates Teachers' Day must have 1) really dictatorial 2) very good teachers. Since the Student Council has effectively prevented the first possibility from ever materialising, it's the second. Sincerely, we have fabulous teachers here, and the proof of the pudding is in the eating, our A-Level grades have never failed to impress. FTSJ (For the Sub-Juniors), Teachers' Day is one of our yearly traditions. If you need to know any more, please do drop by P30A on your first day in college and you will receive a complimentary, cracked mug, our farewell present from the last Student Council, with all the important events engraved on. First sub-junior to win the prize...wins.

Seniors and juniors both put up impressive performances, in Dr Foord's words (FTSJ: Physics teacher. God-like status.) "It's so much of a pleasure to come here and watch the unique ways you fete your teachers as we don't do that in the UK." Seniors did "GUMbira", a combo performance of a VERY well done original acapella piece "Terima Kasih", a trademark Pijat (FTSJ: Anything in capital letters is generally a student's name) love-ballad-like piece for the teachers, a kompang performance, and a parody on "Tanggal Tiga Puluh Satu".

Juniors did 2 performances: nasyid and choral speaking, both original pieces for teachers. Note to self: Expat teachers are astounded by Choral Speaking. Apparently this concept does not exist in the UK.

BUT the teachers stole the show. They put up a sketch of a classroom scenario, changing clothes, toting shopping bags, and generally, being children at heart once again. Dr Foord (there he is again!) dressed up as Faez, a real life student whom FTSJ they will never get to meet...shame...while Mr Cranwell (English) and Mr Hanson (Chemistry), the stalwarts of the Drama Department, stole the show as Faez (presumed dead)'s father and the Headmaster respectively.

AND halfway through the ceremony a huge breach of decorum occured. The Great Hall turned into a party game venue, teachers being divided into 3 groups to take on each other in party games. Shockingly, the Maths Department beat the Physics Department in the tower building competition (lifted straight from the Induction Week programme - students build towers with straws and cellotape, now the Teachers get a go), while many teachers, who will remain unnamed for the Sub-Juniors' sake, cheated in the Blindfold Yourself and Draw The Guy You See Six Days a Week in Acad 2 game.

And of ocurse, we had a good laugh over the photos of vainglorious moments of carefree youth and maddening moments the teachers submitted, displayed in prime position in the middle of the hall.

Well, who says college isn't fun?

THE MOTHER OF ALL UPDATES

2005-05-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

Oh gosh. I haven't updated this for so long. I have 2 months' work of material to update people who have 2 months' worth of questions.

What has the college been up to in the 2 months I have locked myself into my chalet?

1) EVENING WITH DIAMOND

An extravaganza, every minute spent on the glorious house spirit. (Note to frequent Readers, though I doubt there are any more since my self-imposed exile: I will begin to explain terms to our sub-Juniors now that they are frantically surfing the Net wondering what the heck KYUEM stands for) Evenings with (Insert Name of House) occur one Saturday night a semester, where one of the four Houses organize a Saturday night of food and fun. College tradition dictates that the organizing House takes care of the Fun while the other Houses take care of the Food. College tradition once again dictates the Food is bought by means of Coupons which are produced by the organizing House. So, we had food galore, with the trademark Garnet Mushroom Soup and Garlic Bread, Topaz and their Dunkin' Donuts, Diamond's ice creams and Sapphire's...uh...I'll get back to you.

With Food out of the way, we have Fun. First up - Limbo Walk. The bar was raised lower and lower (figuratively too) with Khel the Human Rubber Tubing winning the under-80 section. Next up - the Roti Canai Flipping competition, then the inter-house Tug of War, won (with controversy) by Sapphire. With the house spirit well cultivated, we moved on to the Beauty and the Beast segment. Each house sends 1 set of fancy drsssed couples in 4 categories - Beauty and the Beast, Lord of the Rings, Inspector Gadget and Pirates of the Carribean.

Last on the plate - the Fear Factor French Loaf (with Dip) Eating Competition. A horrifying concotion of cocoa, garlic, and many nasty looking condiments, courtesy of Dining Hall, constituted the dip. Ten agonizing minutes later, as Harith pulled out and Hizami (you sub-Juniors will be seeing this name very often, I gather) and Ken on their way to the vomit pool, Rgen won hands down, finishing with a flourish.

Legend has it everything he ate ended up in the college sewage system 1 hour after receiving his trophy.

The Mother of All Assemblies

2005-04-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

I meant to write a college update, with no one day being discriminated against, for in the wake of the AS Level Mock Exams next week and the general exam fever (for some students, both mental and physiological), nothing significant should have happened in college.

Those of you who've done your two years' sentence here know: Fat Chance.

When students came back on Sunday every room was adorned by a huge Packard Bell box, clearly labelled "Multimedia Computer." Imagine the consternation when the "multimedia computer" was discovered to have no speakers. Still, it is a work of GENIUS by the administration to win our hearts and minds. 2.8 GHz with 256 MB RAM, a whopping 80 GB hard drive, and it looks like a fashion accessory sitting pretty in the room. The cynics have commented that the college was buying us out in preparation of a wickedly harsh policy to come in the next few weeks - we the students will be too busy watching movies, surfing, presumably, educational websites, and attempting to unlock the myriad Windows XP restrictions to be affected by any such policy.

Which draws my attention back to the fact I have yet to immortalize the Mother of all Assemblies in writing.

Dr Ikmal was here. Veritas Backlash. (Due to conflicting interests, i.e. we ARE owned by Veritas Media, the company with bad accounting practises in the midst of this furore, we will necessarily be biased when reporting that incident, thus we choose NOT to report it) We have a new CODE OF CONDUCT. If you dozed off through it all, here is ONE thing you should have woken up for. Priceless.

NO student or student body is allowed to regulate or instruct another student in what he/she should do or how he/she should conduct himself. The college firmly believes each student should be allowed to take responsibility for their own learning.

Onerous words indeed, with repercussions that will reverberate even through the chalets still watching Desperate Housewives.

A Full(Er) Report, Coming Soon. Veritas Media, under the coercion of AS Mocks, signs off.

Le Tour de Beringin

2005-03-13T21:47:00.000-08:00

The 2nd installment of the Tournament returned this year with a significantly more catchy moniker. Spearheaded by Benjamin Wong and crew, they steeled themselves for a morning of gritty heat. As the 20 lines..mostly women...sped off in Mr Zaidi's van at 9pm, the rented bus for the college trip to One Utama dragged the finishing line off 100 metres, setting the scene for a quirky morning.

First off were the womens' doubles, where the Speed Duo of Fong Su Chen and Syafiqah inched their way past Joanna and Fang En to victory. The mens' doubles emerged as a tribute to the newly retrenched SC, Awie, Prez, and Mukrish, Acad, pedalling to victory. Garnet swept all three female titles at stake, Roslina, Chong Ling, and Ilya swerving in in rapid succession. Mr Fellender clinched the Teachers' special invitational category by the slimmest of margins from Mr Zaidi, but THE Hallmark scene of the day was Mr Amran pedalling in a leisurely last with his son.

The men's singles was an explosive affair, with lots of ice deployed to soothe their temporarily non-existent leg muscles. Arthur, another Garneter, emerged champion, closely tailed by Sin Wee - our Sports Exco earning his stripes in yet another sport - and Totoque.

12pm, the event ended leisurely, amicably even - a stark contrast from the pulsating tensions minutes before.

KMB - KYUEM Taekwondo...Friendly?

2005-03-13T21:39:00.000-08:00

The cat's out of the bag. The most discreetly organized college event EVER, the KYUEM-KMB Taekwondo Friendly, was quickly disposed of with little bloodshed and fuss at the MPH, neatly slotted in between the End of Classes and the General Rush to Parents' or Boyfriends' Cars and the ICAW Family Day. Still, it was well supported, with parochial house diffences excised for that one resounding holler. Good job.

A very bloody event indeed, sans the blood. Hazwan and Tasha were refereeing, with Tasha being promoted to head referee once only one sparring ring was required. KMB brought with them a formidable-looking contigent, who promptly made a beeline to the cafeteria. The intelligence we have gathered on KMB living conditions vis-a-vis KYUEM can get us slapped with a libel suit, so let's stop worrying why they're eating brick-hard fish and sharing power outlets next to the toilets and get on with our air-conditioned, Expat-taught, Satuday-classed daily lives.

Results: In an all-KYUEM final Benjamin Wong of Topaz...no, no, here I go again, no house feelings...beat Mohd Akmal @ Batu in the over-55kg category while Khel was soundly whipped by his KMB opponent in the under-55. Grace Tan (White Belt!) trounced her KMB (Brown Belt) opponent while over-55kg was an all-KMB affair.

At 5pm, it was declared over, in the inauspicious setting of the little Bicycle Machines landing above the MPH, as the ICAW people had booked it for the Games. And so ended a quiet event with the loudest cheers.

Islamic Cultural Arts Week

2005-03-13T21:08:00.000-08:00

Islamic Culture. One of the many pressing questions doggedly preeminent in many minds. For one week, the ICAW High Committee sought to dispel myth and misunderstanding, throwing together a festivity of arts that alerted the world to the contribution of Islamic culture to the wellbeing of the world at large.

Monday: Akad Nikah demonstration ceremony, corridor between notice boards. P.E, in his inaugural role as a Muslim religious elder, and Firdaus, the prospective groom, gave a highly entertaining rendition of the brief ceremony. All with the aid of two props, i.e. a worn table mat and an impeccable command of Islam.

Wednesday Night: The much vaunted talk on Islamic...fill in the blank. Turns out, after Abby (SC vice pres, I will seriously consider filching pictures of them in distasteful poses - think SC Performance at Nostalgic Malaysia - and displaying them on Veritas for the benefit of oh-ye hallowed ones who have survived the 2 years here.) won a free car trip to KL to pick the speaker up...AND another trip to KL to send her back. A few students, baited by a Baskin Robbins ad, duly followed, only to belatedly realise to their utmost horror that closing time was imminent. As fate would have it, they did not get their ice creams.

But I digress...but this goes to show how little things can invigorate the flagging spirits many college residents are prone to. Talk was on Islamic fashion and design, held in the musollah, but still drawing a fairly representative turnout. Mr Small was obviously intrigued, as were the girls, while the boys were unavailable for comment.

Friday: MUSLIMAH NIGHT. The high point of our banal existence. Well, as you may gather, there were no men. Female sound crew, female heavy manual labour, female organization - all the things women are so overtly sidelined from in our patriarchical college. Which has not been assisted by the fact there is one less female member in this year's Student Council. AND out of the four current female, two are beyond doubt - it's hardly conceivable that a male would be well positioned to represent female religious needs, and the Female Vice-Pres is self explanatory. Which makes Muslimah Night all the more meaningful.

"A night for women to let their hair down..." metaphorically "...and be as beautiful as they can be." Such were the encouraging thoughts the womenfolk of college, both Muslim and non-Muslim, bore to the event. Food, womentalk, performances by juniors and seniors, culminating in the grand finale, Miss KYUEM...Iman Badrudin, of Garnet.

Saturday: Fellowship and games between Muslimin and Muslimah at MPH, afternoon, after the taekwondo tournament, refer above. Teachers brought their kids along, and everyone had a screamin' great time, as the good fellows staying in the chalets nearest to the MPH will testify to.

Sunday: GRAND closing ceremony, and I don't mean speeches or refreshments. Guest artiste was the SM Agama Kuala Lumpur nasyid group, mesmerising us with 2 tunes. Then, the much flaunted drama. Starring Ansai, Mior, Firdaus and, to a certain extent, Joey, it relates the quest of a man to punish God for killing his family who in the process finds God. Along the way, concept after concept was gently explained through the dialogue - we found out about the hijab, prayer, God's will and you'll just have to wait for the reruns.

Well done, well received. Honorary membership of Veritas for these intrepid people, for keeping the truth enjoyable.

God, Gore and Glory

2005-03-13T18:48:00.000-08:00

The FIRST ever KYUEM Invitational Rugby Tournament, another successful project spearheaded by our newly elected SC Vice President Mohd Syahirul Syafiq @ Nic-O, his less tonguetwisting moniker. Held in UKM Bangi from Friday to Saturday, 25-27 February 2004, it was a massive organizational success. Imagine handling 17 bawling school and college rugby teams, divvied up among 3 fields, and you have a huge mathematical, logistics, and willpower nightmare.

Veritas observers who were sent down to the field, at great personal experience, found no hitches in the 50 minutes we were there. All departments were apparently expertly manned by Joey on the Megaphone, with Hana and Adilah bustling around him as needed. Rgen seemed to have his hands tied up with Hazwan's (not literally, if you know what I mean) with the food arrangements, while one field away at the first aid cum free drinks cum T-shirt counter, a huddle of pretty girls were flaunting their stuff. I mean stuff.

Liz and Nabila were the 100 Plus (Official Sponsors) models for the event, while many nameless, faceless people who were nevertheless equally, if not more important, contributors manned every imaginable station and position, with a generous supply of walkie-talkies, to ensure smooth running.

Results: For the Cup final, Bandar Penawar Sports School beat Politeknik Shah Alam, while for the Plate final, KMB edged our favourite rugby team KYUEM (the college formerly known as KMYS, which in turn was formerly known as KMYS). Credit to the rugby team for finishing credibly - more credit to the organizing committee for making KYUEM a formidable name in rugby tournaments.

The College Update

2005-03-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

TONS has happened in the past 3 weeks - and the fabulously resonant paradox of life is thus: the MORE happens here the MORE you have to write about thus the MORE you should theoretically update the blog, but then, the MORE happens, the LESS time I have to update the blog. Hell, if I had MORE time to update the blog it would indicate I wasn't exactly the right person to represent the views of a participant in college activities, eh?

FEBRUARY 21-28, SUNDAY to SUNDAY

CREATIVE WEEK: Began with the debatable Indian dance, which I personally think was the most fabulous thing to happen to this college since sliced bread. Monday and Tuesday was Mendhi (nicholas86@gmail.com to correct spelling or factual errors) Day, hand paintings were the rage and to many people's horror some people STILL sport them till today. A sign of lowering KYUEM hygiene standards? That's Ecotrip, which will be dealt with in a later article.

THURSDAY witnessed Sumo Wrestling, by far the most entertaining aspect of the event - Gail (Lisley) emerged under-50 kg victor. Throughout the week 3 competitions were held: Graffiti Art (not to be confused with most of the stuff on the notice board), each house had to sign its name as creatively as possible, won handily by Sapphire; and Junk to Art where each house had to build a building out of recycled materials. Sapphire and Garnet tied in a dead heat for first while Diamond was a distant third.

FRIDAY afternoon, as Creative Week drew to a comparatively peaceful end, a bloodbath was beginning. The KYUEM Invitational Rugby Tournament. Full report VERY soon. I mean, after Biology class.

For now.

The College Update that Never Was

2005-03-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

SORRY GUYS!

The effect of 3 weeeks' worth of tests has taken its toll on me. My writing flair has probably evaporated and I am probably issuing the most boring, angst-ridden article of my life as I write.

But informal college censorship has not been kind on me. After 3 weeks of self-enforced silence, a highly painful process for an editor as outspoken (used in a derogatory manner here, you may notice) as me, due to certain forces in the college that banded together to oppose free speech, after SPM results were released, I had an epiphany.

I realised that the ONLY way I knew anything about this college once I received my results was through the fabulous Secretaryman'a blog, and without that, I would not have the confidence I had to stride in on the first day.

I owe it to the juniors. MY juniors. to write on, as much as it may hurt my already questionable repute in college.

I owe them the truth. As I, overworked, underpaid, and thus significantly biased, see it.

But then, who isn't?

Is "liberal" a state of mind?

2005-02-21T00:38:00.000-08:00

College activities galore last week, all replete with fascinating side stories that were, at times, more captivating than the activities themselves.

Friday, we had three activities, all riddled with controversy. 12.30pm, the Model UN students set off for the South East Asia Forensics Competition in International School KL with glee. Now for the obligatory controversy: Some tutors were reluctant, even hostile, to release students to go. That was the primary reason the bus departed late, which was the primary reasons the Muslim boys arrived at their prayer grounds late, which was the primary reason many missed Impromptu Speaking, which many later felt was the highlight of the day.

Little were we to know we were merely in the eye of a storm, as another controversial episode unfurled beneath the horrified eyes of many in college.

Assembly this week (A SapphireTM Project) doubled as the Opening Ceremony of Creative Week. Creative Week: From Junk to Art. Doesn't explain the sumo wrestling competitions on the schedule though. The Indian Cultural Club, with a few Malay girls in tow - this is where the situation starts getting prickly - performed a fully clothed Bhangra dance, to the delight of the liberal members of college.

This, of course, was the cue for an unspoken cold war to occur. Many whispered comments have been overheard by the members of Veritas who have had the guts to come to us. Will this be a long-standing matter of contention within the narrow confines of college grounds, where stoking tensions can simmer with no end in sight? Only God knows why. I (and this is personal, not Veritas) personally (just in case the previous message isn't clear enough) - believe you can always look away, if you think it's not to your liking. Each culture has their quirks; you can choose to disregard them but you certainly gotta respect them if you want to earn respect. Intolerance of other religions or cultures merely reflects badly on yours, thus giving others an unfair chance to strengthen their stereotypes against yours.

Nightfall beckoned the Battle of the Bands, which, as always, was a highly entertaining battle of the good, the bad, and the simply off-key. Highlight: Mr Jamal on guitar. Still, we are obliged to question the origins of a notice on the door saying: "Girls and boys have to sit apart during this event." Kudos to a teacher who, in a fit of disgust, shredded it with his bare hands. Still, he needn't have put the notice up, for the boys and the girls, as usual, decided to sit apart.

Saturday was Life Saving Day. Nothing eventful, just a bunch of 16 enjoying a longer than usual swim, eh? It was an ordeal for some, a nagging pain in the neck for most, and a breeze for the select few with Mr Hamdan-esque physiques. Many failed once - before you bemoan their frail constitutions, try swimming 50m and towing a person back in 3 minutes. Then try flinging a rope 20m into the pool without it entangling AND getting it pat down the first try.

Try college. It has its ups and downs, but then, that sure beats Form Six.

Students, please post your views on the above incidents below. We are not liberal, neither are we conservative, we are the truth, as we see it.

FLASH: ADIOS, PAK GUARDS

2005-02-16T18:47:00.000-08:00

In a first for KYUEM, SIX security guards have been fired. Wednesday 16 February morning. With immediate effect. According to a source, the Bursar personally severed their employment as he had had enough of their antics. Which, apart from our recent police case, also include:

1) Female students out cycling being harassed by one of the younger, brasher men.
2) Female students walking in a pack in school getting catcalls. An eyewitness reports another female student (funnily enough, the same one) hounded by the guards while she was in the Cafeteria, mere minutes after they were fired.

Now it is not Veritas' station to pass judgement on the security forces keeping the Big Bad World out, but as school staff are rarely fired, we presume they must have committed one last act of negligence that broke the camel's back.

Anyway, since news has it our security company is facing acute hiring problems anyway, and Dr Ikmal had been scouting for a new security company anyway recently, their jobs were lost in vain. The firings just lessened the protracted, agonizing wait.

We'll sure they'll miss the college. I mean, isn't it a fantastic place? But of course the JPA Scholars* have more intimate knowledge of this.

* The JPA Scholars were dragged off to the Great Hall again for - surprise, surprise - "Sesi Penilaian Kolej Persediaan" with our friendly JPA officer who only seems to materialize AFTER the period of time when we desperately need him, i.e. during scholarship application season. We were asked to rate innumerable aspects of our college on a scale of 1 to 5. Question that held us up: Rate Location of College. Many students couldn't find the "0" on the scale.

SC: Showing Committment?

2005-02-16T18:01:00.000-08:00

Three days after SC members should have settled comfortably into what they imagined would be their soft armchairs and rosewood desks, it seems they haven't been spending much time sitting. SC members are seriously losing sleep (bad), weight (perfect) and occasionally their tempers (understandable) over the insane workload the college has prescribed them. Still, from our side, that's wonderful, they're doing lots of work. Let's hope the initial enthusiasm is not a scripted public demonstration for the school to win the few hearts and minds that may not have voted for them.

Veritas apprehended a few SC members with student grouses, and have been suitably replied as follows:

1. FAULTY AIRCON IN CHEM LAB 1/MR CRANWELL'S ROOM

SC Rebuts: The Welfare subcom has met the Bursar. Tanjung Malim does not have the necessary expertise to fix our aircons, thus they have rung up KL. Conclusion: This issue has been resolved at college level, now it's how fast the maintainance company can move.

2. TOILET PAPER SHORTAGE in VIRTUALLY EVERY TOILET

SC Rebuts: Will look into this issue, they did not notice it. (Perhaps they do not use the school toilets. Well, verdict, that's a huge loss, as you can eat on the school toilet floors, they're spanking clean.)

3. RIGHT TO RAISE COMPLAINTS LIKE (1) and (2) ABOVE CURTAILED

SC Rebuts: Complaint Boxes will be set up throughout school soon. Anonymity will be guranteed, so fear not.

On whole, good job, new SC. And may your spirits never flag - remember you guys are the only leaders we'll have to put up with the whole year, as we don't have mid-term elections to remove people who aren't up to the mark.

Back To School...Again?

2005-02-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

Going to the airport, for some, has become a habitual routine. Which other Malaysian college has two week-long breaks in a month to celebrate four national festivals? Granted, it is a magnificent effort to recognize diversity, but it is taking its toll on the Borneo/East Coast dwellers who have to endure a jumpy 12-hour bus ride or 2-hour flight. And that's not counting waiting time.

It would be more logical, perhaps, to extend the year-end holidays till the last day of Chinese New Year/Awal Muharram, like Australia has done. Funnily enough, they don't EVEN celebrate Chinese New Year there.

Let's work this out together: We have a total of 8 weeks holidays. If our year-end holidays had started in mid-December, instead of late November, the 8 weeks' hiatus would end on Valentines' Day. TODAY. And we would only have to purchase 2 flight tickets instead of SIX.

AirAsia website: Flight ticket, one way to Miri (which for everyone's information is the midpoint between Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, so fares to Miri are a good mean of the wildly varying fares to various East Malaysian destinations): RM 109.99

The difference between 2 tickets and 6 tickets: RM 109.99 x (6-2) = RM 439.96.

Pretty penny. All you JPA scholars, that sum is roughly HALF your allowance this year.

And if that isn't enough, that fare is non-inclusive of airport taxes, transport to airports (notably KLIA), the hugely inflated price of food in airports and on AirAsia, and man-hours lost drumming one's foot in an airport with a sub-par novel.

Yes, we are a minority, almost insignificant (Data obtained from the Eco-Trip 2005 committee suggests HALF the junior medics are from KL/Selangor.), but sheer geographical distance should not impede us from grasping at the same educational opportunities as you do. Yes, KL living costs are high, the money we save in living costs can more than accommodate the inflated tickets, some may immediately argue in a knee-jerk reaction.

We request the new SC takes definite measures to ensure the school holidays are well-planned. The only alternative, it seems (considering college authorities are adamant in not letting us stay on) is not going home both holidays. Easier said than done.

Of course, to pacify certain disgruntled readers (most likely ex-readers now, though) who think Veritas Online is my personal vendetta sounding board, I am persuaded to add this disclaimer: These represent the views of myself, tempered by the fact I AM a Sabahan who is hopping mad at enduring 4-hour delays in airports THREE TIMES in a month while my Kay Ell friends are cooling their heels in Hartamas. My KLIA mates will vouch for us: our flight was delayed 3 times, 4 hours in total, during the recent Chinese New Year.

It is already an ordeal for us to have to part from our families and homes every time. All we implore is for the schedule not to make it any harder on us.

SC LINEUP 2005 - A VERITAS EXCLUSIVE

2005-02-04T02:07:00.000-08:00

After a long duel of wits and integrity, we have our new SC. Sponsored by Veritas Media Inc, dotCo, Tanjung Malim Express Sdn Bhd and Cambridge International Esaminations. Dressed by Cretel Fashion.

PRESIDENT: Mohd Hizami Mohd Iskandar
VICE PRESIDENT (MALE): Mohd Syahirul Syafiq @ Nic-O
VICE PRESIDENT (FEMALE): Nur Farahbi Shaari @ Abby
SECRETARY: Azlan Ariff
TREASURER: Hazwan Alif Abdul Rahman

WELFARE EXCO: Lee Wen Ai, Johan Dzulkifli @ Joey
ACADEMIC EXCO: Mohd Faizal bin Zulkifli @ Pejai, Afida binti Mohd Yusuf
SPORTS EXCO: Mohd Akmal bin Mohd Samudi @ Batu, Lim Sin Wee
RELIGIOUS EXCO: Mohd Hafizuddin @ Judin, Nur Adrianis
FOOD EXCO: Abdul Razak bin Salimin @ Ajak, Mohd Abdul Ghani

Congratulations to all winners, and may the remaining candidates continue to serve the electorate in other capacities, as far as they can, for it does not take an SC member to be able to serve KYUEM.

Veritas salutes the democratic process which has, once again, ran its full successful course. All's well that ends well.

MALE COMMON ROOM. Locked and Pissed.

2005-02-04T01:55:00.000-08:00

Thought monkeys only lived on the grounds of KYUEM? Think again.

Notice on Male Common Room, locked and shuttered: "This common room will be locked till 5 February coz SOMEONE URINATED ON THE CARPET!" (Spelling is correct.)

The specifics; A student urinated on the COMMON ROOM floor, time and date unknown as, presumably, no one was witnessing that grotesque incident. Word has it the action was a protest against the new Male warden, poor Mr Buhkari. (Note that is NOT Veritas's view, we are just reporting what we have trawled up in our research.)

Students who chanced upon the common room floor, urine-tainted, before the unceremonial locking of the doors, had this to say: Hizami (names have been changed to protect privacy) "I sensed a faint tinge of urine on the carpet." Further enquiries revealed he had also heard other students making the same comment. O, if only they had known the nasty truth.

Bad news for the students is, the Common Room (for readers who have long departed KMYS/KYUEM) is where students watch TV, study on a real carpet, and - get DRINKING WATER. Filtered. It is common knowledge the tap water tastes funnily acidic. Hence the college installed a water filter for students who were averse to the local tap water. With one fell swoop, it is estimated 40% of male KYUEMers have been deprived of drinking water to their liking.

Verdict: IF you have a problem, PISS on the problem. Don't PISS on college facilities. (Metaphorically, of course.) It is an act of cowardice for that one person to endanger everyone else's drinking water supply just because he has a bone to pick. We are, in an oft repeated cliche, the creme de la creme of the country, and it is totally unbecoming that we still treat our First World facilities with a Third World mentality.

Rumour has it the room may only be opened when someone owns up. For the insouciant individual who has brought our entertainment and drinking (water, not beer) to a standstill, this is your last chance to show there's some manly courage deep within.

SC Elections: One Step Closer

2005-02-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

Veritas Media Inc. has come to a complete standstill. To clarify any nagging doubts, we, sorry to say, do NOT know the SC election winners AND will find out at the same time as you, the discerning voter, do. Well, since I'm sitting in the front row, the speed of sound being 300 ms-1, I'll get the news roughly 2 milliseconds before half the college does. Complete calculations here.

Now for the obligatory public service announcement issued by all self-respecting media in the world in the wake of a successful election. Students, respect your victors, for though they may not have garnered your vote, 200 other people do not think so. A true democracy is not about having a lineup you want swept to power; what makes democracy shine is when you are able to devote equal respect to a lineup against your wishes.

We respect the choice of the electorate, and salute all the candidates for having bared their souls to public scrutiny. That's courage for you, and in return, we the voters should demonstrate equal helpings of courage. By respecting those who will hold court over us this year, irrespective of who they are or what they represent.

Remember the voters, O Ye Lofty Victors, for you were once part of us. You may have been gifted your post by sheer circumstances, but our cooperation is earned, not gifted. Remember, we determine the number of pages you will occupy in the annals of college history.

Good luck, and may the best man, or woman, or any gender shades in between, win.

SECURITY ALERT: Laptops On The Defence

2005-02-02T18:52:00.000-08:00

KEEP YOUR LAPTOPS UNDER HEAVY LOCK, KEY AND GUARD.

A seniors' laptop was stolen yesterday. Unremarkable story in itself - but wait till you find out WHO was seen in college yesterday.

The POLICE.

The gist of the story is thus: A one time drug addict entered college posing as maintainance staff, apparently thwarted the forces that be patrolling the female chalets, and took off with the first laptop he found. The police were roped in to investigate - extremely hush hush job, according to reliable sources - and the case was solved. Drug Addict, we are glad to report, is now cooling his heels in a decidely uncomfortable prison cell. But that's beyond the point.

What matters is realising no sponsor or parent will reimburse equipment that is stolen due to your own negligence - and taking steps "sebelum anda disembahyangkan". Lock your doors, keep your valuables under closed circuit TV, for our utopian sense of safety has once again been shattered.

PICTURES OF SC CANDIDATES BRIBING VOTERS!

2005-02-02T01:36:00.000-08:00

That sure got your attention, huh. Of course, these are pictures of a) Seniors who want to elect a bunch of people who will do a gempak Annual Dinner b) Juniors who want to ensure they elect a bunch of people who will torture the Super Juniors well during Induction Week. In a reversal of traditional journalistic practise, I will refrain from supplying catchy captions for the following pictures, simply because who actually thinks that way when they see a picture?

The Presidents Speak

2005-02-01T20:39:00.000-08:00

A Garnetor will be our next President.

Such were Awie's ominous words, giving the empty-handed Bangsawan house something to cheer about.

Awie, wearing an utterly fascinating airplane worker outfit with color coded pockets, that turned out to be the official UTP Mechanical Engineering Club tee, delivered a veiled barb at Akmal's misconstructed statement the night before that "The President has no use." It was a verbal slip, and I assume Awie was taking it lightly. Simply, Awie informed us that Akmal threw both candidates a challenge: Are you complicated enough to be the next President?

First contender, weighing in at much less than Hizami, if exterior appearances are a good barometer: Abang Daud, or, to the National Registration Department, Mohd Hisyam bin Jamari. He regaled us with the origins of his moniker "Abang Daud" - apparently he got that label during an Induction Week game. He added a personal tinge when he mentioned his doctor uncle, also named Daud, and how he remembered his uncle when people call him Abang Daud. Simple yet poignant.

Thrust of speech: He believes he's "close to you guys" and he knows he has the ability to be a leader. In another cleverly worded statement, he exhorts all to "vote for who I am, not who I will be", and in another quintessential Daud-ism: "I'm just me." He argues he's not a busy person, merely active, as many people may refrain from voting him due to his presidenc..ies of MARA Scholars and Ecotrip.

Hizami ended the day with a thunderous voice and equally thunderous applause, beseeching the audience for their trust. He admitted words can be deceiving but appealed to the populace to see the passion and fire in his eyes, and know he bares his soul to public scrutiny that night to fight for our rights. Well said - now do it. His central tenet of governance - to bring democracy to KYUEM shores.

He will not condone the marginalization of SC as a mere representative body and sees it as a body taking real action on behalf of the students. He believes in closer rapport with SC and other student representative bodies, e.g. Muscom, Veritas (?), house coms, clubs and societies, for in an oft-repeated statement, "The SC is not on a pedestal, it must not be detached from the students." He ended by declaring the time for silence is over and proclaimed "I will fight for you, Your fight is my fight."

Veritas will fight for any of you. As you are elected through the democratic process, so we will fight for that very democratic process to set root and bloom through our reporting.

Good luck, candidates, and though we would sincerely love to say "May the best man win", eventually, all we long for: May the college win.

MANIFESTO NIGHT TWO - Female Vice President

2005-02-01T18:42:00.003-08:00

Taj began memorably - We are more important than the Male Vice President. To devoted applause, she added that it was simply because the Female Vice-Pres was the highest representative of the female population in school. Will you be able to fight for gurrrrl power, candidates? We find out, in their own words.

HANA: She admitted she was nervous as it was her "1st public speaking appearance after nomination", but knew it was more about what she was and what she was willing to do for the college - not entirely what she could do as a person but what she could do as a team. To many knowing nods, she asserted this college was too academically-oriented, and she would do her utmost best to encourage students from different backgrounds and personalities to showcase their talents.

ABBY: Telling us she had pondered long and hard what to say, she decided she would show up on the podium and say whatever was in her heart. She was adamant she was not running for the sake of popularity or to lengthen her UCAS form (candidates, keep that in mind WHEN you're up there and up **** creek without a paddle). She told the crowd that losing Bangsawan (Background info for newcomers: She directed the Garnet play which unfortunately did not pick up any silverware in the recent Bangsawan) had taught her more than winning it. It made her realise the value of passion, commitment, and the need to fight for their rights.

AMIRA - She appealed the voters to "please maintain an open mind" as it was, in very well-chosen words, "the person who makes the post". She admitted many did not know her and, logically, spoke about herself. Her doctrine is that "what matters is what I experience in life" and exhorted voters to move on your instincts, for they will rarely fail you.

MANIFESTO NIGHT TWO - Secretary

2005-02-01T18:42:00.002-08:00

Il: Our designated less-known candidate, yet a spunky ball of fire. Accompanied with Pijat Diamond on guitar, she initially fought fears that she couldn't do it, but was given strength by the crowd. She then proceeded to sing a modified "I Will Survive", a seriously fantastic performance to boot.

GRACE: Begins by thanking the electorate for turning out. She began a bit nervous but her speaking straight from the heart slowly wowed the crowd. She said she was willing to do anything for the college, with appropriate physical gestures...First she removed her glasses, then let her hair down, then took of her jacket, and the crowd went wild. You could almost hear the front row (no names here, we're all civilized people, aren't we?) clamouring for...more leeway. She ended by touching people's hearts with her humility - mentioning if they thought she wasn't good enough, please vote for the best.

AZLAN: My name is Azlan but people normally call me Tengku Mohd Azlan Ariff bin Tengku Mohammad. He presented his manifesto in pitch darkness, with a sensual Matrix-like opening cascade of on-screen "AzlanAriff"s followed tightly by his QnA session, conducted with himself. Point to note: Wore same outfit as Grace.

MANIFESTO NIGHT TWO - Treasurer

2005-02-01T18:42:00.001-08:00

DZAQUAN: The most under-the-radar candidate in the fray - AND the sole female candidate - admitted she had never had the chance to show she was a good leader, never had a chance to show her real talent. Still her sincerity was evident when she pledged to promise to manage the SC Treasury as well as possible.

HAZWAN (not RAZAK): Begins by thanking his supporters and helpers one by one. He believes he is able to handle financial tasks for all college activities are well-funded for sufficient funds are essential. He was rather nervous yet gained conviction when he elaborated his "Adopt a Palestinian" project, a very noble project. He believes we have the ability to judge people through their interactions and communications.

YC: Yi Chung, a moniker no one will ever use on him, began by mentioning he felt intimidated standing in front of an audience of intellectuals. He felt he was the best qualified candidate and explained why. His main draw: A gimmick that literally interpreted the notion that "Money is safe in my hands". After getting a RM 50 note from Ala, he ordered a petrified Kusha to set it alight after dipping it in flammable propanone solution. Magically (but Mr Hanson apparently has the copyright to this party trick), the note did not burn. With that, he bolstered his tagline: "Your money is safe in my arms."

MANIFESTO NIGHT TWO - Acad Exco

2005-02-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

BEN - In his words, "An impromptu effort I'm glad I made it." A very convincing speech, sourced from the deepest reaches of his tenets and beliefs. He describes the Acad Exco as being about passion, sacrifice, helping everyone secure university applications, meeting deadlines, whatnot. Also, he envisions SC as a platform for students to fight for their rights and stand up to teachers as and when necessary.

AFIDA - To a rendition of utada Hikaru's "True Love", she ministered gently to the congregation. One image came straight to mind - Serendipity, a Radio 4 programme by Bridget Menzies, 7.10pm after the news. Listen and be bowled over by the similarities. She believes in making changes for herself and for others, for she believes SC is her chance to prove her worth to the student body.

MIOR - He loves this place now. After his day-school background, he was seriously unsure how he would fit in. Very friendly and approachable with the students.

PEJAI - The apparent students' darling. All decked out in suit and tie, he elaborated his medic background and how it would help him to understand, in his revelatory words, "how it felt to study till 3am and actually have a harder time in fighting for a university place". His focus is on good relationships with students, for that is the only way he will know what they want. Raucous cheers accompanied his every move. But then, so did Ben.

FLASH: MANIFESTO NIGHT TWO - Sports Exco

2005-02-01T07:09:00.000-08:00

Manifesto Night II came and went, leaving a student body itching to make their mark on the ballot paper. The significance on this night is not lost on the PEOPLE. TODAY marks a point of transition: the point when the power stops being in the CANDIDATE'S hands and starts being in the PEOPLE'S hands. The candidates, from now on, are at your mercy. Each vote rings true, loud and clear, so DO NOT ABSTAIN. PLEASE TURN OUT. And hell, if they turn out not to fight for your rights...you always have Veritas, little though our credit may be.

BATU: Be grateful to the Lord for the gifts he has given to us. Such were his words, derived from an Arabic saying. His words were of course few and far between, as he sang a song, self-accompanied on guitar, about his childhood and why we should vote for him. It was sincerely a beautiful rendition that left many touched. Famous last words: Vote only the best candidates.

KHAIRIL: Yes, there IS a Khairil, just that it's normally spelt A-C-A-I. Acai ran up the aisle bouncing a ball, skidding to a halt on stage to present his Manifesto. A very polished delivery: he told the students not to vote for the person who's good at sports, BUT the person who can make your sporting experience a success. In his words, he was "ready to korban himself to help KYUEM students." Visionary words indeed, but only time will tell.

UDON: Brought his bag on stage and through a convoluted story told us how it gave him feminine connotations. Simply put - that's immaterial. He will specifically fight for female, and let's hope male, sports rights, judging by the dire lack of female candidates running for Sports Exco. His lofty plans, delivered through PowerPoint, revolved around improving the condition of current facilities and making full use of underutilized courts near female chalets (is that ALL he notices?). Magic words: UNDI UDON.

SIN WEE: John F. Kennedy lent a quote to his campaign: Ask not what your country for you but what you can do for your country. He maintains that his experience as Sports Captain for his school for 2 years has instilled the necessary qualities: facing life challenges and team spirit.

Aircons Heat Tempers

2005-02-01T02:00:00.000-08:00

In the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I'm pretty sure the right to have functioning air-conditioners can be slotted in somewhere. Mr John Cranwell and Ms Shree would certainly fight to the sweltering death for that. Air-conditioners in college are starting to malfunction inexplicably, making us wonder whether our college is in dire financial straits.

CASE ONE: Monday morning, Mr Cranwell's room. Halfway through class - well to be exact, 10 minutes in - aircon switched itself off. Mr Cranwell, muttering inaudibly, walked off to switch it on. 10 more minutes and it switched off again. Mr Cranwell continued teaching, insistent that "it'll go off the next time I turn it on anyway", but when faced with 13 helpless students who are more intent on swatting the next bead of sweat that comes their way than Task 2, soon he relented and stormed off this time.

10 more minutes and it just went off like God was playing with the switches and wondering which one would allow us poor souls to skip school. This time, Mr Cranwell seriously turned a deep hue of red, one normally seen on tomatoes and murder scenes, and huffily told us to pack up our Task 2. We got our library trip to watch Jean de Florette, Artsy Fartsy albeit Oscar Winning French Movie.

CASE TWO: Chemistry Lab 1. Both aircons spew hot, humid air, specially imported from a Third World rainforest. Ms Shree and the student body have complained incessantly, but to no avail. Maybe posting it HERE, where any of the Executive Officers at UEM Bhd can read it, will result in an amicable solution.

We do not ask for marble-tiled floors nor for gold-plated lab equipment. We just feel our sponsors are getting a raw deal if we are deprived of the basic right to study in a conducive environment.

We will FIGHT. Not yield. Till the bloody end.

MANIFESTO NIGHT: Second Impressions

2005-02-01T01:37:00.000-08:00

Note, of course, the title does not mean these candidates are any less important - if at all, we have arrived at the highlight of the programme, technically speaking. First, the Religious Exco, helmed by Isa and Ija. Remember "My name is Isa. You can call me Jesus?" (From a reliable senior source, who prefers anonymity.) This year, in his words, we have a "50% increase in candidates", accompanied by uproarious laughter, which would turn out to be an ominous prediction of the candidates. For they were all good in their own ways.

Judin, the only male candidate, began and ended with with poems about God. Majdina described herself as an "open minded person" who could work well under pressure. Interesting assertion: She said she was not morally superior to any of us, but felt it was her responsibility to be part of SC. She declared that we "still are not living as one" and "there are still gaps between us" and thus each of our voices had the power to change the college. But Adrianis really shone, and this is not a case of corrupt reporting. Well-versed in the Koran, and a natural charmer, giving us her take on religion. And she was the sole candidate to assert she represented all religions - thus her enthusiasm to work not just with Muscom but with the Indian and Chinese Cultural Clubs. Food for thought...and ballot.

Now, the showdown. Kenrick versus Nic-O, two Diamonders, two Integrasi-ians. Will speech or action prevail?

KENRICK: Began with Akmal's famous tearing of his speech, then yanked out another piece of paper and told us he had just torn Akmal's speech up. Nice one. His manifesto was a reworking of his prolific posters: what bridging the gap actually meant. He believes (simple present tense from now on, just struck me it sounded like he was deceased if I spoke of him in the past) we tend to do what we see, not what we hear. To illustrate, he asked students to stand up and put their right hand on their chin. All and well, until everyone broke down in fits when they realised they had blindly followed Kenrick's action of putting his hand on his cheek. Hmm, this only proves that once he's elected, he'll lie to us? Heh, of course not, don't take it too hard Kenrick, but our job is to play devil's advocate.

Ended with a wonderfully read Malay poem, in an accent that in no circumstances whatsoever will pass off as Malay.

NIC-O: Real name Mohd Syahirul Syafiq, as Akmal Roji inadvertantly pointed out. Began with a hilarious translation of a Malay poem that ended "Will win without giving bribes"...which inexplicably drew laughter across the board. With Kenrick's electoral gimmick, it was time for a ploy of his own...asked everyone to stand up and put their right hand on their chest. This was obligingly complied to...until everyone realised his right hand was HOLDING the microphone, so there was no way Nic-O could put it on his chest.

Probably trawls through his email for motivating stories every day with his campaign team. Story One: The eggs, the carrot and the coffee bean. The gist: Dunked in hot water, eggs soften, carrots harden, and coffee beans turn the water into pungent coffee. Moral: He declared himself a coffee bean. He likened the hot water to the adversity at hand, and his ability to be flexible and adapt himself to the problem so it actually became a boon. Smart. Last words: Don't base your vote on credibility alone. Trust is more important.

With that, we wait in bated breath for tonight's manifesto, in the fervent hope this college has truly become a fertile hotbed of democracy.

MANIFESTO NIGHT: First Impressions

2005-01-31T21:30:00.000-08:00

Manifestos are, by definition, utterly boring speeches where people with a sense of humour lose it. Thus, it came as no surprise that half the candidates took liberties with Manifesto Night. Ghani did a cooking demonstration (Food Exco), Nasyi had a little tune on her ambitions as - what else? - Food Exco, Ajak from, you knew it - the Food Exco! - regaled us with a PowerPoint presentation, Ilya ate an orange to scattered applause - no points for guessing what she's running for. But we at Veritas report. not revel, so let us run through every candidate with as much impartiality as he deserves.

WELFARE: Joey is a world class charmer. He walked up, clutching a huge file, and told the voters this was his speech, but since he had their welfare at heart, he'd only read it after the elections. Then he maintained he was not a typical male. THAT set the crowd wild, for reasons that cannot be discussed here.

Wen Ai delivered a populist speech, with simple language that cut through to the public, and ended with a modified rendition of "Better Man". Sit delivered a serious speech proposing his grand plans for student welfare, some of which made sense (Common transport from KL after breaks) or bordered on the imaginary (Bonus Points system for the Dot.Co, redeemable for trips to KL). We wouldn't mind, though. Nanat gave a solemn speech with all the typical promises about not making any empty promises but trying her best, while

FOOD: Ghani stole the show with his clumsily planned Chef Wan demo. Before he began his speech, he frantically turned his pockets upside down, couldn't find his speech (all reeking of a planned gimmick, of course), dashed backstage and emerged with a table. Then a chair. Then a paper bag and a kettle of hot water. And he proceeded to cook Maggi, asking us to remind him in 2 minutes' time. Speech was ok, many personal moments, including poking fun at his waistline. You said it, Ghani, not me.

Nasyi was a bit off the beaten track, striding up on stage wrapped in a shawl and singing her little ditty about why she chose to run for Food. She was, of course, caught red-handed handing chocolates out to prospective voters out. Couple that with her little "Vote Nasyitah" golden ribbons and you have an expensive campaign. Expensive, of course, is relative, when a vice-presidential candidate reputedly spent RM 1200 on glossy full-colour posters. Feedback? They have been labelled the "Spirulina posters" due to their uncanny resemblance to health product advertisments - clean-shaven metrosexual boy, long pompous words, too much text.

But I digress. Ajak did a PowerPoint presentation on...something like his 23 campaign promises. To his credit, they were ALL small and ALL doable, allowing him to play the credibility card. Ilya brought an orange on stage in a bowl, and proceeded to eat it through her speech - actually many self-penned poems on food cobbled together. Anwar was the serious one this time, giving his staid voice to public scrutiny.

Bangsawan 2005 - A Post Mortem

2005-01-31T04:18:00.000-08:00

Bangsawan. A spectacle of light and sound, all couched in the most delectable archaic Malay. With love, murder, intrigue and mystery all converging on the stage that night, it was a night of much tears, both on- and offstage. Eventually, Sapphire prevailed, with 6 victories out of 10 guranteeing its spot in Bangsawan folklore. Here we present a birds' eye view of all four participating houses:

TOPAZ: The judges had it pat down: "Senario". It was so funny the judges were laughing themselves hoarse as observed from Veritas's prime time vantage point in front. Joko, who went on to snag Best Supporting Actor, scouts for a princess to prove his father wrong, in the process rebuffing the advances of another smitten princess in purple. What began as a simple transit into adulthood transforms into a menagerie of trees dancing a la Saturday Night Fever, one softie male fairy (who duly received the lion's share of cheers), and a long and untiring chain of revenge that ends with the princess in purple killing everyone. Immortal line, Joko, momentarily coming back to life after being killed in the end: "Saya mati dalam iman."

SAPPHIRE: A reworking of the forbidden love theme, Amira Anis (the Princess of Malacca) falls in love with Lopez de Sequiera, predictably incurring the wrath of her father. Her courtiers Mawar and Melur free de Sequiera from the dungeons at night, who ends up leading the Portugese invasion of the royal palace. Must see: Amira leaping out from her mother's embrace to kill de Sequiera, her hitherto lover, as he prepares to kill the King. Equally gripping is the scene where the Sultan (Firdaus) jatuhkan tulah on the traitor to the throne - notice he cleverly does not mention his daughter's name - and Mawar and Melur immediately turn to stone. Perfectly scripted and beautifully crafted, it is an epic, and I do not mince my words. They deserve to win.

FLASH: Forest Fires Encircle KYUEM

2005-01-31T04:07:00.000-08:00

In Akmal Batu's words, "I first sensed something was amiss on Thursday, when I felt the sky was a bit dark. Then I sensed smoke and knew something was burning." Well, Akmal, you got that right.

KYUEM bore witness to a surprisingly violent forest fire. Here we at Veritas present pictures of the inferno, kindly supplied by our intrepid photograph..ess? Alicia, Order of the Council of Humanitarian Photojournalists, Class II. Her insistence in putting her life on the line for the call of duty was a very selfless act of journalism for the cause of truth. She will be deeply remembered.

Are forest fires a common occurence in KYUEM? In the words of a few seniors, names withheld to safeguard privacy, an emphatic NO. Rendra (name changed to protect privacy) has never seen a forest fire near KYUEM before when encountered on the basketball court, asking me to take a few pictures of this once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. He was duly informed that Alicia was battling smoke asphyxiation and tar stains to snap the fire's Kodak moments.

Question: WHAT WAS the fire engine doing dormant at the disaster scene? This particular fire engine was parked here for 1 hour (Alicia as eyewitness), all the while not budging. Question: WHY did the fire engine arrive so late? After about 3 hours of ash raining on people in college (quote Hazwan Senior: "Nicholas's shirt was white when he first sat here." Nicholas was wearing a grey shirt that fateful day in Saad Square.), then Alicia noticed the fire engine present. Well, as Shakespeare so aptly put it, all's well that ends well, and the forest fire disappeared of its own volition on Saturday evening - just in time for Bangsawan, which will be the focus of the next article.

FLASH: Candidate Posters Ripped Off

2005-01-31T03:55:00.000-08:00

Who subverts democracy will die a death by the hands of democracy.

A candidate's posters were discovered RIPPED OFF near the cafe entrance. Not "ripped off" the way we know it. Literally TORN OFF the wall.

Any candidate or voter who does so does not understand the process of democracy and is unfit to participate in it. It is all right to hate a person's policies; NOT all right to allow your hate to manifest in an uncivilized fashion. Politics is a game of diplomats, where the pen is mightier than the sword and the conflict is resolved by a war of words rather than a bloodbath of violence. By joining democratic elections, each candidate is submitting himself to public scrutiny, allowing people to judge him in a free and fair manner. Anyone who prevents a free and fair portrayal of candidates thus does not understand that democracy is not power through force. It is power through the ballot box, power to install the person you want in a respectable manner.

We at Veritas are ashamed such an incident has happened in a place where people claim the cream of the crop inhabit. For us, the cream of the crop is souring. One incident may not represent the typical actions or mindsets of the masses, but when one incident is allowed to slip by without notice, two happen. Then three. Then what?

If you do not like someone, don't vote for him. Isn't it simple?

Fine Dining with the Candidates

2005-01-27T01:17:00.000-08:00

An all new Veritas activity - Fine Dining with the Candidates - was launched today. Sadly, the only fine moments were supplied by the candidates. Audience participation was atrocious, leaving us to shake our collective heads in Veritas at the intellectual state of the school.

First candidates to arrive were Kenrick and Grace, last Nic-O and Achai. Note of course that the order of arrival of candidates does not reflect in any way their aptitude. Hosted by the beautiful Liz, questions began firing off at 12.35pm. Q1: What personal quality do you have that will relate to your role in the SC? Answers were typical, with a few standing out - Nic-O answering boldly that he would not need to state them for everyone knew how he had perfomed throughout the months, Kenrick's statement that his diligence would win the day, and Hizami's mention that his effort and persistence to shake up the relations between the admin and the students.

Answers to other questions bordered on the implausible at times. Kenrick's funding was questioned, with Liz asking him why he did not spend his huge poster budget on the tsunami victims. Kenrick retorted by mentioning he had already donated a substantial amount to the tsunami victims, but in line with economic theory, he has to save some money for his needs. Go Kenrick!

Also, we opened questions to the floor. As expected, faculty members were averse to the idea. Nicholas opened the grilling by impersonating a voter who did not want change and maintained that change was not required in this college as it was perfect. Achai had the most interesting answer when he began by saying he staunchly agreed the college was good, drawing a few disapproving glances...then turning the tables by proposing "What's good has to be better and what's better has to be best!" A work of mastery.

Regarding the issue of change, many candidates were in favour whereas a minority were insistent on the status quo to remain. Kenrick and Hizami especially were at odds with their differing definitions of "change" - Kenrick saying he wanted to "build bridges between teachers and the students, we should not regard the administration as evil" whereas Hizami maintaining that the Student Council should not merely fight for representation but also for action.

Nic-O had an interesting interpretation - the focus was not just on better administration-student relations but also on better relations between students. He exhorted students that "we are one batch, can't we graduate a united batch?" An audience members' remark that the Academic Committee would have to take action against the recent deterioration of academic results was taken on by Ben, who elaborated to the public that the Academic Exco is in no way responsible for student achievement, as stated in the SC job descriptions. Afida's reaction was to give students motivation but of course to remember that it ultimately boiled down to the student.

At 1.30pm, the talk show ended, leaving, perhaps, the bitter taste of dissatisfaction for all who participated. It in itself, in Faez's words, was a "good idea", but as an actual event it "bombed". Students in KYUEM are still generally unfamiliar with the concept of true democratic openness, but with Veritas Media's resurgence in recent years, we are confident our cause to bring the truth to the public will not waver. Veritas will persist in introducing and exposing KYUEMers to true free speech.

Unrelated Yet Inseparable

2005-01-26T19:52:00.000-08:00

VERITAS MEDIA INC would like to proudly announce the public listing today of its FIRST subsidiary company - CHEMISTRY @ KYUEM.

Directed by a Boatd of Governers(esses) consisting of 1 member - Ms Shree, our favourite female chemistry teacher - we envision ourselves as a window to HER world. All her latest resources will not be jealously guarded from now on but will be posted for the entire world to see, share, plagiarize, and pirate from TODAY. This is an act of sheer kindness - we hope you, he discerning user, will likewise treat the material posted with great care and a sense of ethics.

Our subsidiary can be accessed as follows:

http://chemistrykyuem.blogspot.com/

ADMISSION IS FREE. 5% Government Tax not included.

Opening Special: Notes on 4 Pertinent aspects of Organic Chemistry AS Level now available FREE! Alkanes, Alkenes, Halogenoalkanes and Isomerism. Waiting for you, kind patron. Limited offer expires June 2006.

HOT FROM INTEGRASI: Our Manifesto Night

2005-01-18T16:55:00.000-08:00

Manifesto Night, Integration Valley. Started late with a whimper, ended with a bang. For the uninitiated (or for those of you who have graduated from college too long ago to remember) Kampung Integrasi - now officially renamed Lembah Integrasi - is where students from different houses all stay in the same ring of chalets. In this year's case - Juniors. Who, coincidentally, are running for SC this year.

As always, they began with a sermon by As-Sheikh Firdaus, the pundits' choice for Muscom this year, delivering his famed Aidil Adha sermon on tsunami victims and how we would now have to reflect and look inward, wondering how this tragic incident will change us. Ketua Kampung Nic-O (Vice-President candidate, just in case you were wondering) interjected, saying it was God's will this had happened to us. He went on to ominously warn us - do we now continue the way we've always lived, oblivious to the world around us, or do we let it serve as a wake-up call? Must we wait for natural disasters to occur before the thought of change strikes us flat on the face?

Next, Totoque strode out, as SPR (Election Commission) chairman to explain the rules for the night's campaigning. No diatribes, no personal attacks, just use your 5 minutes well. First to go was Hizami. (NOTE: Due to our role as a perfectly neutral body of journalism...yeah, right...there will be no commentary whatsoever, no fancy linguistic hyperbole, just the simple facts of what happened that fateful night.)

HIZAMI: The Student Council will fight for the students' rights. If I am elected I promise to bring it beyond the confines of a student representative body. We are the democratically, legally elected leader of the students, thus we should not just be contented in conveying the students' needs to the school - we should PUSH to see our needs be acted upon swiftly. We promise we will fight, till the bitter end, even if it means we will experience a long and drawn-out loss, we promise you we will fight till the end.

ABANG DAUD: I have never changed, I am still the same person I am irrespective of whether it is the Student Council elections or not. I am just me, same old me, you know best in your hearts. Words can be deceiving, and I do not want to promise you anything because I realise it would be an uphill task to deliver the goods if the elected Student Council does not have the means at its wherewithal. You will vote for us based on who we have been over the past 6 months, but I would like to reiterate I have never changed.

KENRICK (Vice President): I am not a person who tries to force things in. I am quiet but I make sure things get done. I employ strategy to make sure what I want done is done. Over time you all have known us well enough and our manifestos won't change much. What is important is how you have seen us perform in the past few months - we can deliver "janji-janji manis" (in his own words). I will promise you I will do what the students want but my strategy will surface on Manifesto Night. I will be a leader - but I will also be a servant to the college and the students.

NIC-O (Vice President) : Coming soon. Look out in this space.

EXCLUSIVE: Hazwan Alif for Treasurer

2005-01-18T02:07:00.000-08:00

Hazwan Alif Abdul Rahman (noun) - Plump, Japanese-looking character straight out of a manga comic book. Think Giant from the "Doraemon" series, with the notable exception being this one has a bevy of beautiful women constantly tracking his every step. Today, they have one more reason to do so - his candidacy as Treasurer for Student Council 05. Nicholas Pang presents an exclusive interview with his - surprise, surprise! - chaletmate.

Hazwan is today dressed in chic blue, reflecting of course his dynamic viewpoint in life. In his words:

"I've been thinking of running for SC since the day I entered college. I like organizing stuff, leadership and whatnot. Perhaps Student Council will be one of the things I organize. I was thinking of Secretary, but after gotten advise from friends, I think I should run for Treasurer because the post will help me go together with my course - Economics - as it tallies with the thing i'll do.

"Now we have 2 Diamond Petronas economists battling each other. If we're runing for the same post - the best will win. Both of us share the essential background - well, at least I'm doing accounting...(sniggers) but that's not the reason huh, people will look at overall capabilities and leadershpi qualities as well - not just being Trasurer as in really treasurer - could help to voice student's say - will have a say through the channel of Student Council - college with boarding school rules, school-type thing - at Taylors' culture shock it's like...pats forehead and gasps shrieks in horror due to his sudden inability to communicate in legible English. Can't remember what he wants to say...scratches his forehead...

What does he think he can give to the college? Ponders for a long time...as treasure will make sure all financial budget from college goes to right place for all college activities will get sufficient budget for all activities being done - right activities - as member of SC as whole - contribute by doing things and activitiees to enhance student's welfare, help other members - SC is like being representative of students of KYUEM - if some problems say to wardens, teachers - I as SC member help to solve problme if it reall y is problme to be solved.

My flaws - tend not to speak something if I am intimidated by the people i'm talking to - can overcome it it's not really like always - depends on time - if i don't feel like talking i won't talk at all - if i feel like talking i'll go straightforward i think black is black and white is white . "

Excerpts from THE people that matter

2005-01-17T22:23:00.000-08:00

by Jan and Azy.

HIZAMI ~President~
My prospect? It is certainly an uphill battle. I can't really tell what's the difference between my vision and Hisyam's but given the opportunity, in this position, I would convey the common interests of the students and make their voices heard.

ABG.DAUD aka HISYAM ~President~
Honestly, I do feel quite confident. But in life, anything can happen. I'm looking forward to Manifesto Night! I've always been sincere in my approach with everyone. My motive for running this post in the SC is the same with my motive in life- I'm still ME, with the same principles.

KENRICK ~Vice President~
[ I didn't really get what he was saying but the fabulous new,bright blue shirt is certainly a breath of fresh air amidst the the sombre sea of blackness]
[ after 6pm and officially a VP candidate, Kenrick was in a more chatty mood ]
I don't know how all the rumours started about me running for treasurer, I just made up my mind to run for SC last Friday. My vision? Wait for the Manifesto Night *mysteriously*

ABBY ~Vice President~

I feel normal [why of course, the whole TKC Bloc rooting for her ]. Wait for Manifesto Night but of course, I'll be fighting for the students' rights { thats what they all say but do you think it will work with the masses???? }. Abby and seconder, Pai, would like to thank Secretaryman for being their doughnut provider. [ the generous Secretaryman carrying the credit for enticing more nominations this year with his fantabulous strategy of appealing to the hungry food lovers with free Topazian doughnuts, hrrmph ]

GRACE ~ Secretary~

May the best one win. I will do my best if I am elected. However, in the event that I do lose, I would not regret running for SC. At least I have tried.I will have aquired experience from running a campaign.I do not want to look back later and think and regret that I didnt run.

AZLAN ~ Secretary~

*frowns*. I want to report a dissatisfaction with SecretaryMan. I have to buy him a doughnut. What's more, his bigger emphasis is on a cafe treat!! { Azlan, think of it as a campaign strategy. The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach. }

Iliana ~Secretary~

I have not held a Secretary post before but still,I want a chance. I know Grace and Tengku Azlan are popular people, much more compared to me.But it doesnt mean that if they are popular, they only can do the job well.{are you insinuating here??? however, u are right....those that can do a good job are not always the popular ones....common scenario at the workplace...the school nerds become your boss!!! Be sure you are nice to them now!!} All will depend on Manifesto Night.

YC ~Treasurer~

Politics is a dirty job. So right now, I don't feel perfectly pure but I feel good. Just can't wait for it to end; but...this is just the beginning.

Dzaquan ~Treasurer~

Back in secondary school, I have held all the other posts,Secretary,VP....Except Treasurer.This is why I am now running for Treasurer. I want to try something new.I know that I am not one of this college's 'glamour' or popular girls. I have to admit I am a little scared of contending against YC. Everybody knows him through CP. But that doesnt mean that just because he has done the job before, he is the only one that can do it. Bagilah peluang kepada saya....

WEN AI ~ Welfare Exco~

I feel nervous,of course. I don't want to reveal my plans yet. But, just want to assure you, I have your welfare at heart.{ good campaign slogan;hope you are not the typical Malaysian wakil rakyat who promises the moon and stars but.....}

JOEY ~ Welfare Exco~

I am shocked. I didn't expect so many people to contest for this post. I did ask around, but it seems nobody was willing to give me a sincere answer. { this is politics,my son.....mixing with highly kiasu intellectualls which make up KYUEM doesn't change the fact that politics everywhere is dirty.} I am just being myself. I really care about other people and working in the Welfare Exco is the best way to advance their interests and welfare.

SIT ~ Welfare Exco~

{ just for your interest, Sit was really undecided about what post to contest for. He was swinging back and forth between Religious,Food and Welfare Exco. Maybe in the beginning, he wanted a post that was an 'easy-catch'. Why he later decided to run for the most heavily contested post is completely beyond my powers of understanding}

I am nervous but excited at the same time. I do think I can do a better job than others. I might form an alliance with Kenrick to campaign but nothing is really decided yet.

ACAI ~Sports Exco~

Organizing more sports tournaments shall be what I strive for. Not forgetting, of course, making sure that the sports' fascilities are well kept.

AJAK ~Food Exco~

I would like to be part of the SC team and make this college a better place to live. I want to effectively communicate the students' wants and ensure that their comments are respected. For this, good line of communication must be established between the DH and the students.Certainly I will see some changes done!

NASYI ~Food Exco~

I'm happy with what I've decided to do. *nods*

Illya ~Food Exco~

I never thought that this would happen.If I am elected, I hope to be able to improve the DH food and also be able to contribute effectively to SC. I am really surprised that so many people are contesting for Food Exco.I just have to face up to that fact....{ Seniors and veritas too are also surprised. Who would want to want to deal with something so mundane and impossible to change??? Perhaps our candidates mistakenly thought that it would be an easy contest....a large scale of misjudging here, isn't it my dear candidates....}

Dirah ~Food Exco~

In KYUEM,food is obviously one of the most important area of survival.This is why I choose to run for the food committee.To make the act of going through life in KYUEM essentially a more pleasant one.In addition to being part of the student council,this may give me a chance to relay the student's request to the management.{ unfortunately, this wasn't an on-the-spot,pants down,sweaty palms,think on your feet interview."Superman" Nico came to the rescue and spent 10 minutes with Dirah drafting a politically correct response for Veritas, much to our dissatisfaction....Hmm....one of our candidates here doesnt know why she's running, or more possibly her reason isn't 'politically correct'..if you know what I'm saying...}

BEN ~Acad Exco~

*Seen flirting with reporters to get them raise his public image* [ Heh, go Ben, GO!!! ] A lot of students don't aim for the top positions, it seems, they're all crowding the Excos.

MIOR ~Acad Exco~

I'm honoured to be able to compete with this bunch of great people. We are all equally strong. I would work to improve the standard use of English in the college, I mean, it's a necessary preparation to face life in the UK. Maybe we can bring forwrd the library's uses, maybe have book reviews in Veritas!

AFIDA ~Acad Exco~

Ben and Mior are really strong candidates but I'm sure each and every one of us can make our contributions, not only in the Acad Department but the SC in general.

Commentary from Jan and Azy, semi-professional political commentators and critics:

If you do get elected, try to make SC politics clean for the next batch. You can't change the world, but at least try to change the college.That's what your exterior being is in the SC for. Not to get a "good-looking" personal statement, keep that firmly to yourself.

Some candidates: You're one preacher, no doubt about it. Just hope you keep to your words after the election. The world's too full of hypocrites and we certainly don't need more. From what we heard, some of you are either not very confident of winning, or trying to sound humble in an attempt to fish votes, and woo blog readers. Would love to say "Honesty is the best Policy" but in politics generally the phrase need not be implied. All the best!

Stuck At The "A"s

2005-01-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

Two more interviews hot and piping, from the battlefields. Due to the sheer amount of gore involved, we have edited out the plane crashes, friendly fire, aborted missile launches, accidental detonation of landmines and near-executions our intrepid reporters had to experience to get the news out to the waiting public. Salute the journalists, dear readers, for without them there would be no events.

Owing to the above threats on our lives - and the sheer amount of Malay parents who only want a name starting with "A" for their children - we haven't finished the "A"s yet - today we feature AJ (Religious), Afida (Academic) and Akmal Batu (Sports). Have I mentioned Ajak, Anwar, Acai, Amira...you get the drift.

AJ, when approached working for Bangsawan, laughed nervously but maintained she ran as she had religious awareness (Editors Note: SMAB Labu girl!) and felt responsible for the moral issues in college. She says she's definitely trying her best as it was a new experience She admits she has yet to prepare a manifesto and was reluctant to tell me its general drift. Told me to wait and see. We'll see.

Why does she think she's better than the others? Basically, "I think I can carry out and do responsibilities and I think I can. If other people think I can, they'll vote for me."

Afida, sincerely, is a girl of great speech patterns. There was no need for me to ask any questions - one and the long unspoken words spewed forth. Her raison d'etre is to plan well. She eschews popularity as a winning basis and merely wants to discover herself. Though it may involve time and - obviously - money, she feels it is something she needs to do.

Dr Ikmal, CEO of the college and her sponsors' representative, once said they should know their ability and expand it, just keeping at what they were doing, taking what they thought was positive. She feels she wants to "see herself and discover the whole tip of the iceberg", for in her words "90% of myself has yet to be discovered."

Before this, she held some posts, most notably as Head Prefect of her previous school and candidly describes it as "high-pressured". She declares it was up to herself to make decisions to choose her own path, and thus the consequences would be hers alone to face.

IMPORTANT: HOW TO ADD COMMENTS!

2005-01-17T05:40:00.000-08:00

The Official Four-Step Idiot's Guide to Start Posting Comments!

1. Click on the "0 Comments" link.
2. THEN the Post Comments link will appear.
3. ADD YOUR COMMENTS!
4. Repeat Step 1 if you feel you haven't said enough.
5. Disregard the above 4 steps if you feel you're not an idiot. Then try find the way yourself, smart aleck.

COMMENT guys! If that hasn't rubbed in, COMMENT GUYS! Add your personal views, opinions, rants, whatever. Just cut the cliches. We want honest people, honest comments.

Yours truly

A bunch of tongue-in-cheek honest editors

A: Aardvark Anteater Aaron Awie

2005-01-17T05:20:00.000-08:00

Reported by Nicholas Pang

The omnipresent Aaron Singh, as usual, was around to second Lim Sin Wee's nomination as Sports Exco. With characteristic flamboyance and a wave of his highly intimidating hand, he says his candidate is "very good" and he is "highly supportive". (Aaron, that is.) Aaron mentioned Sin Wee's attendance at the MPH was perfect and he feels Sin Wee has a sense of accomplishment. Sin Wee was unavailable for comment. That situation will of course be rectified come tomorrow.

Ahmad Zawawi Abdul Rejab, more affectionately known as Awie, had lots to say in his last press conference. When encountered in his prime spot of real estate next to Hazwan, both caught guzzling huge amounts of junk food, he said response was encouraging - the first candidate to sign up went straight for the Presidents' job. HIS job.

Still, he heard many students had ganged up to form parties, which he adamantly maintains he is "not for". His view that "SC elections will separate them into 2 groups...this will be divergent." He feels the hostility between the alleged "parties", if it transpires so, will be destructive. In his words, "The juniors have 3 sems more. Stay together guys. Aren't elections supposed to unite?" He is, of course, NOT sure whether alliances have happened - juniors would probably be in a better position to snigger (un)knowingly at this - but he maintained alliances between juniors are not supposed to happen. He hoped the alliances were just for election purposes and not for life.

Wise words for candidates with designs on power? "Please be professional, alah menang." He mentioned he couldn't predict the future, thus it'd be hard to tell whether this would be a clean campaign, but convinced us thoroughly that HIS batch's campaign was clean. Hmm.

He hopes no one will feel bad if they lose and encourages positive thinking among losers. His wise words read thus: "Don't worry. You can run for other posts." Yeah, like SC 2006, presumably.

Oh ya. Student Council 2004, sit back and bask in self-admiration. Mister Prezzie says though his job eventually was tough, you guys were a committed bunch. Though at first we didn't knwo each other, once we all got into SC, we truly worked as a team.

interviews, part one of infinity.

2005-01-17T05:05:00.000-08:00

Reported by Alicia Goh, Nicholas Pang...

First interviews with candidates and their (surprisingly tiny) entourages outside SC Nomination Room. We cut the video to Pao, an Anwar Ridhwan, Food Exco candidate, supporter: (Gushing) He's sooo responsible and he does a good job! Regarding the inevitable question about what she expected to see on the dining hall menu from now on, she stalled awhile before muttering...no chicken...no fish...sick of them. Good luck, Pao, I'm pretty sure you'll be getting lamb chops from now on, won't you?

We also spoke to the highly visible Hizami, who was loitering round the Nomination grounds, presumably to convince all the other candidates to vote for his tie, if not for him. To keep the esteemed college informed, his multi-country tie of the past week has been replaced by a tie sporting a skeleton. Why? He claims it is a symbol of war and death. Right. And he endorses them? His spiel will take a while to perfect. When we interrogated him as to why he was still hanging around, he said he needed a brief breather. Pressed further, he admitted the next two weeks were probably gonna be the hardest 2 weeks of his life. Sure they are, Hizami. After all, presidents come cheaper by the dozen. Seriously, the official Veritas tagline is, the rougher the candidates have it, the better. We want to see who weathers the adversity best. (Shockingly, it MAY be us. Heh heh.)

SC NOMINEES, HOT FROM THE OVEN

2005-01-17T04:10:00.000-08:00

President:
1) Abg. Daud
2) Hizami

Vice President: (M)
1) Nico
2) Kenrick

(P)
1) Abby
2) Amira
3) Raja Farhana

Secretary:
1) Grace Tan
2) Tg. Azlan
3) Iliana

Treasurer:
1) Hazwan
2) YC
3) Dzaquan

Food Exco:
1) Ajak
2) Nashi
3) Anwar
4) Ilya Sahar
5) Ghani
6) Nadirah

Religious exco:
1) AJ
2) Adnianis
3) Judin

Academic
1) Pijai
2) Meor
3) Afida
4) Ben

Welfare:
1) Lee Wen Ai
2) Joey
3) Lina Nadrah
4) Wan Nordiana
5) Zaf
6) Sit Lee Euan

Sports:
1)Acai
2)Sin Wee
3)Batu
4)Odon

veritas - uncensored and live.

Breaking News!

Garnival and Swimming Gala

Some college updates!

Let's talk about ME!! (Strategies to deal with whiners)

The demolition of KYUEM's Flora

The long awaited Bangsawan Post!

Important Announcement

Newsflash: Veritas Online's secret revealed! It Is An Instrument of EVIL!

SC Results Announced

Interview with the Candidates, Part Five

Interviews With The Candidates! Part Five

Interviews With The Candidates! Part Four

Interviews With The Candidates! Part Three

Interviews With The Candidates! Part Two

Interviews With The Candidates! Part One

The Initial Resurrection

Horror! Tragedy!

EXAMS! *yawn*

Bridges Crossed, Here Comes The Ox

The Nighteyes Report- Interhouse Debates, Final

The Nighteyes Report- Interhouse Debates, Round Three

The Nighteyes Report- Interhouse Debates, Round Two

The Nighteyes Report- Interhouse Debates, Round One

International Day Attires

Initial 5 (Finale?)

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

KYUEM-KMB...Friendly?

VERITAS FLASH - New Lineup

Of Mice And Men

The Initial 4 EVA!!!

Rotaract Installation - Egyptian Aura

The Initial Strike 3!

The Intial #2

Wet, Wet, Wet

every weekend is a winding road

The Initial Initial

Dedicated to Diamond

SENIOR BATCH ANNIVERSARY

Welfare Trip to the Apartments

Live and Kicking - Clubs and Sports

Well done, Samurais.

a week's tears

two days and counting

it's been a long ride, baby.

Long Live the New Hub!

Welcome to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Sub-Juniors.

Teachers' Day

THE MOTHER OF ALL UPDATES

The Mother of All Assemblies

Le Tour de Beringin

KMB - KYUEM Taekwondo...Friendly?

Islamic Cultural Arts Week

God, Gore and Glory

The College Update

The College Update that Never Was

Is "liberal" a state of mind?

FLASH: ADIOS, PAK GUARDS

SC: Showing Committment?

Back To School...Again?

SC LINEUP 2005 - A VERITAS EXCLUSIVE

MALE COMMON ROOM. Locked and Pissed.

SC Elections: One Step Closer

SECURITY ALERT: Laptops On The Defence

PICTURES OF SC CANDIDATES BRIBING VOTERS!

The Presidents Speak

MANIFESTO NIGHT TWO - Female Vice President

MANIFESTO NIGHT TWO - Secretary

MANIFESTO NIGHT TWO - Treasurer

MANIFESTO NIGHT TWO - Acad Exco

FLASH: MANIFESTO NIGHT TWO - Sports Exco

Aircons Heat Tempers

MANIFESTO NIGHT: Second Impressions

MANIFESTO NIGHT: First Impressions

Bangsawan 2005 - A Post Mortem

FLASH: Forest Fires Encircle KYUEM

FLASH: Candidate Posters Ripped Off

Fine Dining with the Candidates

Unrelated Yet Inseparable

HOT FROM INTEGRASI: Our Manifesto Night

EXAMS! yawn