The MV Rachel Corrie, the sole flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Israeli-blockaded Gaza was seized by Israeli Defence Force at about 9.45 am (Malaysian time) on 5^th June 2010.

Perdana Global Peace Organisation (PGPO) representatives Shamsul Akmar Musa Kamal, Matthias Chang and Ahmad Faizal Azumu, Parit Member of Parliament Drs Mohd Nizar Zakaria, TV3 reporter Halim Mohamed and cameraman Mohd Jufri Judin were on board the ship.

Reading the messages that were coming in via blackberry from the journalist on board before they were captured, made me very uneasy and frightful for them especially after what happened to the Mavi Marmara.

One of the smses that came in at 6.56 am Malaysian time read, “We are about two hundred miles from Gaza. Should be there late Friday or early Saturday - Shamsul”. And then there was this message received later “Radar communication blocked… 3 navy vessels captured coming near just now… all are instructed to be calm and ready…” and then everything went dead… and there was no knowing the fate of the occupants on board.

We found out later that night that they were all safe although the Israeli government wanted to press immigration charges against Shamsul Akmar, Matthias Chang, Ahmad Faizal, Drs Mohd Nizar and Halim but nothing surfaced after.

Waking up at 6 am the following day to see the live coverage of the 10 activist with two media members from Astro Awani, journalist Ashwad Ismail and cameraman Shamsul Kamal Latip come home was such a relief for family members. I sat and watched feeling respite but laced with sadness as I watched fathers hugging small children, wives and others that came in throngs to the airport to greet these heroes.

The other thing that was playing on my mind was what if they had not come back safe? There is never an easy way of saying these things, what if they had come back in caskets? There will always be cliché statements like “they didn’t die in vain” or “their deaths will be avenged, we will tell their stories to the world”. Would it have been worth it? Why does somebody need to die to prove a point?

To say that they didn’t expect retaliation from the Israeli forces would not be entirely true as the TV3 crew went ‘armed’ with bullet vests and all. But nothing would have prepared them mentally for what was to happened. They were lucky that there was no bloodshed as with the Mavi Marmara.

Turkish photographer Cevdet Kiliçlar was reported killed by Israeli troops who stormed the flotilla

Cevdet Kiliqlar

off the coast of Gaza. Witnesses said he was shot in the head when he pointed his camera at the commandos. Kiliçlar, 38, was from Kayseri. A graduate of Marmara University’s Faculty of Communications, he was formerly a newspaper journalist for the National Gazette and the Anatolia Times. For the past year, he was a reporter and webmaster for the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH). He leaves behind, a wife Derya, a daughter, Gülhan, and Erdem, a son.

Now we will no longer see his pictures whose images will break your heart, knowing he is no longer among us to capture, with such incredible delicacy and dignity, the faces of his subjects. But yes, now the world knows in full facts of the aristocracies of the Israeli forces and what devastating damage they have done towards the Palestinians.

The Mavi Marmara tragedy has now gained action in the Dewan Rakyat. Motion to not only condemn but also move an international legal/advisory proceeding against Israel @ UNGA & ICJ has been tabled in Malaysian Parliament by Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Izuan Azir Salleh

We’ve had our share of journalists that have covered war torn countries to tell the world of the pitiful stories that have emerge from the destruction of combat either pre or post. I’ve had a few friends from TV3, for example Nasharudin Tajudin that travelled to Bosnia Herzegovina in 1993 to cover the ethnic conflict and Rosli Abu Hasan who did coverage on our very own United Nations peace keepers while there in frigid December winter in 1996.

Kamaruddin Mape

Kamarudin Mape journeyed to Iraq’s pre war waiting in anxiousness for the first bombs to fall in March 2003. Izwan Izir Ahmad trekked across the borders of Israeli and Palestine in January 2009 to see and experience first hand the fear of having the ‘red laser’ of the Israeli rifle trained on him whenever they collided. Rosli again travel to Thailand to cover the 14^th Asean Summit in April last year, and found himself smack in the centre of clashes between the Red and Yellow shirts which ended in many deaths.

Rosli Abu Hasan

They of course had different accounts of stories that didn’t go on air, couldn’t for reasons that were not revealed but understood only by fellow journalists. At that point, the only right thing was to process the story regardless of unrest, fear and a whole range of emotions that they were going through.

For all the other journalists, either from print or the other broadcasting houses, we take our hats of to you. Kudos Malaysian Journalists! And yes “we are journalists; we can be where ever we want!’

At 74, he showed no signs of slowing down. The two hour concert was a continuous flow of love ballads. Engelbert Humperdinck may be a little vain about his good looks and vocal cords, which seem to be as soothing today as they were when he burst to international stardom in 1967 with ‘Release Me.’ So it’s not a wonder he still merits the title ‘King of Romance.’

Charismatic with the audience

The legacy concert was punctuated with Humperdinck smooth onstage charisma charming his ardent fans with his easy chatter about his tour and himself. “I have been in the business for three years, no it’s 43 years and people say after 43 years, he still looks so young… just joking… but it’s true” he lamented, which brought laughter from the audience. It is obvious that he enjoys his successful lengthy career and he thanked his fans for it.

Engelbert Humperdinck sang his memorable hit tunes like ‘There Goes My Everything’ (1967), ‘Am I That Easy to Forget’ (1968), ‘A Man without Love (Quando M’Innamoro)’ (1968) and ‘After the Lovin’ (1976). Not left out was his first mega-hit ‘Release Me’ which was released in 1967 and went to number one in eleven countries, stopping The Beatles from hitting top of the Brit charts, a fact that he mentions at every concert.

He had the fans singing along with every number. But the crowd favorite was ‘The Last Waltz’ which was also a huge success in 1967. The Arena of Stars that was sold out that Friday night saw the audience singing and swaying with the waltz, bad pitching and all but they obviously didn’t care because they were having so much fun. That wasn’t all; he was very agile on stage dancing for the fast numbers including a country song, ‘I’m On Fire’ with cowboy hat and all.

A country song for the fans

He also paid tribute to the British younger singers when he sang James Blunt’s ‘Goodbye My Lover’ followed by Canadian rocker Bryan Adams’ ‘Really Loved a Woman’. This song again got the crowds singing together including the men. Engelbert Humperdinck also rendered his new single, ‘Tell Me Where It Hurts’, which is scheduled to be released in two weeks.

Born Arnold George Dorsey in Madras, India and the youngest of ten children, Engelbert Humperdinck has achieved an unmatched musical career that includes sales of a staggering 150 million albums worldwide including 64 Gold and 24 Platinum albums. His music has withstood the test of time thanks to his sensitive interpretation of the song lyrics.

The legacy of love between Engelbert Humperdinck and his viewers continues as an unstoppable force. He remains the accomplish global entertainer, a rare example of unique style and sophistication while continuing to perform for sold out audiences and his millions of fans all over the world. The demand for his music is so strong that he recorded many multi-language versions of his most popular songs.

Engelbert Humperdinck closed the concert with ‘We’ll Meet Again‘ and ‘My Way’ and yes, he certainly did it his way with new creative challenges designed to keep his fans surprised, satisfied and eager to come back for more. He finished by throwing his signature orange handkerchiefs to the audience much to the delight of his ardent female fans.

King of Romance

It has been a year since Yasmin Ahmad’s (1958-2009) demise, but her presence is still very much felt in many Malaysians. It’s hard to believe that she is actually gone but her work, charisma and vision are still talked about.

Waiting in line at a McDonald’s counter recently, I heard a mother and her teenage daughter behind me talking about going out to get the Muallaf DVD, because “that’s the only Yasmin film we haven’t watched yet.” The way they said “Yasmin” sounded as if they knew Yasmin personally as their friend. I also liked the sense that they watch films together as a family, a concept which Yasmin Ahmad herself liked to apply in her works of art. I hope they got an original copy, not a pirated one.

I guess it is true what they say, “You never realize what you have until it’s gone.” And we never really realized that we had one of the best filmmakers in the country that I dare put side by side with personalities such as Allahyarham Tan Sri P. Ramlee, who simply tried to show us about the realities of Malaysia; issues of race, religion and relationship. And these two were the only filmmakers who had without fail, brought different races together to the movie theatres and made 1Malaysia, before the concept was even introduced, a reality.

In her own country, her works were highly criticized by many. The controversial scene in Sepet with Harith Iskandar and Ida Nerina dancing in their sarongs had raised more than just eyebrows. Such a scene, among others, had Yasmin labeled as a ‘corrupter of culture’ in a forum on the film organized by the Ministry of Information, which was also aired on national television (arts.monash.edu.au/mai/osaa/farahazaleamohamedalamin.pdf) when all she did was portray Malaysian life with an almost gritty reality. A married couple dancing lovingly, in whatever attire they please, shows nothing but a happy marriage.

Yasmin with her famous SEPET poster

Abroad, she achieved glory. For Sepet alone, Yasmin grabbed the Best Film award at the 27^th Creteil International Women’s Film Festival in France and the Best Asian Film award at the 18^th Tokyo International Film Festival in Japan while Mukhsin won the Silver award at the Netpack Festival in Indonesia, the Best Film Grand Prix award at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany and the Best Asian Film at The Cinemanila International Film Festival in the Philippines  (http://www.mmail.com.my/content/9123-tribute-yasmin-ahmad-loving-memory). She did win two local awards for Sepet and one for Gubra, but clearly outnumbered by international recognitions.

“Four years ago, when Sepet came under fire from Berita Harian, RTM, and even the then Minister of Culture, it was given the Best Asian Film award at the 18th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

Then just last year, the 21st TIFF gave Muallaf a Special Mention in the Asian-Middle Eastern section, while here at home, it was facing a possible ban,” Yasmin wrote on her blog, The Storyteller, when Tokyo asked for permission to put Talentime in the 2009 TIFF.

Yasmin Ahmad instilled traditional and religious practices to the people who had met and worked with her.

Malaysian writer Amir Muhammad recalled in his book “Yasmin Ahmad’s Films”, a time when Yasmin handed him a DVD and he had reached out to take it with his left hand. “Tangan kanan! (Right hand!)”, Yasmin said, reminding him to receive it with his right hand. Giving and taking things from another person with your left hand are deemed rude in the Malay culture.

She also worked her filming hours around prayer times. Such features would not have been expected from a liberal person who had been labeled a “corrupter of culture.”

Joe Lee, writer for the Malay Mail and a friend of Yasmin’s, in his article “A Tribute to Yasmin Ahmad: In Loving Memory” wrote about the tremendous love that she had. While dogs are considered “unclean” to Muslims and many want nothing to do with the furry creatures, Yasmin gave him an abused puppy she saw in SPCA for Christmas. Because of her, Jack the puppy now has a family and a home.

Both Amir Muhammad and Joe Lee’s reminiscences were told after Yasmin Ahmad’s death. Could it be that if she were still around, we would not discover these things about her?

So many came to pay their last respects

After she left us, those who mourned did so in their own way; many flocked to the mosque and cemetery to pay their last respects, some set up tribute sites and blogs on the internet where you can find nine of them on Facebook alone, and street artist Jeng went to Klang River near the Pasar Seni LRT to do a mural of Yasmin just hours after she was laid to rest. Even tribute events were held from Singapore (Yasmin Ahmad: A Tribute) to New York (Filmmaker in Focus: Yasmin Ahmad).

Not all of them knew Yasmin personally or even met her, but many feel like she had been their friend. Through her films and commercials, they felt the love that she had; the love for her country, for cultures and traditions, for humanity and well, for just about everything.

“Actually, everyone you see here is a close friend of Yasmin’s. She made us all feel that way. If you spent just five minutes with her, you would realize just how warm she makes you feel that you immediately take on to her as a close friend,” said Fatimah Abu Bakar, acting coach and mother of Sepet and Gubra star Sharifah Armani. She was with many others in the hospital where Yasmin exhaled her last breath, where she was asked if she could be quoted as a close friend of Yasmin’s. (http://www.mmail.com.my/content/9123-tribute-yasmin-ahmad-loving-memory)

A year after her demise, I must admit that I have yet to see three of her films, Rabun, Muallaf and Mukhsin, but I am in no rush. Yasmin may not be around physically, but she had left behind her love through her beautiful works so that we could all share it for as long as we can.

A mural of Yasmin Ahmad

The Israel raid on the Gaza flotillas was nothing more than a blatant show of force.  There is no other possible way to describe the incidents which took place in May this year.

The Rachael Corrie captured

First it was the Mavi Marmara, and then it happened again with the Rachel Corrie.  For those who aren’t familiar with these names, these were the two aid ships that were intercepted by the Israelis.  Both ships were halted by Israeli warships on their way to Gaza but the fate of the crew of the Mavi Marmara was worse than the Rachel Corrie with 15 casualties whereas the Rachel Corrie was seized and towed to the port in the city of Ashdod.

During the raid on the Mavi Marmara, there were 12 Malaysians on board including two media members from Astro Awani, Ashwad Ismail, journalist and Shamsul Kamal Latip, cameraman who were thankfully unhurt in the ordeal but it was established that 9 people were initially killed on board.

“They fired rubber bullets first but after some time they used live ammunition.  Five were dead on the spot and after that we surrendered” recalls Norazmah Abdullah, one of the passengers on board the Mavi Marmara when the attacks commenced around 4 to 4.30 am local time.  During this time, most of the crew members were performing the fajar (dawn) prayers.

Such an attack is what I consider as nothing more than a heinous show of aggression by the Israel navy.  What would they achieve by mercilessly assaulting unarmed aid workers bringing in nothing but supplies?  I would also like to question the Israeli navy’s use of live ammunition on the crew.  Did the situation warrant the action?

Soldiers speak with a passenger

Opening fire on the crew members was bad enough but using live ammunition to the extent that lives were lost is just plain wrong.  The lost of nine lives on the Mavi Marmara was unnecessary and unjustified.  Think of the sadness and misery of family members of the casualties of the incident.

A casualty of the Mavi Marmara raid was a 19-year old Turkish-American volunteer, Furkan Dogan.  Dogan was volunteering as an aid worker for the first time.  Because of the actions of the Israel army, his first time would also be his last.

Furkan Dogan

The Israeli navy argued in its defense that they were attacked by the Mavi Marmara crew with iron bars, knives and live fire first.  They even released a video to bolster their claims of the attack.  However, it was later discovered that the time stamp on the video which was at 5.03am indicated that attacks had already commence for an hour and that it would be more accurate to say that far from being the aggressors of the situation, the crew members were actually trying to defend their ship.

To make matters worse, the Israeli government has remained defiant and stated that they would be ready to attack all aid ships going into Gaza which Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said had become a “terrorist base which would threaten the heart of Israel”.  This announcement came on the eve of the arrival of the second ship, the Rachel Corrie into Gaza Waters.  An unnamed Israeli marine lieutenant even expected that seizing the Rachel Corrie would be easy as they were ‘ready’ for the ship.

What happened on the Mavi Marmara

The aftermath of the attacks saw countries like Turkey withdrawing bilateral ties with Israel and several groups condemning Israel navy’s actions.  Two major groups in Malaysia that have slammed Israel for the attacks are the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) calling the attacks on the ships as “attacking and killing innocent people” and that it was a “flagrant violation of international law” as well as “unacceptable”.

Overall, I would agree with the allegations that the Israel navy attacks on the aid ships were indeed nothing more than plain brutality towards innocent people.  The loss of lives on the Mavi Marmara and the Israel government’s stance of attacking any aid ship to Gaza further reinforces my belief that this whole incident is nothing more than a mere show of force by Israel.

The Negeri Sembilan Cultural Carnival is an annual event organized by the state’s Ministry of Tourism to promote tourism through its local cultural performances. This year the Carnival was held from 18^th until 20^th of June in Seremban with 700 participants from the districts of Negeri Sembilan, the different states around Malaysia as well as five international groups representing Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Africa.

My friends and I from the Capoeira Camara Malaysia group were deeply honored and very excited when we were invited to accompany our instructor, Cristiano Genuino Da Silva in representing Brazil in the event. Capoeira is a Brazilian art form where martial art is camouflaged in dance with percussion music. It is still relatively unknown in Malaysia therefore we were thrilled to have this opportunity to enlighten our future audience, local and foreign alike.

Practise sessions

The Carnival was officially from the 18^th but for us it started a day earlier with day and night rehearsals. For this, it was just me, Mr. Da Silva and another friend, Shannon Then as our group’s representatives. The first rehearsal had all of the groups gathered at the Taman Budaya Negeri Sembilan where we were to learn the steps of the ‘Tarian Piring’ (Saucer Dance), which would be performed by all 700 participants at the end of the opening ceremony.

Unlike everyone else who was clad in uniform t-shirts and track bottoms, the three of us fashioned only in Brazilian and Capoeira t-shirts, surf shorts and flip flops that made us look very much the outsiders and had them believe that we, apart from Mr. Da Silva, were actual Brazilians! We played along, so did our liaison officer, Nazim, a lazy-eyed chain smoker who would only grin with a cigarette between his teeth whenever someone approaches us to ask about Brazil.

The ‘Tarian Piring’ choreography was easy because it was not only meant for the Malays. I was delighted to observe how the Wushu and Silambam groups, mostly school children, took seriously at learning the steps of the dance that they were not familiar with. They did not seem the least bit reluctant to follow in the steps of the older and more experienced dance group in the front rows.

Before the night rehearsal Nazim brought us for dinner at the Benteng stalls where Mr. Da Silva mused at a stall named ‘Seremban Sambaria.‘ Shannon ordered Nasi Lemak forgetting that we were in Negeri Sembilan, where the descendants of the Minangkabau make spicy dishes spicier than what our tongues are used to. “Oh, I forgot to remind you about that!” Nazim said only when Shannon started to hiss.

The night rehearsal was for the opening parade therefore Jalan Dato’ Bandar Tunggal had to be closed. The arrangement was for the international groups to come in last so we were sent to the back of the long line which also meant a very long wait.

It was then that I had an almost overwhelming feeling of pride for my country, Malaysia. Sitting on the sidewalk and listening to the hypnotizing flute music as a Silat group was rehearsing, I watched young future Wushu masters play amongst themselves and not far on my right a Silambam practitioner was sorting out weapons to be used for a demonstration.

Different cultures coming together

I was reminded again that different cultures could come and sit on a dirty road together for an event such as this, despite all the racial issues that our country has been facing. Those issues seemed petty that night as 1Malaysia unfolded in front of me.

From where I was sitting I could also hear Mr. Da Silva laughing loudly with the Japanese drum master as they joked about how the Japanese group would have to enter the parade with a lorry to enable them to bring in their giant drums.

I was later engaged in a conversation with a participant from the African group who was a Melaka Multimedia University student from Nigeria. I asked him about how Malaysia has been treating him so far and he had a mixture of answers. He told me that people squirmed away from him if he so much as asked for the direction to the bus station but then again, there are people like me who he could just sit and have a nice conversation with. Yes, I revealed to him that I was not really a Brazilian.

The next day the rest of the Brazilian team arrived for the opening parade. We went to Jalan Dato’ Bandar Tunggal in our superhero outfits; white t-shirts, white pants and cords of different colors around our waists to acknowledge our respective levels.

While the team headed to the back of the line, Mr. Da Silva and I joined the other group representatives for the souvenir exchanging ceremony. We were behind a couple of Indonesian dancers who were clad in colorful and glittering costumes. Ahead of us in the line, other dancers from different groups were also in their costumes.

My instructor and I shared a giggle between us looking at our plain white uniforms and yes, Havaianas flip flops worn out from everyday use. Nevertheless, we received the loudest cheer from the audience when the emcee announced, “Brazil!” and we walked casually up the stage to meet YB Dato’ Haji Mohammad Razi bin Haji Kail, a Minister in the tourism, art and culture department of Negeri Sembilan who officiated the event.

Colorful carnival

After the exchange of souvenirs we hurried to the back of the line, where the party had already started. There was a small circle where Brazilian and Japanese percussion combined their sounds with the Africans dancing in the circle. The newly arrived Thai and Indonesian dancers were either too shy to join us or they did not want to ruin their shiny costumes.

When it was our turn in front of the grand stand, we were already pumped up and ready to give the audience a hint of the 400-year old Brazilian culture. The spotlight blinded us but we could still hear the roaring crowd and that pumped us up even more, which was probably the reason why we exceeded the five minutes allocated to us.

The Japanese drummers who were before us stayed by the sideline to cheer us on and we did the same for the African dancers who performed after us. The instant feeling of camaraderie proved that the 1Malaysia concept does not only apply to the different local ethnicities but also to the groups from abroad who come to our country for either work, study or leisure.

At the end of the parade, we ended up not joining the ‘Tarian Piring’ but just sat back and enjoyed the show. As soon as it ended, the crowd swarmed into the road to take pictures with the dancers. It was probably the camera flashes that caused one of us to blow our cover.

Tarian Piring

“Hi, what’s your name?” asked a lady after taking a picture of us with her three daughters to the best looking boy in our team. “Zul.” “Eh, Melayu!” she cried, followed by a choir of our slapped foreheads.

The closing ceremony the next day was held in the Auditorium of the Taman Budaya Negeri Sembilan at 8pm. It was lower key than the opening. Only a few groups stayed on for the closing ceremony and after each did their performances, everybody came together for a final Malay dance and they were amazed to see ‘Brazilians’ move gracefully to the traditional music.

The UCSI University youths Junior Chambers International (JCI) travelled to Penang to attend the area peninsular annual JCI Convention. The event held on the 19^th and 20^th of June took place at the Sunshine Square Bayan Baru shopping complex and was hosted by Inti International College Penang in collaboration with JCI Malaysia.

The objective of the convention was to create a positive impact on the students by involving them with various tasks, games, competitions and sporting activities that simulate the inventive side in each student. They were instructed to form groups to create their own company logo, description and a yearend event for the company.

Several students from high schools like Junior Chung Ling, Junior Darul Ridwan, Junior Hua Lin, Junior Jit Sin as well as University of Nottingham, INTI Penang and UCSI University participated in the event. JCI Senators, George Ong and Ang Chin Boon spoke and gave encouragement to all who attended the forums. Participants were also encouraged to speak to the crowd focusing on different issues of youths in Malaysia.

Group presentations

Other talks were by Dr Yeoh Pit Shing an activist from Malaysia who spoke on the topic ‘Improve Memory’. It was indeed an inspirational session as the speaker presented various examples regarding the human memory as well as education. According to Dr Yeoh, “It’s always good to prepare ahead of time before an examination in order to excel and to avoid stressing the memory. Late preparation never pays”.

A presidential session followed immediately after the talk. All leaders and JCI youths officials from various schools came together in this session. The task was to individually present a report of the events that they had hosted in their respective schools and the outcome of these events.

Groups in discussions

Amidst the fatigue that plagued most of the participants due to various tasks, the sports session was still the most fun of all. It was a motivating session as participants were assigned leaders and presented with a mixture of tasks within the duration of 3hours. Although some found it hard, they eventually saw the realities of becoming future leaders and that it takes a lot of effort to achieve good things in life.

Later, a dinner was held at the Sunshine Square Ballroom to commemorate the event. It began with a speech by JCI Senator Dennis Tan followed by several musical presentations by INTI Penang. Above all, the JCI slogan, BE BETTER had the participants conceded in mentality improving themselves in all aspects of life, especially their studies.

Section 1 - Underwater Creatures

The display, the brainchild of Wizart Studio and TeraCipta, features Ice Age creatures such the saber-toothed tiger (Diego), the mammoth (Manny) and the sloth (Sid) in full size, that is if you’re familiar with the animated Ice Age movie. The special effects were interesting and a good educational and entertaining way to get audience attention.

There are seven stations of the exhibition and a guide will walk you through the stations in semi darkness.  In Station 1, as you enter, you will be greeted by scary water creatures like the dunkleosteus with its open jaw ready to attack.

What makes the illusion more believable is the fact that cold icy wind is blowing throughout the walkway. The audio of mauling and growling by these primeval creatures seem real, what more with a moving monster pouncing at you from behind! We were also warned to switch off our hand phones in Station 5 for fear of waking the Terror Birds that actually feed on you and me!

Section 2 - Saber-tooth Tiger

And then at Station 7, the last station and when you think that nothing more can scare you, the guide points to fresh prints in the snow. The footprints are huge. While the spectators are busy examining the footprints, out of nowhere a Yeti appears and growls for one more heart stopping moment.

The whole presentation covers the history of the Ice Age with main points stressed on conservation, preservation, extinction and survival. It is the organizers greatest hope that the demonstration will continue to create awareness of the earth’s ecosystem issues of that age and for such threats not to re-occur.

Section 6 - Footprints in the snow

Section 5 - Death Birds

Learning and Teaching are important aspects of higher education that can be enhanced through workshops, seminars and conferences. They add to the individual learner’s skills, enhance talents and abilities through sharing of ideas with others. This in turn augments individual learning and teaching skills in the sphere of education.

James Yeow - Chairman of the symposium

With this in mind, UCSI University held its 2^nd Learning and Teaching Symposium entitled ‘Diversity in Higher Education Teaching’. The symposium held on 12^th June 2010 at the South Wing, KL Campus consisted of two workshops by distinguished speakers.

The workshops that ran concurrently were titled ‘Learning together; learning from each other’ presented by Associate Professor Dr. Keith Thomas, who was also the keynote speaker while the other workshop was lead by Anthony Pinto, a guru in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and training.

In his workshop Dr. Keith Thomas covered six sub-themes which included: the dangerous business of teaching in higher education; the concept of volcanic power; articulating strengths; identifying areas of development; learning together; learning from each other and building a diverse learning community in higher education.

It was an interesting sharing of ideas among the facilitator and participants and they were required to pull from their own personal experiences and try to relate them to what their students were experiencing. That, above all, would help the students to cope better regardless of where they come from, cultural background or political narrative history.

Some interesting terms were also coined during the workshop like ’sexy theory’. In short, it was how to make learning theory interesting for students given that it is a more heavy and serious domain of teaching and learning.

Dr. Keith Thomas's workshop

In the other workshop which was titled ‘Delivering unconscious learning with NLP & Neuro-semantics’ roofed five sub themes - understanding the NLP communication model and the 3 Drivers of Behavior; understanding and communicating, using the 4-MAT system for structuring the subject materials; using state management and anchoring techniques to install learning and using the power of metaphors to tap into our unconscious minds.

NLP is a model of how we operate and function given our mind and body emotions. NLP also describes human function, focusing on experience, experiencing and experimenting, rather than theory. Through the workshop, participants understood the different human attributes such as attitudes, learning preference styles which include visual, auditory or kinaesthetic representational systems and how they can be used to understand the social world.

The workshop was both theoretical and practical, as the presenter not only presented his ideas but also engaged participants in a demonstration of learning experiences. Actions, according to Pinto, involve higher cortical functions in the brain which enable people to create language and to map things out linguistically.

Anthony Pinto's workshop

Overall, the half day workshop managed to catch the interest of lecturers and students alike as many turned up at the last minute to join. They expressed positive feedback of the benefits of the workshop and how different approaches could be used to further boost ‘the dangerous business of teaching in higher education’.

More pictures in Frontiers Gallery 2010

Life is a journey and through this journey there will be times we cherish and trying times we have to face.  However, we must never forget that no matter what life puts ahead of us, we should always remember that true friends will always be there to provide a hand, support us through our undertakings and lend us a shoulder to cry on.  Such is the theme displayed in Lukisan Hati, a film based on a comic by Anshari Rahizan.

lukisan hati poster

The film directed by Irwan Idris, tells of Yusof, a struggling painter in UCSI and Wardah, a photographer who had just been through a breakup and is trying to find out the identity of the artist who drew a portrait of her, who is Daud, Yusof’s friend. Daud is Wardah’s secret admirer. Throughout the movie, Yusof tries his best to improve his paintings to the point of almost neglecting his girlfriend, Norliana.

Yusuf and Wardah

Wardah, on the other hand, is initially disheartened by her breakup but tries her best to capture the happy moments of others as living by her dad’s motto which is, “The job of a photographer to capture people’s best memories”. Meanwhile, Norliana, who is pretty and talented, is offered a job as an actress but has to relocate to Sabah.  She foregoes the offer in order to stay close to Yusof.

Yusof, who does not realize this, does nothing to stop her. He sees himself as an inferior compared to her.  It is only after Wardah admonishes him for being selfish and the reason Norliana rejected the offer that Yusof realizes his fault and wholeheartedly gives Norliana his support for her to accept the job.

Wardah’s quest to learn the identity of the artist ends when Daud admits that he drew her portrait after almost coming to blow with Wardah’s ex-boyfriend Razif, who was trying to reconcile with her.  Eventually, Wardah chooses neither Razif nor Daud but instead remains friends with the latter.

Nurliana, Daud and Man

Lukisan Hati is a landmark achievement for HS Maju Production Sdn. Bhd., an independent film production company which comprises of youths trying their hand at producing for the first time.  Led by Nor Hamzie Hambali, who is just 25 years old, the whole project which took seven months of hard work, has finally paid off.

The crew filmed and produced the movie on their own without seeking help and although they encountered some unfortunate incidents along the way, they remained resilient and saw the movie through the end.  This form of dedication is rarely seen in today’s youth and truly an effort which deserves praise.

This movie also marks a landmark for UCSI being the location’s sponsor as majority of filming was done in the Taman Connaught’s North Wing Campus.  Some of the more prominent locations involved were the café where the main characters gathered and had their discussions, the hall where Norliana was performing and the corridor in which the final gathering of friends for the photograph scene before the ending credits.

Overall, Lukisan Hati should not be missed not only for the messages it carries but also an example of what dedication and perseverance can achieve.  This movie and the crew that made it possible to tell the story of friendship and dedication towards a cause in the best possible way.

It may be HS Maju Production’s debut in movie-making but it most certainly won’t be the last time we will hear of this independent production company. What more with the help of UCSI University to give a leg-up to a young company like this.

According to Professor Norfadzillah Hitam, Vice President Corporate Affairs then, “UCSI University’s involvement in this project is a noble Corporate Social Responsibility initiative to encourage and promote Malaysia’s young entrepreneurs”.