Monday, October 5, 2009

KPTM's 26th Convocation

Last Saturday Oct 3rd, I had the opportunity to attend Kolej Poly-Tech MARA’s 26th convocation held at Putrajaya International Convention Center (PICC). As the invitation came in quite last minute, at first I was a bit unsure whether to attend or not. But now I’m glad that I did.

It was an auspicious & joyful event indeed. With a total graduate of roughly 1700, it is the largest number ever produced by KPTM since its establishment in 1983. This time the event has to be split into 2 sessions – one in the morning & the other in the afternoon.

Based on the Buku Program, the afternoon session was expected to end at 1800 hrs, but they manage to conclude everything by 1630 hrs. I was informed that not many students under the collaboration program with UiTM turned up. I guess may b they prefer to attend UiTM’s graduation ceremony more than KPTM’s, or could it b that they did not receive invitation ? … wallahu a’lam.

I had a great time at PICC. Had opportunities to meet & mingle with old friends, colleagues & ex-students from other branches. PICC is really a nice place, with easy parking & the food was good too - thanks Maizul ;)

Tapi yg paling best ia lah bila dpt bersua dgn bekas2 pelajar yg bergraduat. I guess that’s the climax for anyone in the education sector ! It’s really a great feeling when ur ex-students wave their hands upon seeing u, tegur to say TQ & mentioned that they miss ur lectures ! Wow, masa tuh terasa lah jugak kembang-kecup sekejap ;) heh3. Astaghfirullah ... Hrp2 diorg nih sincere lah bila mereka kata mcm tuh ttg pengajaran kita …

Many of them took classes w me in The Digital Society (346IS), Business Info Systems Strategy (331IS) & Group Projects (201KM) when I was teaching in KPTMKL from 2007-2009. Some of them were from KPTM Alor Star, when I was their College Director from 2005-2007.

Their happy smiling face tells it all. Everybody was in a happy & joyous mood. Ramai jugak yg ajak nak bergambar dgn saya. Felt like I’m the center of attraction la pulak – prasan lah tuh ! Penjual di gerai bunga kat tingkat bawah tu pun kelihatan sgt gumbira sbb semua bunga2 abis di jual ! Semua pakat beli utk bagi kat their loved ones ! To all my ex-students : I’m very happy & proud w ur achievements. U deserve it all !

Tp yg paling berbangga sekali pd event ari tuh saya rasa ialah parents kpd para graduan. Diorg sanggup dtg dari jauh, membelanjakan byk wang ringgit, demi utk menghadiri & menyaksikan sendiri event & saat yg paling penting & bermakna dlm sejarah hidup anak2 mereka. To all these parents : SYABAS & TAHNIAH atas kejayaan anak2 tuan2 & puan2 !

Dan saat yg paling touching bg saya pulak ialah pabila MC majlis menjemput both parents of Allahyarhamah Nor Aishah Mohamed to the stage. She passed away on 7 Nov 2008 after a long battle with Thalasemia major. She was one of the many good students in my 346IS class. TQ to Coventry University for being so "generous" in awarding her Posthumous Degree. I'm sure that means a lot to her parents. Al-Fatihah …

Overall, alhamdulillah I’m happy that the whole event runs well, but of course with minor hiccups here and there. But what can you expect ? Convocation ceremony is a mammoth event, requiring excellent planning, execution & monitoring – bukan calang-calang orang boleh handle !

I’m x sure other ppl realized this or not, but this time I see less emphasis was given to salutations in speeches. Kalau dulu2, siap berjela2 dgn salutasi hinggakan audien naik muak ! Kali nih straight forward to the point. Ladies & gentlemen, bla bla bla ... I like that !

Satu lg yg I suka ialah the deployment of JPA3 (Putrajaya) to ensure “law & order” at the event. So far I x see any untoward crisis happening on that day. Next yr boleh jemput diorg lg … ;)

Areas for future improvement ?

1. Bhg PR – Jemputan & edaran maklumat amatlah kurang efektif. Ramai x dpt info yg mencukupi / tepat, esp mereka di kampus cawangan. I believe there must b some communication breakdown somewhere.

2. May b can just forgo the gamelan ? This time it was so boring … can put u to sleep in less than 1/2 hr ! I thought next time may b we should give more slots to the more “contemporary” music. Honestly, the keyboardist aritu mmg best. He’s a savior ! Pandai pilih lagu2 & rentak yg sesuai. The moment he played his songs, almost all of us audience terkejut dari lena & start tapping our feet & fingers … If I were not seated in the front row, I would probably get up and dance ! Those lagu2 Hari Raya & the evergreen Sway really puts many of us in the mood again ! Syabas Mr Keyboardist !

3. More seats should be allocated for the lecturers. To me, convo is an event to celebrate our students’ academic achievements. Who else would b more appropriate to attend (besides the graduates & their loved ones) than the lecturer themselves ? I’m very sure that these students also want to see (& show off ?) their lecturers more than anybody else at this joyous occasion.

Akhir kalam, my syabas & tahniah to the urusetia & all those ppl involved as AJKs etc. Special mention to my closest of friends who hold big responsibilities in ensuring the smooth running of the event – Abd Azmi, Bro SFO, Sis BB, Bro Pian, Napi, Maizul, Hamidi, UstFazli.

Abd Azmi – for ur high spirit & endurance to shoulder both TRA & Rector’s responsibilities. If given to me, I don’t think I can execute it as well as him.

Bro SFO – our KPTM’s best Floor Mgr ever ! Bukan setakat floor jer dia cover, kalau boleh sampai kat dinding2 & siling2 pun dia nak manage ;) Dari pagi ke petang, I x nampak sekali pun dia sempat duduk – asyik ke hulu ke hilir always on the run to ensure smooth running of the event.

Sis BB - for her “motherly / sisterly final touches” to ensure semua graduan memakai jubah & mortar board masing2 dgn se-elok2 mungkin sebelum naik stage.

Bro Pian & Napi – both of them dgn penuh dedikasi & poyo nya menggunakan alat komunikasi wireless di tengah2 dewan depan para hadirin, demi utk memastikan pergerakan perarakan berjalan dgn lancar & sempurna.

Maizul – for the good food. Pandai u pilih kombinasi ! Cuma I x sempat nak merasa mee-hoon, diorg kata sedap !

Hamidi – lelaki KPTM bersuara jantan terakhir ? Next time saya rasa pihak JK Konvo perlu cari sorang lagi back-up MC lelaki bersuara jantan mcm dia ... klu x kesian Hamidi sorang, sampai nak hilang suara. (MC perempuan pulak ada 2-3 org utk disilihganti)

UstFazli – for the barokah of his doa – dgn izin Allah the whole event runs smoothly. To me, sesapa saja boleh baca teks doa, tapi tahap keberkatannya berbeza2 …

Yg lain2 tu jgn lah terasa plak… I tau ramai yg bertugas "di belakang tabir". Nama u all kan dah ada kat dlm Buku Program Konvo tuh ? Heheh … Anyway, ALL of u just did a great job guys ! Keep up the good work. KPTM Hebat ! Takbiir !

Note: Sorry guys kali nih x der fotos nak di upload – digicam I yg dulu tuh ada prob sikit ! kuang3 … nak kena cari ganti … x ada sesapa nak bagi hadiah digicam utk I ker ? X nak bagi yg canggih2 pun x per, kalu leh bg Olympus Tough 8000 pun kira ok lah ;)


5 comments:

Muhammad Maharoff said...

What had happen to ur digicam? Masuk air kerw??? Sapa yang nak bg hadiah digicam kat u tu???

Liza Manaf said...

konvo.,.sgt syok..especially bila bekas anak murid dtg salam n nak amik gamba n thanking us for being their lecturer...adoii...feeling yg sgt terharu....

aRe_La said...

thanks sir coz being my great lecturer!!^_*
kitorang batch cs nak bergambo same..but sir kuar cpt sgt.:P

DDFABULOUS.COM said...

last week ye...

unikl on this saturday 10-11 Oct 2009...congrats to all yg dah konvo n nak berconvo...

http://dd2909.blogspot.com

Along Gamelan said...

Assalamualaikum,

Saya merupakan salah seorang pemuzik gamelan utk acara tersebut. Maaflah ya kalau muzik kami membosankan anda. Muzik gamelan tradisi istana Melayu memang begitu, lembut & perlahan. Kami juga tidak dapat memainkan lagu-lagu moden yang lebih rancak & sesuai dgn citarasa anda kerana instrumen gamelan Melayu mempunyai skala nada (scale) yg terbatas; tidak seperti piano, mahupun instrumen Barat lain yg boleh memainkan pelbagai nada (key) lagu. Apa pun, kami hanya menurut perintah pihak pengurusan, bila disuruh main, kami main, bila disuruh berhenti, kami berhenti. Jika anda rasa gamelan hanya patut dimainkan semasa upacara perarakan masuk atau tidak diperlukan langsung, mungkin anda boleh maklumkan kpd pihak pengurusan, jadi tidaklah kami membosankan anda lagi setiap tahun. Sekian, terima kasih.