Day 153 - Malaysian Night 2010

WOOHOO!!! I'm still overly hyper despite it being nearly 3 hours since the event ended. The only other events that have ever made me feel so happy were anime conventions. I wonder if my tablemates snuck something into my drink... NAH!!! The night was excellent. If only the darn Irish (and pretty much all Europians) did not have to close everything and chase us out by 12, we'd be able to have a longer event and probably throw in a free style dance session just to blow away all this excessive energy still inside me.

And to think I was part of the backstage crew as the props-in-charge, which means I do all sorts of heavy lifting and running around, which theoretically should have burned me out. Imagine if I was only part of the audience. The swelling energy would probably cause a blood rush to the brain and pop a few vessels.

Let's take a trip back in time to 29 January 2010, the day we conducted the only full rehearsal with complete props and costumes. Honestly, despite the multiple mistakes (some of them my fault), it looked seriously good, since the mistakes were all just equipment problems and mistakes in setting up. Performances went on pretty smoothly with minor mistakes that were easy to spot and rectify. And since it was carried out with the same surroundings as on the actual night, I can say I was confident that we'd have no problems.

The next rehearsal which took place this morning wasn't so great though. Compared to the previous day, a lot more problems arose from change of plans, and the performers were rather zoned out. A friend of mine made so many critical mistakes like moving in the wrong direction or almost bumping into her partner. It was funny but we had a problem.

When rehearsal ended, I began to worry. The pressure was obviously setting in, so will things really go as smoothly when there will be an entire crowd watching them? Well, hard to say. After rehearsal, we settled final arrangements and decorations and then went back home to prepare. With my traditional Chinese outfit on, I marched back to the Astra Hall, only to march back home when I realised that I had forgotten my ticket. And a good thing I did, which I will explain later.

The VIPs were 5 minutes late... and I was pissed as hell. I hate it when that happens. How are they VIPs if they can't even be punctual!? All attending lecturers have already been seated long before the VIPs arrived. Okay, they finally arrived, 10 minutes late, which was already a HUGE setback. Our schedule did not allow wasting time, especially since we had to clear up before 12am later. They were brought to their seats accompanied by traditional Malay drummers and I have to admit they were bloody annoying after listening to the same beats for the 20+ time. And perhaps it was my mistake due to location but they sounded very unsynched.

Then it was time for the Dikir Barat performance. And it was really nice. Although I didn't really get the lyrics... or the meaning of their actions, they were awesome. It's like listening to Japanese songs. You don't understand shit of what they're singing, but you like it anyway. Nice rhythm, and cool, talented singers.

Then, the usual boring speeches, although we totally cocked our heads when the dean told the Irish, "Can you organise an entire cultural event that introduces so many aspects of your country while still maintaining high grades? I sincerely doubt any of you can!" Hah! Too true! Ajay's speech was okay this time, seeing as how he wasn't allowed to be informal, but it was definitely better than the unmotivating speech he gave during the slave auction. Sigh... I wanna listen to the Orientation Day Ajay again! He was freaking awesome and I can honestly say that I respected him from that day on. Recently, it was just meh... even though private conversations with him were always enjoyable.

Next up were several performances while dinner was being served. Our vice-prez was awesome with his guitar and style. The dummy three who made my life miserable (but my job funner) by constantly changing their number of singers and hence, number of mics. Settled that rather smoothly. Then the dummy four who kept changing types of mics. At first, it was 2 wireless and 1 stand. Then , it changed to 2 stands and 1 wireless. Then, it changed to depending on the situation. In the end, they used 3 mic stands, because both singers decided that they were shaking too much to hold the mics.

More Malay songs, but I was too focused on eating as fast as I could to listen. However, I am grateful that they finished ahead of schedule, thus freeing us more time for cleaning later. In fact, they finished so early, we had to force a 5 minute break before the next performance. And the contemporary dancers in their white single-layered dresses were freezing to heck already. I actually lent one of them my hoodie because I found it too warm to wear. I hope she felt better. Considering the performance after, I'd say she did.

Before the dance began, I was suddenly given the job of scattering flowers across the stage, which I did, knowing full well that clearing work later will be a hell of trouble. The contemporary dancers were very graceful and flexible, but they should have at least dimmed the lights considering the romantic melodies they used and the pure white outfits they wore. Still, beautiful. Much better than this morning. Clearing the flower petals after that was backbreaking, and I was doing it with the light on, so everybody could see the idiot desperately trying to clear the stage in under 2 minutes.

Then, it was choral speaking, where multiple races will do a random performance and then end with a speech and choir. First up were 3 Malays singing Rasa Sayang. The main singer was so cute because she was so shy up there. Ah... how I missed listening to that song. Next was a friend of mine singing a well-known traditional Chinese duet song which title I've forgotten. What I can say is, "WHY THE HELL WASN'T THE CROWD SCREAMING!?" His singing and character on stage would have made CLHS boys scream like mad, so what gives!? Then, it was Indian dancing. Compared to what I saw later, this was nothing but still great as a warm-up. Finally, they went ahead with a sappy speech about unity that was actually very true. I will not repeat their words because certain racist people will just bash what they said. M-A-L-A-Y-S-I-A!! They had to scrap the flag because the flag would have to start off folded on the floor.

Then, a 10 minute break before the sketch. The initial plan was that desert should have been served by then, but since the cooks screwed up, we were delayed. However, the choral speakers had also finished ahead of schedule and bought us some time.

Ah, the sketch. The reason I've been sleeping late, asking for help, and proving myself a lousy Penangite for the past week and a half. It kicked start with a video introducing the cast with damn funny scenes. Everyone's fav, or perhaps the most outstanding part was the introduction of Li Ping, the glamour girl. I've known that senior for 3 months since she's in the same Japanese class as me, but I have never thought her to fit the glamour girl character so well. In fact, everyone screamed when they saw her. Funniest scene would probably be the Star Athelete introduction, when the teacher used an assault rifle to fire instead of a pistol. We admit that we were too cheap to invest on a model pistol, but hey, it was funny, so who cares?

The sketch was about unity. An Irish exchange student joins the class at the same time as the Merdeka performance interclass competition. He is introduced to all sorts of traditional performances as well as other cultural stuff like games and Manglish. Finally, he suggests to mix all the dances together to form one big fusion dance. Now, as boring and cliched as it sounds, the scenes were acted out in the funniest ways possible, and I mean FUNNY. Just imagine the crowd laughing at almost every joke we pull.

The first, as always was the Malay Joget dance. Unfortunately, I had to engage myself in backstage work at the time, so I didn't really pay much attention. It was the typical joget dancing but they were pretty good having trained for months. I really didn't get much epic-ness from that one, other than the fact that it was better than this morning. But it might have been because of the lighting that made every action more prominent.

The sketch then continued with a scene of the Irish kid being taught about traditional games. Our gasing guy freaked out from nervousness and screwed up the gasing act. Panicking, they skipped straight to the chaktay act. Unbelievably, they actually kept the chaktay up for almost the whole scene, something they had never done before be it during individual practice or rehearsal. And we rigged nothing. It was purely based on their skill, so although the audience found nothing wrong, the entire backstage and cast had their mouth gaping open. And they even ended the scene with an off-script comedy when the chaktay flew at someone's face. I shall say that again. That was NOT planned, and we got a roar of laughter from that. AWESOME!!! It scores a 10/10 on the WTF scale.

Next would be Hime-sama's field. Chinese fan dancing. Now, this I could not miss. Very nice. They started with Mo Li Hua, a slow dance with lots of grace and elegance. I could almost fill my mind being carried away along a heavenly river created by their passive energy. And then the song changed to one of tension, like the music you'd hear in martial arts or war movies that portrayed more of chivalry, willpower and fighting spirit. Very, very nice. I wasn't given the chance to praise them though because I was required for prop moving... again.

But before the next act, it was time for the Lucky Draw. 6 numbers were drawn. 222 was one of the winning numbers. And it came out during the only time the emcees were screaming, "1! 2! 3!" Odd... A lady won a set of men's perfume. You lol, I kill. Why? You'll see.

Up next was the Sabahan dance. I'm curious as to why this dance had so many first years participating. Of the 7 people performing, 4 were 1st years. Ah well, they were really nice. And I made a joke about how one of my friends (mentioned at the top of this post) did not screw up this time and actually did everything perfectly. Yes, I am a meanie. Also, I totally appreciate the dancers for scattering their gold papers in front of the stage, making it a lot easier to clear after performance.

Then, it's hip-hop. How is this Malaysia? Well, my friends, you don't live in atap houses or wear cheongsams all day do you? So, there was obviously a need to represent modern Malaysia too, which explains hip-hop. The stars of the show were my two seniors who are unrelated by blood yet share an uncanny semblance to each other. And our boss lady (the Malaysian Night Organiser!) took centre stage as well. The dance was a mix of cool and comedy, with the guys solo being funny and the rest being serious. I also found their cool, arrogant look very convincing. Good show, good show.

Then, lucky draw 2nd round. On the 2nd last draw, my number came up and I went on stage. They asked for my ticket (see why I'm glad I went back now?) and I showed them the number. And I won..........a set of perfume for WOMEN!? (see why you shouldn't laugh now?) In the end, the committee helped arrange a trade between the two of us and settled things. Yay! Unfortunately, it wasn't done publicly so... I hope nobody remembers...

Now then, for my favourite performance, which is also the longest - Indian dance. Our president's an Indian, so that was a given. It was long, and complex. I'm amazed they remembered all the steps. The dance was 10 minutes long and involved so many different moves and scenes, like a Bollywood programme. Seriously, some of them CAN quit medicine and joing Bollywood, like Ajay. Yes, our great prez joined and was perhaps the best male dancer I've seen all night. Well, he did coach the entire cast of Indian dancers, so meh... Well, what I found most unforgettable was Ajay's expression during the guys only dance, but his expression throughout the entire performance was perhaps the most unique and unforgettable. His smile was just weird. A confident, fun and happy smile... no, I can't really describe it, much less attempt it, but it was certainly a mix of those three with something else.

The following scene featured my PHAIL creation - the gold plated mamak stall that obviously had no equipment to serve anything, except maybe teh tarik, but still it served every kind of dish mentioned in the NO POK video. Then, funny scene, funny scene, more funny scene. Pirated CD vendor was awesome. Also another good pick. And they served real food by the way.

The last performance of the day was the fusion dance, mixing short parts of each dance mentioned earlier and adding in a chorus dance that was repeated thrice. Said chorus dance is freaking addictive and I shall find the time to memorise it. Yes, I have the footage but I'm not allowed to show it because it was taken during rehearsal. Anyway, the dance overall was epic. And the music really made me proud and happy to be Malaysian. The best part in my opinion was the Sabahan dancers' part. It seemed like they moved the least, but something about the dance made them very attractive. And the finale saw every dancer gathered to the front of the stage carrying the banner that read "Malaysia Through Our Eyes". Su-te-ki. I almost screamed "I LOVE MALAYSIA" on the spot.

And then it was random photoshooting time and staff thanking time. Strangely, the backstage crew did not get a photoshoot and I am not happy. :( And then clean up and then cabut by 12am.

That marked the end of Malaysian Night 2010. I hope our 3rd year seniors enjoyed their last Malaysian Night in UCD. I never got the chance to scream into the mic, "On behalf of the 1st years, I would like to thank the 3rd year seniors for their guidance, support and friendship!" Oh well, I might get the chance on the actual farewell day.

Oh, Chinese New Year is coming soon. Gotta go settle all the preparations for PMCSA CNY dinner, if they're holding one this year. Nothing has been mentioned so far.