The Ummatic Week has ended with some grace. The Closing Ceremony was ‘impressive’ as the director of ummatic puts it, and Tawfique and Faizal, my two directors, were ever so cool and nice about it. Though I have to admit that I witnessed Tawfique at his most stressful moments,and he handled it with wisdom and diplomacy, having worked with him before, I saw that this closing Ceremony meant a lot to him and he really did the VERY BEST for the success of it. And Faizal and me was only helping along. Still I have to say, I could have done more had I been the one doing the talking with the performers with their 1001 reasons and demands and cooperating only 40% throughout the whole work progress and during the night itself.

I was running around, taking over the flag bearers(having to stand on a chair to get their attention and be seen among the tall guys and their even taller flag poles), looking for the performers(finding the vietnamese at their booth outside the main hall!!),worrying about everything at the same time, making last minute decisions(like telling the technician to fade the song of the Comoros performance so they would stop), being more than patient with the performers from different countries(the jordanians making noises), being disappointed with the embarrassing performances by some(by the myanmar students), damn irritated with the changes which I DID NOT KNOW OF(PC counterstrike, again~) and letting tawfique and faizal doing the entertaining to the VIPs, and oh yeah, being terribly terribly disappointed that my simple name was spelt wrongly when they showed the pictures of the mainboards of ummatic week. Almost like my efforts were not appreciated at all….

By the end of the event, I was worn out heart body and soul. Still, it was an experience, a valuable one, working with international students..and they really have a different way of working, like able to accept mistakes and willing to share them so that others may learn from it, quick thinking and able to make right decisions during crucial moments. and thank you Kha for being the unofficial photographer.

I tried my very best for this event and alhamdulillah, nothing terribly bad happened, but the huge crowd was a relief and their anticipation throughout the event was encouraging. 50% of my committees did their very best while the half of it don’t really put their heart into it, thus, the mistakes during the event. And PC counterstrike…I don’t know what they’re doing~ and secretary was not so strong, granted that she’s new, my expectations are always high for a secretary, but I guess she did her very best. Overall, I have to say everything was great though. I learnt alot and they are some of the best memories I had here at IIU, and remind me, I have only one more year left. and this might be my last ummatic week.

End of Ummatic Week- oh yeah, CONGRATULATIONS to the Singaporeans who made the booth possible- Shasha&Darwis(for all the designs and ideas), Najib(for the great esplanade!!), Farhan, Salman, Ashraf (also for being the flagbearer),Anuar, Nurunnur, Azimah, Jannah, Waida, Aresha, Haron, Izhar, Nasir(for taking the stuffs from STB), Nisa, Haizumi, Hasanah Dzul, and the xcos- for always dropping by- Aili, Aisyah Spec, Fadiah, Liyana and Qadr…and extra names for the girls who perform for sisters’ cultural nite- K.dewi, far, an, yaya, yana, za, kha..ler macam ambik award lah pulak.


It’s been a great week. Now,I’m able to fully concentrate onmy studies and the month of Ramadhan….and in three weeks’ time, I’ll be going back home!!!