A Spectacular UTAR Ball 2014!

Themed Galaxy Night, the UTAR Ball 2014 was held at the Swiss-Garden Hotel & Residences Kuala Lumpur on 21 June 2014 organised by the SRC (Student Representative Council) of UTAR Kuala Lumpur (KL) Campus with support from students of the other campuses and staff from the UTAR Department of Student Affairs in Sungai Long Campus. It was indeed a night to remember filled with a variety of spectacular singing, dancing, lucky draws and wholesome entertainment fit for a formal University Ball.

The night began with a welcome speech by the organizing chairperson of the UTAR Ball who is also the SRC KL Campus chairperson, Cryzel Gan Hui Shin who said that, “This annual event is to celebrate our university life with a bang.” She thanked the sponsors, fellow SRC members and students from other UTAR campuses for their support, cooperation and commitment in making the event a great success. Cryzel also explained that the theme Galaxy Night was chosen because of the aura of romance and elegance that a star studded night exudes and she hoped that students will remember and cherish this special night.

This was followed by the speech from the guest of honour UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik who praised the organizing committee for doing a good job and hoped that everyone would enjoy the night. The essence and impact of his speech was succinctly said in one statement, “This is by far, the best UTAR Ball I have attended.” The audience responded with thunderous claps and cheers because the Ball was organised by the SRC students for the students and it meant a lot to them. Prof Chuah then launched the opening of UTAR Ball 2014 which started the events for the night.

Also present to support the event were Vice-President (Internationalisation and Academic Development) Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat, Vice-President (R & D and Commercialisation) Ir Prof Dr Lee Sze Wei and Vice President (Student Development and Alumni) Assoc Professor Dr Teh Chee Seng together with other UTAR staff including the Department of Student Affairs (DSA)Head Ms Loh Nyuk Leung, Department of Alumni Relations Head Lim Swea Jen and the DSA staff liaison for the Ball Ms Ong Sheau Ling from UTAR Sungai Long Campus.

The organizing committee of the Ball did an excellent job in stationing ushers to welcome all guests and making sure all were guided promptly to their seats. They provided a 5-star welcoming service which included a free photography session to commemorate the night. Throughout the night, student ushers were stationed at the back and everything was orderly and organised; even the buffet station with a widespread of food outside the hall was well managed. The programme for the night went smoothly and kept the audience engrossed throughout. It was indeed a very proud moment for UTAR to have such a capable team of students who have managed everything so well and so precise from the programme booklet right to the performances for the night.

The most amazing and enthralling sight for the night was how our students were dressed for the Ball. They were almost always in t-shirts and jeans on campus but for the UTAR Ball, they were dressed to the nines. It was as if overnight, the students became beautiful fine ladies and handsome gentlemen. The gentlemen were in the best of suits and behavior and the ladies wore envious fashionable formal gowns with excellent hair-do and make-up. It was a remarkable transformation. They all looked polished and elegant making the night a very classy Ball that would make anyone proud.

To keep the audience entertained, there were dance performances before the arrival of the guest of honour and other performances right through till the end. Our UTAR student dancers from the PJ and KL Dance Clubs performed well and it was choreographed to good music. The team of agile and talented dancers from Perak Campus was mesmerizing and near professional. The audience enjoyed the songs and the witty jokes of the guest performers, Danny One and Lin Kah Jun (an ex-Utarian) and both sang songs from their up-coming album. Lin Kah Jun had almost all the ladies in the hall singing along with him. Both the guest performers helped drew the lucky numbers for the lucky draws with prizes including an ipad and hotel stays at Swiss-Garden Hotel in Kuantan.

At the Ball, several awards were presented by UTAR President and Dr Teh and the award recipients were Reagen Lee Hon Leong (Perak Campus) for Best Student Leader Award, Lye Guang Xing (Perak Campus) for Most Talented UTARian and Loh Chooi Fern (Sg. Long Campus) for Sportsperson of the Year. The Mathematics Society in KL Campus was awarded the Best Society Award (Course Based) and Wushu Club (Perak Campus) won the Best Society Award (Non-Course Based).

Like any other University Ball, the crowning of Prom King and Queen is a major highlight of the night. The Prom Queen of the night went to Jaspreetjit Kaur Sandhu who is studying Chemical Engineering and also a member of the SRC (editorial head) while the Prom King went to Mansour Ayman Alawi, a Biomedical Engineering student.

The night really began for the students after the Waltz performance by SRC organizing committee members who looked resplendent in their evening gowns and suits. Music for the night was live band performances by Infinity who played a variety of songs to suit the mood for the night. The live band made all the difference for the audience.

Overall, the UTAR Ball 2014 was indeed a night to remember not just for the great entertainment, good food, beautiful people, warm ambience and good music but more so for the efficiency, the teamwork and the level of professionalism of the organizing committee. Kudos SRC KL!!

Organising Chairperson Cryzel Gan (first left) with Prof Chuah (centre) during the launch gambit

Prom King Mansour Ayman Alawi and Prom Queen Jaspreetjit Kaur Sandhu

Photo with the award winners: (From left) Prof Ewe, Prof Lee, representative from the Math Society, Loh, Lye, Prof Chuah, Reagen, Dr Teh and representative from Wushu Club Perak

Versatile dancers from the UTAR PJ and KL Dance Clubs with their opening performances

Violin performance by Rex

Live performance by Fruity Milkshake

Lucky draws: Kah Jun (centre) with emcee Sandra (left)

Danny One (centre) drawing a lucky number

Band performance by Infinity

Organising committee members doing the Waltz