Inside Stories
Columns pg. 2 & 4 Happenings
FESCO: Kimchi
Pecal in Nasi Lemak
Crossing cultures in dance and music
Closing performance of FESCO with all the performers of the night.
By Kan Wai Choong, PE Yr. 1 Sem. 2
Tronoh, 6 March: Universiti Teknologi
PETRONAS Performing Arts Group (UPAG)
put on a splendid performance for the
Festival of Colours of the World (FESCO)
and bagged the top awards of the night,
winning the Best Performance, Best IPTS,
Best Music, Best Make-up Awards, and
many more.
The colourful event brought much excite-
ment and entertainment to the grand
Chancellor Hall, with an audience of 3000
First ever 24 Drums performance in UTP.
pg. 3, 5, 6 & 7
Surviving FYP
A Lesson on Manners
The Experience of Exchange
Musings of the Mind
Australia? (page 8)
Spotlight
The First Step is Always the Hardest
people, which included the Rector of UTP,
Datuk Dr. Zainal Abidin Haji Kasim,
sponsors and representatives from all
participating universities. The crowd was
overwhelming and some late-comers had
to sit by the stairways to watch the
performances.
FESCO is not just any ordinary dance
competition. It opens the door to cultural
exchange among the participants. This
year, the stage was graced by performers
from Walailak University, Thailand and
Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM),
1Malaysia Chinese New Year
Celebration in UTP
By Chen Tien Zyee, ICT Yr. 4 Sem. 1
Tronoh, 27 February: In the spirit of
Chinese New Year, students from all races
and nationalities turned up to celebrate
Chinese New Year in the Chancellor Hall.
Themed “1 Malaysia Chinese New Year”,
the event was organised by the Interna-
tional Culture Club (ICC).
In his speech, Tuan Haji Mohamed Noor
Rosli, Director of Student Services, urged
students to take the opportunity to learn
and respect other cultures in Malaysia. It is
important for them to understand the
Chinese and the values that make them so
successful today, not just in Malaysia but
UTP Champs in National Novice
Debating Championship
Dreams Are To Be Achieved
Teens In Campus Programme
INFUD 2010
Titian Budi Road Show
pg. 8 IRC Carnival Attracts Crowd
Indonesia. In a cross cultural endeavour, a
special Korean performance was
presented by UGM while an interesting
fusion between the Korean musical and
the Gamelan by the UTP Gamelan Group
was showcased.
“We are happy for the invitation and have
been impressed with the variety of
culture,” claimed Sorawit Pulsawasd, a
representative from Walailak University.
The university was later awarded the Best
International Award.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
all over the world.
He said that the Chinese have always held
fast to the principle of "Whatever we do,
we must do it for success". He believes
that this has propelled them towards
numerous achievements.
Throughout the event, the crowd was
entertained with the lion dance, a funny
sketch, a wushu performance, 24 Drums,
an Indian dance, a break dance perform-
ance, and performances by the UTP
Orchestra Chinese Musical Group, the UTP
Performing Arts Group, and the UTP
Gamelan Group.
Board of Editors
Patron:
Tuan Haji Mohamed Noor Rosli
bin Baharom
Advisors:
Muhamad Syazwan Amarjit
Nabila Lau, ICT Yr. 2 Sem. 2
Redha Fadzil, PE Yr. 2 Sem. 2
HOT Board:
Editor-in-Chief:
Timmy Ong, ICT Yr. 1 Sem. 2
Co-editor 1:
Steward Baba, CE Yr. 2 Sem. 1
Co-editor 2:
Devina Amaleswaran, PE Yr. 3
Sem. 1
Designers:
Muhamad Faiz Ishak, CE Yr. 2 Sem.
2
Photographers:
Amir Ehsan Mohamad, CV Yr. 1
Sem. 2
Awang Muhd. Nasuha, ME Yr. 1
Sem. 1
Chen Tien Zyee, ICT Yr. 4 Sem. 1
For any feedback, reach us via:
heartoftronoh@gmail.com
Also, find the HOT group on
Facebook.
Editor’s Foreword
If you noticed, I did not have any
foreword for the first issue, and there
are several reasons for that. One
thing is that there was already a
‘Patron’s Foreword’, and there are
only so many forewords that one
could and would—and should—read
in an issue of a bulletin.
Another thing would be that I did not
think the paper needed any foreword
from me; it should be able to speak
for itself. That is the epitome of any
good publications, isn’t it?
But why am I doing it now? Oh, it’s
only because the patron has no fore-
word to write this time around, and
we have a space for it. So here goes:
If you realized, for this issue, with
FESCO and the Chinese New Year
celebration, the front page is unin-
tentionally themed ‘1Malaysia’. Flip
the pages to receive more juicy writ-
ings!
 2
Columns
Surviving FYP:
10 Things to Keep in Mind
By Nurul Jannah Nordin
(Part 2)
Previously, we found out that to survive your final year
project (FYP), you should: make sure your laptop/PC is
healthy and working well; invest in a colour printer; and
allocate a specific budget for your FYP. Here we have
more tips for you…
4. Collect FYP references beforehand
Ask your seniors to provide you with all FYP-related mate-
rials as early as possible in your FYP phase so that you
would not have to trouble yourself at the eleventh hour
searching for materials. If possible, get both the hardcopy
and softcopy of the materials, such as the dissertation,
posters, etc. Ask your supervisors to also help you with
the materials. Most of them would be happy to help.
5. Make full use of the IRC
If you are not a fan of the IRC, this is the time you need to
think again. Make full use of it. Or at least use their
service to help you find your journals in the IRC. Get the
IRC card to photocopy the materials you need. You will
really need the resources from the IRC for your literature
review and references.
6. Have fixed consultation sessions
Allocate at least one fixed session per week to consult
your supervisor. This will greatly help you prepare your
report and communicate with your supervisor, better
than just emailing or consulting him or her when the
report deadline is near. Fixed sessions will ensure that
you make a commitment to meet your supervisor no
matter how busy you are.
7. Never procrastinate
It is normal to see students struggling to complete their
FYP reports when the deadline is very near—but it does
not have to be a culture. Discipline yourself. Although
some lecturers may be lenient towards you, be responsi-
ble towards yourself. Why do you want to struggle more
when you can already have a break? If possible, send in
your report early. I find it rewarding to be able to focus
on other things after I send in my reports early.
The Experience of Exchange
Calvin and the Statue of Liberty.
By Calvin Chi Hung Chong, EE
I t is hard to chronicle four months’ worth of joy, hap-
piness, laughter, etc. in mere sentences. I will try by
choosing defining incidents.
8. Update your report weekly
Instead of just working on your reports when the dead-
line is around the corner, try updating it at least weekly.
Not only would you keep your FYP in mind, and not have
to recall things every time you update it, you will also find
it easier to update. Set aside at least three hours a week
to update your reports. Also, jot down anything about
your FYP that comes into your mind in a small notebook
everyday so that your ideas will not be wasted away
unnoticed.
9. FYP vs. other subjects
Remember: your final year is not just about your FYP. You
will have other subjects and commitments to focus on.
That is why you need to plan carefully when setting your
schedule for your final year. Allocate time for your other
subjects also.
10. Do not neglect entertainment and rest
Frankly, there will be students who become nerds facing
the computer all the time and forgetting meal time. Keep
in mind that you still have your friends and family, and
they will be the ions to offer you help if you get into trou-
ble. If you organise your FYP properly, there is no excuse
for not being able to hang out with your friends or find
entertainment on your own after you send your reports.
Your mind and body need good rest. I myself did not have
enough sleep working on my FYP, but what is important is
to have quality sleep. Do not sleep on the desk or on the
floor while studying. Sleep at the proper place. Although
only for a short time, It will be good quality sleep.
Last but not least, remember that God is the one who
makes things happen, so make time to pray and reflect on
ourselves no matter how busy we are.
I hope I have provided you with useful tips. Your FYP does
not have to be your nightmare. You create the nightmare
by neglecting the precious moments of your final year.
Believe me, you will want to keep your final year in
memory, so make it a good one. Well then, good luck for
your FYP!
Nurul Jannah is UTP’s BIS graduate and is currently
working as a Property Research Executive in a property
valuation firm.
One. I received these two sen-
tences which brought me on a
four-month period of self dis-
covery and cultural exposure. “You’ve been selected for
the Student Exchange Programme. Please come to my
office tomorrow morning.”
Two. The Visa officer at the US Embassy looked straight
into my eyes and told me that I was going to the States.
My flight was in the next 48 hours. Goodbyes said. Hugs
exchanged. Photos taken. Bags in hand, I turned and had
a last look of my parents before I walked into the depar-
ture gate, not knowing what was in store for me.
Three. We landed at the LAX airport with huge smiles on
our faces. Bibi and I had our first glimpse of the States
when we weaved through the crowd at the Santa Monica
pier, strolled along the long stretch of beach, and took
pictures of the infamous Muscle Beach and my first (and
last) try of Taco Bell. A Malaysian friend took us to a
Mexican party at night. It was an experience of many
firsts. My first time trying out authentic Mexican food; my
first time taking in the hospitality of Americans; and the
first time being car-driven on the wrong side of the road.
Four. The shuttle dropped me off at a Malaysian senior’s
house in Rolla. I gingerly turned the doorknob and, upon
entering, was greeted by smiling faces. They asked me
whether I was hungry and one of them cooked nasi
goreng for me. Another helped to take my bags in. I will
always remember the warmth of the Malaysian pals in
Rolla. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
A Lesson on Manners
Do We Really Ask Too Much?
R ecently at my workplace I had an interesting talk
with the Technical Head of my division. I had got
wind that he had purchased a new Myvi, and paid cash
for it. So, naturally, I had to ask him how much he paid
for it. And I found out through the hard way that
‘naturally’ here meant socio-culturally natural. Let me
explain.
Upon my inquiry, I received an expletive-filled response
to this effect: “Why do you (insert proverbial expletive
here)’s always need to know how much I paid for stuff?
Everyone here has an incurable disease of wanting to
know how much another person has spent”.
Naturally of course, I was taken aback. It seemed like
such a grown-up I-too-plan-on-buying-one-myself ques-
tion; why was I being derided for asking a perfectly
legitimate question? I protested my innocence, saying it
was a simple question, hence why the reproach. And the
response I got was an earful.
Apparently, the expletive above referred to us Malaysians
(the nerve of that guy!). The division head, an American
(go figure), said Malaysians are renowned for committing
faux pas in violating all possible workplace taboos and
social norms. For instance, asking a person about their
age, their salary, marital status, etc. Here I began to go
red. I can honestly say that at my current workplace, I
have never asked anyone about their age, salary or
whether they were married. But upon reflecting on my-
self at that time, I realized that I had somehow gained
knowledge about most of the staff’s age, marital status,
and to a certain extent, salary. Did I subconsciously, by
habit, inquire about such details during casual conversa-
tions with fellow staff? Was this person in front of me
actually speaking the truth through his rather generalized
admonishment of the Malaysian culture?
Here was a guy who has been in the business for over 30
years, worked with various people with different cultures
around the world, chastising the Malaysian work ethos.
However strongly I felt to the contrary, I begrudgingly
relented. It did make me realize the need to be mindful
about what you say. Being politically correct is absolutely
vital once you enter a professional working environment.
International companies are held to such high ethical
standards and working cultures that even the smallest,
seemingly insignificant social gaffe can have serious re-
percussions. I was given the following analogy of how
workers are hired in the US:
“Even if it’s a Mexican who may be deaf or mute with
turrets syndrome, and not speak a word of English who
comes for an interview, if he is qualified, should be hired
with absolutely no non-job related question asked, and if
he is found to be incapable of doing his work only then
can he be turned away.”
And that should be the level of professionalism that we
should all aspire to reach. (However, I still feel asking how
much a car cost is a perfectly legitimate question, stupid
(proverbial expletive) American).
By Valsan Vevakanandan, PE
Errata
Due to an editing error, a picture ran with the article
“Martial Arts Night” on the front page of HOT March
edition was incorrectly captioned, “Karate, one of the
captivating performances of the night.” The correct
martial art style should be taekwondo.
In the Happenings section on Page 3 in HOT March
edition, due to a reporting error, Italian student Lukas
Pirpamer’s university name and location were misstated
as University of GLAZ in Australia, in the article “First Ever
Pasar Malam in UTP!’. The correct university name and
location are University of Graz in Austria.

UTP Champs in National Novice
Debating Championship
By Ashraf, PE Yr. 2 Sem. 1
Shah Alam, 22 February: UTP emerged
champion of the National Novice Debating
Championship 2010, held at the Science
and Technology Tower (Engineering Fac-
ulty) of Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah
Alam. This championship, organised by
UiTM’s English Debating Society, was held
from 19th to 21st February 2010 .
The National Novice Championship was
opened to all emerging Malaysian
debaters who have not participated in any
international tournament such as the
All-Asians, Australs, and World Universi-
ties Debating Championship. This year’s
tournament attracted 96 teams from 45
tertiary and secondary institutions, mak-
ing it the largest single language debating
championship in Malaysia to date. UTP
Debate Club sent three English Debating
teams to participate in this championship.
In this competition, the debaters go
through 6 preliminary rounds before the
top 16 teams are ranked and moved into
the octo-finals. After the preliminaries,
UTP 1 was ranked 3rd while UTP 2 was
ranked 7th overall with 5 winnings and 1
loss each, qualifying both teams to the
octo-finals. UTP 3 on the other hand
managed 4 wins and 2 losses in the
preliminary rounds. In the octo-finals, UTP
1 won against Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia (UKM 3) but UTP 2 lost to
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM 3).
Proud and happy: the UTP heroes.
Dr. Sheikh, sharing his experience and
giving valuable advice.
UTP 1 moved on to the quarter-finals,
won over University College of Technol-
ogy and Innovation (UCTI 1) and advanced
themselves to the semi-finals. In the semi-
finals, with the motion ‘This house would
use genetically modified food to feed
impoverished countries’, UTP 1 won
against International Islamic University
Malaysia (IIUM 1). The motion for the
finals was ‘This house would support
Iran's rights to develop nuclear weapons’.
UTP won against IIUM 1 with a unanimous
9-0 vote from the adjudicators. Kong Fook
Ann from UTP also won the final’s best
speaker title.
On a worthy note, two UTP adjudicators:
Ismal Ishak and Vignesh Kumar broke into
semi-finals as adjudicators. However, they
were conflicted out of the finals as UTP
advanced into the finals. The list of UTP
debaters are as following:
UTP 1
1.Mukhariz Muhamad (BIS 2/1)
2.Kong Fook Ann (PE 1/2)
3.Mohd Ashraf b. Nor Azrol (PE 2/1)
UTP 2
1.Mohd Shafiq Bin Shaffa'ee (CE F/1)
2.Sean Suraj Jeremiah (CE F/1)
3.Ahmed Ali El-Fadil Hassan (PE F/1)
UTP 3
1.Lee Yin Yin (PG F/1)
2.Chin Yong Bao (CE 1/2)
3.Alex Liew Vun Ping (EE 1/2)
Dreams Are to Be Achieved
By Chen Tien Zyee, ICT Yr. 4 Sem. 1
Seri Iskandar, 22 February: A huge crowd
of students turned up for a motivational
talk by Datuk Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar
Shukor, the first Malaysian to go into
space. The talk, held in conjunction with
IRC Carnival, allowed Dr. Sheikh to share
his experience with primary school stu-
dents from around Tronoh, as well as
UTP students and staff.
Since he was 10 years old, he used to
look up at the sky, imagining life in space.
On the day he finally made it to space, he
was awed by the beauty of the Earth.
From the International Space Station
(ISS), both KLCC and the Great Wall of
China were not visible, but he did see the
TEC X Road Show
Decade of Renaissance
By Mostafa Mansour, EE Found. Sem. 3
Tronoh, 9 March: The TEC X Grand Road
Show definitely created an impression on
all students passing by Pocket D for the
two days. Abounding with information
about career and technology, also con-
taining documentaries and different
games ranging from Sudoku to PC games,
and most importantly smiling UTP faces,
TEC X Grand Road Show strived to fulfill its
mission.
Organised by MPPUTP, TEC stands for
“Technology” as it aims to expose new
technology to UTP students through
inviting technology companies to show
their latest break-through; “Education” as
it educates UTP students about career
through various career seeds; and
First Technology Week in UTP
By Mostafa Mansour, EE Found. .Sem. 3
Tronoh, 8 March: Organised by Syntech,
the Technology Week, held from 22nd
until 28th March 2010, offered the latest
computing and networking technology in
all possible ways.
In the event, Syntech provided education
opportunities through lectures and work-
shops. The topics includeg Java program-
ming, Internet marketing, and much more.
Hat Yai!
By Dg Ku Zuraidah Bt. Ag. Majid, BIS Yr.
2 Sem. 2
Thailand, 15 March: Infinite Business
Communities (IBComm) of Young
Entrepreneurs Club organised a two-day-
three-night holiday to Hat Yai, Thailand,
from 12th until 14th March 2010.
The main objective of this event was to
provide opportunities to UTP students to
visit Thailand during this mid-semester
break. This tour comprised 30 UTP stu-
dents, 2 travel agents, 2 bus drivers and
a tour guide.
They visited a number of famous tourist
Penang Island.
The 12 days he spent in space were used
for research in cancer cells, crystallization
of various proteins and microbes. This
research was further continued by a local
university in Malaysia. The experiments
are now 80% complete and the findings
are expected to be published to the sci-
entific community in the near future.
Lastly, he advised the crowd to set a
dream for themselves and work hard at
realising the dream. They should
prioritise their education and set out to
master the English language to compete
in the international level.
3
Happenings
“Career” as it connects the students with
more than 50 companies invited to
conduct interviews for various job
opportunities and internship offers.
This grand road show is a publicity stunt
for the TEC X event, which will be held on
the 30th and the 31st March at the Chan-
cellor Complex. The grand road show has
the focus to promote this year’s TEC to
the foundation and first-year students.
The organising committee has put in a lot
of effort in inviting the companies,
especially with the after-effects of the
economy crisis, where many companies
are less willing to hire new staff.
Do visit www.utptecx.com for more
details.
Seniors shared their experience during
internship, and primary school children
were educated about technology. Most
importantly, the UTP students’ Internet
forum will be launched.
Art was also featured in this Technology
Week too. Toy Paper Competition, outing
with Janggut Touch, the famous photog-
raphy company and the Shutterbug Pho-
tography Competition, were all part of
CRAFT, the artistic feature of the event.
spots. They went to Nora Plaza to buy
souvenirs ranging from key chains, hand-
bags, shoes, accessories, to t-shirts. They
also stopped to take pictures with The
Great Serpent, a dragon/snake statue
located on the beach of Songkhla.
They visited Tang Kuan Hill, which is a
place to see the Phra Cedi Luang, an an-
cient pagoda. In Songkhla, they visited
Cat and Rat islands; and also Samila
Beach where the most prominent land-
mark is the Golden Mermaid statue.
The Klonghae Floating Market was the
highlight of the visit.
The Malaysian astronaut: Dr. Sheikh.
 4
Columns
A regular column
By Arif Amin Bin Ahmad Puzi, PG
From the advent of time, about the time the first hydrogen
atom sought out its other hydrogen atom friend in that
largest of bang aptly called ‘The Big Bang’, colour has been
a widely discussed subject. Only the hydrogen atoms did
not have a mouth to verbalise it. Since then, colours have
been separated, brought together, given meaning, symbol-
isms, invigorated, reflected, absorbed, and pretty much
involved in everything about anything. From LCD and
plasma TV screens, all the way to the water that we drink,
the world is crazy about colours. Imagine what our great
grand ancestors would say if they knew we were drinking
black, bubbling beverages: cuckoo! And this craze has defi-
nitely not escaped the attention of your average but well-
rounded UTPian. Annually, UTP celebrates this by organis-
ing the Festival of Colours of The World.
Among the most interesting usage of colours is in the
clothes that we wear. Throughout recent weeks, the pages
of the newspapers have been filled with reports about the
actions of a group of people who don the colour red.
FROM PAGE 2 > Five. I moved into Residential
College II (a dormitory) with Jackie, a PETRONAS
scholar. My two American housemates came in
to help us lower our beds. We talked. We
laughed.
Six. The first day I walked into class. Initially
expecting a huge class with many students, I was
taken aback by how small the class was. A small
room scattered with not more than twenty
students. What was different there was the fact
that students were more outspoken and would
not have qualms speaking out their minds and
asking questions when they had to.
Seven. I was hungry. I walked to the cafeteria. I
was amazed at how advanced the system was.
You take whatever you feel like eating, go to the
cashier and pass her your student ID. She swipes Calvin, looking incredibly small standing under a huge tree in his campus.
it and presto, you’re done. A functional credit
card!
Eight. 23 pairs of eyes were staring at me. It did not help
knowing that they were all native English speakers. The
topic was abortion. Nervously gripping the edges of the
podium, I stumbled and stuttered through my first speech.
When I ended, the lecturer complimented me on the
depth of my opinion. I thought my performance was
horrendous so the compliment was unexpected. That was
my first attempt at public speaking in the speaking class I
was enrolled in. The next few tries saw me getting better
and better. I received an A for that class.
The first time the Malaysians had a rumah terbuka was
during the Hari Raya celebration. We went to the seniors’
Calvin in baju Melayu, at a Hari Raya gathering with Malaysians.
Though one might question
their methods, their will and
commitment to the cause
that they believe in is highly
admirable. Just a curious
thought: if the red shirts are
willing to use their red blood
for their cause, the writer wonders what yellow substance
their rivals, the yellow shirt, would use? Surely not what
he is thinking.
Similarly, UTP draws a parallel comparison with the above
scenario. While the students do not actually have a colour
to call their own (they are multi-coloured), they are united
in facing a common blue-shirted enemy: the security
guards or in the more colloquial term, the ‘pak guards’.
However, instead of condemning these summons-wielding
authorities, let’s take a look at their brighter side, along
with other colour-bearing shirts in our campus.
First and foremost, they are just doing their job. The blame
should not be put on this particular profession in that to
earn money, they are actually sentencing certain stu-
dents—only those at fault, mind you—to lose a certain
amount of money. And therein lays the grouses of most of
the multi-coloured group: that the summonses dished out
are too many, too expensive and too trivial. Now without
denying the possibility of the existence of an errant pak
guard, we have to remember that the rules and regula-
tions have been in place since before we decided to enrol
house and had fun trying out all the Malay delicacies. The
chatter, the laughter, the jokes, and the scene of the
handsome young men decked in baju Melayu and demure
ladies in baju kurung were sweet memories that I would
cherish for a long time.
It was the first time we had a Malaysian BBQ night. I sang
myself hoarse on the Nintendo Wii set as Bibi played the
drums and Aiman strummed the guitar. That was my first
time playing Rock Band. The party didn’t end there. We
played mahjong and took so many pictures that my
camera ran out of battery. The junior guys slept over at
the seniors’ house that night. It was freezing cold out
there. Winter was approaching.
My first time seeing snow! Along with that
came my first time wearing a winter jacket,
the first time I nearly froze to death during
our blustery visit to the Statue of Liberty, my
first time engaging in a snow fight and my
first time walking in the snow with a cup of
Starbucks.
Feeling bored, with a few friends, we tried
out all the fast food joints in Rolla. McD’s:
checked. Wendy’s: checked. Hardee’s:
checked. Subway: checked. I miss all those
friends when I browsed through the pictures
we took the day I left. Armed with a Canon
Ixus 90IS, we trekked around campus and
took pictures of us in front of every single
building.
The first time I started to get sick of burgers,
ourselves here.
Not only that, to what functions do rules and regulations
serve but as to maintain the well-being of the community,
in this case all UTPians? It is not a mere coincidence that
accidents involving vehicles occur on a very rare basis in
our campus or that the number of theft cases has de-
creased. Who among us does not believe that prevention
is better than cure? Ultimately, that is what the security
guards are aiming for.
The blue hue is also worn by another group of people, be it
slightly lighter in this case as compared to the security
guards. Accordingly, you might say that they also attract
less attention and controversy as compared to their same
coloured counterparts. Hence, they are often overlooked.
However, let’s acknowledge the role played by Azar, the
cleaning company—and all cleaners for that matter—in
keeping our campus shiny and spotless for a conducive
learning environment. Without them, our lives would be
left in grayscale, metaphorically speaking. An orange party
has also left its mark. Despite a rough entrance, they con-
tinue to provide the most that they can and for that I be-
lieve, we should all give them another chance.
Be it as it may, there is a negative side to colours: printing
—it requires money. So in order to protect the financial
stability of HOT, let me end this article by admonishing all
and sundry to celebrate colours, as you would be crazy not
to.
burgers and burgers and started to miss real
food. I missed nasi lemak, sambal, rendang,
prawn mee, kari ayam, tom yam, ulam raja, etc.
The first time I followed a few seniors to Chicago
for a Hari Raya celebration organised by the
Malaysian student department. I was the only
Chinese staying over at the officer’s house. My
first time wearing a baju Melayu! A girl said I
looked handsome. I beamed with pleasure.
The first time I stayed with an American friend in
St. Louis. We walked around the town in the
middle of the night, taking in the stupendous
sight of the renowned arch while basking in the
serenity of the night.
The last month before I came back, I embarked
on a month-long trip covering the major cities
along the east and west coast of the States with
a few buddies. Nothing is more pleasurable than being in a
new place, blending into the crowd, having short pleasant
conversations with the locals, and trying out new experi-
ences that you never bargained for.
I went gaga at the lights in Las Vegas and New York;
huddled in a massive crowd in Times Square for 12 hours
just to wait for the strike of midnight and usher in the
New Year; marvelled at the sight of the Golden Gate
Bridge; took the subway in New York; did a three-hour
trek up the snow-covered mountains in Yosemite; walked
into the Abercrombie & Fitch store along Fifth Avenue
New York; tried to mimic the American accent but failed
miserably; took silly pictures of us making faces in front of
MIT and Harvard; lay on the cold ground for half an hour
in awe of the U.S. Capitol building in D.C.; and tried the
famous Philly cheesesteak at Jim’s in Philadelphia. Every
experience was indeed mind-boggling and unforgettable!
In spite of all that, nothing beats coming home. Back to
familiar faces, the warmth of loved ones and the rustic
charm of my own home country!
Calvin is a third year student. He was selected for the
Student Exchange Program to the United States of
America for a period of four months. This is his
experience as an exchange student.
Contribute to us by sending in your articles to Devina at
heartoftronoh@gmail.com, with the subject “Columns”,
and your attached file named as the title of your article.
Include your name, year and course in the article file.
 5
Happenings

FROM PAGE 1 > Eka Pramuditga, a

representative from UGM, commented
that the cultural exchange is beneficial.
He further said that this event gives new
inspirations such as the fusion
performance. UGM took home the
Integration FESCO Award for portraying
friendliness throughout the event.
Following the theme, ‘Creative One
Malaysia Dance’, the performances
comprised a combination of the various
cultural dances in Malaysia. Sunway
University College grabbed the Audience
Choice Award for their electrifying dance
onstage and an interesting storyline to
accompany their dance, garnering the
audience’s votes.
IChemE Carnival
By Ng Pei Ying, CE Yr. 1 Sem. 2
Tronoh, 6 March: The IChemE Carnival
was held from 24th Feburary until 5th
March in UTP. It ended with a high tea
and the Dean’s List Award Ceremony.
Dr. Yusmiza, the advisor for
IChemE@UTP, officiated the closing
ceremony of IChemE Carnival. He said
that it was an interesting event
because there was a sport carnival
which included badminton, futsal and
basketball competitions. There were
also talks and forums by seniors and
outsiders regarding the Chemical Engi-
neering field.
Many performances were featured
during the high tea. There was a solo
singing performance, a lucky draw, a
fun flying plane, a martial arts perform-
ance and the Best Student Award for
each semester. Dr. Yusmiza hoped that
all the chemical engineering students
will share their knowledge and care for
others as the saying goes, “sharing is
caring”.

The Best Costume Award went to Teens in Campus Programme

University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) while
the Best Choreography Award was taken Group photo: Facilitators with the orphans.
by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Shah Alam.

“I’m glad that we won the award for the

Best Costume. I’m speechless now,” said
A dancer from Wailailak University. a representative from UMS blissfully
during the photography session.

Debate for HSE “call” in school?

By Mohd Zulothman, ICT Yr. 2 Sem. 1
Tronoh, 3 March: An interschool debate
organised by the UTP Debate Club was held
between two outstanding schools: Malay
College Kuala Kamgsar (MCKK A) which won
in group B preliminary round; and SMK St.
Michael, Ipoh which also won against Seko-
lah Menengah Sains Teluk Intan (SEMESTI)
during the semi-final round.
The motion was “This house believes that
HSE education should be taught in school.”
This brought out several interesting yet com-
prehensive ideas on how the matter con-
cerned should be managed. The idea was
sparked with the consciousness that HSE
should be molded at a younger age. This
shows how we should take into account the
importance of HSE education in our daily
lives. As a result, the ways to implement it
should also be refined for greater success in
the future. Not only that, facts and statistics
of developed countries can be used as yard-
sticks to analyse and evaluate the degree of
accomplishment that has been reached.
Above all, MCKK A was announced the
champion for this round and it was “the
most thriving event,” as said by the chief
adjudicator.
By: Daphnee Lo, ICT Yr. 1 Sem. 2
Tronoh, 27 February: The Teens in
Campus (TiC) Programme was held in
UTP for the first time with orphans
between the age of 11 to 15 from the
orphanages nearby. The main purpose of
this event was to promote the impor-
tance of serving and caring for the
younger community in the vicinity of
Perak.
This event was a collaboration between
the English Language Club (ELC) and the
Emergency Response Team (ERT). Forty-
four orphans participated in this event
together with their advisor. The day
started out with the famous “Chicken
Dance”, followed by “Read It Right” and
“Build It Up”.
The orphans then visited the Information
Resource Centre (IRC). With the aid of
Friends of IRC (FIRC), the orphans were
taught on how to borrow books, how to
search for a book, etc. Then, there was a
demonstration by Adzlan, the president
of ERT, to educate the teenagers on how
to administer a CPR. In the end, the or-
phans did presentations for an activity
involving case studies.
The event ended around 5.30pm.

INFUD 2010: Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism Conquering Mount

The 4 masterminds.
By Jared Ee Han Seong, BIS Yr.4 Sem.1
Tronoh, 1 March: UTP played host to
the inaugural Interfaith Understanding
Dialogue (INFUD) 2010 in the
Chancellor Hall.
The dialogue session, entitled “The
Concept of God in My Scripture”, was
moderated by our very own Ustaz
Rahmat. A panel of four, representing
the major faiths in Malaysia, namely
Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and
Buddhism were each given about
twenty minutes to present their own
religion’s perspective on the concept
of God.
During the Q&A
session held after
the presentations, a
significant number
of students seized
the opportunity to
ask questions and
seek a deeper
insight into the
basic tenets of the
four major faiths.
The response to the
Q&A session was so great that
numerous students had to be turned
away due to time constraints.
Still, that did not dampen the enthusi-
asm of the audience—as proven by the
enormous turnout that night,
estimated to be more than 1500
students and university staff.
In the end, the panel concluded the
dialogue session by reaffirming the fact
that despite our diversity and
differences in beliefs, we were all still
Malaysians, and should celebrate the
multiracial harmony that has come to
define us as a nation and a modern
tolerant society.
INFUD is a collaborative effort between
all the major clubs and societies in UTP
and was sponsored by the Ministry of
Higher Education.
The full list of the panel is as follows:
• Brother Shah Kirit bin Kakulal
Govindji is the Chief Da’wah Officer
for Yayasan IIS (Islamic Information
and Services Foundation) and
represented Islam.
• Dr. William Lau, who represented
Christianity, is a member of the
Ecumenical Section of the Catholic
Church as well as the Archdiocesan
Ministry of Ecumenical and
Inter-Religious Affairs.
• Dr. M. Bala Tharmalingam
represented Hinduism in his capacity
as the Deputy President of Malaysia
Hindu Sangam (the National Body
for Hindu Affairs in Malaysia).
• Ir. Kiang Keng Hong represented
Buddhism as the Head of the
Buddhist Association of Perak.
The event was also graced by Datuk Dr.
Zainal Abidin Haji Kasim, rector of UTP,
and Mr. Mohamed Noor Rosli
Baharom, Director of Student Services.
Kinabalu: UTP is on its
way to make history
By Mostafa Mansour, EE Found. Sem. 3
Tronoh, 10 March: The determination and
pride within each of the 38 students chosen to
participate in the educational trip to Sabah
definitely made the opening ceremony for this
programme memorable.
The students will depart to Sabah on the 13th of
March 2010. They will enjoy various educational
activities and experience the way of life of the
natives. Most importantly, they will conquer
Mount Kinabalu. Hopefully, by sunrise on the
17th of March 2010, they would have reached
the peak of the mountain and raise the flags of
their 27 countries, thus setting a new world re-
cord and demonstrating the courageous spirit of
UTP. The participants were carefully chosen
through interviews and fitness tests, which in-
cluded the climbing of Maxwell Hill.
Datuk Dr. Zainal Abidin Haji Kasim, the Rector of
UTP, assured that integration between different
cultures is the major benefit of this trip. Tuan
Haji Noor Rosli, the Director of Student Services,
advised the participants to go on with the inten-
tion of bringing up the image of the university.
 6
Happenings
UTP’s Apprentice
By Abdul Rahman, BIS 2/1
Tronoh, 6 March: UTP's Student In Free
Entreprise (SIFE-UTP) successfully organ-
ised a management workshop called “The
Manager”.
Attended by roughly 30 participants and
facilitators, this session provided a platform
for project managers to share their experi-
ences with participants, especially in terms
of managing the committee members and
coping with problems in an event.
The workshop was held to nurture and
equip newbies on becoming a leader or a
project manager through team-building
activities in problem-solving settings and
open discussions with the seniors in the
SIFE Club.
The programmes included a series of talks,
paper presentations and sharing sessions
which facilitated the transfer of essential
knowledge. In line with the 7 elements of
SIFE, “The Manager” focused on harnessing
the participants in terms of:
i Entrepreneurship
ii Business Ethics
iii Financial Literacy
iv Sustainability
v Environmental Sustainability
vi Market Economics
Introductory Night
to MPPUTP
By Abdul Rahman, BIS Yr. 2 Sem. 1
Tronoh, 8 March: A crowd of students filled
Lecture Hall 3 to attend the Introductory
Night organised by the Student Representa-
tive Council, SRCUTP. The purpose of this
session was to introduce the new structure of
UTP frontiers, led by Mr. Haniff Humam as
the President of SRCUTP 09/10 session.
Some issues were voiced up by the students
who attended the session. One that gained
the most attention would be the Egyptian
issue. As most UTP students are aware of the
case where a group of UTP Egyptian students
allegedly beat up a cobbler in Taman Maju a
few days ago, a representative from the
Egyptian students attended the session and
spoke on behalf of the accused students. He
perceived that the story published in the
Metro tabloid dated March 6 is a way to put
all the blame on the accused. He claimed that
part of the story told in the tabloid was true,
but some facts were not put into light.
Towards the end of the session, the audience
demanded an explanation regarding the
change of the name of ‘MPPUTP’ to
‘MPMUTP’ and also the university’s intention
of becoming a research university.
Speech by MPP President: Mr. Haniff.
Titian Budi Road Show
Sales during the road show.
By Gan Denson, EE Yr. 1 Sem. 2
Tronoh, 6 March: The Titian Budi
road show was held along the
Service Road of V3, from the 6th till
the 7th of March 2010.
Titian Budi is a community service
programme organised by the Stu-
dent Representative Council
(SRCUTP/MPPUTP) with the objec-
tive of allowing UTPians to experi-
ence life in the village. With the
‘Anak Angkat’ programme
(adoption programme), UTPians
can truly experience life in the vil-
lage and also be a part of the villag-
ers. Many exciting activities were
carried out during the road show,
such as Play Station 2, Bowling
Kelapa, Basikal Lembab, Crazy Fac-
tor, Limbo and much more. Fur-
thermore, MECHE Club also set up
a booth selling food to help boost
the atmosphere of the road show.
Titian Budi 2010 will carry out their
community service in Bukit Pulau,
Value Creation in
Water Sustainability
By Abdul Rahman, BIS Yr. 2 Sem. 1
Tronoh, 3 March: About 900 peo-
ple filled the Chancellor Hall to at-
tend the public address by Profes-
sor Dato’ Ir Dr Zaini Ujang. The talk
was a part of the Merdeka Award
Lecture Series conducted by the
three major oil companies in Ma-
laysia, namely Shell, ExxonMobil
and PETRONAS.
Being the country’s youngest Vice
Chancellor at the age of 44, Profes-
sor Dato’ Ir Dr Zaini Ujang was one
of the four most prominent figures
who was selected as the recipient
of the Merdeka Award 2009
(Outstanding Scholastic Award) in
October last year at the Dewan
Filharmonik PETRONAS. He had
received accolades for his out-
standing scientific research over
the past few years.
“Simplicity is subtracting the obvious, adding the meaningful” –
Professor Dato’ Ir Dr Zaini Ujang
Melaka and it will be a six-day five-
night community service from the
12th till the 17th of March 2010.
During the stay, the committee will
organise a Mini Expo consisting of
a leadership camp (Tunas Harapan)
for the children in that village,
medical check-up by UiTM, robot
display by Petrobot and others.
Besides, there will be a spring
cleaning (gotong-royong) to help
clean up the village.
During the interview with the
Project Director of Titian Budi
2010, Mr. Muhammad Zulhilmi
Mahari, he said that for this year’s
Titian Budi, they cooperated with
medical students from Universiti
Teknologi Mara Shah Alam (UiTM)
in organising this program. He said
that the profit gained during the
road show will be channelled to
the villagers during their commu-
nity service.
In his talk, he shared some infor-
mation on water sustainability and
the development of photosynthetic
bacteria. The idea is to develop
bacteria that have photosynthetic
features of plants that is to convert
carbon dioxide to oxygen via the
photosynthesis process. This would
be a great research project on the
environment as it will help to
reduce the amount of CO2 gas in
the atmosphere.
Dr Zaini has always wanted to do
something more that benefits the
world and always striving for excel-
lence. He is a man of simplicity,
who believes that small is beautiful.
With all his effort in making the
world a better place in the future,
he is the man who bears the title of
a national hero and even saviour of
the world.
Moment with
Orang Asli Children
By Kelly Liew, EE Yr. 3 Sem. 1
Tronoh, 12 February: Three lecturers and two
students from UTP went to Kampung Orang Asli
Sauk Padi to do some voluntary work. Specially
organised by Dr. Sumathi and Ms. Chong Su Li,
the main objective of the visit was to see the
orang asli’s level of literacy in terms of speaking,
reading, listening and writing in both English and
Bahasa Melayu
Around 40 children turned up, ranging from 5
years old to 17 years old. They started off by
distributing nametags to each of the children and
grouping them up according to their age. Activi-
ties were conducted accordingly. The parents
were also interviewed in order to understand
their background of education.
The main purpose of this visit is to come out with
more educational activities for the orang asli
children. With the improvement of their literacy
and knowledge, hopefully they can leave the
circle of poverty.
Medical Camp by
RAC-
RAC-UTP
By Law Ming Xian, CV Yr. 1 Sem. 2
Ipoh, 6 March: The Rotaract Club of UTP (RAC-
UTP) organised a Medical Camp 2010 in Tesco
Ipoh (opposite Jusco Kinta City) to educate and
provide free medical check-ups for the basic ail-
ments that we can avoid at an early stage.
This event started at 10.30am. With the collabo-
ration between Pejabat Kesihatan Kinta and Hos-
pital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, a huge area was set
up for the medical check-ups in the hypermarket.
Medical officers and nurses from the Pejabat
Kesihatan Kinta provided their facilities and man-
power for the medical check-ups while a blood
donation drive was facilitated by medical staff
from Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun. People
were encouraged to donate blood at the blood
donation drive after their respective check-ups.
CIMB Bank, one of the main sponsors of this
camp, also set up a booth to advertise their latest
credit cards and value-savings plans.
Credit goes to the Community Service Avenue of
RAC-UTP, led by Yeoh Sue Jane, for organising
this meaningful event, bringing RAC-UTP and the
name of UTP closer to the centre stage in
contributing to the society, as promoted in the
RAC-UTP motto: “Service above Self!”
Conducting medical check-ups.

HSE Week:
Road Safety Forum
By Mellissa Lee, BIS Yr. 1 Sem. 2
Tronoh, 3 March: A special forum on road
safety was held in conjunction with the
Health, Safety and Environment Week
2010. It was organised by the Residential
College Support Unit (RCSU) in
collaboration with the HSE Department
and the Student Support Services
Department. The theme was “Road
Safety: Everyone’s Responsibility”, with
the main objective of creating HSE aware-
ness among UTP students and staff.
Professional speakers such as Dr. Kamal
Afendi Hashim (Crime Analyst), Prof. Dr.
Ahmad Farhan Mohd. Sadullah (Director
General of the Malaysian Institute of Road
Safety Research) and Mr. Wazi Abdul
Hamid (Professional
Racer) were invited to
participate in the forum.
It was attended by UTP
students, head of de-
partments, as well as
secondary school stu-
dents and Program Lati-
han Khidmat Negara
(PLKN) participants.
Among the VIPs who
attended were the UTP Panelists of the forum.
Rector, the Director of
Media Tour 2010:
Getaway to Multimedia Corridor
By Mohamad Abiabhar, ME Yr. 2 Sem. 2
Kuala Lumpur, 28 February: UTP
MEDTECH Club organised a trip named
Media Tour 2010 (MT10) visiting various
interesting places around Kuala Lumpur.
This is the fourth time this exciting trip
was conducted. For this year, 80 students
had a chance to visit successful media
companies such as MFX Sdn. Bhd., Anima-
sia Studio, Psychotek Sdn. Bhd. and Sri
Pentas TV3. The purpose of this MT10 is
to expose UTP students to activities such
as in animation, broadcasting, production
and publication.
The first place of interest was MFX Sdn.
Bhd., which is a design production studio
that specializes in digital media. They have
produced a lot of TV commercials for DiGi,
Ribena, Tiger Biskuat, PETRONAS and
Perodua. Then, the group went to Anima-
sia Studio which produces animation for
the cartoons such as Bola Kampung and
Supa Strikas. They also visited Psychotek
Committee of Media Tour 2010.
Student Services, and the President of
MPPUTP.
In his talk regarding the road safety of
motorcyclists, Dr. Kamal said that we have
limits in our life. For example, if we do not
have the license to ride a motorcycle (our
limit), we should refrain from doing so;
whereas if we have the license, we should
take precautions while riding, put on
safety helmet and avoid getting involved
in accidents which could be fatal.
The event was closed by Datuk Dr. Zainal
Abidin Haji Kasim. It is hoped that this HSE
Week has created an awareness on road
safety to UTP students, staff and the com-
munity in the vicinity.
Sdn. Bhd. where an interesting forum
about the future of the animation indus-
try in Malaysia was held. The panelists
were from different animation compa-
nies, such as Homework Sdn. Bhd., Ani-
magis Sdn. Bhd. as well as Psychotek Sdn.
Bhd.
On Sunday morning, all of them woke up
early in the morning to be the live
audience of the morning talk show, “Nasi
Lemak Kopi O” on TV9, Sri Pentas. The last
place they visited before heading back to
UTP was the PETRONAS Gallery, where
they participated in the exhibition and
talk entitled “Travel and Street Photogra-
phy” by Sony Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. The
participants were curious to know more
about the photography. As for leisure
and fun, they also visited the KL Tower
and the Sky Bridge to have panoramic
view of Kuala Lumpur.
For more information, go to http://
mediatour2010.blogspot.com
IRC Carnival Attracts Crowd
By Devina Amaleswaran, PE Yr. 3 Sem. 1
Tronoh, 26 March: About 3000 people
attended the IRC Carnival organised in
UTP. The event was focused on promot-
ing the Information Resource Centre
(IRC) to students as well as outsiders.
This large-scale event was officiated by
the Chairman of FIRC Mr. Mohd Azaman,
and featured a motivational talk by
Malaysia’s first astronaut, Datuk Dr.
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor.
This four-day event lasted from the 22nd
to the 25th of February 2010. Organisa-
tions such as MPH Bookstores, National
Library of Malaysia and New Straits
Times graced this event by setting up
booths and organising activities to help
improve the learning process of students
in universities. Local entrepreneurs also
benefited from this event as they could
set up booths and promote their prod-
ucts. Besides talks by prominent figures,
book fairs, IT fairs and blood donation
drives, competitions were also held over
Primary school children were intrigued by a simple magic show aside from the IRC.
Maulidur Rasul Talk
By Mohd Zulothman, ICT Yr. 2 Sem. 1
Tronoh, 10 March: A talk was held at the
Chancellor Hall on integration in Islam
and the noble character of Muhammad
S.A.W. It was organised by Masjid Annur,
MPPUTP, Rakan Masjid and RCSU.
The guests of honour were Datuk Dr. Za-
inal Abidin Haji Kasim, Tuan Haji Mo-
hamed Noor Rosli, Ustaz Dawi Chahyono,
and Prof. Madya Dr. Ghafarullahuddin of
the Thinking and Understanding of Islam
Department, UiTM Shah Alam. The talk
presented was to sow the true meaning
of Islam in a Muslim’s life and on Muham-
mad S.A.W as the role model that one
should follow. The welcoming speech was
delivered by Tuan Haji Mohamed Noor
Oriental Cup
By Ng Pei Ying, CE Yr. 1 Sem. 2
Tronoh, 28 February: The Oriental Cup
was a debate competition organised by
UTP Mandarin Debating Unit of UTP De-
bate Club, from the 6th until the 27th of
February 2010. The objective for this
event was to train the younger genera-
tion of debaters in UTP. There were six
teams, with each group consisting of
three people.
There were three preliminary rounds to
choose the best groups to compete in the
7
Happenings
the next couple of days. In fact, the pre-
miere of the movie KL Drift II and The
Word Wits Competition organised by
NST were held on the second day of the
event. Besides organising the competi-
tion, NST also had a booth to promote
U-Phoria; their first WAP site for youths.
This garnered the attention of many
students as many liked voicing out their
opinions but never had a proper plat-
form to start with.
The event exceeded expectations as it
attracted a large crowd comprising UTP
students, school children and outsiders.
Azizi bin Hassan, from the organising
board of IRC Carnival, said that they
were glad that this event managed to
gain the support of so many people and
hoped that the momentum would last
till the event ended. “The crowd this
morning was massive and the support
was unbelievable,” he said on the first
day. Along with many other major
events organised in UTP, IRC Carnival has
grown to be a large-scale event as well.
Rosli. The remaining session was taken
over by Prof. Madya Dr. Ghafarullahud-
din, who talked about some of the posi-
tive attributes of Muhammad S.A.W.
“Muhammad is a model for us human
beings in order to succeed in whatever we
wanted to do”, he said. He also added
that we should always be grateful to our
Merciful God and show our gratitude to
Him.
After the talk, there was entertainment
by the nasyid group formed by UTP stu-
dents, and also the award ceremony for
Malam Inspirasi Seni, where the group
Insaf won second place while the group
“All for Ummah” came out victorious.
final round. The final of the Oriental Cup
was held on the 27th of February at Semi-
nar Room 3. There were five judges who
were Mr. Lee Kok Hock, Mr. Lee Jun JIa,
Mr. Low Tan Jung, Mr. Lo Hai Hiung and
Mr. Wong Kum Fook. The motion was
“The Failure of Copenhagen, which coun-
try has the most responsibility: China or
USA?”.
The competition was conducted using the
National Varsity Chinese Debating format.
Foundation students champed the
competition.
 8
Spotlight

The First Step is Always the Hardest

By Jared Ee, BIS Yr.4 Sem.1 and Chen Tien Zyee, ICT
Yr. 4 Sem. 1
15 months after graduating from UTP, Mr. Mohd
Hezri Amir bin Abdul Latiff is now the Executive
Director of Hezmedia Interactive. What is his secret
for success? Read on.
Good morning Mr. Hezri. Thank you for your time.
Can you share with us how did your career
progress from a UTP fresh graduate into the Execu-
tive Director of Hezmedia Interactive in such a
short time?
It started from my internship experience. During my
internship, I attended a seminar which gave an
insight about the opportunities in marketing IT prod-
ucts as a commercial product in Malaysia. The
seminar taught me how to obtain funding from the
development stage up to the commercialization
stage. It allows a technopreneur to develop his or
her own product and market it, both locally and
globally. So, upon graduation, I pursued the MDeC
basic grant with my friend, Mohd. Ramzan Rozali.
We developed a game for primary school children
and managed to secure our funding on our second
attempt. Our company, Hezmedia Interactive was
started in July 2009. My partner is focusing on the
software aspect of our game while I’m more
towards the multimedia development.
Why did you start up your own company when you
can be better off being employed by multinational
companies and earn a stable income every month?
[My] internship experience had changed my
perspective. I did receive an offer from PETRONAS
but my main interest is in multimedia and creative
content development. After the said seminar during
my internship, I thought about my future and that’s
when I decided to combine both my love for
multimedia and games for a living.
What is the most challenging part of your adven- “When I started the company, I believe
ture until today?
As they said, the first step is always the hardest. To I found my passion and mission, something
me the most challenging part is to secure funding
for the company. During our first attempt, MDeC
that I can aim for in my life.”
was willing to provide us the funding but they - Mohd. Hezri Amir
doubted that the idea was viable since we were
fresh graduates and have not set up a company.
Therefore, they requested us for another
demonstration, together with the prototype
product. Thus, we conducted another
demonstration, this time with better preparation
and managed to secure the funding.
Apart from MDeC, are there any other companies
providing grants for companies?
Malaysia is actually a very conducive country for
setting up your own business. Cradle, for example,
provides RM 150,000 for product development and
another RM 500,000 for product commercialization.
Besides, SME Corp. also provides grants, loans,
incentives and venture capitals to small and medium
enterprises, not just [in] IT field, but in manufactur-
ing and agro-based industries as well. You just have
to deliver what’s in your proposal and you get to
keep the funding that’s been allocated to you. It is
designed in order to create a community of
entrepreneurs in Malaysia.
It is hard to set up a company. Were there times
where you doubted your capabilities of actually
setting up one?
When I started the company, I believe I found my
passion and mission, something that I can aim for in
my life. I never regretted choosing this road, the
road less travelled—because I know it’ll [be] good
for my company. Whatever time and effort I spent
in the company, I’m the one who will reap the
benefits later on. It’s totally different than if you
worked for someone else.

Australia? drenched. And I am not pulling your leg here. So the

weather is definitely unlike Tronoh’s. At least you don’t
(They do speak English there, sweat profusely a lot of the time, since the sun’s heat
don’t they?) keeps the air unsaturated, and the only reason you get
drenched in sweat is if you actually exercise.
By Rahmat Shazi
This leads me to another topic: sports. Here in Australia,
Nightlife in Australia? Forget it. Other than clubs or high-
end eateries, there is virtually nothing open at night. You
can get bored living here if KL is more of your taste. Head
over to Melbourne or Perth, where it is much more similar
to Malaysia’s time schedule. No guarantees you can get a
roti tisu at 2am in the morning though. So Tronoh
definitely has its advantages. The fact that a typical cooked

I am sure a lot of you must imagine living in Australia to

be a great and wonderful experience that everyone
must have at least once in their lifetimes. Well, let me tell
you, if you really love KL life: don’t bother.
Before you jump on me, I say: no, I am not kidding you.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. Brisbane is a great city. The river
meanders through the city center, and the public transport
is so reliable such that it gets you where you want to go on
time—well, most of the time. And students get 50%
discount on travel (Yeah!).
So, what’s so bad about Australia? I’ll start with the good
news first. The weather, for starters, is beautiful.
Queensland is known as the Sunshine State (eat your heart
out, California!), and sunshine is abundant, especially here.
You’d probably get clear skies perhaps 250 days out of the
year. Having said that, the humidity in summer will kill
you. Ok, maybe not kill you, but it will make you sweat—a
lot. I remembered this one day, I was working from home,
and the air was saturated: the humidity was 100%. The air
could not hold any more moisture. And I was virtually
Okay, this is not one of those sunny days.
sports is very much ingrained in the culture. People get up
early and cycle for 20 to 30km in the morning, before they
come to work. Rowers take to the river at 5.30am in the
dish here easily fetches AUD10—courtesy of the high
wages—will make you reconsider whether Australia is
indeed a good place to live in. Working here will give you
morning. I myself have taken to long-distance running at much higher returns, but the much higher tax brackets will
5.30am, spending about 90 minutes tops jogging by the reduce your take home pay considerably. That is, if you
Brisbane River, which encircles St. Lucia, the suburb in intend to take it home and not splurge on entertainment
which the University of Queensland is located. Rugby, or or high-end items.
Australian football, as they call it here, is a national
pastime, other than cricket. Malaysian students here So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, a short snippet
spend a large amount of time with typical sports like of life in Australia.
soccer, badminton, basketball and futsal.
Mr. Rahmat is a UTP lecturer from the Mechanical Engi-
neering Department who is currently furthering his stud-
ies in Brisbane, Australia.
UTP events:
2/4 Child-Pro 2010 Charity Night
Malaysians take it one step further: 5/4 The Chronicler: Pen-a-LOL
real-life table soccer!
7/4 - 10/4 CodeQuest Programming Competition
People spend a lot of time keeping healthy, and contrary 10/4 - 11/4 Tuah Hang Jebat Musical Theatre Premiere
to popular belief, Australians do not drink alcohol or 12/4 - 14/4 EDX Carnival
smoke as much as the rest of the world. Interesting, isn’t 18/4 Ijtimak Sanawi ke-9
that? Less broken glass on the curbs, on the grass, or 21/4 - 22/4 EDX Day
almost anywhere, unlike in Manchester where I did my 23/4 Euphonious Finals
undergraduate studies—oh, about a century ago. And 23/4 - 25/4 Karnival Sukan Rakyat
before you think I am exaggerating again, ask your 5/5 - 6/5 Career Summit for Future Malaysian Lead-
parents, uncles or anyone who studied in the U.S. or the ers
U.K. They will confirm my story of roadside ‘mines’
courtesy of inebriated patrons of nightclubs or pubs.