Orientation can be sum up as All Work & Some Fun. 1st day of orientation starts at 10am in the Plenary Theatre. I arrived around 8.45am at the campus & walked around just to familiarise myself with the surroundings & then plug up some music with my copy of FREE theSun newspaper.
1st Talk
 |
| Thats MONGA (Monash Gazette) not MANGGA |
MUSA's President, Julius Wong also gave a short speech on MUSA (Monash University Student Association). MUSA is the link between uni admin & us the students. He also spoke about some of MUSA's upcoming plans include Monash Talent Show (which is American Idol ala Monash) on 24th August & for the year-end bash, Monash Annual Ball 2010 to be held at Royale Chulan KL. This association encourages students to 'stand up & speak up' as its motto, so as to nurture leadership skills.
Then, came the 'lifeline' talk on insurance by a representative from Chartis Malaysia. Blablabla all the insurance thingy & he didnt encourage us to participate in 'illegal car racing' or 'mat rempit' activities, as should something happened to us (touchwood) while doing those activities, INSURANCE WILL NO PAY A SINGLE SEN! Lastly, he said Enjoy Our Uni Life & Enjoy Your youth!
Next, is the very interesting briefing on Health, Security & Safety by Mr Pramekumar Nair, Head of OHSE. He spoke about the HSE policy that was singed by Prof Robin Pollard, Pro Vice Chancellor Monash Malaysia & their commitment to keep us safe till we get our 'piece of paper'. He also spoke about how this campus wants to be 'green' by reducing paper (but they dont recycle exam papers, LOL!), plastic, styrofoam, electric (promote staircase usage) usage. As well as No Alcohol, No Smoking (there is a 'Cancer zone' if some1 wish to puff out) & No Drugs policy. He also said about the misuse of the fire alarm bell will make you end up 'eating nasi kari' for 3 months in our 'luxurious' packed Correctional Facility aka jail! He also told a story about how an 'experiment' that was conducted in Monash Australia went wrong.
Lastly, is the MNS briefing. oh god I gotta learn Bahasa Melayu again! And in addition to that, Malaysia Studies, Moral Studies!
MAKAN TIME
After all the talk, its MAKAN TIME! The university had prepared a buffet of chicken rice meal with vegetables for lunch. Great idea, to introduce our various types of Malaysian food to the international students. So over our lunch, the senior buddies came over to talk to each of us to break down the barriers between us, the newbies!
CAMPUS TOUR
After lunch, its time for campus tour. The buddies had problem dividing us into 2 groups so as to differentiate what course we are taking as its imbalanced! After that is solved off to start campus tour! 1st stop Building 6 which is School of Business Building. 1st we were brought to MUSA Student's Lounge where students can play pool (RM$1/5 min), foosball (RM$2 per game) or just chillaxing. MUSA also manages gym application, umbrella rental, sports area booking, billboard advertising, club registration, colourful locker rental, etc. Then, we were introduced to some of MUSA's officers in charge of this & that & shown the 'aquarium' meeting room. As we were about to leave the lounge, a notice pasted interests me it read:Due to national shortage of robots, MUSA's facilities are handled by manpower/humans. Should you do no good (say bad words/threatened them/beat them up) to any of MUSA officers, you will be denied services should you require them!
Then, we went up to see the Dance Studio & Wom*en's Room, a place for the ladies to relax, watch TV & study. We were also shown where our tutorial & lecture rooms are. After that we 'jumped' from Building 6 to Building 7 (Library), nah not jump its connected, LOL!
The library is 3 storeys with resources in hardcopy or digitalised form. There we were shown how to borrow books & how to top up our printing credit of RM$15 should it runs out. The library also offers netbook rental so that students are not required to angkat their 2-3kg of laptop to campus.
OMG Games
Coincidentally, our orientation timing is the same as Monash Inter-Faculty Games or Oh My God Games (even the MUSA President said Oh My God many times instead of the correct name) wrong its Oh My Monash Games. Since, there were 15min left before another program, we were brought to play some games here. There were 'Eraser Fight' (remember in our Primary days kitani main lawan pemadam), Are You Colour blind, The black box, the magic pop, cup stacking & Arm Wrestling. I tried my hand at 'magic pop' but didnt win it!
Roomate differences
So, I'm going to talk about this situation from my own experience & then I'm going to tell you about a video that we were shown. In my room that I shared with my Johorian roomate there is only 1 internet port but there is a problem 2 people have to use it. The solution buy a switch, so that both computers can go online. However, at the earlier stage there seems to be 'slight' problem, there are not enough power points as this switch requires power point. So my roomate is like a 'little' marahlah! because he got lots of things to be plugged up (his 2 mobiles,hairdryer, etc). So, I work up a solution get a multi-plug for him as a goodwill gesture for allowing me to pasang the switch. Now, lets turn the situation around 360 degree. If my this roomate dont allow me to plug up the switch how? Easy if there is anything money can buy there is solution, LOL! Get my own internet connection but then it costs $$ So, I would say I have a pretty understanding roomate!
The last part of the workshop bores me, Are you assertive! But what interests me is the presenter who very much talk & look like Miss Tham from SMSA (my PreU centre). After the boring talk ends finally, we were served afternoon tea which consists of sandwich, samosa, ondeh-ondeh & coffee. After the meal, its time for photo taking session for our student card. Our student card is our access card, library card, etc. I had my student card done pretty fast as I had completed all the processes while the others mostly were scrambbling to register their Authcate account with only 2 computers available. Here I was also given my students diary. After this process was done, Im off to activate my card at Security Office & went to buy 1 of the required textbook. RM$85 but since its coloured & imported its oklah! The end of Day 1 orientation
At 2pm, a Transitional Issues & Assertive Skills workshop was held at what the seniors describe as the 'Chamber of Torture' aka Exam Hall. The 1st hour was quite interesting as we played a game which sounds like this, you need to read your partner's mind eg if I show 1 my partner shows 1 then you bow, if both show 2 shake hand, if 3 pat each other back & lastly 4 a HUG! (free hugs any1 LOL!). But if you don't show the same number, keep on playing, good thing that didn't happen. Then, there was another game you introduce yourself & tell the people sitting next to you your expectation in uni. Im not going to tell everything about the workshop as it will take ages. In addition, I forget the content already haha! Just going to focus on 1 main point: Roomate differences!
.jpg) |
| Thats the problem creator:1 internet port & 1 switch |
Now, the video that we were shown. There were 3 cases & a good way & bad way. The 1st video is about a guy who wants to watch other channel & wants to have some of his roomate chips/keropok. The good way shows his roomate allows him to change the channel & shared the chips with him (Sharing is caring). However, the bad way shows that his roomate take the remote control, buang the battery & said bad words to him & refused to share the chips with him (Karit!)
The 2nd video was about a guy was trying to study but his roomate music volume is very loud. The good way shows his roomate lowers down the volume & even offers him an apple. The bad way shows his roomate 'macam line engage' & with the 2nd plea dengan sengaja increase the volume even further.
The 3rd video is about a guy who wants his roomate to clear his dustbin. The good way shows his roomate do it right away. The bad way shows that his roomate reply 'there are no squirrrels in the dustbin' (there are actually)
Miss Tham Look Alike
 |
| Thats my student's diary & RM$80 Accounting textbook |
2nd Talk
On the last day of orientation, again its all day talk! Started at 10am at the underground Lecture Room with no network coverage. Again a welcoming speech by Prof Jeyabalan. He states that Monash Sunway School of Business is the largest among the 6 schools available with 45% of total students are in it. And he is proud to say that 99% of undergraduates who have graduated get jobs easily (good news to me). After his speech, a boring presentation followed up by how to plan your units well. Its very important that you plan your units well because it may delay your graduation. After the talk, there were lunch waiting for us. Today's menu is nasi ayam (only the nasi), kari ayam, potato in kicap & kangkung. Over the lunch, I enjoyed listening to the international students talking about fasting, JAIS, 'duit kopi', etc. There were also 2 Koreans talking but couldnt understand what they say (tulah pandai tonton cerita Korea but dont learn Bahasa Korea).After lunch, I got no program till 2.30 but the international students got so I lepak at library.
Another Joanne?
At 2.30pm, there was a Learning Skills:Secret of Success by Dr Joanne Rajadurai. In SMSA, I had a very helpful Mrs Joan L Cherian who was also my GP & group tutor. And, here I am with another Joanne again! Apparently, since only 3 of us are in early while the others got lost as the venue changes due to the original venue being used for classes, she asked us why we were in August & not July. 1 of them answered cant make up their mind, while another say because they have been rejected late by NTU,SIM,NUS & missed July intake dateline (Ini macam kes aku je). She also asked us where we did our Pre-U. Apparently, most of them did A Levels including me with a unique location outside Malaysia i.e. Brunei. She states that in university things are done very differently compared to school. e.g. In schools, we have a packed timetable but in Pre-U we got PS period but in uni most of the time is PS. For instance you have a lecture class 9am then after that 2h class you are free, then suddenly 3pm there is a tutorial class. That 4h have to be utilised properly otherwise you could end up doing nothing the 4h. One very interesting part of the talk is What is your goals in uni? Some typical answers (not from us) include finding boyfriends/girlfriends, getting a degree, making use of uni facilities, making friends (very expensive way of making friends), etc. Lastly, she states that Enjoy Your University Life Because Its The Best Time In Your Life. Wait a min, last time some1 said Pre-U is the best time of our life? Im confused!
Alright folks, thats about it for this posting. Catch you all up next week as I starts my classes on Monday. Sorry for the very lengthy posting
P.S. Since our youth is the best time to enjoy, why not plan something like 'Travel & Work in US' or 'Study, Travel & Work in Australia' or 'backpacking tour' to broaden our scope on the world.
For more info on Travel & work in US log on to http://www.outofthebox.com.my
(Please note that this posting/this part is not an advertorial or being paid by any companies/organisation.It serves as an info only)
Think out of the box, get out of the box & explore the world!
Next week: I shall write about this traveling thingy alright
This blogger hopes that he can plays basketball rather than watching ASAP after his kecederaan is ok. He really misses dribbling, shooting into the basket! Its really frustrating just look!
No comments:
Post a Comment