On April 8th, the PM, Abdullah Badawi was in Sydney for a diplomatic visit and all govenment sponsored students were required to attend a dinner-cum-meeting with the PM. Besides sponsored students, members of the Malaysian Student Association from the universities in Sydney were also invited. So motivated my the prospect of having dinner at Shangri La Hotel as well as the spirit of patriotism (ehem), we geared up in our formal attires and headed to the bus station. Ahh, did we look like a platoon of immaculate excutives heading to a place of great importance! Also, Hui hoong looks really nice in her new Kebaya, bought at Jusco. Hahaha.
As expected, Shangri La hotel was thronged by for all formally-clad guests, most of whom were students. We had to queue at registration, where we later got 10 bucks each for transportation subsidy. Hmm, not bad. That means we actually profited about 2 bucks, as the bus fare costed less than 8 dollars to and fro. Wohoo! But we became even more elated upon seeing the array of food! My stomach was grinding for hours already, so I just grabbed the food without the care of the world. It was a bit of a dissapointment, as I was expecting ala-Malayisan food, but what the heck, I tucked them all in. The food was also nothing laudable, but definitely better than those at college! Then it's time for desert! I took some time to ogle at the vast selection before helping myself, then going for second and third helping! I would go for the forth if we were not informed that we had to gather in a room as the session would begin...
All the seats were full when were arrived at that room, so the bunch of us just stood at the back while waitng for the PM to arrive. Pak Lah, with a few ministers finally made the grand entrance and out of the blue, the crowing start shooting the ministers! Hahaha, with camera lah. I also took a few snaps, then shook hand with the ministers as they passed by. After the ministers had settled down, berkumandanglah lagu patriotik di udara, sementara para hadirin menyanyi dengan semangat yang kental bagaikan pelajar Malaysia yang belajar di perantauan. Ahh, dont you just feel more patriotic when you're not at your home country?
Then, the Pak Lah gave his speech, urging us to work on our competitiviness, which I think is also timely. Other than the usual stuff that we hear over and over again, at least this is something that we can relate to. After all, the words from a man who runs a country shall not be taken lightly at all. After that came the question and answer session and there were a lot of eager people throwing questions one after another. Some of them were well-thought and acceptable, while some I just couldn't help to feel that they were just asking for fun or just wanting to show that they are "concerned" about the issues. But all questions were satisfyingly answered, in my opinion, no finger-pointing and dodginig, a favourite among many an important figures I know. When the event was about to end, there were still many enthusiatic hands raised in the air for a chance to bombard the poor Pak Lah with questions, but Pak Lah just keep on entertaining without any sign of impatience. I would be damn pissed I tell, ya! They knew that the event was going to end already, but they still won't let him go.
The event did finally end and, we thought it would be nice if we pay a visit The Rocks for its famous pancake as we were in the area. So, we walked towards the place, and then we thought it would be a good idea to checkwhat time the last bus to Macquarie Centre was. Then manatau so suay there won't be anymore bus, and at that time we were already in Circular Quay. When we decided to go to the bus stop at Wynyard to check if there were still any busses. On the way to Wynyard we got seperated, which took us a few phonecalls and some time wandering to be reunited. Sigh...But we were grateful as we could find a bus in Wynyard, but by the time we reach there, we were already so taxed we didnt mind sitting on the floor with our formal attire. We just couldn't care anymore about the grace and the high-flying corporates images that we previously carried. In the end, I was back in my room feeling hungrier than I was before the dinner. Huhuhu
I have posted the pictures to this page : http://www.flickr.com/photos/alvinooi . This is where I upload my pictures, so check it out if you haven't. I have also posted some pictures I took during the cool RMC Masquarade which took place about 2 weeks ago.
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