Taaruf Week Opening Ceremony - 15 June 2004

After a hard day of two tests and an aerobic session came the highly anticipated opening ceremony. The event starts after Maghrib prayer and was held at the field as the Al-Malik Faisal Hall is simply too small to accomodate us all.

Sisters sit at the right side of the field while the Brothers at the other side. We sat on the mat provided in our Taaruf Kit. We were arranged in grids and even the placement of our sling bag was uniformed to give a streamlined look. Although the ceremony was held at the field it was quite comfortable with the cool weather. High powered spotlights bathed the field with white light and you can easily read any text.

The program starts with the arrival of Prof. Dr Ismawi Hj. Zen, Acting Deputy Rector of Planning and Developement accompanied by the Dean of Matriculation Centre, Tn. Hj. Abbas. Their escorts are martial artist from Seni Silat Cekak Society. Then the recitation of Ummul Kitab followed by silat performance from the escorts. Then one of the senior recites Surah Al-Hujurat from verse 6 to 13 which he recites beautifully while the translation is projected by two LCD projector at either side of the field. Then we recites the Asma al-Husna, followed by the sining of the National Anthem and the Matric Song led by a group of our seniors.

Next came the speeches. First is from the Director of the Taaruf Week, Bro. Mohd Suffian. Seondly is by the Dean of MCIIUM, Tn. Hj. Abbas. Last but not least is official speech by the night honorable guest Prof. Dr. Ismawi Hj. Zen.

The highlight of the event is the officiating ceremony which is mostly a highly coreographed drama. First, the lights at the field went out giving an air of suspense to all of us. A narrator at the back stage tells the story of Malacca in it's glory days. Then came a group of students dressing as Arabs meeting a group of Malaccan Malay warriors. The Arabs spoke to the Malays in Arabic (what else?) but the ironically the Malays replied in English. The Arabs requested to meet the Sultan for a highly important matter but the warriors disallow beacuse the Sultan is having a conference. True to their nature, the Arabs insisted which include a babling in Arabic and after a few times being refused they just stormed off to the main stage to meet the Sultan - Prof. Dr. Ismawi Hj. Zen. The Malay warriors get to the front of the stage and explained what has happened.

Then he is invited to the mini podium. Then starts a coreographed move by senior Brothers and Sisters. They walked in pairs, each bring a candle light and lined up at either side of the centre lane while another group of Brothers and Sisters holding red lanters flanked the field. Starting from the back of the field each pair motioned the oil lamps at each other before putting it at the post by the side of the center lane. Then they walked out in pairs from the front of the field heading to the back.

Then a model of a 'batu bersurat' bearing the name of Taaruf Week is lighted up and rotated. Then the the Honorable Guests are invited to sit in front of us for a multimedia presentation which is deemed very impressive. To emphasize that the world is filled with lies it even include the 'Tipah Tertipu' dialogue. Most of the soundtracks used are from Linkin Park. Then the Honorable Guests return to the stage before the closing dua'. Then they walked out of the field thru center lane for some refreshment. Only then we head backt our respective residential colleges in orderly manner.

Typing off, Wassalam.