Tuesday, 15 May 2012|Yong Ying Mei

Singing Contest Received Encouraging Respons

The first ever UMP Mandarin Song Singing Contest, which was held on 11 May 2012 and organised by the Mandarin Language and Culture Centre (MLCC) and Mandarin Language Society (MLS), received encouraging response from students. A total of 38 UMP singers registered for the contest. The competition contested two categories: Category A that consisted 14 participants are those with minimum Mandarin ability. Meanwhile, Category B received 20 participations of whom with good Mandarin background. 

The program advisor, Liu Xu, a volunteer teacher from China, disclosed that the main objective of the contest was to promote the learning of Mandarin through Mandarin songs. The program coordinator, Yaw Choon Kit, a second year student from the Faculty of Computer Engineering, commented that the event was a successful one – an applaud to his committee members for their cooperation and effort. An audition to select the finalists was conducted on 9 May 2012 where the judges included Liu Xu, Yuan Jie and Zhang Cuicui. The final was held two days later at WDKU1, which was crowded with audience and the contesters’ supporters. Three invited judges namely Lee Ming Yee, Yap Ting Lee and Sik Zhoo Ghee were present to moderate the final. The winner’s trophy of Category A went to Cynthia George (PA10016), whilst the runner-up and third place prizes belonged to Siti Khairunisah Samblih (SA10037) and Maslinda Johanis (AA08010), respectively. On the other hand, Loh Yean Chun (SB10029) won the best singer prize for Category B, followed by Joanne Khor Seak Ying (CD09052) for the second place, and Chan Han Jie (KA11083) for the third place. Congratulations to all winners!

Funs and Joys at the Smart Partnership Program

On 28 April 2012, the MLCC and Foreign Languages Department of CMLHS organized a Smart Partnership Program, a program which aimed to enhance Mandarin communication skills of the participants. During the program, participants, which included 30 UMP undergraduates and 30 primary students from Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC), Gambang, were overjoyed throughout the day. All the students participated in all activities, which included a number of language games. The objectives of the program were to 1) strengthen the relationship between UMP and neighbouring educational institutes, 2) motivate the participating SJKC students in their study, and 3) create an environment for UMP students presently attending Mandarin classes to practise the language.

CMLHS Mandarin language teacher, Yong Ying Mei, masterminded the program with the help of the volunteer teachers, namely Liu Xu, Zhang Cuicui and Yuan Jie. Yong Ying Mei disclosed that Mandarin was difficult to many non-Chinese students and hoped they would enjoy the fun of learning the language through the activities. The program started in the morning with icebreaking activity, followed by activities such as “Ni Shuo Wo Xie (I write what you say)”, “Bu Wen Bu Xiang Shi (To ask to know each other)” and “Ni Hua Wo Cai (Guess my drawing)”, and in the afternoon, the participants were brought to CMLHS multimedia lab to have hands-on experience of computer assisted learning with software and internet.

Diana Anak Lingging (KC08056) and Aidaiyu Ahmad (PA11011), had high valuation of the program. When interviewed, both said that they enjoyed the learning activities together with the primary students and hoped to join again if MLCC were to organize similar program in the future. The Smart Partnership Program: Enhancing Mandarin Communication Skills through Cooperative Learning Strategies was officially closed by Mohd Iszuani Hassan, the Head of Foreign Languages, CMLHS.