I have not been so out of touch from blogging before than this! Honestly, with so much things going on in campus around these few weeks, staying in front of the computer for hours is like a dream in the past. I find myself barely able to sit down for just half an hour, doing nothing but blogging away.

Just recently, my university had a special guest coming to deliver an adjunct lecture on the topic of independence of our nation and how to fulfil the vision that has been set. The guest is none other than our Chancellor himself, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. It seems that it is an obligation for the Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS to deliver a lecture every year, in conjunction with the convocation ceremony of the university. It is during such lectures that students get to meet the former Malaysian Prime Minister face to face. It is also at this moment that university students get to raise up certain issues to be addressed by the former politician himself.

This week marks the seventh convocation ceremony of UTP. As usual, the university has invited various companies to set up booths and stalls at the ConvoSquare (which is actually a carpark and a football field). It is at this ConvoSquare where there will be a ConvoFair. In the ConvoFair, you get to purchase items you may like such as cameras, computers, toys (I'm not joking) and many more. Staff, students and non-staff of UTP are welcomed to see for themselves what the ConvoFair is about.

During the ConvoFair there are lots of food and even stage performances, which encompass performances by the UTP Orchestra (Chinese Musical, Classical and Jazz, etc.) and even by students themselves.

As the convocation ceremony will see the presence of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the university has made numerous preparations, namely beautifying the landscape of the campus, completing the wall that would function as the main entrance of the university and even putting up a gigantic signboard to mark the entrance of the campus. All this is done in a hurry for the convocation ceremony itself. In fact, I have seen workers working from day till night non-stop. I believe they work under shifts.

I am very much involved in the convocation, although I am not one of the graduates (duh!). I have been chosen to perform during the ConvoFair and the ConvoLunch (two separate occasions on two separate days). During the ConvoFair, I shall be conducting the Chinese Orchestra and perform six pieces, while during the ConvoLunch, I shall be performing on the piano together with five other players; we meant to have a sextet (read: sextet) during the ConvoLunch. As the pieces in ConvoFair and ConvoLunch are all different, I have to practise extra hard to master all pieces. Tough, isn't it?

I wish I could write more about the upcoming events in ConvoFair (perhaps you could even come down to UTP yourself?) which will begin from the 24th to the 27th of August 2007, but I have to go to the Multi-Purpose Hall now to collect my course confirmation slip!