MATTA Fair September '15 @ PWTC

Group photo of KLSO team

I felt so great that I had the chance to join the MATTA fair as exhibitor this year. It was held at PWTC from 4th to 6th September 2015. Indeed, I had a wonderful experience over there! There are a lot of memories for the past 3 days! Initially, I thought I will just be a small helper to distribute the flyers to the visitors. Then, I only realized that my role is to be a sales person to close sales. Yup, there's target for us to achieve. In fact, the target is too high for me as a newbie. Thus, I set for my own target and I achieved it! My target is to close 5 sales per day and total amount of 10k for 3 days. At the end, I managed to close 21 sales and make 13k for 3 days. It's really an achievement for myself!

Taking photo with LEGO from Legoland XD

There are just too many things to share. This was the very first time we met with Malacca team, comprising of IS, Account, Ticketing, HR and Marketing department. Yet, I never have chance to know everyone of them. I really can't understand why they never introduce Malacca staff to KL staff. Thus, I was only able to know few of them. Well, there's a handsome guy with a very good smile from IS. I only know his surname is Wong, 24 years old and joined the company for 4 months. I was so regret that I didn't get his contact. On the other hand, I also met some Malays who are Malacca based. They are really friendly! When they see me, they will say hello to me and concern about me. The name that I am able to remember is as follows: Wong, Tee, Tay, Wan, Pingping, Mohd, Arif, Lynn and ZhanPeng. 

Decoration of the booth

Next, let me share with you the customers I met in these 3 days. I never have the chance to talk to people from different walks of life until I joined MATTA fair. I had the chance to speak to Malay, Chinese, Indian and even Arabian. Now I know how importance of knowing few languages. I used English, Mandarin, Malay and Cantonese. There are few customers who I can still remember. 

Location of the booth

On the first day itself, I met a big boss with his wife. It's also the biggest sale I made. When the big boss made the payment, he requested us to write company name in the invoice because he said he can claim the expenses from his company. The lady is so lucky to marry a successful guy whereby they can go for travelling here and there without worrying about financial problem. I heard they said they will go to Macau at the end of October. There's Malay customer who came to our booth together with his family. I felt the children nowadays are very lucky because parents are willing to bring them to go for vacation. When I spoke to them, I got to know that the parents brought their daughter to many theme parks before. Although the parents went to our resort before, they are still willing to go once again just because they want to bring their daughter there to have fun together. I felt really touched by them. 

Decoration of the booth

On the other hand, I could really feel how awesome is the culture of Malaysia. I met one family where the husband is Chinese and the wife is Malay and their daughter looked so pretty. The husband talked to me in English while he spoke Malay to his wife. Hopefully, his wife will learn Chinese in future so that he could speak Chinese to his wife. Haha. Also, I met one couple which is gay. I noticed it by myself from the shirts they wear. It's a bit weird when two guys go to theme parks together. 

My standing point 

Also, I talked to Arabian as well. There's an Arabian who planned to go for vacation with his family. He came alone to our booth. He told me that he wanted to bring along his wife and 2 sons to go to our resort. When he made the payment, he showed me the photos of his sons. I felt so good that the customer was willing to share something with me although I am just a stranger to him. He also shared with me that they were planning to go for Port Dickson as well. On the other hand, I met 3 Arabians who planned to bring their children to go to our resort as well. He was the only one who pay cash for such a big amount. When he said he wanted to pay cash, I was wondering whether he had such amount of cash in his hand. Yes, he had it. It's about 1k.

This person looked so real~

Well, there's also a man who made booking with me for his vacation with his small family. When we were waiting at the counter to make payment, he talked to me just like a friend. I told him my name as well. He thought I am still a student. In fact, I am working now. The other customer who talked to me like a friend is a young couple. They even asked for my name card but I don't have it. They also saved my contact number and asked me to share information with them if there's any offer by my company. In fact, I am not a sales person. Haha. 

This man is so fat~

There's another customer who bought large number of tickets from me. This was the customer that I used shortest time to close sales. I just explained to them and they decided to purchase the tickets. Yet, there's some problems happened when she made the payment. Her credit card couldn't be used and luckily she came together with her friends so her friend could help to make the payment first. 

Decoration of other booth

There are also few pregnant women I served. There's a Malay family where his wife is pregnant. Thus, I went to take a chair for her. I explained the packages to them and yet they said they need to consider about it. Then, they walked away. I thought they will never come back to me. Who knows they said they wanted to look for me when they came back to our booth. I felt so touched that there were customers who came back to look for me when they decided to purchase the package. At the end, they decided not to buy the package because the price increased due to tier jumping. Anyway, I still felt very happy that they came back to me. Yet, I felt sorry to them because the increase of the price. 

The beautiful lanyard and the board I used

What have I gained in the past three days? Although I had been standing for about 36 hours for the past three days, I don't feel that tired. When you focused on your work and you enjoy it, you will feel like the time pass so fast without realizing it. I found these 3 days to be most meaningful in my working life as compared to sitting in the office. I felt touched by a lot of different stories. Some of them are couples, and some of them came along with lovely family. I could feel the LOVE is in the air! No worry, I am surrounded by love from my family too! My parents purposely came from my hometown to support me in MATTA fair! I was just too surprised to see them at last day of MATTA fair. I thought my parents didn't know how to drive there so I didn't think of they will come to support me. Why are they coming? Worrying their daughter being bullied? Worrying their daughter this and that? Haha...Family support is really important! 

The meals provided by MATTA fair

 Apart from that, I totally didn't touch my computer for 3 days and talked to people face to face. It increased my confidence to approach the customers and improved my communication skill. Other than meeting up with Malacca team and speaking to people from all walks of life, the extra things I earned are 6 free meals from MATTA fair, and 1 extra day leave, t-shirt, and beautiful lanyard. The meals are in big serving. I was really satisfied with it. It's a set lunch and dinner, comprising of fish, chicken, vegetable served with rice. I was not able to finish it because the serving is just too big for me. There's still something not fulfilled but let's forget about it. Just keep the happy memories. That's enough! See you all again...

Last photo before going back...

MATTA Fair ~ 4th-6th September 2015 ~ Mission completed!

Mei Guan's convocation on 21st August 2015

Let’s recall my convocation on 21^st August 2015! I really wish that I could put it in words as details as possible so that I can remember it forever. “It is just like a dream, it ended so quickly” quoted from my friend.

I went to Kampar together with my family just one day before my convocation. I was still working on Thursday itself. I came back at 630pm and met up with my family at 715pm at economic rice shop which is my family’s favorite. Then, I went back to my hostel to take a bath and then we departed at 815pm. It’s about 3 hours journey from KL to Kampar. We reached our relative’s house at 12am something. We were so tired but I couldn’t sleep well. Perhaps I was too excited for my convocation. Thank you my mummy for ironing the gown for me. I set the alarm at 5am. Yes, I managed to wake up at 5am. I took a bath and my mummy helped me to make up. It’s quite time consuming actually. We don’t even have time to have our breakfast. Initially, we were planning to have breakfast outside. However, we really don’t have time to do so. At the end, we just had a very light meal which was prepared by my Aunt. We had biscuit and milo as our simple breakfast. I kept on saying that “we are running out of time”. It’s about 720am already and I was still at my Aunt’s house. OMG! We quickly rush to UTAR grand hall. As expected, many graduands with their family have arrived. We were quite late actually. I quickly ran to Block N, the location of robing room. I ran to registration counter and signed. Luckily, I know the procedure quite well as I became the registration helper before. Then, I went to the robing room. Everyone was queuing up. I was the only one who haven’t dressed up. I was so nervous and I asked one of the officer that whether there’s someone can help me to dress up. He asked one helper at the behind of the room to help me to dress up. Finally, I was ready to queue up. Once I dressed up, then it’s time to queue up outside the robing room. I was so regret that I don’t have time to capture some moments before queuing up. A helper passed to me another card. That’s about the details of my course.

When it was about 8am, we started to walk towards the hall. I felt a bit awkward when I walked to the hall. I just felt that my gown was just too long, causing me to feel so uncomfortable to walk. The feeling was great when we walked towards the hall. There were some people watching us and taking pictures. When we arrived in front of the hall, we queued up again. I was standing at the front of others. Thus, I was able to see my friends passing by, including KehXin, JieShi, HuiRu and Denise. I saw our president too. He took photo with those PhD graduands. How I wish I could be one of them taking photo with president. Then, suddenly a girl approached me. I was too surprised. She took a form for me to sign and said that they will send my stage photos back to my secondary school if I agreed on it. This was just because I get first class honors for my course. So, I realized why I got the call from UTAR asking me about my secondary school. Of course, I signed the letter. Wow! I wondered what will be their response when they received my stage photos. When we were standing in front of the hall, I heard some guys complaining that it’s so hot and how they wish they could enter the hall to enjoy the air-cond.

Then, it’s time to go into the hall. This was my first time walking on the red carpet. I felt like I am a super star. I was surprised that guests were allowed to sit at downstairs. When I walked to my seat, I saw SuChing and I smile to her. She helped me to take photo when I walked on the red carpet. I sit quite near to the stage. It’s just 4^th row from the stage. Thus, I guess I didn’t have to wait too long to go to the stage to receive the scroll. After we settled down, many of us started to look at the book. Actually, there’s nothing special inside. It’s just a book full of name of graduands for all session of 3 days. Well, my name appeared 5 times in the book. Haha. Then, I noticed I am the only one who get honors with distinction for my course. Wow. There are total of 77 first class students among 2280 graduands.

Mei Guan

The convocation started. The one who sit beside me was an Indian girl who is Journalism graduates. The other one was a guy from my course but I never see him before. The convocation started with the arrival of VIPs. After the VIPs went to the stage, the song of Negaraku was being played. My feeling was so strong when the song was playing. I felt like this might be my last time singing Negaraku. After the song was being played, it continued with the speech by VIPs including our president. The content of their speeches were mainly about advises for us. They asked us not to stop learning and we are the one who choose our own career. Also, they asked us not to forget the efforts of our parents put on us. As usual, our president will ask graduands to stand up and turn back and bounce to our parents. I felt so touched as well. Besides, our president was sharing about the recent development of UTAR. After the very long speeches, it’s time for us to go to the stage to receive our scroll. In fact, I was not ready yet to go to the stage. We started queuing up and ready to the stage. The workers of the PhotoRex also helped us to tidy up our gown before we went to the stage. They also remind us that we must look at the “right” camera and smile. I asked my Aunt to help me to record video as well. I looked at her and smile. My family sit at upstairs. It’s so far from me but I could still spot them.

 Our faculty dean was the one who announced our name whereas one of the VIPs gave the scroll to us. I tried to walk as slow as I could. I walked towards the VIP and smile. The VIP said congratulations and shake hand with me. I said thank you and we took a memorable photo. How I wish the time stop at there. Then, I walked slowly and look at another camera. When I went down from the stage, I got a ticket from PhotoRex. There’s number for me to collect my photos. I walked a big round to go back to my seat. I felt like I am those who participate in Beauty competition, walking around the hall. Luckily, I still able to watch my friends went to the stage to receive their scroll, including KehXin, JieShi, PueiPuei, and Denise. After the first part of distributing scroll, there’s a performance by 2 guys. They sing 2 songs including Jalur Gemilang and another song. While they were singing, a video clip was being played. It shows UTAR student life at Kampar. I felt touched and I don’t dare to look at the video. I wanted to control myself. There were just too much of memories in Kampar. Yet, it is past and we can’t chase back.

Then, it’s second part of the convocation in which students from FEGT, FSc, FICT received their scroll. I spot my friend from FEGT too. After that, there’s another performance by 1 girl and 1 guy. The girl is Joanne Lai! Finally, I met her in UTAR. She was the winner of “chan ku yi ding” competition 8 years ago. Another 2 songs being sang by them including “gan en de xin”. There’s another video being shown including our theme photo. All these songs made me think a lot. It’s really touched my heart. Then, our president asked the recipient of book prize, USSDC and etc to stand up. I was one of them! Oh yeah! Clap hand clap hand! Lastly, we sang Negaraku again before the convocation session ended. Then, we said goodbye to the VIPs. That’s the end!

So, we went out from the hall and took photos with friends! It’s so difficult to spot my friend because there was a big crowd outside the hall. All graduands were looking for their family and friends! It’s even no use to call because everyone is busying on their phone too. The first person who I caught was “jou sen” Calvin. He was my housemate. I knew him since I moved to Kampar. The second one was KehXin, my course mate as well as FYP partner and we become good friends after that. The third one was MengSei, my course mate who shared a lot with me in studies as well as my internship friend. The fourth one is Pueipuei, my course mate as well as FYP partner and good friend. Then, Pueipuei looked for JieShi and she managed to find her. We took a photo before we found KehXin. Next is SuChing. She purposely came from Sg Long just to attend Denise and my convocation. Thanks for her flower with a UTAR bear. Then, the next one is Shue Li, my course mate as well. After that, we (Puei, JieShi, KehXin, me) took a photo. This was our first met after final examination. Next is TeikSiah and ChengAik, course mate too. I stood between them and took a photo. Then, I met ChengKai, the one who I knew during PMP. It's been quite some time we didn't meet. He's from FEGT, Environmental Engineering course. The following are CheeKai, YiHua, and CaiShi. 

Calvin & me

MengSei & me

Me, KehXin, Pueipuei & JieShi

ChengKai & me

My family & Denise's family

Hey Yue & me (Lai's family)

After taking so much of photos with friends, I took photos with my family and relatives. Thanks for WeiJack, my cousin who came to support me and became my camera man of the day. We took quite a lot of photos near the hall as well as with the "green" background. Frankly speaking, UTAR Kampar is a good place to take photos as all the background looked so nice. After all, I found that I haven't take photo with my best friend in UTAR! Yea....It's Denise. After so many calls, I was still not able to find her. Based on the information provided by her, I went to the "venue" to find her. At the end, her bf saw me and told me Denise's location. Denise's friend is so funny, asking her to cook the broccoli inside the bouquet of flower and upload the photo to FB. There's a photo of my family with Denise's family as suggested by Denise's mum. It's a nice photo indeed. After taking photos with Denise, we quickly ran to take studio photo. Initially, we were quite worried that there might be a lot of people queuing for taking photo. Who knows there's only few people...I met another course mate, CheePoh when I went to take studio photo. He just finished taking studio photo. While waiting for our turn to take studio photo, I met Hey Yue Joanne who was the champion of “Minute to Fame". I was so surprised to meet her. This was the very first time I met her in UTAR although I knew her studying in UTAR since I joined UTAR. She's from FSc, Biotechnology course. She was so happy when I told her that I have same surname with her. She said "we are family". She also asked me to send her our photo via FB and I told her I added her already. She is a nice person indeed. Then, I took individual photo as well as family photo. I purposely asked my parents to dress up nicely for the studio photo. Ahahaha...The photographer helped us to adjust our posture as well. I still have to wait for next month to collect the photos. After taking the photo, I had to return my convocation attire. At downstairs, I met MengSei again. We took photo again. He took studio photo as well. I met Pueipuei too. She was going to return convocation attire too. My mum and my Aunt were busying trying my mortar board and took photo. Meanwhile, my dad went to take his car so that we didn't have to walk to the parking lot. 

With my Aunt & parents

WeiJack, my cousin & me

When I went to heritage hall, I met Denise and Pueipuei again. What a coincidence! They were still not going back. I was just too excited to have both of them in UTAR. My best friends in UTAR! Likewise, there were not many people returned their attire. We returned it and collected our souvenirs and certificates. Then, we planned to take our themed photo but it's not ready yet. Luckily, the person in charge said we could emailed them to get the photo. Then, it's time to say byebye to my friends. We went to Tanjung Tualang to have our "lunch" after that. We had a seafood lunch for the day. It's already 3pm. We were so hungry. Luckily, my parents bought sandwiches to eat when they came out from hall. It's really tiring! 

We went back from Kampar at 5pm and we reached home at 12am. We spent some time sending my Aunt back to KL...