My cousin just had her UTAR convocation in Wisma MCA two days ago. It was the inaugural convocation for the university, there was a special pull out in the Star papers with all the graduates’ names in them. It seems like only yesterday she enrolled as the first batch of undergraduates at the Section 14 campus.
The convocation apparently started a day before on Saturday, I saw the commotion outside Wisma MCA when I passed it on the way to work. Then when I was having breakfast at my favourite nasi kandar place (the one with the fluctuating price), it premise was invaded by beaming families carrying bouquets (yeah, why do you give graduates flowers? I never figured that one out…)
I have no idea what my cousin studied, I think it has something to do with journalism. All I know is that she lost her new handphone after coming to KL for one week. I think she left it on a bus.
Not only that, her mother (my aunt) says she takes one hour long baths. Every day. And before she came to PJ to study, she had never washed her own clothes. How she survived 3 years here is a great mystery.
Okay, enough about my poor cousin, she might be reading this.
A lot of people have their views of UTAR, but I suppose I have no extreme views about them. If not for them, my cousin would not have had an opportunity for a tertiary education, so say whatever you want, it does provide an avenue to study for those who cannot afford to study in private colleges or got rejected by the other universities.
I hear a few years time they will move to a permanent campus up in Kampar. One of the reasons is to bring development to the sleepy hollow for famous for their chicken biscuits and curry chicken bread. In a way I suppose its good, real estate prices and small business will definitely pick up in Kampar, but those who love the rural ambience may have to say goodbye to it forever.
Anyway, as the convocation season winds up, I can see a few more articles on top-scoring graduates in the front page of the newspapers in this or that university who aspire to be an astronaut/neurosurgeon/rocket scientist/PM. Then on the second page more reports of graduates hiding their qualification to get a job as a supermarket cashier.
(On a side note, each time I hear UTAR, the song ‘Utah Saints! U-U-U-Utah Saints!!’ keeps playing in my mind.)
8 Comments
Fashionasia
hehe…lawyers and doctors are boring jobs now….
kids now like jobs with bombastic names like Crime Scene Investigator Or Forensic Scientist or stuffs like that….
mudslinger
yeah, what more with progs like nescafe kick-start, they all want to be race car drivers, f1 powerboat champions, toy designers and whatnot. that beats writing down teacher or policewoman or bank officer in our ‘cita-cita’ column every year in school. times sure have changed.
jojo
I couldn’t last a semester in Tar College… After 2 weeks worth of classes (in 2 months) I ran home to mommy and did the whole “I DON’T WANNA GO TO SCHOOL” thing hee hee. No offence to anyone, my girlfriend graduated in this batch too.
simon
fashionasia – wow, those would be cool jobs!
mudslinger – they can dream, but how many can actually achieve theier dream? And be prepared to work hard for it?
jojo – why?! TAR College so bad aa?
MengZ
as a tar pre-u student.
at 1st i wanted to withdraw too…but due to the my finacial, i got no choice.
serious not that great as u think simon.
u should try to sneak in the class then u will know wat is happening there.
shadyET
well, mengZ, i did my pre-u in tarC, too. CPS to be exact, the direct way to UTAR after SPM. i’m now wrapping up my very first sem in utar, and while the environment, campus, so on and so forth ain’t exactly in the same standards as say, taylor’s or monash, i hope (and know) for future batches’ sake, kampar campus will be much, much better and more complete. what i’m trying to say is, i have not much complains about utar. they have some seriously excellent and dedicated lecturers here, and you can’t exchange that for anything.
like this la, i always state and maintain (as a joke) to friends and relatives that UTAR is the AirAsia of private unis. no frills, no fancies. direct to where you want to go. if you want to board MAS unis, you gotta pay a whole lot more….to get where you want to go, same destination, anyways, yes? no?
have fun in tarc and utar, people. i am.
Teh Ais
hey shadyET,
I’m a CPS student too. Graduating to UTAR this May, hopefully. You don’t know how happy I am to see that UTAR isn’t soooooo bad. My friend from there just told me it’s the WORST uni in the world! What course are you doing? I’m currently under Journalism major. Cheers!
MIhail
Police have been checking vehicles in a zone around the site of the discovery, where poultry movements are restricted.