Inside Stories

Voices & Opinions pg. 2 Happenings pg. 3

Musings of the Mind Minggu Mesra Kampus
Green Grass Martial Arts Night
Surviving FYP CNY Cheer for Kg. Bali Folks!
Heart for Islam
Spotlight pg. 4 UTPOCM Charity Performance
First Ever Pasar Malam in UTP!
Chan Wenzhen: The Man Behind
MPPK 2010.
the Martial Arts

MMK Blazes Board of Editors

Patron:
Tuan Haji Mohamed Noor Rosli

Advisors:
Muhamad Syazwan Amarjit
Muhammad Haniff Humam
Ahmad Bakri Zubir
Mohamad Faizal Azri
Nabila Lau
Redha Fadzil

HOT Board:
Editor-in-Chief:
Timmy Ong
Co-editor 1:
Steward Baba
Co-editor 2:
Devina Amala
Designers:
Muhamad Faiz Ishak
UTP students crowd registration booths at Pocket D during Minggu Mesra Kampus. Nur Afiqah Mustafa
“This MMK will be the benchmark for stu- less, he suggested that tents should be set Photographers:
By Kan Wai Choong
dents in order to survive in university’s up for this event as the blazing heat can be Amir Ehsan Mohamad
TRONOH, 4 Feb: The three-day long UTP life,” commented Ahmad Syazwi bin Ahmad an opposing reason for students to visit the
Shukri, Project Manager of this semester’s
Awang Muhamad Nasuha
Minggu Mesra Kampus (MMK) was con- booths.
ducted successfully and the crowd was MMK. Chen Tien Zyee
pleasing. Kuo Chun, President of the International Some students said that the MMK was Ng Pei Ying
Culture Club (ICC) , said that this MMK has crowded and there were lots of…
MMK is an event held every semester in the
mission to expose students, juniors and been beneficial to the club’s growth as they CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 .
seniors alike to the various clubs and socie- had not only received more memberships
ties in the university and be given a head- but also be able to sell goods such as
start to the up-coming events. wristbands to generate funds. Neverthe- Patron’s Forewords
It’s my pleasure to announce the
birth of HOT bulletin. This is the uni-
versity’s official campus bulletin for

Martial Arts Night students. HOT bulletin is a collabora-

By Boon Ee Juan and Mostafa Mohamed
TRONOH, 6 Feb: Organised by UTP Taek-
wondo Club, the night was composed of
different martial arts performances dem-
onstrating the different martial arts styles
practised in UTP.
The night was not all about martial arts. It
also contained an amazing sketch from
Minggu Mesra Kampus (MMK), which was
held together with Martial Arts Week
(MAW). Martial Arts Night (MAN) was the
closing ceremony of MAW.
The highlight of the event was the taek-
wondo performance. The highly skilled
performers demonstrated different tech-
niques, which included extremely high
kicks and breaking wooden boards.
The purpose of this event, as mentioned by
Chan Wenzhen, a chemical engineering
student and the project director of this
night, is to create a platform to show UTP
students different martial arts styles and to
promote the spirit of martial arts.
He, and Tuan Haji Mohamed Noor Rosli,
the director of the Student Services Depart-
ment and also one of the VIPs, agreed that
martial arts are about developing charac-
ter. It is about values like modesty, dedica-
tion and teamwork. Mr Rosli, who was
highly satisfied with the performances,
added that this kind of events encourages
the integration between students, and pro-
motes racial harmony as well as the culture
of unity.
Taekwondo, one of the captivating per-
formances of the night.
tive effort led by MPP UTP, English
Language Club and MEDTECH. Vari-
ous other clubs, societies and stu-
dents bodies are also part of this ini-
tiative.
My heartiest congratulations to the
Editorial Board for this inaugural is-
sue. I sincerely hope all students will
utilize HOT bulletin as the main me-
dium to inform and share the univer-
sity’s current and future activities. I
am confident with support from all
students, HOT bulletin will lead to-
wards creating a vibrant and in-
formed students community in UTP.
‘One University, One Destiny, UTP’
Best regards,
Mohamed Noor Rosli B. Baharom
Director of Student Services Dept.
 2
Voices & Opinions
A regular column
By Arif Amin bin Ahmad Puzi, PG
Hi, my name is Ridhuan and in this column,
I will be exposing all the latest conspiracy
theories, clandestine operations, subtle
plots, and hidden movements behind the
daily workings of the most controversial of
places, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS.
If only.
In actual fact, all of the above is phony,
including my name. You see, my claims for
a pseudonym to write under fell onto the
deaf ears of the powers that be. I am sure
they were worried that an article con-
demning certain parties in the name of
freedom of speech would appear and that
no one would be held responsible for it;
who is not. But if you knew me (which I am
hoping you will in the years to come), you
would realise that I am the gentlest of
souls. I would not even harm a mosquito
even if it happened to think my limbs were
its personal blood bank.
A touch of hyperbole there. The real rea-
son I wanted a pseudonym was so that my
Surviving FYP:
10 Things to Keep in Mind
By Nurul Jannah Nordin
(Part 1)
Currently going through your FYP?
For most final year students, the Final
Year Project (FYP) is a nightmare. But
trust me, I have been there and sur-
vived. While a few students grab this
opportunity to showcase their talent and
ability in their respective fields, most of
us dread FYP. However, here are the
essential things that you should keep in
mind in order for you to survive your FYP
with success. They are just basic things
actually, but we usually overlook them
until they trouble us. So, why wait? Take
action now!
1.Ensure your laptop/PC is in a good
state
Throughout your FYP, your laptop and/
or PC is your most treasured possession,
since it holds all the intellectual property
that might determine your FYP grade, if
not your future. Usually, your hard
drives come with a two-year warranty.
So, if you can afford an external hard
disk, get one for your FYP—instead of
just storing movies or TV series.
Make back-ups as much as possible and
update them regularly. If you do not
have a hard drive, have the habit of
emailing the reports and important ma-
terials to yourself. That way, you will
have an online backup of your materials.
Surely you do not want your hard work
to be all blown away in a blink of an eye.
I have experienced that during my FYP
and believe me, excuses about your lap-
top having to be formatted will sound
very lame. Update your anti-virus regula-
popularity would not increase; I can barely
handle the constant late night calls and the
number of boxes of chocolates that I get as
it is (another touch of hyperbole). Besides, I
worry that with my real identity open to
the public, people would tend to give me
comments on the streets, or be biased in
their reading of Musings of the Mind. I ap-
preciate any and every comment or feed-
back that you have and am actually flat-
tered by it, but if you do have some, email
them to me rather than seeking me out to
give me a piece of your mind. As for my
worries on you judging my writings based
on what you have seen of me, of my dress-
ing or hairstyle for instance, I hope you will
read this with a blank perception to begin
with. If it helps, think of it as Ridhuan writ-
ing here.
Basically, Musings of the Mind will be an
eclectic piece based on, well, amusing
things that occur in the world that we live
in today. One of which is the birth of our
university’s very own bulletin, Heart of
Tronoh (HOT). And boy, is the thermome-
ter showing a high reading! With the name
I suspect inspired by our ever-successful
theater group, Tronoh Theatre Shop, HOT
rly and keep your laptop/PC in a safe
and secure place.
2.Invest in a colour printer
A 3-in-1 printer is a good choice since
you may also need to do scanning, but
you can also opt for a normal colour
printer. Share with your friends and you
can deal with who to own the printer
later by having the person pay back the
appropriate amount of money to the
others. The other option is to share the
expenditure for the ink with someone
who already has a colour printer.
This way, you would not be in a dead
end if you need to print something ur-
gently in the middle of the night and
when you need to print colourful dia-
grams for your report.
3.Allocate a specific budget for FYP
use
Calculate the overall cost for your FYP.
That includes your A4 papers, printer’s
ink, hardbound expenses, poster and
presentation materials, travel expenses,
etc. Set aside that budget so that you
would not find yourself worrying about
the expenses later. Do not worry: you
can claim back a certain amount of
money for your FYP. Be smart to choose
the cheapest alternative without com-
promising the quality.
...To be continued.
Nurul Jannah is UTP’s BIS graduate and
is currently working as a Property Re-
search Executive in a property valuation
firm.
aims to be the medium for all UTPians to
receive their monthly dose of ‘hot’ campus-
related news. With collaborations from,
but not limited to, MPPUTP, Medtech, ISC
and ELC, this is a guaranteed hit, just like
Malaysians and their acronyms.
Who agrees that Heart of Tronoh sounds
good? It is catchy, no? Although to the un-
accustomed, Tronoh might sound similar to
a certain state in that faraway land called
Canada, give it some time and it really does
grow on you. It has a certain grandeur
compared to its neighbours. Sri Iskandar:
too cliché. Lumut: the equivalent of moss.
Bota: boat? But Tronoh: a name full of
mystery and adventure. It is not unlike
your reaction to the mentioning of ‘Ipoh’.
But then again, maybe all names that end
with an ‘o-h’ sound good? Boh Tea even
manages to taste good.
As we all know, the Chinese Year of the
Tiger has just arrived and with it comes a
S ince this is a campus bulletin, it would
only seem appropriate that my first
letter to it (if it gets published) be about
the university. It would be entirely out of
character for me as a varsity student who
has spent the better part of the last 4
years living and breathing the hot humid
air of this desert to speak glowingly about
life in my university.
In fact, rarely have I met a fellow under-
grad from any public university in Malaysia
speak with enthusiasm about their univer-
sity. No doubt, there are exceptions to the
case. Juniors especially, when amongst
friends who attend other varsities, are by
their innocent nature predisposed to brag-
ging about their new campus life i.e. the
world class sports facilities, the well
pruned grasses that scream for a well
placed putt, the gigantic libraries that in-
fuses students (again-juniors) with a will
to scour each aisle in it, and of course
courteous and friendly guards, who are
there for the students well being. Their
views, however distorted and exaggerated
it may seem, is not entirely unfounded. In
fact, it is in a way spot on. The beaming
guards who enthusiastically wave you in at
the entrance leave an impressionable
mark on your parents who drop you off on
your first day as a varsity student.
Never would one imagine accumulating
summons in excess of RM1000 for of-
fenses that vary from the most trivial in
nature to the downright ridiculous. Never
would it cross the minds of freshies that
he or she will accrue summons for mis-
placing his or her bags at the library, or for
actually bringing in a bag to the study area
(heaven forbid we steal a book and some-
how make it through the state of the art
sensors at the entrance), or even for park-
chance for us to improve from the previous
years and the herald of a more prosperous
future. Hopefully, this timely coincidence
will benefit HOT too. One of the things that
could really have used this pick-me-up is
our national football team. If only we had
qualified for the World Cup. Imagine it, the
year of the tiger and our very own Harimau
Malaya roaring in the finals. No way would
we have lost; it is written in the stars, or
rather the moon in this case.
Lastly, despite the perspiration-inducing
heat currently emanating from this
month’s edition, Vancouver, Canada is cur-
rently staging the 2010 Winter Olympics. If
Jamaica has managed to be a part of this
prestigious event (try watching the tribula-
tions of their luge team in the movie Cool
Runnings), when will Malaysia take the
stage?
Dream big; we at HOT certainly do.
ing at yellow lines that probably was
painted by someone who had a real fear
of cars coming out of junctions ( for the
length of the line, you could park a trailer
that’s being towed by a truck and still have
enough space for a game of 3 a-side).
But, mea culpa. Before I am accused of
knit-picking or finding faults with our var-
sity, let me make it clear: I am proud to be
part of this institution of higher learning,
and we are undoubtedly one of, if not the
best institute of higher learning in this
region. Anyone can consider themselves
lucky to be affiliated with this university. It
has an outstanding workforce, brilliant
minds from all over the world; leaders in
technical fields as well as in research and
development, laboratories packed with
state of the art equipment—and pigeon
holes. But enough of the GPE Dept.
We also have as rector a visionary who has
managed to maintain the academic stan-
dards of this institution whilst making
great strides in becoming a Research Uni-
versity. We've got one of the most active
student extra-curricular participation
amongst all local varsities. I would think
no other universities in Malaysia has man-
aged to bleed dry an entire town just from
event sponsorship. Comparatively speak-
ing, students here are generally more
well-rounded and resourceful as opposed
to other varsities.
And most importantly, we've got an aca-
demic system that works! Employment
rate of UTP students is higher, and up till
now, we are still in high demand. Let’s
hope that continues for a long time to
come (or till I graduate).
By Valsan Vevakanandan, PE
 3
Happenings

CNY Cheer for Kg. Bali Folks!

Rays of goodwill shine on ‘gotong-royong’
among UTP staff and students.
By Jared Ee Han Seong
TRONOH, Feb 5: The residents of
Kampung Baru Bali here received
some early Chinese New Year cheer
through a community service pro-
gramme conducted by PETRONAS
under its Sentuhan Kasih initiative.
The programme was a joint collabo-
ration between PETRONAS, the
Wives and Women Staff Association
of PETRONAS (PETRONITA), and Uni-
versiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP).
Staff and students of UTP partici-
pated in refurbishing the community
hall, senior citizens’ homes and the
main road of Kampung Baru Bali.
The Sentuhan Kasih initiative,
launched in 2005, is part of PETRO-
NAS’ efforts to help less privileged
members of the various communi-
ties in Malaysia.
Apart from local students, thirteen
international students from South
Africa, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand
and Chad also took part in the com-
munity service programme.
Nhon, a student from Vietnam, said
he was happy to do his part for the
community, and hopes that similar
events will be carried out in future.

Heart for Islam
By Mostafa Mohamed
TRONOH, Feb 9: 9th February was the
opening ceremony for Heart for Islam
campaign for the year 2010, held by UTP
Rakan Masjid.
Attended by Ustaz Rahmat, who acts as
the advisor for Heart of Islam campaign,
the event started with speeches from
Mohd. Afiq Rosli, the Heart for Islam
project director, and Ustaz Rahmat.
The aim of holding the Heart of Islam
campaign is to promote the Islamic cul-
ture and way of life. Moreover, it is to
uncover the hidden talents in arts and
sports as well as boosting students’
knowledge on the Islamic way of life.
The campaign organizes many activities
such as campus run and futsal competi-
tion. There will be a Sirah (The prophet’s
life story) quiz and a forum about Islam.
All of us, regardless of our race or relig-
ion should seek participation in these
events aiming for a better understand-
ing of other cultures.
Muslim students during the opening
ceremony of H4I in Chancellor Hall.
UTPOCM Charity
Performance at Kg. Bali
By Thivyashini Thamilyanan UTPOCM. Puan Sri Noraini Mohd Yusoff
and YBhg Datuk Dr. Zainal Abidin Haji
TRONOH, Feb 6: PETRONAS, in collabora- Kasim, accompanied by the UTPOCM,
tion with PETRONITA and Universiti presented a Chinese New Year song,
Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP), organised its “Gong Xi Gong Xi”.
'Program Kemasyarakatan Sentuhan Kasih
Tahun Baru Cina' at Kampung Bali. UTP
Orchestra Chinese Musical (UTPOCM) was
invited to perform in this event.
The VIPs were Puan Sri Noraini Mohd
Yusoff, the President of PETRONITA, UTP
Rector, YBhg Datuk Dr. Zainal Abidin Haji
Kasim together with his wife, and also the
President of Kampung Bali. Angpaus were
given away by PETRONAS officers to the
senior citizens. Datin Seri Noraini Yusof, President of
PETRONITA and Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin
After the speech given by the Kampung Haji Kasim, our Rector, took pictures with
Bali JKKK President, there were perform- the senior citizens in Kampung Bali.
ances by primary school students and

A hawker frying fresh

and hot keropok lekor, Majlis Persidangan
which is a popular snack
amongst UTP students.
Presiden Kelab 2010
By Jayiza Jamil

Tronoh, Feb 11: Majlis Persidangan Presiden Kelab

(MPPK) is a monthly meeting organised by the Student
Representative Council (SRC) for all the presidents of
clubs.

The main objective of this meeting is to unite all the

clubs in UTP, which is parallel with the theme of our
Lukas, preparing pizzas for Pasar Malam. SRC 2010 – Pursuing Togetherness. This semester the
MPPK was held on the 11th February 2010 at the SRC
First Ever Pasar Malam meeting room. It was an important one as the new ad-
visor of MPPK – Tuan Haji Mohd Noor Rosli Baharom
in UTP! attended the meeting as well.
By Daphnee Lo and Ng Pei Ying
There were four main expectations from the advisor for
TRONOH, FEB 8: Now, UTP has its very own Pasar Ma- the MPPK this time: firstly, focus on the main objective
lam, held weekly on Mondays at the V4 corridor. It is of the respective clubs; find ways to collaborate among
brought to you by the Village 4 Committee in collabo- the clubs; involve community projects as part of the
ration with the International Student Council (ISC) and events of the clubs; and lastly, use the MPPK as a plat-
the Residential College Student Unit (RCSU). form to strengthen the bond among all the clubs in
UTP.
The objective of this Pasar Malam is to establish a
good relationship among international and local stu- The meeting proceeded with updates from each club
dents. Besides that, the organisers plan to make Vil- and discussing the arising matters. Lastly, the meeting
lage 4 a central point of UTP. adjourned with refreshments provided by the SRC UTP.

As it was only the first time, there were just a few

hawkers selling fruit and vegetables, as well as food
such as fish crackers, or famously known as keropok
lekor among the locals, and cucur sayur, which is deep
fried dough with vegetables. There was also a stall
selling souvenirs from Thailand and Vietnam by UTP
student themselves. Students can register to set up
their own stalls.
Lukas Pirpamer, an Italian student pursing studies in
the University of Graz in Austria, who came to UTP on
a student exchange programme, was selling pizza al-
tonno and pizza margherita that he made himself.
“Although it is not a real Italian pizza, I would like to
bring my country’s culture to UTP,” said Lukas.
FROM PAGE 1> on-going activities. They suggested MMK brings UTP students together.
that the future MMK should be more organized in
terms of the arrangement of booths to reduce
confusion between clubs and avoid blocking the
pathway. On a positive note, they said that they
have learnt aplenty within the three days about
the clubs and have registered in them.
All in all, MMK reaches out to the students and is
proven to be an ideal channel to promote and en-
courage students to participate in extra-curricular
activities; henceforth corresponds to the univer-
sity’s vision to produce well-rounded students.
 4
Spotlight
The Man Behind the Martial Arts
By Timmy Ong
Interview by Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Hakim and Mohd
Zulothman bin Mustapha
n the 5th of February 2010, the eve of Martial Arts
O Night (MAN), an interview was conducted with
Chan Wenzhen, the Project Director of Martial Arts Week
and Martial Arts Night. He is currently pursuing a degree
in Chemical Engineering and is actively involved in the
practice of martial arts, particularly Taekwondo.
Actually, ‘actively involved’ in martial arts is a bit of an
understatement, because he is a SUKMA gold medalist,
and a quartet finalist in the 4th Asian Youth International
Taekwondo Championship held in Jordan. That aside, he
is also the President of the UTP iChemE Club as well as a
part of the UTP Society of Petroleum Engineering (SPE).
Of course, with these credentials, we wanted to know
how he does it all. Can martial arts really be such a big
positive influence in life? Thus, we held a second shorter
interview via, well, gmail, to find out just how martial arts
empowers him so much. Below is the compilation of the
two interviews.
Good evening Mr Chan. I understand that you are very
much involved in the practice of martial arts. How long
have you been practicing and how has martial arts
helped you in your daily life?
I have been practicing Taekwondo since the age of 9.
Martial art has helped me understand the way of life and
also learn values such as modesty and so on. Without
Taekwondo, I may not be as successful as I am today.
How did, or does, martial arts inspire you and help you
understand all these life values?
Martial arts, as I have always been saying, the beauty of
it is to learn the way of life. It can basically govern every-
thing—yes, everything—in your life. Without Taekwondo,
I am nobody right now. Martial arts inspires me to be
somebody—somebody who I can really be proud and
grateful of. When I was just a kid, I have always dreamt of
being a great fighter—someone who stands on top of the
podium. Because of the jealousy of seeing someone else
succeed, I tell myself that I will someday be there. Till this
day, I have no regrets over my past deeds.
As martial arts emphasizes greatly on discipline and per-
severance, these values have greatly shaped my life. Mar-
tial arts inspires me the most in terms of perseverance.
Martial art inspires me to stand back up even when you
have experienced the deepest fall. It doesn’t matter how
many times you fall; what matters is how you actually
recover from your falls. Success becomes even sweeter
after you know that you have felt the fall.
You do not have to be the best of the best to smell satis-
faction and success; you smell success by your own defi-
nition of success. It's the power of your mind and your
thoughts. Your thoughts control your entire journey of
the day. Thoughts become things.
Chan: proud with his earned gold medal in SUKMA 2008, the
only gold medalist for Federal Territory Taekwando squad.
How much do you relate your other successes today
back to your martial arts roots?
I would say that martial arts have boosted my confidence
most, followed by perseverance, modesty and integrity.
It has come into great application especially when it
comes to handling stress and piles of workloads. Espe-
cially when I am involved in so many events, clubs and
activities, I might feel a little stressful when it comes to
prioritizing which comes first and which comes next. But I
guess that's when the fun begins.
Challenges are nothing but just something to make your
life more meaningful. Be positive. Have your mind mani-
festing positive and optimistic thoughts. You can even
have the inner feeling of joy even if it's not there. And
the universe will correspond to the nature of your
thoughts, inner feeling because that's what you manifest.
What’s the purpose of you organizing the Martial Arts
Week and Martial Arts Night?
I organized this as I wanted to create a platform for UTP
students to witness martial arts and to develop the inter-
est for martial arts in UTP. For me, they should know that
martial art is not about violence but it's a way of life. It is
also not combat, but merely training the inner self, men-
tal strength and practising modesty.
Do students in UTP like and support martial arts?
Well, In UTP we have very good and talented players but
still martial arts is not very developed in UTP. Besides,
the students are not supportive enough and they don't
understand the message behind martial arts.
Why should engineers learn martial
arts?
This is because, martial arts is a way of
raising a person and teaching him eve-
rything. It is more of a way of life and
it's important for character develop-
ment.
You have mentioned that martial arts
is a way of life, that it has a hidden
message, that it trains you internally,
etc. But how does it work exactly?
Way of life, I guess no exact definition
of words can describe this powerful
term. It includes character develop-
ment, integrity, courtesy, attitude,
leadership, team spirit, etc. Everything
you can think of is a way of life: the
“I organized this as I wanted
to create a platform for UTP
students to witness martial
arts and to develop the in-
terest for martial arts in
UTP.”
way you talk, the way you study, the way you handle
people. It can be anything you are doing. Martial art gov-
erns the act of the practitioners. It focuses on control of
your thoughts and actions.
Martial arts teaches me mainly on how to set my goals
clearly and have focus in life. Take time to identify your
real passion in a certain field, be it studies, career or any-
thing. I believe in setting goals as it helps to navigate your
thoughts to focus on what you really are doing. And
when you are passionate about something, you basically
do not have any doubt about what you are doing. And
someday, you know you are going to achieve it. Visualiza-
tion and imagination help to make progress even greater.
And martial arts also focuses on "perfect practice makes
perfect".
What would you remember as the most amusing part
about organizing this event?
What was amusing was that there were only 10 people to
handle everything and most of them were even perform-
ers. So these people had to first search for sponsors then
sort out the issues regarding PR and also organize the
event.
Finally, what are your hopes for martial arts in UTP?
I hope that the readers will understand the true meaning
of martial arts. Martial arts can indeed do a miracle out
of anyone's life. Believe in yourself, have faith in yourself.
Do not allow anything to shake off your day. Start to feel
good right from the time you step off of your bed till you
snore in your sleep.
> From Wenzhen’s words, martial arts seems to be as
much as an art as a sport. How true can that be? The only
way to find out would be to start taking it up—we have a
fine teacher here in UTP!
Upcoming events in UTP:
22/3 - 28/3 Technology Week 2010
23/3 - 26/3 Red Sonata Fiesta 2010
27/3 - 3/4 Children Provision Charity 2010
30/3 - 31/3 Technology, Education & Career 2010 (TEC X)
7/4 - 10/4 CodeQuest 2010 Programming Competition