Group photo of TAR UC’s Chinese Orchestra members. 

It was a defining moment for members of TAR UC’s Chinese Orchestra at the 6th Malaysia International Music Arts Festival (‘MIMAF’), held at Genting International Convention Centre from 26 - 28 November 2019. Making their debut performance, the Chinese Orchestra brought home an impressive haul of trophies as follows:

Award List:

For Liew Yao Jie, Vice President of the Chinese Orchestra Society, the achievements were the confidence booster that the club needed to grow. Having participated in such competitions since his secondary school days, he had encouraged the orchestra to take part in MIMAF for them to gain exposure.

“I’m extremely proud of our accomplishments!” said the Year 2 Diploma in Mass Communication (Broadcast Communication) student. “Not only is this the first time that the orchestra has participated in a competition of this magnitude, but each member also managed to master their instruments and come out on top.”

“Only a handful of us has a musical background, myself included. Most of our members have zero experience handling an instrument prior to this and they have only been learning for one semester.”

President of the Chinese Orchestra Society - Toh Pei Xuan, a Bachelor of Retail Management (Hons) student also weighed in on the direction which the orchestra will be heading in the future. “This experience not only shows what we are capable of but it also proves that where there is a will, there is a way.”

Lack of equipment for practice and time constraints were some of the difficulties that the orchestra faced while preparing for the competition.

“We usually only meet once a week on Saturdays for practice. To prepare for the competition, we tried to squeeze in more practice throughout the week but it was difficult due to everyone’s conflicting class schedules,” shared Pei Xuan. “Not all our members have their own instruments so we had to think of ways and means to borrow instruments for them. Thankfully, some of our seniors who are TAR UC alumni were willing to come back and help train the new members.”

Pei Xuan and Yao Jie also shared that they plan to participate in more competitions next year and encourage their peers to compete in solo categories, as well as organise a concert on campus.