SHINE! International Student Awards 2007

A few months back, I took part in this competition organised by the British Council in which we had to "write a letter home, depicting our time here in the UK and how we made the most of it".

Just last month, I was informed that I've been named one of two runners-up for the Wales Region. There were, in total, 12 regions, and all the 12 winners competed against each other in the finals, for a grand prize of 2000GBP, as well as the "International Student of the Year" award they so deserved.

As a runner-up, I've been invited to attend this prestigious ceremony at Delfina Studios in London on Wednesday. Hosted by Moira Stewart, a renowned journalist, the ceremony was also graced by Lord Kinnock, the Chairperson of British Council and our very own Professor Dato Jimmy Choo, an international alumnus of the UK who needs no introduction.

My guest for the night was Jacey, a high-flying friend who's doing her PhD at Imperial College. We set out at, well, the plan was to set out at 6pm to be in time for drinks and mingling and the rest of it which began at 6.30pm, but just when we were about to shoot out of the hall, someone got trapped in the lift and Jacey being the dutiful sub-warden of Piccaddilly Court that she is, had to stay behind until the repair people came (yes, I know YOU know what I mean by the repair people ;P).

Not sure when they eventually arrived, but we got to Bermondsey Street just 5 minutes before dinner. Delfina Studios is a corner lot building minutes from London Bridge, not very high-end but big enough to accommodate everyone quite comfortably that night - VIPs, British Council delegates, winners, runners-up, past winners, guests etc.

The lights in the background sure gave it a romantic innuendo, no? Hmm, something's missing from this picture though...yes! A (handsome) man! Eh, I say handsome man lah, not cameraman!

We walked on the red carpet (it actually looked more fuchsia than red) and into the hall where they had a mini exhibition on all the worldly International Alumni that the UK are proud to have links with, eg: Bill Clinton, Mahatma Gandhi, Imran Khan etc. And while I was glancing at all the posters, this caught my attention...

Arnold? I'm sorry Tunku, but everytime I think of the name Arnold, I think of the Governator! Urgh!

As Jacey and I were making our way through the crowd, we spotted Dato Jimmy Choo, and we managed to exchange some brief words with him before he was pulled over by everyone who wanted a snapshot. Man, meeting him in person was an honour. His calmness, soft-spoken-ness and most of all, his humility amazed me. For someone of his stature to be sooooo humble is indeed a rarity, and I am, not to mention, very proud to call this respectable man my fellow countryman!

I was seated at Table 15, the furthest from the stage ;( together with a few other British Council people and some students. I got talking to Qing, fellow runner-up from Bath, and Christine, who was a guest of her friend, a winner from last year. We had a good time having cultural exchanges (Qing is from China, and Christine is a Kenyan). It was nice to have met some new friends.

Dinner ensued and erm, yar, don't ask how it was. Tahu-tahulah, typical western meals... but I was rather impressed with the main course though. "Roasted guinea fowl with lemon-scented mash, chargrilled artichokes, petit pois, broad beans and sage burnt butter". Haha, I have no idea what half of those were, I just stuffed them into my mouth and let my tummy interpret it however it likes. I mean it was oklah, at least Jacey and I didn't have to ta-pau any supper on our way back, guess that tells a lot...

Moira Stewart kicked started the award presentation after dinner with her very professional and posh style of EmCeeing. We were first entertained by a short video clip of all the finalists, who were later called up the stage one by one to receive their prizes. Initially, I thought the runners-up would get to go up the stage too but later realised we weren't gonna. Was quite disappointed but oh well, the winners take it all...

Haha nolah, I was happy enough to have been invited to attend and I am glad I did. After the winners received their prizes from Dato Choo, they were quizzed by Moira - who had an array of questions ready for them with the spotlight on, ranging from why they decided to do the course their doing to how they got to creating awarenes for bone-marrow transplantation at their univeristy and the difference between living in the UK and back home etc...and for those of you who are keen beauty pagaent followers, yes, it's a bit like the Q&A session...albeit slightly longer and not so much about world peace :P

As I've mentioned, all these 12 people were competing for the grand prize, and they were judged based on the impression they've left on the judges during the informal chats they had earlier in the morning. The stuff Moira picked their brains on, so to speak, were just a formality. I think they had already decided who the winner was long before then.

Speaking of the winner this year, he is Yu Huai Zhang, aka Neo, from China. An enthusiastic young man from Queen's Belfast University. I can't even begin to describe how impressive his list of achievements are (it'd take rolls and rolls of 'virtual' space), but do check him out at http://www.educationuk.org/shine/index.html. I think they should be putting up his profile very soon (if not already).

For now, it's Adeline signing off with a few pictures of some very inspiring people who have really lived up to the word SHINE...

...we're from Boleh-land!

...the Spice Girls, oops sorry, Qing, Moira and Christine

...all 12 finalists
Yalar Jacey, it was a shame we didn't have a group photo where we can see the (cute) Aussie guy's face in full :(

...with 2007's International Student of the Year Neo