On the 11th of april 2014, a group of brave souls
set forth from the comforts of Lakeside on a 4 hour journey to IIUM in Kuantan
for the 7th annual National Pharmacy Sports Carnival (NPSC). The
contingent from Lakeside consists of 29 men and women who decided that studying
alone would not make them good pharmacists in the future and that fitness and
camaraderie were important factors as well.
The contingent, led by the eminent Ng Yew Keong form year 2,
were competing in the track and field events, futsal, badminton and ping pong.
When we arrived at the International Islamic University of
Malaysia, we were welcomed by the organizing committee with dinner as well as
news that we were the first to arrive amongst all the other unis. Shortly after
dinner, our president, Jenning Yeong, decided that it was a good opportunity to
discuss tactical matters before the other unis could arrive and eavesdrop.
About after an hour later, the rest of the university’s arrived and the opening
ceremony of the event started. There were speeches by VIPs who encouraged us to
be “on the look out” for our potential spouse at the event because it has
happened before (ironically, one of the rules of the event was that men and
women were not to mingle to prevent “unwanted” incidences). When the event was
officiated, we finally got to check in into our apartment (which was really
nice!) and could finally sleep, but by the time we settled down, it was 12am
already.
We woke up at 6am the next day for the main event; It would
be a full day of sports all the way until late at night. The morning started
out with the futsal, ping pong and badminton events. Our futsal team was
dwarfed by stronger and larger opponents at first, but our captain, Aqil, made
an inspiring speech to encourage us. However, we did not manage to make it out
of the group stage. Thankfully, we managed to NOT get thrashed thanks to our
captain Aqil. In ping pong, our sole representative Vincent Ngu managed to
defeat all his opponents in the group stages, qualifying him for the
semi-finals. He prevailed even then and all the way into the finals, where he
went head to head with a previous opponent that he beat in his group. It was a
close game, with Vincent nearly clinching the winning point but his opponent
managed to overpower him. Nevertheless, Vincent won our first medal for the day
and we were proud of him. For badminton, we managed to win a few games in our
men’s single and doubles division, but were slightly short of points to qualify
into the semi finals. However, for the women’s double event, Hui Qi and Bong
managed to win enough games in the group stages to qualify for the semi-finals.
They were matched with Nottingham and was given quite a run for their money
with one team catching up with the next team in points very quickly.
Thankfully, Hui Qi managed to make use of her height advantage and score the
winning point with a smash. In the finals however, the enemy team from CUCMS was
just too strong, but despite their best efforts, they lost to a powerful team.
But that was the second silver medal of the day for us and we were overjoyed!
As the daylight faded, many of us were worn out and tired.
Yet we were not allowed to return to our apartment to rest or shower. Instead,
we were told that we could only go back later in the night right after the
track and field events. Despite being terribly worn out and sticky, our
athletes persevered throughout the day by relying on energy drinks and
impromptu public naps. Then it was time for the track and field events as the
sun was setting. We took part in a few track events for both the male and
female categories. The women’s 4x400m was one of the track events that we
participated in and were represented by Hui Qi, Hui Wei, Rachel and Ivy Kong, in
which they managed to be the third fastest, clinching the bronze medal.
After that we immediately headed back to our apartment to
get some good night’s rest as we were told that we would have to be up early (6
AM) the next day again.
Many of our athletes were tired and injured, and without
sufficient rest, many of us could barely wake ourselves up. Yet again, our
athlete’s displayed sheer determination and willpower to make it for the traditional
games session. However, many of us sat out for the traditional games because of
our injuries. Nevertheless, the traditional games session was a fun time for
many of us where we played fun games like “angry bird” where we used a large
piece of cloth to pass water balloons along. It was fun seeing our teammates
being hit in the face by a water balloon too!
Then came the long
awaited closing ceremony; Where we finally could hide from the suns heat in a
grand, air-conditioned, hall. We were served delicious food and given a display
of capoeira artists. It was then the awards session, where our winners were presented
their medals and the final inter-university score was presented. We ranked 9th
out of 13 this year (compared to second last in the previous year!)! We
improved and that was great. But above all, the lot of us had fun working with
each others, seniors and juniors alike, for…fun. The event also reminded us
that academics is not anything, and that the pride of our University is also
very important; Therefore, fellow pharmacy students of Taylor’s, what are you
waiting for? Start training now for the next NPSC! 
