Fiestari 2012: Winning them All

By Rafidah Sapa'at, Year 2, Diploma in Dental Hygiene & Therapy

They say you can’t win them all, but these NYP dancers certainly did.

Dancers from NYP's Malay Cultural Group participated in Fiestari 2012 on 14th July 2012 and emerged the overall champion. Their win was further sweetened when the dancers also clinched the Best Choreography award and the Best Performance award.

All in One Night – Best Performance, Best Choreography and Champions

Already at its 10th year, Fiestari 2012 is a Malay dance competition organised by Cheng San Community Club’s Malay Activity Executive Committee. Participating schools include NIE, NTU, polytechnics, ITE and secondary schools.
For Hartikah Mokrah, a third-year Business Management student and the Head of Malay Cultural Group, sweeping all the major awards was something the dancers did not expect, given that they had only 5 days to prepare for the performance.

“To emerge as champions wasn’t something we saw coming. The journey hasn’t been an easy one for all of us, given the short period of time we had to prepare. Every second was crucial,” she said.

But despite the time crunch and the hectic schedule of the dancers, their perseverance and commitment to put up a fantastic performance had been absolutely admirable.

“We stayed in school the night before the competition and practised till the wee hours. We all had the same goal of wanting to put up a good show and not wanting to disappoint our choreographer and ourselves,” said Hartikah.

Our NYP Dancers Pulling an All-Nighter to Perfect their Moves

And put up a good show they did. Mr Zairin Abdul Latiff, the group’s choreographer from People’s Association, could not have been more proud of his dancers. He, too, did not expect the win.

“I told them to  just give our best and not expect to win. I was so overwhelmed with happiness when we won,” he said.

There was no denying that competition with the other schools was stiff, something Mr Zairin agreed with. “The other schools were really good and the standard is getting higher. The judges are all pioneers in the Malay Arts scene. To have them crown us champions is simply unbelievable because I am sure their standards are very high”.

For Hartikah and her fellow dancers, the experience will be one they will never forget. “The experience has been priceless and we would not trade it up for anything else. It is tiring, yes but it has been worthwhile,” she said.

Reflecting on the Fiestari experience, Mr Zairin’s advised, “Whatever we do, we have to do it sincerely. Every difficulty we go through is simply a test to us. When there’s a will, there’s a way”.

And here is a video of the dancers creating magic on the stage, one that earned them all the accolades!
Congratulations once again to the NYP Malay Dance Group!

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Rafidah is a Year 2 Dental Hygiene & Therapy student who enjoys reading, art and craft, and especially sewing. Since she was much younger, she has sewed clothes, pouches, felt animals, and tote bags for her friends and herself. Nothing gives her more satisfaction than making something from scratch. She also loves movies and the unpredictability of LOMO photography. She loves taking dreamy, vintage photos with her Diana F+ camera. During her free time, Rafidah likes discovering new places (especially ice cream joints) to eat, and try out new different new things like yoga and kick boxing.