It was a jaw-clenching yet eventful day at the Cempaka Cheras Campus on the 7th of July, 2007. Early that Saturday morning, Cempakans involved in the annual Cempaka Invitational Games Carnival arrived at the campus early to warm-up as well as greet the students of Sekolah Sri Sempurna and Sekolah Sri Garden, the participating schools this year.

The sports to be held that day were badminton, soccer, basketball, netball, table tennis and chess. Our vice-chairman, Dr. Rizal, launched the start of the games with a speech, again thanking the competing schools for graciously accepting our invitation once again.

Five teams were to compete for the soccer trophy that day, Cempaka Damansara A and B, Cempaka Cheras, Sri Sempurna, and Sri Garden. Although each team put up a good fight, the skillful footballers from Cempaka Damansara A took the gold, followed by Sri Garden in second place. Team captain, Sufiyan Abas, said this year’s team worked to the bone for the cup, and called them his ‘Dream Team’.

For netball, only three teams were present that day, Cempaka Damansara, Cempaka Cheras and Sri Sempurna. After 3 years of tight competition with the reigning champion Sri Sempurna, Cempaka Damansara finally became the new victors for netball. This put Sri Sempurna in second place and Cempaka Cheras in third.

Cempaka Damansara’s winning streak continued as the chess team prevailed over Cempaka Cheras as well as Sri Garden, who came in second. However, Sri Garden triumphed in badminton and basketball, both the main sports in their school. Sri Sempurna came in second for badminton, and Cempaka Cheras came in second for basketball. Cempaka Cheras finally took home the gold for table tennis, followed by Cempaka Damansara in second place.

As soon as the last referee’s whistle for soccer was blown, all players gathered at the South Hall for the customary prize-giving ceremony. The slideshow of CIGC 2007 was short, yet significant and meaningful for all those who would be graduating this year. It was a melancholy bunch of students saying their heartfelt ‘goodbyes’ and ‘see you agains’ as the ceremony was over, particularly with the players from Sri Sempurna who have been participating in our games for almost 6 years. Nevertheless, we made new friends, and rekindled the old. It was certainly a CIGC to remember for all of us.