18 July 2008 was a big day for a handful of Cempakans, especially the performers. Early in the morning, at 10am, members of Cempaka Voices, Vivaldi ballet dancers, NutSense performers and a few orchestra members gathered at the link bridge to be sent off to the Cempaka Cheras campus. There was only one bus available, so there was not enough space for everybody. Many had to squeeze into a couple of vans, so the ride was rather cramped and bumpy, but it was still fun.

Upon reaching the Cheras campus, all the performers gathered at the North Hall to have their group pictures taken for use as the backdrop during the performances. All tables and chairs were already fancily decorated so us performers got a little excited, gushing about the pretty flowers on the tables and the chairs elegantly wrapped in white cloth.

After Mr Ashwin took our photos, all of us hurried off to change into our sports attire, had a few practices with the orchestra and sorted out our places on the stage. These were just casual practices. Full dress rehearsal was held twice after our lunch. We tried on our costumes and went through our routines the last time before the big show.

The prefects’ had a little rehearsal as well at 4 pm to sort out their places in the procession. After that, it was around 5 pm and we had to rush to put on our make-up and do our hair, which normally takes quite a long time as not many of us know how to put on make-up well. A number of us turned out looking like drugged raccoons so we had to keep on applying and reapplying make-up until we looked half-decent.

Dinner was at 6 pm. The food was not bad, although I preferred the dinners that were served the last couple of years. There was rice, small ‘asam’ prawns, vegetables, sweet and sour fish, and curry chicken, with fruits and bread pudding for dessert. The bread pudding served was most certainly the favourite among many. After dinner, the performers headed back to the dance studios for the final primping while the prefects assembled at the North Hall in their smart uniforms.

Dinner for the parents and invited guests began at 8.20 pm. The real ceremony started at 8.50 pm with the procession of the prefects and distinguished students, each holding a lighted candle. The Book of Excellence was brought in with the procession and Vice Chairman of Cempaka Schools Dr Iskandar Rizal Dato’ Hamzah then gave a short speech.

There was a short i-Movie of the glimpses of 2007 and 2008 which brought back many nostalgic memories of the hectic school life that we had. After that, were the awards presentations. The performers did not witness these proud moments of the scholars as we were all at the dance studio frantically going through our steps and last minute practices. We were all really nervous and got even more so as we stepped into the backstage of the North Hall where the lights were all dimmed.

And finally, the performances started. First up was a beautiful harp recital ‘Pajaro Campana’ by Katryna Tan, followed by the I-Sis Trio with ‘Por Una Cabeza & Handful of Keys’. Next was ‘Sekapur Sirih’ by the orchestra and following that was ‘Habanera’ which was sung by the Cempaka Voices with a short performance by Grace Cheng. After that was ‘Minuette’ by the Harp Ensemble which was very pleasant to the ear. Next was the much anticipated ballet dance, ‘Vivaldi’s Four Seasons’; which was performed for the Cempaka International Ladies' College (CILC) Launch too. Following that, the audience was graced with Ng Jo Anne’s sweet voice singing ‘Eternal Flame’.

After that was ‘NutSense’ which was a combination of ballet and body percussion choreographed by the lovely Miss Judimar Hernandez. Next was Teh Gao Jye, pleasing many fans who were mostly girls with the popular ‘I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing’ by Aerosmith. Finally to end the performances with a big bang, came a performance by the Cempaka Voices with the school song’s ‘Big Band’ version. The performances lasted only for slightly more than half an hour, so compared with the amount of practices we had, the show ended pretty fast. We were sad that it was over because it meant that we had to go back to our books as the monthly test was scheduled to be held the week right after Commencements. It was overall a very fun experience and many of us made new friends whom we will cherish in our lives to come.