Wellington UMNO

The collaboration to organize the first ever inter-UMNO club rugby tournament between the Auckland and Wellington UMNO Clubs was held on the 3^rd of July 2008 on the Polo Grounds in Miramar. The participating teams were from the Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch UMNO Clubs.

The day started with clouds adorning the sky and chilly winds leaving everyone trembling in dismay. The tournament began at 9am with each team going against the other two. Heavier rain began to pour but was ignored by the players going all out determined to win the tournament and spectators supporting their respective teams alike. Fortunately, the weather increasingly improved throughout the day as the players pushed on.

Spectators kept coming to rally support despite the unpredictable weather conditions. HE Dato’ Sopian Ahmad and wife came and saw the final round of  tournament between Auckland and Wellington He later presented the medals to the  champions of the UMNO New Zealand Rugby 10’s Tournament and recipient of the Dato’ Seri Wira Ali Rustam challenge trophy  won by  the team from Christchurch. Wellington grabbed the first runner-up title while the Auckland  team was awarded the second runner-up placing perusing the event to an end at about 2pm. Congratulations to the winners and  special thanks to all that attended  the memorable event.

The UMNO Club–Chair of Malay Studies New Zealand Parliamentary Style Malay Language Debate Competition 2008 was proudly hosted by the Wellington UMNO Club on the 30^th of June and 1^st of July 2008. The debate mainly aimed to uphold the status of the Malay Language as Malaysia’s national language and to instill awareness of proper Malay language usage among  the younger generation. The participating clubs were all four UMNO Clubs in New Zealand: Otago, Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. The debate was held concurrently with the annually organized sports event, Bersatu Games which took place in Wellington this year.

The preliminary rounds took place on the evening of the 30^th June 2008 at Lecture Theatre 101, Murphy Building, Kelburn Campus of Victoria University. Audience attendance was surprisingly a lot more than expected as supporters came to listen and cheer. Team UMNO Otago won against team UMNO Wellington and Auckland UMNO Club won against team UMNO Christchurch on the motion: ‘Bahasa Melayu Mampu Bergelar Bahasa Dunia’. Both winning teams made their way to the final round the next evening.

Accommodating a bigger crowd the evening after, the final round of the debate was held at Lecture Theatre 1 of Rutherford House, Pipitea Campus. This time, the governing team proposed the motion ‘Pelaburan Langsung Asing Menjamin Pembangunan Negara Mapan’. Members of the floor were enlightened by the arguments as the debate became more and more intense with strong points and humorous analogies. The governing team, consists of members from Otago won the debate, thus declared as the champ of the first ever UMNO Club–Chair of Malay Studies New Zealand Parliamentary Style Malay Language Debate Competition. They were awarded medals and the challenge trophy. Mohd Faizal Ahmad, also from Otago was named Best Debater.

The prize-giving ceremony was next, incepted by comments from the Head Adjudicator, En Wan Aminuddin Wan Ibrahim. All three judges were invited to present certificates, medals and trophies and the event ended as guests were served some refreshments.

The Wellington UMNO Club would like to forward its many thanks to the Chair of Malay Studies Victoria University of Wellington; Prof Dato’ Dr Othman Yatim, Miss Yvette Koo, adjudicators for both preliminary and final rounds of the debate; En Wan Aminuddin Wan Ibrahim, En Adi Affendi, Pn Siti Nor Jallila and Mr Selva Ramasami. Not forgetting all participants, crew members, supporters and everyone who has made this event a successful one.