Posh cars pulling in on the driveway, red carpet rolled out, elegantly dressed ladies and the gentlemen in suits, hovering waiters and the aroma of freshly made popcorn!! The atmosphere had a reminiscent of Academy Awards night. That was the scene set with glamour and glitters in UEM Academy on the 29th of February 2008 for the inaugural Emerging Leaders Appreciation Night. That memorable leap year event was a point of paramount significance to the ELPians. It was the graduation of pioneer batch of 35 Emerging Leadership Program (ELP) participants and also the commencement of the program for the 24 ELPians of batch two.
UEMA was transformed into a cinema setting, many wished it to remain that way but sadly, just like any other fairy tale, by midnight it had to be reverted back into a training centre. YBhg Tan Sri Dr. Ahmad Tajuddin Ali, YBhg Dato’ Ahmad Pardas Senin, Board of Directors, and members of the senior management were all there to grace the event.
In Act 1, the opening gambit saw Tan Sri Dr. Ahmad Tajuddin Ali receive a visit by an entourage of spies to accept a mission. With Tan Sri’s acceptance, the ‘ELPians Movie’ depicting the exciting 18 months adventure was screened. The highlight and most awaited event was the announcement of 5 Most Outstanding ELPians and they were Mohd Hedzri P. Jaafar, Danial Idris, Tiow Wei Sheng, Wendy Lim and Mohd Nabil Fawzi.
In Act 2 dinner was served. Guests were feasted with an uncut show of the ELP journey, some of these incriminating pictures could return to haunt the ELPians in future. This was followed by a live performance from our very own ELP band. The band belted out hits singles such as “Stand by me” and “Have you ever seen the rain?”. In the finale the rest of the ELPians and Pn.Azizan Hawa, who sung like Barbara Streisand, joined them in a rendition of “I believe I can fly”, the theme song for the night.
The party went on till midnight. Everyone left with a contented and happy feeling after being well entertained. It was an unforgettable night for the ELPians as they showcased their talent and the success of this program to the whole group. It is safe to say that there will never be a similar event in another four years.
