12 different batches of Information and Communications Management (ICM) and Communications and New Media (CNM) alumni came together for our annual tradition of Homecoming and celebrated in a big way — for 2011 marks the growth of CNM into a full-fledged department from programme.
Festive cheer greeted the guests on Saturday 16 July, when alumni, graduate students, staff and their families arrived to the roar of the lion dance. The lion dance is performed at important events and ushers in a year of plenty, according to Chinese beliefs.
Plenty of teaching awards, tenure and promotions, graduates from CNM’s first PhD cohort, babies added to the extended CNM family — all of which are good reasons to celebrate 2011.
Then a super-sized Indian rangoli with colorful petals forming the letters CNM was painstakingly decorated by the nimble fingers of the experts. The rangoli is an Indian symbol of joy.
Malay dancers entertained with their graceful moves before the award-winners were announced. Apart from the teaching awards, new graduands were lauded for their achievements.
Wong Wai Kuan Rhoda won the NTUC Income Prize for the Best Honours Student in CNM while Shaiful Rizal B Abdul Malek was awarded Best Well-Rounded CNM Honours Student plus the Hill & Knowlton Best Communication Management Student prize. A second Best Well-Rounded CNM Honours Student award was garnered by Tan Xiu Fang.
Among the BA graduands, Ang Min Jia and Muhammad Rasul B Sulaiman were both awarded the CNM Best Well Rounded 3rd Year Student prize.
The CNM alumni achiever award went — without a doubt — to 2011’s most famous and new media-savvy local politician Nicole Seah.
Apart from the teaching awards, no one in the room could forget the heartwarming tribute paid to Dr Linda Perry through thank-you videos from former students.
To top off the multicultural mood, yummylicious Thai food was served while the guests mingled, laughed, bonded and took numerous pictures. A few hours later, after basking in the strong network and camaraderie of our growing CNM family, and armed with the new edition of the CNM Magazine, our alumni walked away, in small and chatty groups. No goodbyes were necessary. They will return next year.