Mace-bearing 101

25 March 2006.
I have been meaning to write an update for my blog for a while now but work has been rather hectic and on top of that research and other activities have also been getting on top of me. I think I have things under better control now.
My latest adventure…. Well, if you could call it that, it was different anyway.
I was somehow elected to be the mace-bearer for the Second Open University Malaysia convocation. My job was rather simple: I walked in the middle of a small procession comprising the Vice chancellor, Dato Mustafa Muhammad (the minister of higher education), The Pro-Chancellor (Tan Sri Azman Hashim) and myself (with the mace). We entered the hall (the big dewan at Putra world Trade Center – I forget what it is called), walked up to the stage. I stop at the mace table while the others took their place. I placed the mace on its stand, bowed to the Pro-chancellor and made my way to my seat. When the ceremony was done, I collected the mace, then led the procession out of the hall. My greatest worries were dropping the mace and accidentally smacking the Pro-chancellor’s head when I took the turn at the top of the stairs entering the hall. Fortunately my job went off without a hitch and so did the ceremony.
It was amusing that the thing that people were most curious about was the weight of the mace. Practically everyone I spoke to in the few days before and after the ceremony asked how heavy the mace was and how heavy it felt and such. The mace is 27 kilograms, according to Mr. Razak, one of the managers of the ceremony.

Putting down the mace

Walking up the step on the way out.

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