18 November 2017 – In conjunction with its 25th Anniversary celebration, IMU hosted the inaugural and largest IMU Alumni Homecoming to date. Months of preparation have gone into this event to ensure that we provide a programme that is beneficial as well as entertaining to our alumni. The day started with really beautiful weather complete with hot sun and bright blue skies. As the team was busy setting up the sound and lights, the balloons and the canopies, the sky turned dark just a little past 2pm. Thunderstorm ensued a couple of hours later. The organising crew was anxious that the rain would ruin the event, but all was well in the end as the rain stopped, resulting in a cool and balmy evening. 
The day started with 4 breakout sessions for the different disciplines, namely Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry and Health Sciences. Most of these sessions were in the form of a panel discussion, with our alumni sharing their personal experiences covering topics from navigating a career path after graduation and entrepreneurship, to setting up a clinic and launching a new mobile app. All the sessions were very well received by the alumni as they find it beneficial. In fact, some of the feedback say that the sessions are too short! Everyone was then required to move into the beautifully transformed auditorium where the place was lighted with amazing motifs from the sharpy lights, setting the mood for a great celebration. For the event, IMU invited a special guest – the famous YouTuber in Malaysia, Jinnyboy TV to share about his ups and downs with humour and engage with about 400 people in the auditorium. In fact, one of the audience offered to help Jinnyboy with the video if he is going to be producing one on Chiropractic! That created a good laugh around the hall. The session ended with a touching video from Jinnyboy which you can watch it here. 
Next up was the opening act by Dr Joanne Yeoh, a professional violinist who gave an alluring performance. We were all impressed with the fact that she could actually still engage in a conversation with the audience while playing the violin with contemporary music! She performed a total of 3 songs throughout the night to keep the alumni entertained between speeches.
The session continues with speeches from the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Abdul Aziz Baba who shared about IMU’s vision and the new hospital, followed by Dr Mei Ling Young, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, International and Engagement. Prof Ong Kok Hai, Director, External Affairs was next in line sharing about his passion in community service through IMU Cares. Last but not least, Dr Erwin Khoo shared about his vision of the alumni association. 
The highlight of the day was the presentation of the Young Alumnus Awards to deserving alumni. A total of 4 categories were awarded to Dr Janet Ngu (Academic Achievements), Mr Georgen Thye (Professional Leadership), Dr Sharminithevi Paramalingam (Contributions to the Community), and Dr Chan Jan Bond (Entrepreneurship and Innovation). For more information about the awards and the winners, please click here. Dinner was up next and alumni were impressed with the number of variety of food provided for the evening. A total of 15 food stalls were setup at the multipurpose backcourt with a large variety of local delicacies ready for consumption. Items such as grill lamb, satay, char kuey teow, and ABC were among the favourites, judging from the queue leading to these stalls. Thankful for the rain, everyone enjoyed dinner in the cool and breezy open air. 
While everyone was busy with dinner, the atrium was also packed with performances by the music club, a keyboardist, and a dance performance by the Champions of the IMU Cup Dance Competition, the Phoenix team. The dance performance reminded many alumni of their fond memories of the IMU Cup and they were really excited to watch the performance. Once again, the atrium where the cold white walls that are all too familiar for the alumni were transformed with beautiful colour lights matching the mood of a joyous dinner. 6 lucky draw prizes were given away that night with the Grand Prize being a 2 day 1 night stay at the Grand Hyatt Hotel Kuala Lumpur, boasting to be one of the best 5-star hotels in the city.
The organising committee would like to take the opportunity to thank all the alumni who’ve made the effort to travel from near and far to attend the event, with some travelling from as far as Bangkok, Singapore and the UK. The event would not have been a success without all of your presence.
We look forward to meeting with all of you and more at the next event! More photos are available at IMU Alumni Facebook.
