My Life Journey
It's All About The Experience
Charity: Rural Service: Chapter 6
May 23rd
Chapter 6: Day Four
By now, we had already scored 3 days of service. Today, Saturday the 14th of July 2007 was a very hectic day from morning till the evening. We had “One Day Camp” – though it was not actually a camp but rather a half-day filled with activities confined within the school compound. We had literally lined up activities one after another and as a result, the camp was a mix of anticipation, chaos, frenzy, excitement, screams, jubilation, confusion and exhaustion.
We all had gathered early (some came with their siblings) to prepare for the day. I was particularly busy with the food as we also took charge over their breakfast and lunch. Breakfast, was first in the line up, had been included as part of the activities in the course that I would like to call “Family Unit” – that was the concept for the first half of the day. The day before, we had bought most of the food for the breakfast at a nearby sundry shop (cakes, junk food, cokes and etc.) and some were prepared fresh on that day. On that day itself some more food were bought in fear of shortage. I think we spent a lot to prepare for today.
These are some food for the breakfast. Tee Hooi helped me in setting them up. Ok..I admit it was a wrong choice of shirt I wore on that day. I looked like a drug pusher.
The camp began with registration. Students, dressed in their sports attire (like they were asked to), registered themselves and were subsequently divided into 12 groups named after the Chinese horoscope (from mouse to pig). Each group consisted of equal mix of gender, and upper and lower primary students. After they had all gotten their name tags, they gathered in their respective groups for some ice-breaking session guided by facilitators. The purpose is to make the kids comfortable with their group members (after separated from their usual gang) and to fire up their spirit to gear for the battles ahead. When all was set, kids and students proceeded to the hallteen for a short briefing cum opening session of the “One Day Camp”.
Teachers, kids and us gathered in hallteen for a short briefing of the day
In all that time, facilitators/station masters prepared the game stations situated around the school compound. Score sheets and money coupons were then distributed equally to all facilitators/station masters and once more were briefed on their usage for those who weren’t very sure. We had gone through the plans during our preparation days back in Ipoh but somehow, things would just go amiss during the actual day. That’s what I call reality. Anyway, nothing we UTP students can’t handle!
When the briefing ended our one day camp officially started. The kids by now were very excited and made hell a lot of noise. Their collective decibels can match a hard blown whistle. Once a while, we had to chant out something like “ai de an ching” then the kids would responsively clapped and quieten down. To me it was like mind control. Imagine you were monkeying with your friends, no sign that you were about to stop, when suddenly a spell was uttered and you obeyed like a zombie. Anyway when that was done all too frequent the magic was also fading. The zombied-kids were quick to regain their consciousness and the noise level would sky rocketed in seconds. Then we would do something like this to keep them down:
Ah Look: Who thought I’m handsome say "i"
Yea..everyone thinks Ah Look is handsome. I raised my hand too.
Ok breakfast time. Facilitator of each group handed them the breakfast menu in which they as a group had to decide what they want for breakfast. There are mixtures of healthy and unhealthy food and depending on their choice, points were given. When they are done, the facilitator and representatives will go to the food counter and collect their breakfast. The purpose of this section was to teach them the healthy choice of food. They were told to choose wisely and more points will be given for healthier food. They were also told not to spend all the money for breakfast because they still need them to buy lunch. There were also few food pyramid posters pasted on the walls nearby to aid them. Still, some kids succumbed to ordering junk food – so much for the advice and clue. Anyway, the camp paused for about 45 minutes for breakfast.
Kids and facilitators collect their breakfast here. I was also selling some ecstasy pills that morning for the coming "kun yam tan ".
They fueled up their energy for that morning. JunJia was going round asking kids for comments and more or less be a commentator himself
After breakfast, each group were broken into 2 smaller groups – the upper primary and the lower primary. Upper primary kids will play in 6 different station games cater for their level and similarly for lower primary. So there were total of 12 stations games going on at any one time! Each station was to have 2 game masters and so we were all pretty booked. Everyone had a job to do. In each station, 2 groups competed with each other at a time. Depending on rewarding system, some games gave money to the winning group and others were given points. Each station lasted for 17 minutes and when the time is up, whistle will be blown and the groups will scramble to the next the station. Here are some pictures:
This is station ‘name as many as you can’. A topic is given for example animal, and kids shall name as many as they can in an alocated time
This is ‘matching colour’ station. I think is to test their English if I’m not mistaken
This is ’spot the difference’ station
This is ‘burst the balloon’ station
This is how it looks like on that day. Different stations in different corners
This is ‘build a bridge’ station
This is ‘relate the story’ station where kids have to memorize a story and relate it to another member all the way….
…upstairs. The last person will have to relate it to station master as accurate as possible
This is the math corner
This is the ’spiral run’ station
This is the ‘bombing station’. Yea the bottle is the bomb…and Ang Khian is the bomb timer
This is ‘toss the coin’ station
This is the ‘photographic memory’ station
Actually some stations especially stations for lower primary always ended prematurely. 17 minutes was a little too long. We clearly underestimated their intelligence. Some finished the game in no time and so they had sit around to wait for the whistle. Some did complain about unfairness because those upper primary stations seemed more fun and I quite agree with them. Some facilitators tried to keep them occupied and entertained while they were waiting.
Babysitting. Poor kids, they have to wait while others were playing
The station games ended at 11.30. All the while lunch was prepared hastily because the canteen operator mistakenly thought lunch was supposed to be at 1pm while actually it was to be at noon. So to kill some time, the kids were grouped in the hallteen to cool down. Motivated them a lil’ bit. Did some dancing a lil’ bit. Chit chated a lil’ bit. The lunch menu was handed to them and again they decide as a group what they wanted to eat. When they were done, the lunch was ready just in the nick of time.
Gathered in hallteen to cool down before lunch
Have you seen so many bowls of rice before? The canteen operator warned not to fill the bowls with too much rice or some of the kids might cry
The food and drinks for lunch. Actually nugget is considered unhealthy..but who cares!!!
I must admit lunch was a bit more chaotic than breakfast. Shortage of manpower was the main drawback and insufficient of Coke did not help to satisfy some fussy students. Towards the mid of lunch session, many facilitators lost tract of money spent and how much food was ordered. But since food was aplenty, it was decided that the buying rule should be loosen and those who still wanted to eat could just help themselves to the food. We all had the same food and dined with the kids. Basically ‘Family Unit’ session ended after lunch.
The evening session continued with the egg challenge and the fashion show. No points were considered for these two activities as they were just for fun and to milk their creativity juice.
The groups were given newspapers, some tapes, balloons and strings to build protection for the egg
Some of the inventions
Time to put them to test! Remember kids, it is not the fall that breaks your eggs, it is the stop
I hope this egg is ok because I don’t think it is of any use hanging a balloon as it was not filled with helium
Some broke, some didn’t. Well done. They were still pretty excited with the whole thing
After egg challenge, fashion show was next. Each group was handed a picture depicting traditional wear of a country and were given some newspapers, tissue rolls, plastic bags and straws to make their costumes. I like the Indian girl most…so cute.
I think he’s suppose to be a samurai. He’s a very skilled one because he doesn’t even have to see
Aloha! When you dressed up like a Hawaiian you must do the Waikiki dance
And he’s sporting enough to do it! Applause applause.. Hey my cute Indian girl is there too!
Sawadikap…This boy from Thailand
Ok one last round of photo before I rushed to calculate the points of each group
After that, each student was given a piece of manila card for friends to write their remarks for the day. Actually they were supposed to go around and ask their friends to write what they think about him/her but instead this was what happened:
We were like superstars for a while because all the kids wanted to take our contacts. We gladly obliged and inserted some good comments such as "study hard", "be handsome and pretty always"..yea something like that. When I went back the last time, my bro and sis’s cards were still hanging on the wall together with the souvenir. Nice! BTW, of all pictures, I think this is the best looking picture taken
After this session, a quick sharing session was done in masses instead of what was planned initially. The “manila card activity” session should be done last while the proper sharing should be done in groups facilitated by group facilitators after the fashion show. Anyway, this was done as such in view of kids getting tired and restless. We were tired too. So it was ok. The kids were very good – listened to all of our instructions. I hope they have learned team play and most importantly had loads of fun that day.
After the points were added up, we proceeded to giving out prizes to the top three teams.
And the winner goes to…..(drum roll)
In the end, hampers were given to the top 3 winning groups.
Tiring but a great one day camp
The one day camp ended about 4pm if I’m not mistaken. Everyone went back, washed up and had a good rest and spent more time with families. As for the evening and night, well like I’ve said before – we all had our own agenda. As for me, I couldn’t really remember much of that evening after that as it was since a year ago. But one thing for sure, I’m glad I did rural service in Liman Kati. That day was one of the best days during the whole period of service.
Coming up next:- Chapter 7: Day Five
Of Holidays & Online Casino
May 21st
The last three days break were very welcoming and rejuvenating. I just simply like holidays and if they fall on Monday, even better. Though I didn’t travel anywhere, I still thought this break was wonderful for the fact the I got to rest, do my own stuff, play computer games, spring clean my pc (thanks to Kha Loon), watch Thomas Cup finals, and hang out with the rest of the guys here – Kha Loon, Zhong Jin (my other roommate), Kum, and Kar Yau. We took some pictures too but I’ll post them in later time, perhaps in a brief compilation about my experience here in KL.
Oh yea, I also wrote two short articles that earned me RM4 each. Compensate for the mega burger I had in McD! yea…. They are about online casino. Here they are if you want to read them.
2) Online Casino: Attract Luck and Be Lucky
During the break I also found out that my previous gay twink article has landed on www.gay-twinks.biz Geez..it’s freaky! (WARNING!! TO NON-GAYS: there are some graphics which may be disturbing. I’m not responsible for any loss of eyesight, vomiting, indigestion, loss of sanity and any other detrimental effects brought upon viewers who visit the website )
The other two articles are nowhere to be seen though. Haha.. I’d love to continue my write up on rural service as soon as possible but I’ve been caught up in something exciting lately. ***Cross my fingersssss……..Let it work! Please…*** Nevertheless, I’ll make sure I get that story right till the end.
Supporting Your Friends in Hard Times
May 19th
A devastating news has just reached not only to the person I cared about but for me too. A death has occurred and she’s badly scarred right now. For all friends, please give her your fullest support. You don’t have to remind her to be strong. Don’t ask her not to be sad because it is. Don’t ask her to stand firm. Don’t say it’s ok. Don’t say it’s fine. Don’t say it’s part of life and death. BECAUSE don’t you think she knows all that????
Just let her be sad and cry. Please hug her and make sure she eats too. Time will heal.
I’m here for you…
Charity: Rural Service: Chapter 5
May 18th
Chapter 5: Day Three
That July was not only the durian season but also mangosteen and rambutan season. During our one week in Liman Kati, all of us were offered these fruits practically wherever we went. When we went for visiting in each others’ house, durians and rambutans will always be there. I remember once I was ‘forced’ to eat durian by Grandma Chew at 10 pm. Not that I don’t like it, it just that I have had too many. Anyway I took 2 pieces and kept the rest for next day =P
One thing I must also point out is that the rural folks, kids especially – they like to go for a ride on motorcycles. So when those few of us who had access to this mode of transport, the kids will ask you to take them for a ride around Liman Kati. First few times it was okay, kind of fun to explore the area but after a while you’ll get tired of it since the place is not very big. Sometimes we declined and gave excuses but at the same time we don’t want to be such an ass. At times I told them that petrol is expensive and we should cut down on fuel consumption yada yada yada…..and they would plea saying that it will be just a while (not true because they would stop at friends’ house for a visit and since everyone knew everyone in the village they sure have a lot of friends to visit), or they might even offer to pay for the petrol or they will give you one sad look. You tell me how? Most of time, we relented to these kids and ended up riding pillion sometimes up to 3 persons on a motorcycle without helmets touring the village as if it was a brand new place. In a couple of days I can say that I have already seen most of the places including a shortcut through a rubber plantation and it was the same ol’ same ol to me. Now they have been there all their lives but still they can get so excited rounding the same place again and again. I just couldn’t understand why. Perhaps it was the fun riding ko ko and je je or perhaps they like to show us their place or perhaps they like the wind caressing their face, or perhaps they just have nothing much better to do.
Usually in the morning around 7am after the kids were at school, Grandma Chew and I will go to a kopihouse (a house operating noodle stall) nearby and have a plate of noodle and a cup of milo for breakfast before my turn to go to the village. Sometimes in the evening (we usually have a few hours or so spare time before the next agenda) Shu Ping and Bo Ann will insist on bringing me for a bowl of laksa this time in a different kopihouse nearby. They claimed the laksa as ‘hou hou sek’ (very very delicious) and apparently it was quite popular among the people there (you can see there’s always people eating). If you want, next time I bring you there and you can judge it for yourself. Sometimes if we didn’t go for laksa we would go for a ride around Liman Kati. Sometimes we (the facilitators) would play basketball together with the kids in a basketball court which is situated near the entrance of the village. Mind you they have a very nice sheltered basketball court there. Sometimes we would just go visiting and have a chat and listen to whatever stories the kids might have. One story was that the bigger kids pop in ecstasy pills on ‘kun yam tan’ (god of mercy celebration day). I was like what the heck??! They get high on ‘kun yam tan’ instead of in the pub or disco?? Geez..But I guess that’s because they do not have such places there and that celebration was perhaps the closest thing they have to a lively night atmosphere. So I always ask the kids whether they’ve tried it or not but they all answered no which was a relieve to me. Anyhow this is a bad influence and I hope they won’t screw their life up just because of celebrating the ‘kun yam tan’ in a wrong way.
There are a lots of things that we do with these kids during our free time (evening and night time mostly). Too bad I don’t have pictures for them. I should have gotten a camera then. Anyway, let’s move on to our day-three activities.
In the morning we had some sort of a motivational talk held in the hallteen – this time it was for the upper primary kids who will be taking the UPSR soon. The speaker was again Mr. Tang (the funny man). I’m not sure what he talked to them or whether he managed to really inspire any of these kids to work harder but one thing I’m sure was that he made them laugh with his jokes and funny antics.
Kids and teachers listened intently
He even taught them how to sing this:- (see video)
While the talk was on, I and few others worked on the mural painting.
Not sure whether you can see anything but the trace is there. What we did was we taped the mahjong paper on this piece of wall, use blades to cut the outlines, and use chalk to trace while slowly peeling of the outlines.
We got the paints and tools from a hardware shop nearby. On and off we bought things for the activities from the shops nearby and the tab will be settled by the village committee.
We tried out best to match the original colours of our intended painting
The morning talk ended about noon and we had our lunch break.
‘Mum mum ‘ time. While some were inside eating, some were outside playing
Time to vandalize this playground!! yea…. These swings and play house were meant for kindergarten kids but these big kids couldn’t care less
I guess we were all feeling like little kids after spending the whole day with them
Some took a short nap. Xi Yi you are seriously obese. Please exercise. Xi Yi is very likable among the kids.
After lunch we moved on to the next agenda – a visit to the secondary school in Kuala Kangsar. The objective was to give an insight of various paths after secondary school.
We prepared some sort of personality test but according to feedback, some of the students weren’t interested and asked ridiculous questions. Some did not follow instructions upon completion of the personality test and proceeded to whichever booth they felt like and did not seem serious in listening to what the facilitators had to say. They all agreed that handling smaller kids were better and more fun.
Some were cooperative
See their faces also know they are up to something mischievous
I don’t know what actually happened there as me and few others were doing the painting at the school. The kids will always come and check on our painting and give their comments. Some we nice some weren’t. I’ll tell more about it in later chapters.
Now we apply the paints on the wall. Not bad eh?
The 16 facilitators came back some time before 3pm for the next activity – recycling campaign which involves going around the village collecting recyclable materials. The kids were as usual excited about collecting rubbish..haha. In fact they were excited just about anything we threw at them. Awesome! Students were break into groups and then went around from house to house guided by respective facilitators collecting recyclable materials.
These kids were so obedient
Let’s move out!! There was a lorry to carry our collectibles
We practically knocked into peoples’ home to ask for recyclable materials. Most of them gave newspapers. We taught them how to ask politely. Good kids.
Yea hu…..The sky is getting dark though..
We collected rubbish from bushes as well
And load them all in the lorry
We were almost done with our rounds when it started to rain. Everyone rushed back to the school’s hallteen. We all gathered there for a while, gave ourselves a pat at the back for having done it well. Despite a little drenched the kids were still energetic. By now all the kids were familiar with the chant-and-clap (some sort of like motivational clap) – some were cool enough to initiate them. They’ve seen us doing it on day one and they’ve also been doing it since day one too. Marvelous! I hope they remember all the lessons that they’ve learned today.
We all dispersed back to our respective home and have an evening break and of course the evening activities like the ones I’ve related above ensued.
The kids helped out in stacking up the chairs before going back
After dinner, we all went back to the school for some preparation for the night. My siblings followed me there although it was not time yet. The screen (a lengthy white cloth actually) and the projector was set up for the movie night. The movie ‘I Not Stupid II’ was a good pick as many people (kids as well as parents) came to watch despite many have watched before. Bo Ann now enjoyed following me and was always asking where I would sit during the movie. Since he really wanted me to sit with him I gladly did so. He has a close pal. I call him Ah Kit Chai and the three of us sat together during the movie. It was kinda nice to have a younger brother and I would love to teach him everything that I know. On the other hand Shu Ping as usual were with her close chi muis all the time until the movie ended. Sorry that I don’t have pictures for movie night. I suppose everyone was concentrating on the movie. As the hallteen was turned into a cinema and the surrounding was dark, no one bothered to take any pictures.
Let me digress here to relate something about Shu Ping. Sometimes me, William and Fook Yong would disturb Shu Ping, chasing her around, teasing her (play play only la ). Sometimes she would play along and sometimes she would look at us through the corner of her eyes and any smart guys would know that this is the sign where teasing is not welcomed. But one night (I forgot which night) we overplayed and resulted in Shu Ping crying. We were so afraid particularly for me because she is my foster sister. I was afraid she would tell Grandma Chew that I bully her. Then naturally we tried to console her only to be scolded and given those sharp stares. It was scary! So we seek help from the girls because Shu Ping is a little anti-male so to speak – that’s what I felt anyway and Pei Chie said it was normal for a girl at her age. Of course the girls helped out, chided us along the way to gain her alliance. The three of us even kao towed to Shu Ping asking for forgiveness but we did it with giggles and so gave an impression we weren’t sincere. Then began the girls-only conference in a room in Ngai Yoong’s ‘house’. I don’t know what they talked about inside because guys weren’t allowed to join. I wish I had photos for the whole incident – it was funny and scary at the same time but all was good after that. Shu Ping, Bo Ann and I went back home by motorcycle and she didn’t tell Grandma Chew about it – phew!
Shu Ping and I in happier days. She’s a smart gal and quite pretty too (Pei Chie said that but I too agree)
Sorry for the detour, let’s come back to the movie night. When CD1 ended there was a quiz session in which participants who answered the questions based on the movie correctly got stationeries as prizes. Similar session was held after the end of the show but was cut short as it was getting late. I hoped those questions were more towards morality instead of trivial questions. The purpose was to learn the lessons from the movie. Anyway, the movie night ended at about 10.30pm. Everyone went home after that although some hung around in the village for a yum cha session. I did not join as it was getting late and tomorrow will be a tiring day for these kids and us.
Big kids playing with small kids. This is what the school compound looks like
Coming up next:- Chapter 6: Day Four
Originality
May 17th
Ladies and gentlemen, my recent attempt on the gay articles has led me to the discovery of copyscape. I don’t know whether you are aware of this but this website allows you to check whether an article/post in the Internet (eg: an article in your blog) is original or otherwise. What you do is you can upload an article on your blog, go to the copyscape website, enter the url and simply hit enter. The website will cross check your article against the WWW and it will list out all the direct copy and paste work (if any). I’m aware that most personal blogs consist of one’s thoughts and opinions hence originality is not the concern. But the main idea is to be original.
Plagiarism is a serious and growing problem not only in the Internet but also in everyday life. This applies particularly to students – copying someone else’s work, do some minor changes and claim as their original work. Now in support of originality, I would like to urge those of you who read this to cultivate the ‘be original’ habit – be it in your articles, projects, reports, thoughts, thinking, ideologies, behaviours, principles, the way you dress, and etc. This website is created not only to address the issue of dwindling number of original web contents, but also helps you to protect your original work and understanding your right. Go on and visit www.copyscape.com to find out more.
You’ll never know that our lecturers are using this to cross check our reports. As many books now are digitalized, copyscape is casting a wider net to catch plagiarism. So this is serious guys. Please take note. If you are doing your thesis (especially in pursuing your Masters or PHD) make sure you be original and do proper referencing or you could very well kiss your scroll goodbye!
Well, no one is a goodie-two-shoes, including myself. Sometimes we do C&P job intentionally or unintentionally. Therefore let’s be more alert and strive to be original. For one it will keep your brain from rotting that is.
The next time you see this in a website, you better not be copying
