The second half of this year has been a relatively stressful time for me. I was assessed in the mid-year assessment and almost risked getting a low rating.
Then, came the news that almost 80% of my friends are getting married. Almost every week since August, I've been receiving so many wedding invitations, most from friends and colleagues who personally specify that I have to come, no matter what.
Being a person who finds no good reason to decline them, I brought myself along to most weddings. However, I guess the stress of being and staying single has taken a toll on me. Whenever I think of those friends of mine who are and will be tying the knot, I am a little envious of them. They have a house of their own, a husband and somebody to share their ups and downs with them. Suddenly, I feel all alone in this big city out here. Before, whenever I'm sad, I could call so many friends of mine just for the sake of having an audience to listen. Now, I am not so sure. Most friends are unavailable and spend about 95% of their time with the love of their lives!
As for me, I have learned to cope with talking to myself most of the time, eating, talking, walking alone, even creating stories in my own little head.
Therefore, an invitation to participate in PETROSAINS Kem Jejak Kerjaya came as a vast relief to me! The moment I received the invitation, I virtually forced all my 'committee' members to join me in this camp. 5 of us signed up and had the greatest time of our lives.
Before the camp, we were exposed to the fun and excitement of the PETROSAINS team on the 1st of November for a Training of Trainers session. Like the kids, we learnt how to introduce ourselves without using alphabets or numbers on a piece of paper, using pictures to describe our names, our jobs, our education background, aspirations, expectations and hobbies. We ended up laughing because we came up with some of the most ridiculous homonyms for our jobs and names!
Next, we played Sacred Treasure, where several teams had to rush to each science station and figure out how to solve science quizzes. These included questions like:
1. How do you balance a carrot on your finger?
2. How do you balance 6 nails on a single vertical nail?
3. How do you create a volume of 4L liquid from a 3L jug and a 5L jug?
4. How do you make the eggs stand on top of each other?
and many other mind boggling games which seemed impossible at first, but once you knew the answer, you would be thinking, "Geez! If only I knew my physics well, I would have been able to answer this question." or "My! Oh! My! I wish I could have thought out of the box!"
During the camp, we had such a fun time teasing the kids that I was so happy when they couldn't answer the questions, because that meant I had a chance to prod them and give hints to them, and see their eyebrows all knitted up, thinking so very,very hard. I was even more overjoyed when they appeared to have the solution to the answer and managed to justify them in a creative manner!
Then, came the ice-breaking session. The objective of this session was to encourage 'touch' among participants because the more people touch each other, the closer they become. And so, based on this concept, we played about 8 games! One of them was touching each other blind folded, next was self-allignment, window blinds, blowing a feather to make sure it stayed in the air for more than a minute, using 3 people to burst a balloon and other confusing games such as:
1. Big Fish, Small Fish
2. Pindahkan telur.. (move the egg)
3. Zip, Zap, Boing (where we had to zip-zap each other and bounced back the attack using our palms as armours)
4. and finally Wolf and Sheep (This is the most confusing game of all, it introduced split personality in me and my mind was confused the whole time, and I kept on shouting "ARrrrrgggh!! Save me! Save me Somebody! Save me !" One moment, I could be the wolf, and the next moment, I would be a sheep, running from a new wolf! The rule of this game is: everytime somebody touches you, you will change from a wolf into a sheep and vice versa.
After much running around, it was finally time to visit the famous KL Tower, which is currently the 5th tallest tower in the world, standing at 421m above mean sea level. During the video introduction, I was so tired that I slept throughout the whole 15 minute video. When the quiz session started, I couldn't answer any of the questions because I was sound asleep! Besides, I didn't want to 'fight' for the souvenirs with the kids! Anyway, the souvenirs were cool! They consisted a pair of binoculars and a pen and a notebook!
Soon, we were up at the observation deck, looking at the capital of Malaysia. I do wish they would label all the windows.. just as in the Shanghai's Oriental Pearl Tower, where they labelled which direction was Beijing, Nanjing, etc... I would love to know where's Penang, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kelantan, Johor, etc.
In the night, we were treated to a cultural performance by the Menara KL Performing Arts Group. The dancers were very energetic! We could see that they put on their whole heart and soul into their dance and best of all, they were enjoying every part of it! They danced happily and merrily... making us feel appreciated and special. That night, I was so thankful that I got the opportunity to attend this camp that for the first time in a million years, I said grace from my heart, spontaneously, thanking God for giving me a chance to be present at this wonderful place and time!
After dinner, it was time for the students to strut their stuff. First, we gathered each of them in a group and enticed them to put their hands into the envelope and pick up a piece of paper. Then, we asked them to open up the piece of paper, see what's written on it, and gave them 3 minutes each to talk about that topic, with 10 minutes of preparation. When we, as facilitators tried it, it was really hard. After all, to talk about something like amphibians, mammals or reptilias for 3 minutes and tie it back to science is really challenging! Neverthless, despite the initial apprehension, our participants managed to do well in their quest! Kudos to all of them for conquering their initial stage fright and speak confidently in front of 120 odd audiences from all walks of life!
Finally, at half past eleven, the event ended and it was time for us to spend the night at PETROSAINS. All of us took our red and black bags to the bus and eagerly looked forward to arriving at KLCC. When we finally arrived, we had a pack of milo and 2 pieces of different flavoured Gardenia bread for supper! and we cracked our brains solving some of the puzzles at the entrance of the PETROSAINS too! My!My! By the time we finished munching and talking, it was time for bed. Only, there was no bed! We were going to sleep in tents. Fortunately, I got to sleep right in front of a robot that screeched a long 'eeeek' every few seconds and stop for 3 minutes. Likewise, my sleep pattern would also be the same... awake for few seconds, asleep for 3 minutes. This continued on from 12.30 - 5.30am... Boy! Was I relieved when sleeping time was over! Sleeping has never been such a chore!
At 7am, the next morning, 10th of November, all of us gathered at one of the grassy areas in a roundabout at KLCC park to play 'Water War'! Initially, I didn't understand much of the rules... so I just goofed around. As a result, most of the participants from my group, lost the war and was cast out in the 3rd round! However, at the end of the game, all of us facilitators got to participate in the game! We filled up bottles of 500ml of tap water, capped it up and used it to shoot at our oponents! Once their paper shirts or goals were torn, they were out of the game and we continued shooting each other! Little did I know that this game required lots of strategy and thinking... To me, people were just shooting blindly and laughing crazily!
Before we gathered for breakfast at 830, Imran, our science coach gave us another quiz based on Physics, "So, as you all know, Pressure is a function of force and area. If you press this mineral water bottle, water will squirt from this bottle. Now, Tell me, will the water squirt further if you exert the pressure of five fingers, or 2 fingers on the bottle?"
hmm..... For a moment, I was blinded by my own philosophy. Theoretically, the more fingers, the more force will be exerted on a bottle, likewise, the more pressure exerted. However, since there are more fingers, pressure will be distributed more evenly as well. Could it be that 2 fingers will increase the efficiency of the shooting job? Increasing the squirting distance?
"A hah!" Imran broke our silent thoughts. "Of course 2 fingers!" and he proceeded on to explain the physics of it all!
Wow! Amazing! To think that we always thought that the more fingers we applied on a bottle, the further the water will squirt! Imagine if all of us ran around with only our thumb and index finger on the bottle, with 3 fingers sticking out. People would have thought that our fingers were accidentally glued to the bottle, or we were aliens from outer space!
After much running and shouting, we were finally back under the roof of PETROSAINS. All of us then enjoyed the helicopter ride, dark ride, visit to the platform, living quarters, F1 speed area, etc.... In the afternoon, we were treated to a Soda Pop show, where Kak Damia, another one of our perky science coach demonstrated how carbonated drinks were made!
First, she poured about 5 L of water into a big round cylinder. Then she asked, "Hmm.. what else do I need to make a carbonated drink?"
Some people answered, "Colouring!" "Sugar!" and she added all these ingredients accordingly. Then she asked for a volunteer to taste it. HMmmmm.... it still doesn't have that hard taste. What else does it lack? A hah! Carbon dioxide! So, how is carbon dioxide added into the drink?
First she put on a serious face and suggested 3 volunteers blowing into the drink to give it all the CO2 needed to make it hard! and I was thinking, "Wow! Is she serious? Geez! That's disgusting! Are those 3 volunteers going to do it? Is she going to seriously make them do it and try the drink?" As we all sat there, stunned, Kak Damia said, "hahaha! I'm just kidding u all! of course I'm not going to make all exhale all your carbon dioxide into the drink!"
Hmm.. then she proposed a few other options of creating carbon dioxide. . . which were all equally logical but not feasible. Finally, the best option was.. apparently to dump in blocks of dry ice, which were CO2 (Solid)! Wow! Who would have thought of it? Hmm.. Looks like I'm not engineering material. ahhaa! Where did all my chemistry knowledge go to? Gone to the winds, I guess!
So, once the blocks of dry ice were added into the water, the mixture sizzled and fizzled non stop! Cold vapour were seen escaping out of the cylinder, onto the floor. Soon, white solid formed in the mixture. It seemed like I had just witnessed the concoction of the potion of Poison Apples for Sleeping Beauty!
"Now, who wants to try this drink?" asks Kak Damia.
"Oh no!!!" I thought. "That looks poisonous! Is she serious about asking people to drink that thing? Who is brave enough to try it?"
Suddenly, 3 volunteers stood up! All of us cheered for them at their courageous endeavour! As the 3 of them sipped their drinks on the stage, we silently prayed for them, hoping that they'd be safe and sound after drinking it. Miraculously, they stood standing on stage and even requested for a 2nd serving of the drink!
Yes! Kak Damia's experiment of carbonated drink is successful! 3 cheers for Kak Damia!
Next, we tried our hands at building a cicada that moves, using a motor, and a series of batteries and wires in the Animatronix session!This was pretty fun too, except that the concept was quite vague to me as I was not listening to the coach who was explaining in front. As a result, some of the students received some deviated teachings from me and suffered from serious confusion for 15minutes.
After tea, Ab. Kamal invited all of us to join in the Bubble with Maths Game! First, we blew bubbles.. then he asked us to try several seemingly simple, easy and ridiculous attempts, such as:
1. Blow a square bubble, or a star, or any shape you like. Why is a bubble always spherical?
2. Blow a bubble on a plate. How many surfaces does it have?
3. Increase the number of bubbles. Count the number of surfaces with each increase of bubbles. Do you see the emerging pattern of numbers?
4. When 2 bubbles are blown next to each other, why is it that sometimes the surface between the bubbles is flat, other times, it's curved towards one side?
5. Blow 2 bubbles in between a plate and a transparent sheet. Measure the angle between the two bubbles. Increase the number of bubbles and measure the angle again. Why is it that the angle between bubbles are always the same?
6. How do you create a square bubble?
Wow! I think all our minds were stimulated that day... and finally, after burning all our brain cells, the perky Kak Damia once again invited us to the Chill Out Lounge for something delicious! Never in my mind I'd imagine it to be ice-cream! But, there's a trick! We had to create our own ice cream! How were we going to do that?
A hah! First, we took a packet of ice, add some salt, and measured the temperature. Why did the temperature drop?
Then we poured milk into a 2nd packet, and had to make it air tight and seal it up. We put the packet of milk into the ice, added more ice and salt, and wrapped the whole bag in thick layers of newspapers! Then we used towels to wrap it up and twisted it into the shape of my favourite Coconut Candy. Then came the vigorous activity of shaking the ice pack in all directions, North,South, East, West and all angles in between the compass! After 20 minutes of shaking, we finally got a rest! Eager to see what happened to the milk, we eagerly unwrapped the towels, newspapers, and took out the packet of milk.
Gosh! It has hardened! It looks creamy too!!! Each of us dug our spoons into the magic drink and 'tada'! Various expressions appeared! Some screwed up their faces, some broke into smiles and laughter, while some just went on digging for more! It reminded me very much of the time Harry Potter and his classmates learnt how to use their wands. Although each used the same method, not all achieved the same results! Similarly for us, some were too salty, some were too sweet, some were creamy, some were watery... and that's how the evening ended for all of us.
In the night, we had a motivation session by none other than Ab. Farid who's a great team leader and motivator! Apparently, Ab. Farid studied law in university and even taught for some time as a lecturer in a local university! How Impressive! I do wish I had his wits in expresing what I thought. After a gruelling session, we played the Hangman Quiz game, and I just couldn't wait to burst the balloons!
At the end of 2 days, it was finally time for me to bid farewell to the participants and other facilitators. I had so much fun throughout these 2 days that I had absolutely forgotten that I had to return to work the very next day! Before we made our exit, we breezed through the crowd, waved goodbye and wished them all the best! Hoping from the bottom of our hearts that they will truly remember the lessons they've captured in this camp for the rest of their lives and apply it when they return to school the next semester.
As for me, once I stood at the doors to the next carriage of the LRT train, I realized that I had been lost in the world of idealism, pure science and relaxation for 2 whole days. Now, I'd be back to my everyday life of taking the screeching train, squeezing through the crowd of gloomy KL-lites, and sitting in front of the PC, draining my brains.
Now, remember what did one of the coaches said? He said, "If you study for the sake of money, then you will never ever grow up. That is a very shallow thinking. If you study for knowledge, then you will be learning a lot in life[sic]."
Well, at least that's what I remembered.
Another thing that struck me hardest was why it is important for us to put on our best image at all times. It's because everybody is constantly looking at how we behave. When we mingle with others, we represent our birthplace, our country, our schools, our ethnic group, our religion, our parents and our companies. When we commit a mistake, people seldom associate it with us, as individuals. More often than not, they tend to relate it to the places, people and religion that we belong to and thus, tarnish these categories which stand for peace and unity. Hence, we must put on our best behaviour at all times, so that we can stand tall in the eyes of the world.
What I took away from this camp was absolutely invaluable and priceless. I never fully understood the importance of strong team dynamics, a set of firm ground rules, repeated roll calls and post-evaluation sessions, team cheer, team spirit, team motto, energizer, ice breaking sessions, laughter, optimism, initiatives, independence and leaders until I became one of the facilitators of this camp.
I do hope I will apply everything that I've learnt in this camp in my day-to-day working life, and also in my role as the facilitator for future children's programmes. I can't wait to join the camp for next year! Yes!Yes!Yes! Go! KJK! Go! Go! Go!
Then, came the news that almost 80% of my friends are getting married. Almost every week since August, I've been receiving so many wedding invitations, most from friends and colleagues who personally specify that I have to come, no matter what.
Being a person who finds no good reason to decline them, I brought myself along to most weddings. However, I guess the stress of being and staying single has taken a toll on me. Whenever I think of those friends of mine who are and will be tying the knot, I am a little envious of them. They have a house of their own, a husband and somebody to share their ups and downs with them. Suddenly, I feel all alone in this big city out here. Before, whenever I'm sad, I could call so many friends of mine just for the sake of having an audience to listen. Now, I am not so sure. Most friends are unavailable and spend about 95% of their time with the love of their lives!
As for me, I have learned to cope with talking to myself most of the time, eating, talking, walking alone, even creating stories in my own little head.
Therefore, an invitation to participate in PETROSAINS Kem Jejak Kerjaya came as a vast relief to me! The moment I received the invitation, I virtually forced all my 'committee' members to join me in this camp. 5 of us signed up and had the greatest time of our lives.
Before the camp, we were exposed to the fun and excitement of the PETROSAINS team on the 1st of November for a Training of Trainers session. Like the kids, we learnt how to introduce ourselves without using alphabets or numbers on a piece of paper, using pictures to describe our names, our jobs, our education background, aspirations, expectations and hobbies. We ended up laughing because we came up with some of the most ridiculous homonyms for our jobs and names!
Next, we played Sacred Treasure, where several teams had to rush to each science station and figure out how to solve science quizzes. These included questions like:
1. How do you balance a carrot on your finger?
2. How do you balance 6 nails on a single vertical nail?
3. How do you create a volume of 4L liquid from a 3L jug and a 5L jug?
4. How do you make the eggs stand on top of each other?
and many other mind boggling games which seemed impossible at first, but once you knew the answer, you would be thinking, "Geez! If only I knew my physics well, I would have been able to answer this question." or "My! Oh! My! I wish I could have thought out of the box!"
During the camp, we had such a fun time teasing the kids that I was so happy when they couldn't answer the questions, because that meant I had a chance to prod them and give hints to them, and see their eyebrows all knitted up, thinking so very,very hard. I was even more overjoyed when they appeared to have the solution to the answer and managed to justify them in a creative manner!
Then, came the ice-breaking session. The objective of this session was to encourage 'touch' among participants because the more people touch each other, the closer they become. And so, based on this concept, we played about 8 games! One of them was touching each other blind folded, next was self-allignment, window blinds, blowing a feather to make sure it stayed in the air for more than a minute, using 3 people to burst a balloon and other confusing games such as:
1. Big Fish, Small Fish
2. Pindahkan telur.. (move the egg)
3. Zip, Zap, Boing (where we had to zip-zap each other and bounced back the attack using our palms as armours)
4. and finally Wolf and Sheep (This is the most confusing game of all, it introduced split personality in me and my mind was confused the whole time, and I kept on shouting "ARrrrrgggh!! Save me! Save me Somebody! Save me !" One moment, I could be the wolf, and the next moment, I would be a sheep, running from a new wolf! The rule of this game is: everytime somebody touches you, you will change from a wolf into a sheep and vice versa.
After much running around, it was finally time to visit the famous KL Tower, which is currently the 5th tallest tower in the world, standing at 421m above mean sea level. During the video introduction, I was so tired that I slept throughout the whole 15 minute video. When the quiz session started, I couldn't answer any of the questions because I was sound asleep! Besides, I didn't want to 'fight' for the souvenirs with the kids! Anyway, the souvenirs were cool! They consisted a pair of binoculars and a pen and a notebook!
Soon, we were up at the observation deck, looking at the capital of Malaysia. I do wish they would label all the windows.. just as in the Shanghai's Oriental Pearl Tower, where they labelled which direction was Beijing, Nanjing, etc... I would love to know where's Penang, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kelantan, Johor, etc.
In the night, we were treated to a cultural performance by the Menara KL Performing Arts Group. The dancers were very energetic! We could see that they put on their whole heart and soul into their dance and best of all, they were enjoying every part of it! They danced happily and merrily... making us feel appreciated and special. That night, I was so thankful that I got the opportunity to attend this camp that for the first time in a million years, I said grace from my heart, spontaneously, thanking God for giving me a chance to be present at this wonderful place and time!
After dinner, it was time for the students to strut their stuff. First, we gathered each of them in a group and enticed them to put their hands into the envelope and pick up a piece of paper. Then, we asked them to open up the piece of paper, see what's written on it, and gave them 3 minutes each to talk about that topic, with 10 minutes of preparation. When we, as facilitators tried it, it was really hard. After all, to talk about something like amphibians, mammals or reptilias for 3 minutes and tie it back to science is really challenging! Neverthless, despite the initial apprehension, our participants managed to do well in their quest! Kudos to all of them for conquering their initial stage fright and speak confidently in front of 120 odd audiences from all walks of life!
Finally, at half past eleven, the event ended and it was time for us to spend the night at PETROSAINS. All of us took our red and black bags to the bus and eagerly looked forward to arriving at KLCC. When we finally arrived, we had a pack of milo and 2 pieces of different flavoured Gardenia bread for supper! and we cracked our brains solving some of the puzzles at the entrance of the PETROSAINS too! My!My! By the time we finished munching and talking, it was time for bed. Only, there was no bed! We were going to sleep in tents. Fortunately, I got to sleep right in front of a robot that screeched a long 'eeeek' every few seconds and stop for 3 minutes. Likewise, my sleep pattern would also be the same... awake for few seconds, asleep for 3 minutes. This continued on from 12.30 - 5.30am... Boy! Was I relieved when sleeping time was over! Sleeping has never been such a chore!
At 7am, the next morning, 10th of November, all of us gathered at one of the grassy areas in a roundabout at KLCC park to play 'Water War'! Initially, I didn't understand much of the rules... so I just goofed around. As a result, most of the participants from my group, lost the war and was cast out in the 3rd round! However, at the end of the game, all of us facilitators got to participate in the game! We filled up bottles of 500ml of tap water, capped it up and used it to shoot at our oponents! Once their paper shirts or goals were torn, they were out of the game and we continued shooting each other! Little did I know that this game required lots of strategy and thinking... To me, people were just shooting blindly and laughing crazily!
Before we gathered for breakfast at 830, Imran, our science coach gave us another quiz based on Physics, "So, as you all know, Pressure is a function of force and area. If you press this mineral water bottle, water will squirt from this bottle. Now, Tell me, will the water squirt further if you exert the pressure of five fingers, or 2 fingers on the bottle?"
hmm..... For a moment, I was blinded by my own philosophy. Theoretically, the more fingers, the more force will be exerted on a bottle, likewise, the more pressure exerted. However, since there are more fingers, pressure will be distributed more evenly as well. Could it be that 2 fingers will increase the efficiency of the shooting job? Increasing the squirting distance?
"A hah!" Imran broke our silent thoughts. "Of course 2 fingers!" and he proceeded on to explain the physics of it all!
Wow! Amazing! To think that we always thought that the more fingers we applied on a bottle, the further the water will squirt! Imagine if all of us ran around with only our thumb and index finger on the bottle, with 3 fingers sticking out. People would have thought that our fingers were accidentally glued to the bottle, or we were aliens from outer space!
After much running and shouting, we were finally back under the roof of PETROSAINS. All of us then enjoyed the helicopter ride, dark ride, visit to the platform, living quarters, F1 speed area, etc.... In the afternoon, we were treated to a Soda Pop show, where Kak Damia, another one of our perky science coach demonstrated how carbonated drinks were made!
First, she poured about 5 L of water into a big round cylinder. Then she asked, "Hmm.. what else do I need to make a carbonated drink?"
Some people answered, "Colouring!" "Sugar!" and she added all these ingredients accordingly. Then she asked for a volunteer to taste it. HMmmmm.... it still doesn't have that hard taste. What else does it lack? A hah! Carbon dioxide! So, how is carbon dioxide added into the drink?
First she put on a serious face and suggested 3 volunteers blowing into the drink to give it all the CO2 needed to make it hard! and I was thinking, "Wow! Is she serious? Geez! That's disgusting! Are those 3 volunteers going to do it? Is she going to seriously make them do it and try the drink?" As we all sat there, stunned, Kak Damia said, "hahaha! I'm just kidding u all! of course I'm not going to make all exhale all your carbon dioxide into the drink!"
Hmm.. then she proposed a few other options of creating carbon dioxide. . . which were all equally logical but not feasible. Finally, the best option was.. apparently to dump in blocks of dry ice, which were CO2 (Solid)! Wow! Who would have thought of it? Hmm.. Looks like I'm not engineering material. ahhaa! Where did all my chemistry knowledge go to? Gone to the winds, I guess!
So, once the blocks of dry ice were added into the water, the mixture sizzled and fizzled non stop! Cold vapour were seen escaping out of the cylinder, onto the floor. Soon, white solid formed in the mixture. It seemed like I had just witnessed the concoction of the potion of Poison Apples for Sleeping Beauty!
"Now, who wants to try this drink?" asks Kak Damia.
"Oh no!!!" I thought. "That looks poisonous! Is she serious about asking people to drink that thing? Who is brave enough to try it?"
Suddenly, 3 volunteers stood up! All of us cheered for them at their courageous endeavour! As the 3 of them sipped their drinks on the stage, we silently prayed for them, hoping that they'd be safe and sound after drinking it. Miraculously, they stood standing on stage and even requested for a 2nd serving of the drink!
Yes! Kak Damia's experiment of carbonated drink is successful! 3 cheers for Kak Damia!
Next, we tried our hands at building a cicada that moves, using a motor, and a series of batteries and wires in the Animatronix session!This was pretty fun too, except that the concept was quite vague to me as I was not listening to the coach who was explaining in front. As a result, some of the students received some deviated teachings from me and suffered from serious confusion for 15minutes.
After tea, Ab. Kamal invited all of us to join in the Bubble with Maths Game! First, we blew bubbles.. then he asked us to try several seemingly simple, easy and ridiculous attempts, such as:
1. Blow a square bubble, or a star, or any shape you like. Why is a bubble always spherical?
2. Blow a bubble on a plate. How many surfaces does it have?
3. Increase the number of bubbles. Count the number of surfaces with each increase of bubbles. Do you see the emerging pattern of numbers?
4. When 2 bubbles are blown next to each other, why is it that sometimes the surface between the bubbles is flat, other times, it's curved towards one side?
5. Blow 2 bubbles in between a plate and a transparent sheet. Measure the angle between the two bubbles. Increase the number of bubbles and measure the angle again. Why is it that the angle between bubbles are always the same?
6. How do you create a square bubble?
Wow! I think all our minds were stimulated that day... and finally, after burning all our brain cells, the perky Kak Damia once again invited us to the Chill Out Lounge for something delicious! Never in my mind I'd imagine it to be ice-cream! But, there's a trick! We had to create our own ice cream! How were we going to do that?
A hah! First, we took a packet of ice, add some salt, and measured the temperature. Why did the temperature drop?
Then we poured milk into a 2nd packet, and had to make it air tight and seal it up. We put the packet of milk into the ice, added more ice and salt, and wrapped the whole bag in thick layers of newspapers! Then we used towels to wrap it up and twisted it into the shape of my favourite Coconut Candy. Then came the vigorous activity of shaking the ice pack in all directions, North,South, East, West and all angles in between the compass! After 20 minutes of shaking, we finally got a rest! Eager to see what happened to the milk, we eagerly unwrapped the towels, newspapers, and took out the packet of milk.
Gosh! It has hardened! It looks creamy too!!! Each of us dug our spoons into the magic drink and 'tada'! Various expressions appeared! Some screwed up their faces, some broke into smiles and laughter, while some just went on digging for more! It reminded me very much of the time Harry Potter and his classmates learnt how to use their wands. Although each used the same method, not all achieved the same results! Similarly for us, some were too salty, some were too sweet, some were creamy, some were watery... and that's how the evening ended for all of us.
In the night, we had a motivation session by none other than Ab. Farid who's a great team leader and motivator! Apparently, Ab. Farid studied law in university and even taught for some time as a lecturer in a local university! How Impressive! I do wish I had his wits in expresing what I thought. After a gruelling session, we played the Hangman Quiz game, and I just couldn't wait to burst the balloons!
At the end of 2 days, it was finally time for me to bid farewell to the participants and other facilitators. I had so much fun throughout these 2 days that I had absolutely forgotten that I had to return to work the very next day! Before we made our exit, we breezed through the crowd, waved goodbye and wished them all the best! Hoping from the bottom of our hearts that they will truly remember the lessons they've captured in this camp for the rest of their lives and apply it when they return to school the next semester.
As for me, once I stood at the doors to the next carriage of the LRT train, I realized that I had been lost in the world of idealism, pure science and relaxation for 2 whole days. Now, I'd be back to my everyday life of taking the screeching train, squeezing through the crowd of gloomy KL-lites, and sitting in front of the PC, draining my brains.
Now, remember what did one of the coaches said? He said, "If you study for the sake of money, then you will never ever grow up. That is a very shallow thinking. If you study for knowledge, then you will be learning a lot in life[sic]."
Well, at least that's what I remembered.
Another thing that struck me hardest was why it is important for us to put on our best image at all times. It's because everybody is constantly looking at how we behave. When we mingle with others, we represent our birthplace, our country, our schools, our ethnic group, our religion, our parents and our companies. When we commit a mistake, people seldom associate it with us, as individuals. More often than not, they tend to relate it to the places, people and religion that we belong to and thus, tarnish these categories which stand for peace and unity. Hence, we must put on our best behaviour at all times, so that we can stand tall in the eyes of the world.
What I took away from this camp was absolutely invaluable and priceless. I never fully understood the importance of strong team dynamics, a set of firm ground rules, repeated roll calls and post-evaluation sessions, team cheer, team spirit, team motto, energizer, ice breaking sessions, laughter, optimism, initiatives, independence and leaders until I became one of the facilitators of this camp.
I do hope I will apply everything that I've learnt in this camp in my day-to-day working life, and also in my role as the facilitator for future children's programmes. I can't wait to join the camp for next year! Yes!Yes!Yes! Go! KJK! Go! Go! Go!
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