Youth Leadership Challenge By Sunway University College

Well, we heard about rumour saying that the Youth Leadership Challenge will be held at SMI instead of Sunway University College in KL, a few days before the event. And just a day or two before Saturday, we confirmed that it’s definitely going to take place in the school hall of SMI. Perhaps by doing this, we can reduce the release of harmful gases into the atmosphere because if we were to travel to and fro, 4 buses will be used as there were 140 students plus some teachers. Lots apologies, from each and everyone of us, to the International Chess Club of SMI for occupying the hall and informing at the eleventh-hour thus the venue of the De La Salle Chess Competition had to be changed.

It’s indeed a great experience to have the chance to participate in this competition. The lectures, slide shows, movies, activities, sharing etc were awesome. Miss Wong was our speaker and two of the facilitators were Alvin and Steven. There were four more but I can’t recall their names as Alvin was the one who carried out the ice-breaking session with us whilst Steven was the one who briefed us before the two activities we had. Others were just helping out with the computer, projector, giving out pamphlets and so on.

MC has sent two teams namely SMK Convent (A) and SMK Convent (B) (image).

At the very beginning, everyone was given an egg to take care of throughout the activities of the day. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we must carry them wit us as we’re learning how to be a parent for it’s our so-called babies.

To make it short and brief:

Ice-breaking session – Our shoes were jumbled up in the middle of the circle of every group. Then, we were required to grab a pair of shoes with different shoes for both sides (left and right) which were not belong to us and wear them on. Stand side-by-side with the one wearing the same shoes as ours and jumped together. Shoes were returned to the owners and we were all blended with the smells of others.

Activity 1: Crab Walk (image) – In a group of 10, 5 of us were blind-folded. And our legs and hands were tied. The odd-numbered ones had their right hands and left legs tied whilst the even-numbered ones had their left legs and right hands tied to one another. We were not allowed to walk on feet throughout the activity from station to station. So, we decided to move with our knees.

Brunch: We had packets of bihun with fried eggs plus prawns and fish slices. The taste wasn’t bad.

Activity 2: Tornado (images) – This time we did with our own schoolmates, our original team – SMK Convent (A). We were in 5 pairs and required to walk through obstacles like crossing over the tables, putting red beans into a bottle with chopsticks and crossing over chairs with the balloons still intact between our body parts like head, back, shoulder, legs, buttock according to the piece of paper we’ve drawn. Then, we had to reach the final line with our feet on two mats, the ten of us.

When it came to the time of counting the eggs, SMK Convent (A) had 5 eggs left, including mine. MGS had 10 eggs left, meaning all 10 of them managed to take good care of their babies, but they got booed by some of the students. I don’t know why they did such act and I don’t think there’s anything wrong by having all 10 eggs with them. Whether they had their own strategies or they disobeyed the rule by keeping them in their bags during the vigorous activities we did, we never know. Frankly, it’s embarrassing and disappointing to see such attitude we have in ourselves. What with the booing when you didn’t even manage to take care of yours? Were you feeling jealous of others for being able to be such a responsible one? Learn to be one if you’re not and stop the habit.

However, one of the MGS girls came to admit that one of their eggs wasn’t theirs. According to her, it belonged to one of her group members when he/she asked to keep during the first activities when we had the activities with our group members consisting 10 students from different schools. It means they have 9 eggs remained.

Lastly, before we leave the school, we were briefed on our assignments which consist 40% to be handed in by 5pm on 10 April via mail or fax.

And our scores board (image) was shown on screen. Our marks - SMK Convent (A) - were 26.5.

In a nutshell, everyone benefited from the activities we did, be it the games, lectures, slide shows or movies. Too bad I didn’t snap every slide as I’m afraid they’ll confiscate my camera. Copyright reserved? Well, they didn’t mention. So, I can’t really remember every single thing that was taught today, to be honest enough. One thing I know for sure that will really have an impact on my way of looking at life is that everything in life is in our hands; it’s our choice. And it’s never too late to apologies if we have done any mistake. We can cheat on our dad, mom, pals, teachers and others but there’s one person that we can’t cheat on, not the almighty God but it’s our true selves. Leaders, be a role model and lead your people to be a better leader than yourselves. Last but not least, I’m sure everyone of us enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

InteYo Members’ Day - Darul Hikmah Orphanage

It was a Sunday. We called on Rumah Anak Yatim Hikmah located at Kampung Itek, Gopeng. The objectives of having this visit are to know on how an orphanage is being run and to bring cheer to the less fortunate. The orphanage is a Muslim-based home for orphans and underprivileged children. They have 20 primary, 10 secondary school kids and 1 little girl at the moment. The others are all boys. It is a non-governmental home, mainly funded by public donations. Everyone had their own so-called adik. We had group dynamics: singing ‘Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, MacDonald’ with actions, sharing about ourselves, passing rubber bands with straws in the mouth, ‘Let’s Walk’ (using 4 hands and 11 legs in a group of 12 to reach an end), and ‘I Care’ (one-to-one chat with an individual home resident). After two of the group dynamics, we had our tea break then proceeded to the hall for the next activities - InteYo Cheer and a comedy sketch presented by some of the youth followed by the singing of 'Kau Ilhamku' together with the kids. Later, it was time for gift-giving time. Everyone presented a personal gift to their adik as a gesture of goodwill. Images: Darul Hikmah Orpahnage.

We bid goodbye to them then headed to Adeline Rest House. There, we had our lunch and shared about our experiences. Some of the orphans were very open-minded whilst some were not. We had to gain their trust by telling them some of our details as well then they would only tell us about their details which were more personal. Some even cried when they told us about their families, about their parents, especially. After that, we departed back and reached Family Health Association at Taman Cempaka at 1500. Images: Adeline Rest House.

Adikku, Zulhilmi is a thirteen-year-old boy and just moved into the orphanage two weeks ago. He’s studying in Form One. He’s FOC friendly, outspoken and cute. He’s the only son. He got 2Cs (both BM papers), 2Ds (English and Science) and 1E (Mathematics) for his UPSR last year. However, he has gotten better results for his recent monthly test – a B for Mathematics and C for English. A thumbs-up for him. He has a very nice voice. He could say my name really clearly and unmistakably. And I like it! Till the day we see again. Image: Zulhilmi.