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[ View the Fotopage entry | View the complete Fotopage ]
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[ View the Fotopage entry | View the complete Fotopage ]
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| Saturday, 27-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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Program Anak Angkat 2005
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Program Anak Angkat 2005
Faculty of Mass Communications
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam Campus
It was a weekend unlike any other: ninety-seven university students, fresh from the surburban comforts of campus life, tossed into the cultural wilderness that is the Malaysian countryside, and burdened with the responsibilities of event-management.
From the point of view of this student, it was an event so otherwordly, so fulfillingly bizarre, so insanely gratifying, and nothing like anything I'd ever done or even consider doing. O_o
Yes, ladies and gentlemen: I spent two days and a night in a spacious surrounded by oil palm plantations and waking up to the sound of roosters crowing, eating some of the best, richest food I've tasted in ages, wearing traditional costumes and being in charge of feeding ninety-seven students and overseeing the excecution of a class concert. =)
August 24th, Wednesday
The Mass Communications faculty of "http://www.utim.edu.my" target="new"(University Teknologi MARA) had decided to organize a Program Anak Angkat (Adoption Program) for all the Mass Comm students.
Thiss meant all of us students would be 'adopted' by several foster families, and spend the weekend with them -- sleeping under their roofs, eating their food, and basically being their adopted 'children' for two days and a night. =)
Here's the catch: our foster home was a kampung (Malay village), in the outskirts of the state -- which meant I spent the weekend in a spacious wooden house, surrounded by palm oil plantations, waking up to the sound of crowing roosters in the morning, and eating the best chicken rendang dishes I've ever had. =D Thankfully, the bathroom and toilet weren't outdoors as I had expected (!!!).
Also, a few of us students had been elected to join several 'Bereaus', and put in charge of the actual organization of the Program. There was the Transportation Bereau in charge of hiring coach buses and making sure everyone got to their intended destinations; the Protocol Bereau in charge of making sure everything was carried out according to plan; the PA Bereau in charge of the PA system for the various events, etc.
I was a member of the Food Bereau, which meant I had the task of making sure everyone -- all ninety-seven students -- had enough to eat, and organizing the food and drinks whenever meals were served. You can bet your fuzzy woollen rainbow-coloured socks that my Molly Weasley instinct kicked in at all the precise moments! ;)
Also, each of the three Diploma classes that were participating in the event had to put on performances the one night we were staying there. The theme for all our performances was, 'Warisan Budaya Melayu' ('Malay Cultural Heritage'), and Class B decided to put on a fashion show, showcasing ethnic Malay costumes. Class C did a traditional zapin dance. Class A (my class), however, very nearly came to not putting on a performance. O_o
While all the other classes had decided what they wanted to do in the earliest stages of the Program, Class A was in uproar. At one point we wanted to put on a sketch, but several key players dropped out to join a camping program which incidentally was going on that same weekend.
For a few days, we were at a loss. It came to a point where the class monitor decided to take charge, and stood at the head of the lecture hall after Computer Studies class, not allowing anyone to go back to their dorms until we came up with a performance.
After rapid, desperate discussions and heated arguements (we were all under a lot of stress by then, what with the upcoming mid-terms and piles of assignments to complete), we finally decided to act out a poem.
The main problems were:
1) Finding a poem to act out;
2) Finding actors to act out said poem;
3) Obtaining props with limited resources and limited funds;
4) Rehearsing;
5) Doing it all in two days. O_o
Somehow, through mutual desperation and a silent, uniform understanding that we had to work together or DIE, everyone fell into their desired roles with such effiency it still stuns me 'til today. O_o
For example, on that anxiety-laden, tense day itself when the class monitor gave her ultimatum, we already had our poem: one of my classmates, Safwan, sat down and started composing the poem (with the help and feedback of other classmates of course) and in twenty minutes, we had a kickass poem, detailing the epic story of Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat of classic Malaysian legend.
For those not in the know, Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat were two legendary warriors of the Malaccan empire. They were best friends, often helping out other out in battles and such. However, though a tragic misunderstanding, Tuah ended up killing Jebat under the orders of the Sultan. It's a heart-wrenching tale of friendship and betrayal.
Yes, I know: VERY Anakin/Obi-Wan. =P
We also managed to decide our key players of the sketch that day itself as well, randomly selected those who had stayed behind in class (with much protest and reluctance they agreed -- we were all running on pure stress and desperation by then =P).
August 25th, Thursday
The next morning, more of the class' talent shone: apparently, through the night, Faeza and Ina managed to compose a fully-fledged script, detailing a translation of the very artistic poem, as well as the actions of the actors and poetry-readers involved.
And also, the performance got three times better: three of my classmates, Bob, Hani and Khairunissa (whom I had NO IDEA could sing), decided to give an 'opening act' by singing an originally-composed Malay lullaby. The song was beautiful, and their voices complimented each others' perfectly. When they rehearsed after class, I couldn't help but think, "Holy crap, our performance KICKS ASS. We'd so blow everyone away, yo."
It was also a time for all of our talents to shine: Faeza, the script-writer and narrator, is also an excellent director, arranging actors onstage and providing support. Safwan, our resident poet and poetry-reader, choreographed the entire fight scene between Tuah and Jebat, and even provided a little comedy. Ina proved to be a talented poetry-reader: she put such immense emotion into her performance -- I have never seen anyone sound so intense.
And the actors! Taufik and Haire, Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat respectively, absolutely shone. Bob and Hani (whom you remember being our opening singers) made 'cameo appearences' as the Sultan and Sultana.
And me? =) I took it upon myself to be in charge of the props. I cannot begin to explain the troubles I went through to get certain props: at Jebat's death-scene, our director wanted the stage to be plunged into darkness, and someone to walk onstage holding a candle, eventually blowing it out as a symbol of the warrior's death.
I didn't want to use the ordinary, conventional white stick-candles -- I was ambitious, and wanted something fancier. There is a cluster of restaurants behind my faculty building, and every night, they'd arrange these little floating candle-lamps on the tables to provide a whimsical, romantic mood. I had to go up to the owner of one of the stores and beg for two little floating candles, and eventually got them for free. =D
Another scene involved Jebat 'smoking' his kris (dagger) over a fire -- I had to make innovative use of a coconut husk and egg cartons to create the effect.
But the props I'm proudest of are definitely the krises (traditional dagger with a blade that curves like a flame) that Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat use to fight with. Making do with the limited resources available on campus (buying cardboard from the general store that wasn't for sale, for example, and travelling thirty minutes to the nearest town to buy metallic pens) I made them -- and they turned out gorgeously (with a few forgiveable flaws, of course). ;)
We had a little spontaneous rehearsal at the end of Sociology class. I had to leave early (for reasons I will elaborate further), but it was the first time I felt so secure that the class could handle itself beautifully without having me to pitifully beg everyone to work together. =P Because everyone was WORKING TOGETHER with such a perfect, complete chemistry, I was wondering when we could submit our little skit to Cannes. O_o
Anyway: you must still bear in mind that while being in charge of props for my class' performance, I was still on the Food Bereau, which was facing its own problems: We were supposed to set off for the kampung at 6.45AM, which meant nobody would have the time to have breakfast. The journey takes at least an hour thirty minutes.
Ninety-seven students one a long, one and a half hour-journey without any breakfast? That spelled bad news.
So, the Head of the Food Bureau (my roommate, Anis) decided that we'd have to prepare breakfast for the students ourselves -- before we set off at 6.45AM. Which meant waking up at 3.00AM, and preparing sardine sandwiches and hot tea for ninety-seven students. Wasn't pretty at all, folks.
August 26th, Friday
I was up all morning 'til 1.00AM, preparing the props for our performance. waking at up 3.00AM was like dragging me up from the depths of death itself. O_o Buttering bread was the last thing I wanted to do.
But I did it anyway -- my roommates, who were also on the Food Bureau, provided me with enthusiasm and support by throwing themselves into their duties of making tea and mixing sandwich filling, and wrapping everything in indivial plastic packages.
Also, we did all of this in our dorm. That's right.
By 6.00PM breakfast was ready and packed. Bringing the boxes of sandwiches and packets of tea down was pretty tough, considering some of the tea leaked out, and everything weighed a ton. O_o
To add to our class' 'delightfully' eventful day, our bus came at least two hours late. =P Which was kind of unfortunate, as the EmCee of the Opening Ceremony was stranded with us, and so was half of the PA equipment.
And when the bus finally arrived, it was blazing hot and the air-conditioner was not working. We had to resort to switching buses halfway down the road. No one could survive the stifling heat.
The morning was such an entertaining disaster, but most of us realized that this meant we would have a far more interesting story to tell when we were asked to write about it in Fundamentals of Reading & Writing class, ;)
We reached Kampung Seri Cheeding, a charming Javanese village in the outskirts of Banting, Selangor at 9.45AM, about two hours late. The Opening Ceremony was just about to end. Food was about to be served, and the Food Bereau immediately rushed to their duties.
It was then we were seperated, four to a house, to join our foster families. Dayana, Anie, Syue and I shared a house with Mrs. Zaleha and Mr. Rosli, whom we called Kak Leha and Bang Li, because they were young enough to be our foster siblings (they were merely in their thirties and looked quite young), three charming ickle kids named Ika, Azi and Didi, and their sprightly old Nenek (grandmother).
They're a charming, lovely family, really. =) They were so nice to us -- making sure we were comfortable, constantly fed and entertained. Some of the best moments spent at that village was with the three little girls and having funny conversations with out foster parents and lively foster grandmother (whom we discovered had married only a year older than we are, and had fourteen children -- yikes! O_o)
And our performance went down with a blast. We had such a great time doing it that night, even though the audience wasn't as large as we wanted it to be, and the PA system wasn't up to par. =) Everyone was simply fabulous.
That night, we slept to the sound of drizzling rain. The air was cool and fresh and serene. I had the best, most peaceful sleep in ages -- we could do this kampung thing a whole lot more often! ;)
August 27th, Saturday
The morning was free of activities for us to spend time with out foster families. This was a time where we were supposed to search for material for the 'journals' we were supposed to write later as assignments. We interviewed our foster parents and foster grandmother, and they regaled their life stories to us: the grandmother had pretty insightful stories to tell on how she survived the Second World War when the Japanese invaded, and how she got married to a Javanese man at the young age of nineteen and moved from Singapore to Malaysia.
Then we made way to the Town Hall, where the villagefolk were preparing a special meal for us, called 'nasi ambeng' (which, roughly translated, means 'rice of good fortune').
It's a rich, generous dish of rice drenched in several types of curries and lauks, topped with vegetables, fried noodles, salted fish and glutinous rice, served in a large platter lined with banana leaves. Each platter was to be shared by six people at once.
There was part of me that went, 'Dude, this isn't very hygenic. Six people sharing one plate of seething, curried foods? Ew,' but there was another part of me that went, 'WHEE! FOOD! With COMPANY! Let's PARTY!'
I went with the latter part. =D I think it's a good idea, food-sharing -- it's such sociable thing to do. ;)
And once again, our buses were late! =P About two hours late, that is -- but that meant more time spent with our foster familes and fellow adopted students.
One thing that made the visit to Kampung Seri Cheeding worthwhile was a nostalgic encounter with long-lost childhood playthings. =) In the little sundry shops by the side of the road they sold these little petroleum bubble-blowing kits, which none of uni students have seen since were were all ten years old. It was a happy reunion. Like little schoolkids half our age, we bought the bubble-blowing kits by the merchant-load, and held bubble-blowing competitions while we waited for the buses. =) It was ridiculous, and silly, and childish, and so much fun.
One thing that I felt made the trip really worth it was the deep feeling of comraderie I gained between my classmates and I. We worked together so well, and clicked so perfectly, I think we now share this common connection of mutual respect and admiration for one another. =) As cheesy and Disney-teen-movie-esque as that sounds, it's true.
And I gained an insightful look into the lives of Malaysia's villagefolk and their surroundings, and made tons of new friends in the process.
It's like how I want to live the last day of my life: surrounded by old and new friends, having a ridiculously good time, eating lots and lots of lovely food, learning new things and simply enjoying all the merits of youth. =)
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