Independence Day

Friday, 31st August 2007:

Merdeka! I don't know how to translate that to English, but it's something we Malaysians say when we celebrate our Independence Day. And 31st August is our Independence Day.

The celebration was held in the Radisson Hotel, with more than three hundred guests attending. It was quite a merry celebration, I should say... definitely one of the grandest National Day Celebrations that I've been to outside Malaysia.


SO how the heck is this related to CAS? I performed a Malaysian traditional dancing 'thing' -- well, two types of Malaysian traditional dance, to be precise -- known as the Zapin (which originated in my home state of Johor in Southern Malaysia) and Hati Kama at the Malaysian National Day Celebration -- a 'unique' (or so I believe) activity that I am counting for CAS.

This is my first time ever performing a dance in front of such a great number of people. In fact, I've never even performed any kind of dance before. I almost FAINTED. But I didn't.

The two dances were chosen and choreographed by the wife of the Malaysian Ambassador, Datin Jamilah Talib. We have started practicing for this performance since before the beginning of summer, some time around the beginning of June. Weekly rehearsals were held at the Malaysian Ambassador's Residence in Baridhara, for about one and a half to two hours each.
Even though that might sound like such a short amount of time, the rehearsals were extremely tiring, I can tell you.

I suppose a lot of movement in the activity can make this accountable for Action hours, eh?

I think this traditional dancing activity is full of creativity because I am learning a new dance that is very closely-related to my culture. Through this activity, I have also been able to learn more about my Malaysian roots and culture, and at the same time get CAS hours (which I hope will be approved on time).

And Service? Well, I'm offering entertainment to the audiences, and doing the Malaysian High Commission a favor by lending my 'talents' in dancing, aren't I?

Attached below are pictures from the event. Enjoy!

Dance fo' CAS

"Dance, dance --
We're falling apart to have time."
- Dance, Dance, Fallout Boy

Here's the deal: I dance, perform, and get 15 CAS hours in the bag.

June 2nd will be some kind of a special day related to the Sultan or something for Malaysians, and since the Malaysian Embassy will be organizing an event of some sort, we are required to participate in the traditional Malay dancing thing and perform at this event.

OK, I gotta admit, the last time I did something like this was back in GIS, when we had the International Costume Day or something. Now I'm all rusty and I can't even remember the moves for the intro of the song.

Today we had a two-hour practice for this dance thing at the Malaysian Ambassador's Residence, and I got all messed-up. When I was just starting to get the hang of one of the moves, everyone had already moved on. It was all a blur... of a nightmare.

I suck, but I'll get better.

Must pitch in the proposal form to Mr. H.

Date of Event: June 2nd. How the hell am I gonna kick some serious butt in the exams?

Operation: Utopia (III)

May 16th, 2007:

Went to Asian Color Printers with Shaq and her dad. Same old quotations... I mean, what the *beep*? Negotiations are supposed to result in a change for the better.

Saturday, going to another printer to hand in soft copy. Not quite up to our expectations, but we had indeed been too ambitious initially, and it was time to pay the price.

Holy crap. It's May already? And it's ending.

Operation: Utopia (II)

Friday, March 30th:

Was at Shakila's place working on the layout for Utopia, from 1530 hrs, till 1900 hrs. Did get a lot done... but still there's more to do.

Hours spent working on the layout today (and this does NOT include the amount of time it took to get to her place): 3 hours, 30 minutes.

Sunday, April 1st:

Again, went to Shakila's place to work on the layout for Utopia. Was there from 1015 hours till 2000 hours. We have decided to completely redo the layout because the previous one sucked like hell... so this new one is a hundredfold better.

We took ideas for the layout by checking out websites and other reading materials we could find, and added our personal touch to them. The result was something that we could not have been prouder of.

Previously, we were so concerned about the page limit, but now we think, 'To hell with the page limit.' Of course, we still try to be careful with the pages as well in order to reduce the cost, but putting a limit on the page numbers SUFFOCATE us.

Number of hours spent working on the layout today: 9 hours, 30 minutes (not including lunch).

Editing In Process (I)

"I'm finding it hard just to breathe."
-- Catching My Breath, This Providence

[IForgotWhatDayItWasAgain], March 21st, 2007

Edited articles for Utopia from 2301 till 0120.

More, and even worse hell to come, so prepare thyself.


Nurul x 0117

The Utsho Fun Day

"He who makes a beast out of himself

Gets rid of the pain of being a man."

- Bat Country, Avenged Sevenfold

Saturday, November 25th, 2006; International School Dhaka

The Utsho Fun Day -- fun, fun, very enjoyable day. On this day, children "less fortunate than us" were brought to ISD for the Utsho Fun Day, in which they were able to have fun while using ISD facilities such as the swimming pool, the IT Lab, the indoor gym, and the playfield. The purpose of organizing this event was mainly to give these children an opportunity to experience and enjoy ISD's state-of-the-art facilities, and learn from these experiences. This event was organized by Mrs. Amy Pitcairn, while other teachers from the Secondary School, such as Madame Viart and Mr. Horkan, were also directly involved in this event as the photographer and the secondary supervisor, respectively.

ISD students who volunteered for this big event were assigned jobs such as supervisors for activities like swimming, field sports, badminton and table tennis, book making, computers, and party games, while some were also assigned to be group leaders. I was assigned to be the group leader for the Green Team, but because I was not fluent in Bangla, my fellow Eleventh-Grader, Maisha Khan, was assigned to assist me, especially in the linguistic department.

Each group consisted mainly of ten to twelve children; ours was no exception. As group leaders, our job was to lead our team to the location where each activity will be taking place, as well as to assist them in any problem they might have in the course of the activity. Since the children were only able to speak Bangla, language and communication was definitely a barrier for me; many thanks to my partner, Maisha, for her role as translator, hence making my job easier and much more enjoyable to carry out.

The children were due to arrive at around 0930 hours; events started at 1000 hours sharp. They assembled, along with us volunteers, in the open space in front of the office. Here, they were divided into the groups they were already assigned to be in throughout the day (Red, Green, Yellow, or Blue). Group leaders must then lead their team to the venue of the first activity of the day.

Generally, it was a fun, fun day. Difficulties encountered: COMMUNICATION. I couldn't even understand them when they said that they wanted to go to the bathroom. I had to ask a fluent Bangla speaker to translate for me. The only Bangla words that I learned were "dhooy," meaning "two" and "shobuj" meaning "green." This is because I was the leader for the Green Team, and during the Sports activities at the end, my team was Team Two.

The day proceeded smoothly, from the very beginning till the very end, and those involved in it were extremely pleased to see success and CAS hours acquired. We received 8 hours for this CAS activity, and that is quite a lot, I tell you.

We are looking forward to more activities like the Utsho Fun Day, because not only was it enjoyable to be working with these kids, but it also helps improve leadership skills, and develop your patience in dealing with children.

I'm joking, but still partially serious.

I would put in pictures to make this post more colorful, but Internet is not exactly at its most favorable speed at the current moment. Till next time, folks.

AND DO YOUR CAS! (I shall do mine as well.)

Operation: Utopia (I)

[IForgotWhatDayItWas], March 16th 2007

"I want to save you."

- I Want to Save You, Something Corporate

I wish someone would save me from CAS. But there's no shortcut, unfortunately, so that's why I was in Monsieur Horkan's class on Wednesday March 14th, working on an article for Utopia. I was there from 1530 until 1645 and passed out on my bed immediately when I got home. Woke up at 0200, and dreamed that my homework had completed itself when I opened my French book the next morning.

Again, most unfortunately, no such thing happened.

The article that I was working on was concerning the increasing rate of loss properties in school lately. You have to admit, gracious ladies and gentlemen, that this issue is becoming harder and harder to ignore, especially when you have become a victim in this situation yourself -- I had just lost my padlock and my locker keys, and am currently using my third Made In China padlock.

What a tragedy.

The article is 25% completed, and I have set Sunday, March 18th as a deadline for it. (This time, I will respect this deadline.) Mr. Horkan has proposed "Does the Apple Fall Far from the Tree?" as the title for this article, which really suits the content. Mehran has reported that a lot of Apple products have been stolen lately, so it is very relevant indeed.

Shakila wasn't there. Now she will have to do the IT thingy for Utopia at home. And I will keep on writing for Utopia and Nexus in the name of CAS.

PS: CAS PAPERWORK!