9th April 2010
I’ll begin by saying just how much I appreciate the opportunity to take the Talkback Team to my humble home town right here in Sik, Kedah. I’m also grateful that I was also given a chance to keep my own journal…
The Talkback Team, Duncan, Emily, Farhan and Sunshine have been having the time of their life without me, and I refuse to be left out anymore. Well, at least for the next three days. Today is Friday, and my friends and a few teachers are with me at Sik Inn, waiting for the arrival of the Talkback Team. When they finally got here, it started to rain, but thank goodness the rain stopped when we got to our first destination for the day, a grape farm in Beris Jaya.
The rain actually made the whether nicer and much cooler. The owner was pleased to have foreign visitors at his vineyard, and even let the team eat the grapes fresh from the trees. Later, we visited a beautiful kampong style dam/resort called “Di Puncak Beris”. The team could not have been more happy to see traditional Malaysian food all laid out for them at the dam as they were all starving!
Later that night, we all went to my school’s dorm called ASMENSI, and lets just say we (the school) had a little something up our sleeve. When the team got off the car, they had a grand welcome from the school’s kompang (traditional Malay drum) team, accompanied by six girls carrying “bunga manggar”. The looks on their faces were absolutely priceless. They were later entertained by a series of cultural shows such as silat, nasyid and dikir ria as we had a delicious dinner.
After the team was stuffed, we headed to the conference room for a dialogue session with a few students from my school and SMKA Sik. This was of course the main event. It was disappointing to see less than a handful of students giving responses and asking question, when the truth is, they all had ideas written down on pages of paper. Shyness in a big problem here. But taking language barriers out of consideration, the issue of PPSMI was one of the favorite topics for the students. Even students who could not master the English language stated that they’d rather learn maths and science in English. This was mainly because after years of learning the two subjects in English, they became comfortable with the language, and they know that they have sharpened their previously blunt English skills. But this contradicts some teacher’s opinions, whereas the teachers said that they are more comfortable teaching the two subject in their mother tongues.
But taking everything into account, this was a great day. The team could not stop talking about how amazing the welcoming committee was, and they were stunned by the way the SMK Sik students responded to their presence – by taking tons and tons and tons of photographs with Emily and Duncan! Yet, I’m shocked that even Farhan was overwhelmed by the welcoming kompangs, because this is a normal Malay tradition. I guess these things are being forgotten.
10th April 2010
So far, the Talkback team has been having meetings with leading decision makers and visiting schools in Malaysia. Basically, it was all quite formal and serious, so Sik is a fresh escape from all that seriousness and busy city life. Yesterday was hard to top, but I love a good challenge!
The morning started with a visit to my teacher, Mr Latif’s house in Kampung Lubuk Bedil. The team was wowed when they first arrived at his house. There were durian trees, rambutans, pineapple, piper betel and so on. The ever so popular nasi lemak was served, along with some traditional kuih and fruits. Mr. Cutting, Louise, Duncan, Emily and Farhan even tried some crushed betel. Such adventurous people...
Mr. Latif invited some of his family and friends to perform silat and play the silat music. The performance was done by silat artists from the age of 4 to 19. Duncan and Farhan even tried to silat, while Emily, Sunshine and Lucie danced. That was fun. After that, the silat team decided to give the Talkback Team a little silat lesson, which they badly need. The Talkback Team even tried to play some musical instruments. They might actually have a future in music.
Our next stop, Lata Mengkuang, a waterfall. When we got there, everyone including yours truly we were wowed by how breathtaking the place was. Emily wanted to come back, but time wasn’t on her side. We then returned to “town” for lunch. On the way, the team spotted some cows and buffaloes. Finally!
Lunch was served, VIP style at Kak Kiah’s restaurant. The food was amazing, and we were tired. But we managed to take 40 minutes to shop at an arts and craft store before returning to the Inn. Later that day, the team had a bit of a mock discussion to prepare themselves for the meeting with the DPM. It was nice for me to get a taste of what talkback is like, even for a mere 20 minutes.
Before going to SMK Sik again, we had a bit of shopping done, and turned up a bit late. But the students were fully prepared to introduce the team to traditional games which include sepak raga, ting-ting, congkak, batu selambut etcetera. And of course, the team encountered more paparazzi.
The agenda for the night was simply a hearty meal prepared by my friend and her family. The food was scrumptious, and crowd was delightful and this was basically a perfect way to end an amazing day.
Overall, today was spent getting to know Sik and its people, aside from eating good food and trying out traditional games. For me, it was a day filled with culture, and I’m happy to share my cultures with the team. It showed my Aussie friends the Malaysian identity, but it has also made me realize and appreciate the uniqueness of Malayans much more than I do now – something I have previously thought to be impossible!
11th April 2010
It’s Sunday and this is the final day for the Talkback team in Sik. The day started with breakfast at my school, and the team was later walked through the assembly field filled with nearly 1000 students who were feeling awkward seeing Mat Sallehs in their school, and brought up the stage. The highlight was when Mr. Cutting gave his thank you speech, and ended it in Malay. And of course, Mr. Cutting received a huge round of applause.
After assembly, the team was given a tour of the school, which includes a brief observation of the students in 4SnU, and science-agama stream class. The observation was done during an Arabic class so that we can get ideas for one of the topics we have discussed, “streaming”.
We then gathered at the principal’s office for goodbye ceremony. The team was each given a bag filled with goodies and in return, the school received a flag of Australia. We then departed to SMKA Sik, a non-secular school. At SMKA, the Talkback team had yet another discussion with the students there. It provided a lot of information, but was rather rehearsed than candid. It was not hard to notice that the students were simply reading the text written on their papers. But I was impressed to see that nearly all of the students at SMKA were confident enough to present their thoughts in English.
After another great meal, I was sad because reality has come to rain of my parade. My three incredible days with the Talkback Team was at its end. It was hard for me, a cry baby, to hold my tears back. Louise and Steve presented some wonderful keepsakes for me just before their departure. My last moments with the team were intense and emotional, for me at least.
In the end of the day, I came to realize something. Coming from a rural area like this, I don’t have many chances to travel, so I have always wanted to go and see the world. Yet, I just spent the best three days of my life, but I didn’t actually have to go anywhere. Sometimes, the best things are right in front of you. All you have to do is open your eyes.
Thank you Mr. Cutting, Louise, Lucie, Amy, Puan Norlida, Farhan, Duncan, Sunshine, Emily, and my dear reader. It has been an honour!
Signing off…
