Reflection By Big Boss

Name: BOON ZHEN HERN
Matrix Number: SIB150004

Finally it's my turn to write reflection about this Social Engagement course offered by University of Malaya (actually not, everyone is compulsory to take this course). I am Boon Zhen Hern, SIB150004, first year Materials Science student, known as  faci Boon or Big Boss in this course.

This is me, ugly me which is being squeezed, polished, crushed by the pressure and stress in order to shine brightly in this world. Stay tuned.

At first, I know this course since the second week of semester 1, middle of September 2015. I am a guy who like to plan everything beforehand (but carry out or not is another thing lah) so when I get the program handbook from Faculty of Science in , I actually look through all parts of it and at that time I finally have the time to sit down and do the things I want. The first time I look at this course, I was like "what's with this course, what am i going to do in this course?" I was full of question marks in my head, so in some coincident occasion I have the chance to know more about this course by PM (facilitator of MHS) in my KK. He told me that this course is about engaging the social like some volunteering works. My first impression was like "Ewww my god I hate volunteering work the most, why we need to take this course........" but then he told me that when he was doing this course he went back to his secondary school and held a 2-days camp there. I became so excited like "WOW, I can finally held camp by my own without the help of seniors or adults in the committee" because i enjoy being a facilitator but I just didn't have the chance to do that in previous time of my life. 

After the first meeting, I was told by the coordinator of this course from Physics department, Dr. Selvi that we were going to carry out this course in big group so the department is separated into two groups, which is one Physics group and one Materials Science group and I was in the Materials Science group with my coursemates and some of the Physics friends join us too to balance the number of members in the two groups. I feel that it is good compared to groups with 5 or 6 members each because we are all carry out the same project and work together and this will enhance our relationship and the bonding between us coursemates will be stronger and this will be useful in the future where all of us graduated and we will still be contacting each other even though the status of coursemate is gone but with that we become friends, good friends. If the grouping is as the latter case, only some of the coursemates will have greater bonding than others and there will be "gang" among the coursemates and the relationship between coursemates will not be so close and so good. 

After few meetings with our coordinator and meetings among our group members, we have a few plans in our mind. Firstly is the Malaysian Blind Association, second is another school in KL area and third is MRSM Pendang which is the plan that we carry out at last since the for the first two plan the authorities are still pending so we just carry on with the third plan. From that I was given the position of Head of Programme Bureau and some members in the bureau. And since then I start the planning of programme of the 2-days camp in MRSM Pendang. I have so many porblems during the preparations but luckily all the members are so helpful and my problems were solved easily. During the preparation of tentative for the camp, I was not on the track because at that time I have dance practice everyday after class and I was sick. And this had made the submission of proposal to MRSM late. I felt terribly sorry and I quickly completed it and sent to our secretary to compile the proposal. From this I found that I am not resourceful that I didn't request help from the member of program bureau. One of the workshop day I was overslept due to sickness and I am late. Other member actually waited me for the tentative and all the program things for almost 4 hours, but they also did helped me by arranging the faci for each group and the station game flow. Thank you for that.

Few days before the camp were workshops for us to get to know the flow of the camp, all the details of activities and the dances. The attendance were not so good but we carried on anyhow since all members have their own other activities to do. Luckily some of the members are so good and so supportive. On the day where we should depart to MRSM, we gather at the bus stop in UM and loaded our things onto the bus and depart. We reached there a lot earlier that what I expected. We reached the homestay and that night we gathered and have a last briefing for the members to refresh about the activities for the next day. Initially, what they say was some of us can go to MRSM on that night for the "surveying" of the place for activities, but due to some reason (I also don't know what is the reason) we didn't managed to go there.

On the first day of the camp, we reached MRSM early in the morning and I started to look for all the positions of the stations and games while the rest of the members were preparing for the registration of the students (campers). After the registration is the opening ceremony and Ice-Breaking session. During Ice-Breaking session, I was paired up with Sue (Faci Dinda) and we were in group 3. She did a great job handling the group and every camper in the group started to join in sportingly, except one who was more shy than others. His name is Boon, which is surprisingly same as mine, and that is the reason why I change my name to Big Boss for my group. I found that he was totally me when I was in Form 2, I can see that his personality is exactly same as mine. In Form 2, I was very shy and I didn't like these kinds of activity at all, that's why I didn't join any uniform bodies when I am in secondary school. He was shy, quiet and didn't give much respond to the question we asked to the group, but his voice is loud so we gave him the position as commander for the group cheers. After that was LDK(Activitiy in group) session 1, in which we do 2 questions of transferring water that relates to math ability and critical thinking. Surprisingly, all of the campers in my group are so active and they wanted to solve the questions, and then 2 of the campers were surprisingly clever and they even completed the questions in one shot which the questions had me 30 minutes to solve them and then we played some UM Traditional Games (logic game), the same guys which solved the questions got the logic after a short while, in which I only get to understand the logic after 2 hours of thinking the question repeatedly. From that i know that even a Form 2 student have clearer mind than me. It doesn't mean that you are a university student you will sure smarter or cleverer. The world is big and there are unlimited possibility out there, so I should never stop learning and gaining new knowledge to prevent get rid by the fast pace of the change of the society in this modernized era. After lunch was station game, there are 9 stations and the members in charge, I was the general manager of the station game. During the game, some of the station master release the students too early and the time of each station became not synchronized and the flow of the game became so blurred. There was one group that went to the wrong station but the station master still let them carry out the task, in which leaded to the last group on the same station with no chance to carry out the task. I feel that it's my fault since I planned the flow and I didn't made a backup plan for such case.

That night was talent night, each of the group are given a topic to perform and 40 minutes to prepare for the performance. At that time, I can see the teamwork showed in most of the groups in preparation. There are one group that make me notice them, they were playing around with the props they did for the performance and not preparing at all during that time, but when performing, they WOW-ed me, the performance was so flawless that didn't seemed like unprepared. I, again are so amazed that such potential in a group of Form 2 students. Wow, simply wow.

The second day of the camp started with senamrobik session in the morning, but I was not able to join them because I found that the props for The Grand Chase game is not enough so I prepared all of them. This made the program delayed a little but it was still on time to be finished and I forgot to have my breakfast that day! The Grand Chase game had 2 parts, one was real part, doing real job and get less money, and another one was fake part, doing fake job and get easy money but the money won't be calculated in the final result. From there I can see some of the students were doing fake jobs because they wanted the money but some of them are just curious about the job like robbery and smuggling. After some time, they know what it was and they stopped doing that. One of the groups actually reject my offer for them to scold one of the faci for RM100, because they said that it was not good to scold people. One time I throw a lot of money from the second floor for the students to pick up, they indeed picked them up, but they gave back to me and said "Faci you drop something," because of that i gave them real money while the money i throw is fake money. I found that Form 2 students are still quite "naive" and their mind are still not polluted by the reality of this world yet. The Grand Chase was meant to teach them about that but I don't think they get much message from the game, they just enjoyed the process of the game. At that age, I would also be like that, I just want to have fun and don't want to have any pressure in my life. But when I am more adult and adult, I found that there are many aspects that I can't overlook. I can't be just like a child and just want to have fun already. I have reached the age for me to actually grow up and have responsibility toward other peoples, family, friends and the society.

Ok,done with the camp part, now it's real part. Actually, I am not the kind that like to do volunteer work like cleaning up orphanage, community service at old folks home, yes most of us teenagers do not like volunteering work, but what I like is this kind of social work in which I get to plan and carry out my plans in the form of education or motivation thingy. Before the camp I was not so close with all the coursemates and I don't know how to approach them to become closer, but after the social engagement project which have us travel 7 hours and spend 3 days together to give education, motivation or inspire the aspire as what our project theme is. The project is meant to inspire and educate the MRSM Form 2 student of what we could teach them. I know we are only just first year university student and we are only 20 or 21 years old, there are still a hell long route to go through and to experience, but we are doing this as what we have and what we could give to them, the society, which is the meaning of social engagement. We are not as rich as millionaire, but we are giving what we could give, even though it is not in terms of money, we are not as knowledgeable as PhD's and Masters, but we are telling them about what we know, even though that may not be so useful, we are not as experienced as the adult out there, but this is what we know and we went through and we are giving them guidance to it, even though that is not enough for them. For example, Physics. They actually learnt the main branch of science, which is Physics and Biology as chemistry is not emphasized in education until Form 4, but when we tell them about Physics, they look at us like "what are they talking about?" Maybe some of them know about physics, but most of the Form 2 students, including me when I was that age, wouldn't know about the difference between physics, chemistry and biology. What we do in this camp is that we actually exposed to them about the difference between branches of science and this will, maybe, have them to think of their future. Whether they choose Physics as their future subject to further study, that is not the thing that we can control since everyone have their own interests, or else the world will not be as diverse as now. I also feel that the objective of social engagement is not archieved by 100% but at least we do our part, that is educating those Form 2 students about higher educations in Malaysia. And this is what they need, and what they will need it in their future. I learnt many things in this social engagement, including first time being a facilitator and Head of program bureau and I realize that it is not easy to handle an event even though it is small event, as there will be external factor that will affect the smoothness of flow. 

The most important is that we survived and we will be surviving the rest of our live and shine bright like a diamond with all the pressure and stress in this hectic university life. Without those pressure and stress, we are just not more than a black, ugly carbon that this realistic world wouldn't appreciate.

“The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day."
― Albert Einstein

REFLECTION

NURUL SYAHIRAH BINTI JAFFRIL
SIB150043

           My first volunteering that I had made was in UM where my college held a running marathon here around UM compound. I was one of the crews who in charge of the runners’ welfare which was a big deal to me because I never have the experienced of treating any injuries before. Next in my list was becoming a facilitator which was organized by my seniors in the physics department. Hence, when UM include a social engagement as one of our university courses, I become more interested to do more volunteering works which could of course engagement me with the society. 

           We choose to do this ‘Inspire The Aspire’ program at MRSM Pendang, Kedah and becoming facilitators to form 2 students. It was a wide open opportunity for us to handle and do the planning of the program. Although some of us were quite busy with other commitments, we were still managed to do the preparations through a lots of workshops.

            The day the program started I had already felt that we were lucky to be the first UM students to held a social engagement at  MRSM Pendang because from the form 2 students excitements and anticipations including the teachers and counselors. A major part of us had never experienced as facilitators and I was grateful that I can share my experience that I gained before with them. While I was being in charge of taking the pictures during the whole program, I was glad that I found out that my friends were also having as much fun as the students did.

             Throughout this program, I also gained a new experience which was taking the lead for the senamrobik sessions. I learnt to be more confidence when I was stepping out of everyone. I was not the type of person who was familiar holding the microphone. Lucky I was also given the opportunity to speak up in front of the students and managed to give them some clear explanations and briefings.

              Being the person who was in charge of taking the pictures was not a simple task. I had to carry the DSLR and also a phone as a backup to take as much pictures of them as possible because for me every moments were precious. Yet, I did have fun being the photographer too because I can see the excitement of the students and my friends were having the whole moments during the entire program.

             ‘Inspire The Aspire’ did end, but I believed my friends also agreed with me that besides improving in our soft skills, the most gainful thing from this program was our bonding. May our friendship last forever. #RoadToDegree 

REFLECTION

SAMIHAH SALWA BINTI MD NOR

SIB150047

Social Engagement is a compulsory course in semester two. I understand that the purpose of this course is to encourage university students to engage with the society. I still looking forward to this course as it was an opportunity for me to step out from my comfort zone and engage the society as I had been taught to do good, to be generous and willing to share.

Before the program

 After several meeting and discussion among us, we had decided to choose MRSM Pendang, Kedah as our destination for this project. We also had divide into two groups which is unit program and unit technical and logistic. I am in unit technical and logistic. A week before the event, we had workshop during weekend and weekday at night. We need to learn all the cheer and steps for aerobics. We also had being briefing about the flow of the program. During the workshop, I realize that cooperation among the member is important to do the task.

First day

I need to prepared the public address system (PA system) at the hall of the MRSM. I have problem during the setup of PA system because of the projector and the microphone did not work. Fortunately, there are senior student from the MRSM Pendang help me setup the projector and microphone. The open ceremony of the Inspire The Aspire program had been smoothly. I have been paired with Tang Chang Hwa. Our group name is Mighty Teens. I have learns a lot of things during the LDK1 such as I have gain my leadership in assisting with them. Student in MRSM Pendang is very intelligent and creative.

Mighty Teens

The last day

 In the morning , we have aerobics for the students but I cannot join the aerobics because I need to control the volume of the songs . Unfortunately, during the LDK2 I also cannot join my group because I have to make video for closing ceremony.

I have learn a lot of things during this program such as each person need to cooperate with each other and give commitment to make this project success. Besides, I have gain my leadership skills and confident. I have a lot of fun during the program and I enjoy it. I think the social engagement course is important to university student because it teach us a lot of things such as cooperation, discipline and hard work. I hope in the future I will get more opportunity to join more projects like this.

Last but not least, I would like to say thank you to MRSM Pendang because provide us food and place to stay. Thank you also to our instructor for this social engagement course, DR. Selvi for helping and give advice to us.

 Thank you everyone that involved in this project. Without you this project will never happen.

Refleksi

Pertama sekali, saya ingin berterima kasih kepada pihak universiti untuk menawarkan kursus Jalinan Masyarakat (Sosial Engagement) kepada semua mahasiswa di Universiti Malaya. Pada permulaannya, walaupun jam kredit kursus saya sudah penuh tetapi untuk mengambil kursus ini saya sanggup meminta lebihan jam kredit untuk mendapatkan kursus ini.

Setelah beberapa perjumpaan dan perbincangan, saya dan rakan-rakan saya mengambil keputusan untuk mengadakan Kem "Inspire The Aspire" di MRSM Pendang, Kedah. Kami perlu menghadiri banyak bengkel untuk berlatih tarian dan sorak semangak serta berbincang tentang aktiviti yang akan dijalankan di sana.

Semasa berada di kem tersebut, kami ditugaskan sebagai fasilitator kem. Kami menjalankan banyak aktiviti seperti yang dirancangkan sebelum ini seperti latihan dalam kumpulan (LDK), senamrobik, station games, grand chase, talent night, menari dan pertandingan sorak semangat. Semua aktiviti dijalankan dengan lancar. Semua pelajar berasa sangat gembira untuk menyertai kem tersebut kerana mereka mengatakan aktiviti-aktiviti yang dijalankan itu seronok dan memberi pengajaran kepada mereka. Saya sangat menikmati kem ini kerana inilah pertama kali saya menjadi fasilitator kem. Saya dan rakan-rakan saya berasa seronok menjadi fasilitator kem walaupun jadi seorang fasilitator bukan kerja yang senang.

Setelah menjayakan kem ini, saya didapati bahawa kursus Jalinan Masyarakat ini amat penting kepada kita kerana kursus ini memberi banyak pengajaran kepada kita seperti kerjasama antara satu sama lain, mempunyai keberanian, mempunyai keyakinan diri, serta sikap bertanggungjawab sebagai ketua atau fasilitator.  Bukan kami sahaja yang mempelajari pengajaran ini malah peserta kem juga. Tambahan pula, kursus ini juga mengajar kita tidak boleh cuma belajar sahaja dari pagi sampai malam malah kita juga harus menyumbang kepada masyarakat apa yang kita pelajari.

Akhir sekali saya ingin mengucapkan ribuan terima kasih kepada rakan-rakan saya, pensyarah kami iaitu Dr Selvi, dan pelajar-pelajar MRSM sebab kem ini tidak dapat dijalankan tanpa mereka. :-)

Ong Gerard ( Fasi Gerard )

SIB150044

Mohd Zainol Ariffin Bin Khairuddin

SIB 150024

When I first realized that this social engagement program is only offered in the second semester of every year, it was a no brainer for me to register for this course, as I was able to do it with my material science course mates instead of my juniors in the second year. However, things were still ambiguous for me during the early stage of the semester about this course until the first meeting with Dr Selvi. After the briefing session, my sense of anxiety developed looking at the general structure of this course which required us almost 40-hour-work of social engagement. I knew that this was not going to be an easy job to be done.

This was later proved by multiple obstacles that we faced, before this program came into reality. One of the biggest challenges was to find and confirm the location of where this program was going to be held. We had a few suggestions and finally we all agreed to run the program in MRSM Pendang, Kedah thanks especially to our leader, Izzati and her team, who worked tirelessly trying to convince the MRSM side to allow this to happen. In fact, the approval by the Principal of the school was only obtained at the last minute of time. We also faced limitation of time to prepare for the programs as we only had one week to practice. We only managed to have a few workshop sessions together to learn about the programs’ tentative. Other than that, we also had problems in term of financial as we had to figure out the cheapest price for other bus transportation as UM buses fare was way too expensive. We also needed to take into account the cost of all the things that were going to be used throughout the program. Luckily, the MRSM side was generous enough to sponsor us with accommodation and food which greatly eased off our financial burden.

I learnt a lot of things during this program. First, I learnt how to cooperate with my other course mates. Even though we come from different races, religion, and backgrounds, we were able to find common interest among ourselves in order to make this program successful. Second, as a facilitator, I was able to train myself how to conduct a group of students who had different kinds of personalities, something of which I had never experienced before. Through this program, it also taught me to overcome my shyness feeling through the activities that we did such as dancing, singing, exercising etc. Last but not least, during the program, as a person who is older than the students, I got to exchange advice and tips for them how to deal with their problems based on my experience. This sharing session really brought me and the students closer. Even the shy students started to engage more when I approached them in the right manner.

Every meeting has an end.  For me, at the end of the day, this course is about the society and has made me ponder about my role as a university student. Before this, I was not really care about social engagement program, but after doing it, it quickly strikes my mind that I have my own responsibility towards the society out there. Not all individuals are as lucky as me to enter university. There might be a lot out there who have superior intellectual than I am. So, right now, I think as a university student, try to learn as much as valuable skills as we can and teach the unfortunate ones out there so that they would be able to make their own living and hopefully able to send their sons or daughters in the university one day.” If we feed a man with a fish, we make him full for that day, but if we teach him how to fish, he will never be in hunger again.” Thank you.

Reflection Poy Sze Yun SIB150046

First of all I'm very happy to attend this course in university Malaya..if we didn't have social engagement I couldn't have a chance to go so far with all of my course mate. So I really appreciate it !! Thanks to all of us. Our hard work paid. We had done a successful program. Especially thanks to Dr Selvi and Dr Goh for coming to give a talk to MRSM students. They benefit a lots.

Before that, I realize that kedah is a great place. I have around 8 friends from Kedah and all of them are very nice. Undeniable those people from kedah are really good and friendly. When we do not have place to stay, MRSM rent three home stay for us!! And they even provide us free food. Those food are sumptuous. We depart from um around 3pm. We take around 7 hours to reach there. We are tired but excited when we reach the home stay ! They give us a warm welcome~ really feel that kind of warmness. During the programme, I was paired up with Suh Shyan to become the facilitator for group 12 (team black ace). Sound of laughter and joy is always there in our group as I always tried my best to maintain the atmosphere at its peak condition. During the group task, I found out that the students are actually very independent. They don't really rely on us or hoping for any hint from us for the group mission despite the difficulties that they met. They always tried to face the problems and challenges as a team, opinions are always been shared and voiced out in the group before they actually came up with a decision. The teamwork spirit shown in the students is something I'm really amazed and admired. Another touching moment during the programme is that the students actually voiced out actively about what have they learnt when the question is being asked by our course advisor, Dr.Selvi. From the moment, I can felt that the students are actually enjoying every precious moment/seconds during the programme, they really tried to immersed themselves into the environment/programme and tried their best to learn from every aspect possible, they don't just join the programme because their teacher told them to. The most precious moment for me during the whole programme was when the students actually find me for photographing and also to leave a signature in their “friendship booklet”. despite from all the tiredness and exhaustion I experience, the passion and enthusiasm in the students’ self actually motivated me mentally, as it lets me realized that my hard work is not wasted off. I'm also glad that they do not see me as just their facilitator/person-in-charge, instead, they look me more as to their friend. The surprising thing is that they actually asked for my social media contact and hope to continue the friendship with me, I felt so glad at the moment and of course, I shared my contact willingly. What had I learn from the programme??? Leadership skills , this is the first time I become facilitator in such this event. Although they are form 2, is easier to lead rather than those same age students.
Communication skills, it is critical for a facilitator. Since we are in different races and different age,we might have the gap. But in the programme I feel that we do not have much miscommunication then we chat happily. They respect us and obey our rules and even listen to our instruction! Their attitude are good, they behave themselves.
Own self development, I jump out from my comfort zone and experience somethings different. I am able to adapt the environment, the weather and the food!!

REFLECTION ( SURENDER GUNALAN SEM 150065 )

Salam Sejahtera dan Salam 1Malaysia. Saya Surender Gunalan SEM150065 pelajar kursus Physics. Saya ingin membuat refleksi berkenaan subjek Jalinan Masyarakat yang dijalankan di Universiti Malaya sebagai subjek wajib diambil oleh pelajar. Kami telah menjalankan kerja lapangan di MRSM Pendang,Kedah selama 2 hari bersama pelajar tingkatan 2.

Sebelum kami memulakan kerja lapangan di MRSM Pendang, kami telah membuat persediaan untuk melaksanakan beberapa aktiviti yang berkaitan dengan konsep Fizik. Antaranya ialah kami telah membuat latihan untuk membuat tarian, cheers dan flashmop. Pada awalnya saya tidak dapat menyertai mereka kerana saya telah berkabung dengan pelajar sains bahan untuk subjek ini. Saya berasa amat bangga dan berterima kasih kerana mereka dapat menerima saya dalam kumpulan mereka. Saya juga perlu berterima kasih kepada Dr Selvi kerana bersetuju untuk menyertai kumpulan mereka. Kami bertolak pada pukul lebih kurang 3 petang dari UM. Setelah 6 jam kami pun sampai di Homestay kami. Selepas selesai menyimpan barang-barang kami mengadakan diskusi untuk keesokkan hari. Kami membuat persiapan untuk aktiviti yang akan dilaksanakan.

Di MRSM kami menjalankan banyak aktiviti untuk pelajar tingkatan 2. Kami saling berkenalan antara satu sama lain. Makanan yang disediakan untuk kami memang enak sekali. Cikgu cikgu disana sangat sporting dan boleh bergaul dengan saya seperti biasa walaupun saya pelajar berlainan agama dan bangsa. Pelajar di sana juga amat berbudi bahasa dan menunjukkan kehormatan kepada saya. Kawan kawan saya yang datang untuk kerja lapangan juga amat bertanggungjawab terhadap saya. Pada hari terakhir di sana pelajar disana memang sudahpun menyukai kami. Mereka meminta number dan facebook id daripada kami. Mereka berjanji akan sentiasa keep in touch bersama saya.

Setelah selesai kerja lapangan Jalinan Masyarakat saya berasa sangat berpuas hati dengan diri saya. Saya dapat membina jati diri dan dapat mengetahui sesuatu yang penting untuk hidup. Saya juga dapat mengetahui siapa kawan sebenar dan apa yang perlu lakukan semasa ada dalam masalah.

Sekian terima kasih

Name:Nurul Atilia Binti Azman(Faci Lia)
Matrix No:SIB150040

Assalamualaikum and Hye everyone!
First of all,just like to inform that this is my very first time on blogging stuff,pardon me on my mistakes ,but I'll try my very best to express the whole thing in a short and simple way so that this enjoyable memories would never be forgotten .So,I'll start with the preparation before we go to MRSM Pendang.At first,we did have several choices,on places that we want to go,but finally we have decided to go to Kedah.I know it may sounds that far,but the long journey was definitely enjoyable.I've expected it way before we go.So before the journey,we did some preparation on games,activities that we going to play there and some technichal things.We did a very great job since each of us play our own role in a very professional way.So,things are getting smoother day by day.we also did some practises on aerobic ,and cheers  we going to teach the students there,so i enjoy it the most,especially when we did Zumba dance.It was very tiring but a very interesting things to give a try.So after all the preparation done,we have prepared to go for about 8 hours journey to Pendang.It was a very enjoyable jouney,we talk a lot and we laugh a lot in the bus.So as i arrives MRSM Pendang,the next day,I was given a task by this group to be the speaker for the opening and closing ceremony,as well as the confuctor for games and all their activities with my partner Chiam Han Cheng.Both of us dont have any group since we are the person in charge on confucting the students throughout the whole activities.So,when i conduct the opening ceremony,which is a formal ceremony,I enjoy doing it as I really like to talk and having so many audiences in front of me.I did welcome all the students to our Inspire rhe Aspire programme.I can see their beautiful smiles just like my brothers and sisters at home,and i know that i definitely going to love them soon.So the fist activity goes very well,as well as the others.The most enjoyable game in this programme was 'The grand chase' game.credit to Faci Boon,whom give his effort the most on getting this game success.On that game,i play my role as a robber,which i feel sorry the most throughout this programme.I persuade the naive young students to follow me on robbing the bank,and I also give them lots of fake money.Haha.So many of them want to get easy money by doing bad jobs.After the game,i conduct like a "learning session " for them.We have some discussions on lessons that we learn from the game,and all the students seems to understand the message of this game very well,which i feel very grateful the most.So other activities that I enjoy was a game which chiam and I being the station PIC at that time.The game was "you jump i jump".Chiam and I were quite awkward at the first but we manage to handle it.Lastly,I was given a last task to become the speaker for closing ceremony,I think I've done my very best at that part.We even get a new  cheers from the students ,and that cheers sounds like they love us so much and want all of us to come back and do such programme again in future.The next day,we went back with a very tired but happy feelings.We enjoy this programme so much.I learn so many things,I gain my confident on public speech,i gain comfident on interacting with people and younger age person,i get to know my friend very well especially chineese and indian friend.So lastly,special thanks to Dr Selvi for giving us the opportunities to handle this programme.I wish i can do this once again.

Reflection by Fazrul Farhan

Name: Fazrul Farhan Bin Mohd Amir

Matric No: SIB150011  

Assalamualaikum everyone and Good morning, afternoon and evening. After a lot of thinking, I have decide to post about my reflection doing the Inspire The Aspire.

Before:

In the begining of semester 2, I had register the Social Engagement because my lecturer told me to do so. The course required the student to plan a program and execute it. The materials science students decide to do Inspire The Aspire at MRSM Pendang. I was a little bit worried if we can pulled this off. Plan a program was difficult and actually doing it was hard. 

During:

I was nervous the whole time during the program. I reminded myself not to do something ridicule. The hardest part was waking up early in the morning. The second hardest part was staying awake the whole day. Followed by staying hydrated and follow the schedule of the program.

I had a great time doing the activities with the students. During a big game, I was stationed at certain place. I had to wait the student to come to the station. I learned that great things will come to those who wait. Watching the student perform the task during The Grand Chase was certainly entertaining. In The Grand Chase game, the students were rewarded for performing job. Real reward will be given to those that do honest work but in a small amount. Illegal work will be given false reward in a large amount. I learned that doing a honest work with a strong heart is the biggest reward.

Group 5 was assigned to me. I had to take care my group member. This was uncomfortable task. As a guy who does not talk much, this task remove me from my comfort zone. We introduced ourselves and get to know each other. We decided to name our group BLAZER. The BLAZER group member are great people they have a strong bond among themselves. I thought that I could never be close to them but I was wrong. They welcomed me with open arms. How pessimistic. Maybe I am a pessimist but that does not mean I cannot be optimist. The students existence in BLAZER make me wiser and be more optimistic. I can see the way they see and I can learn the way they think. I am still growing. Maybe not physically but mentally I am growing. There wasn't any doubt when I realize I have a lot to learn. You can learn anything from anyone as long as they have a different perspective.

After: 

Every good thing must come to an end. Inspire The Aspire had inspire me to be someone greater. MRSM Pendang was a good place to start. I am ready to see the people from all over the world. Everything I do in my life was either I have to do it or I was forced to do it. I never feel free to do something based on my will. This program has been my starting point to do volunteer work. I also cannot force myself to do volunteer as it is the opposite of the volunteering. 

Thank you for reading. I have a lot to say but I do not know how to share it properly. So see you soon. 

Reflection

Wong Kai Thung
SIB 150056

     The decision of taking Social Engagement has been made when I was told that we must take this university course in the second semester and the course coordinator this time is Dr.Selvi which is a lecturer that I’ve known during last semester for taking Basic Electronics. By that time, I have totally no idea what was this course about and never actually gave it a thought until my roommate told me she was going to an old folk’s home for this course. At the moment, I’ve acknowledged that this course was about doing social works and I was intrigued immediately as I’ve had a dream of teaching the unfortunate students in the outskirts of the other countries during my high school and it faded with time. During the first meeting with Dr. Selvi, we were exposed to the activities that we could carry out in this course then we were divided into groups for further discussions.

     During the preparation stage, we will need to attend workshops and meetings to make decisions, distribute duties and practices cheers. Preparation was never easy and the hardest decision to make is where to go, what to do and when to go? The location and time was actually changed for a few times to fulfil the availability of every party. The final decision was to conduct a leadership camp in MRSM Pendang, Kedah during the beginning of our mid semester break. The very first expression of mine when the idea of heading to Kedah was voice out is “Yes, I get to travel!!!”. Definitely, I like to travel far, especially with friends and Kedah was a place I’ve never been except when passing through it when travelling to Penang. In this stage, I’ve seen the hard work of the members especially the higher committee that prepared the paperwork, planning the activities, arranging transports, communicating with the authorities, handling financial and preparing the props. Dr. Selvi has also gave us the best guidance in completing task and helped us immediately when we faced obstacles. I am truly thankful for all the contribution given. Everything we’ve achieved today will not be completed without the cooperation from everyone.

     The night before D-day, we’ve arrived at Pendang and expected to stay inside MRSM’s hostel or hall. Surprisingly, the counsellor and coordinator of the school settled us down in a well-furnished homestay that was fully air-conditioned, equipped with refrigerator and furniture. Behind our house was a vast paddy field with breath-taking scenery. The hospitality of the counsellor and coordinator from the school is really heart-warming. After settled down, we held a meeting to ensure that tomorrow’s flow will be smooth.

     During the event, I was teamed-up with Qyla as the facilitator of Group 1, Serkap (Third-place winner for the camp hahaha).  In these two days, we conducted various beneficial and interesting activities especially related to Physics for the students.  The overwhelming responses and friendliness of the students had touched us deeply. They totally shown their appreciation and gratitude towards us throughout the event. The students are incredibly smart and independent that they are able to complete task rapidly. I’ve learned so much from the students there as well as my fellow course mates that worked so hard together to accomplish this event especially our emcees and program planner, Boon. Being a facilitator for the first time, I’ve gained more confidence and realized my limitations in speaking the Malay language although I used to score well in my Malay language exams. Listening so many different slangs of the Malay language from the students was also my very first experience as the students came from all over the country. This has brought me difficulties in communicating but intrigued me as well. But thanks to my lovely partner Qyla, I was able to overcome these problems despite my poor communication skill. I’m also glad that some of the students told me that they’ve never really interacted with a Chinese in their entire life which made me a very special person in their life. Besides that, a strong bond of friendship has grown between me and my course mates as our relationship has gotten closer. I still remember during the night after the event ended, many of us walked together from our homestay wanted to buy some mineral water from the town nearby. However, we stopped half way and ended up having supper and chit-chatting at one of food stall for an hour or two. This scene of multiracial friends sitting together over a long table enjoying their night after their hard work and celebrating their friendships together is one of the most memorable moment for me throughout this event.

     Indeed, this trip to Kedah is very rewarding in terms of experience. But the most precious gain is definitely friendship. After the event, it is obvious that we have gotten so much closer and have more interactions in our daily life now. Besides that, I’ve also learn to be understanding, tolerating and forgiving. During discussions, arguments have been made but we all know that it is all for the sake of better outcome and hence, we consider every opinion peacefully with and open heart. Meanwhile, my communication skills and leadership has also improved. By inspiring the student, I’ve felt inspired myself too. Now that I’ve understand the feeling of “the one who helped will be more happy than the one who is being helped”. Throughout this event, I feel that I’ve gained so much more compared to what I’ve given. In the near future, I would like to try out some other social works and activity in order to “give back to the society” and learn more from other people. And maybe, its time for me to pick up that dream again where I have left off.

Thankyou everyone who has made this camp a success including Dr.Selvi and Dr.Goh who were willing to spare their time travelling all the way to Kedah.

Sincerely, Kai Thung.

Serkap <3

Reflection by Soh Jia Wei

It was really an unforgettable trip I have ever join. Let me talk about the preparation done before the activity. There is about 5 to 6 workshops had been held in order to discuss games and training some aerobic exercise as well. Since we were busy in our studying, we need to manage our time properly to attend the workshop. However, these activities teach me a lot in term of responsibility and teamwork.

After few weeks of preparing and discussing, we set the social engagement on 8 of April to 9 of April. At the beginning of the day, we were divided into few group. I am in charge of group 11, which was given a group name, 'Guardian'. Due to I am no so well in communication, another facilitator, Siew How helped me a lot to manage  the group.

I was quite surprised that my group performed well in station games. As an instructor of my station game, maze walker. The team should complete the maze with blind their eyes and only listen to the instruction of team member. This game can enhance the relationship between group member. At the talent night, I was stunned by the performance due to they were very creative and clever in arranging their drama. Finally, the day of our project was ended under happy ambiance.

The second day was begun with aerobic exercise as well as some LDK session. The students were enjoying the aerobic exercises with their passion and sincerity. I really admired their attitude  during learning something new. Besides, Dr. Goh and Dr. Selvi turned up on the day in order to give motivation talk. They have shared about what is Physics in order to inspire interesting of students to Physics. I enjoyed the speech of them as well because I would like to share more with my team members.

Since the second day is the last day of us to be there. We had a sharing session which the representative of each group will share with us what they had learned from these 2 days. I was stunned by a student who told us that she never has a so close distance with other races. I have introspected a lot of it. But, it might prove that our social engagement was really effective in term of socialising with someone comes from different races without counting skin colour and give them an opportunity to get along with us.

At last, This trip was really meaningful to me and I hope the students will work hard in their study and find out their bright future.

Photo of me, Siew How and my lovely teammates during discussion of group name and cheers.

Photo of me and my group members during second day, Grand chase.

Assalamualaikum dan selamat tengahari kepada semua..
  Akhirnya dapat juga masa untuk buka BlogSpot ini. Pertama sekali, saya ingin mengucapkan ribuan terima kasih kepada pihak Universiti kerana mewujudkan kursus Jalinan Masyarakat sebagai salah satu kos wajib Universiti. Untuk sesiapa yang belum ambil kursus ini pasti merasakan kursus ini membebankan tapi percayalah kursus ini sangat-sangat menarik =). Saya juga memohon jam kredit tambahan hanya untuk mendaftar kursus ini.

    okey, untuk kelas kami, pelajar sains bahan, kami sebulat suara bersetuju untuk membuat kem fasilitator di sekolah. Setelah beberapa cadangan nama sekolah dan segala perbincangan antara kedua belah pihak, akhirnya MRSM Pendang Kedah dipilih untuk dijadikan tempat kami menjalankan kursus Jalinan Masyarakat kami. Memang jauh Pendang tapi bila lagi masa kita untuk pergi merantau? zaman belajar inilah peluang kita untuk merantau dan belajar sesuatu perkara baru bersama kawan-kawan.

    Banyak persiapan kami telah lakukan bersama untuk jadikan program kami sempurna dan berjalan dengan lancar. Kami telah mengadakan workshop selama lebih kurang seminggu untuk berlatih tarian, sorak semangat and semua katihan dalam kumpulan (LDK) yang akan kami kongsikan bersama adik-adik di MRSM Pendang. Kami ingin melakukan yang terbaik sepanjang berada disana untuk diri kami, nama kelas kami dan sudah semestinya untuk nama Universiti Malaya.

    Kem ini menjurus kepada kem yang dapat memberikan input kepada para pelajar. Walaupun kami mengadakan permainan kebanyakkannya, tetapi setiap permainan tersebut mengandungi pengisian yang tersendiri dari segi ilmu saintifik mahupun moral. Jadi pada pendapat saya, kem ini dapat memberikan manfaat kepada kedua-dua belah pihak. Dari pihak kami, kami dapat belajar menguruskan program serta mengasah komunikasi kami dan dari pihak MRSM mereka dapat ilmu baru harapnya.

     Melalui program ini, saya sangat bersyukur kerana hubungan antara kami rakan sekelas menjadi lebih rapat antara satu sama lain. Itu merupakan kejayaan terhebat buat kami. Sekali lagi, saya ingin menzahirkan rasa terima kasih yang tidak terhingga kepada Dr. Selvi kerana banyak memberi soikongan secara langsung atau tidak langsung untuk kami menjalankan program ini. Tidak lupa jugak kepada Dr.Goh yang sanggup memandu awal pagi selama 6 jam untuk datang ke Kedah dan sudi memberikan 'talk' yang merupakan salah satu daripada slot program kami. Terima kasih juga dan setinggi-tinggi tahniah kepada semua pelajar sains bahan kerana telah Berjaya menjayakan program ini dengan jayanya. Kami saling bekerjasama antara satu sama lain. Walaupun ada sedikit masalah yang boleh dikatakan 'minor problem', tapi keseluruhannya kita berjaya. Jika ada peluang dan kesempatan saya secara individu, berbesar hati untuk melakukan lagi program seperti ini bersama kamu semua.

-Nurul Izzati binti Omar-

Reflection (Tang Chang Hwa)

Reflection
Name    : TANG CHANG HWA 
Matric No : SIB 150063


Firstly, I was not planned to register the social engagement course as I think I am not ready and can't contribute much to the society. When I knew most of my course mates are taking this course, I only decided to take this course because don't want to take the course with someone that I didn't know.

Before we go to MRSM Pendang, Kedah, we have 3 workshops to
attend. In this 3 workshops, I have learned the choreography of the senamrobik and practiced all the cheers. It is been a long time from my dance and shout. All the members also kind to demo and explain the IQ questions.

 During 2 days in MRSM, I am shocked and surprised by all the students' ebullience and their attendance is nearly 100%. It is totally different with what I thought because during my school time, I was very refusing to join those kind of activities that didn't help in my academics but forced to go. In here, I am experienced a new situation that all students are welcome and respect us. The students were passionate in all activities especially the Station Games and The Grand Chase. If I am in the role of these students, I will be like thinking why need to play so hard?...During the prizes giving ceremony, I also can see them really desperate for the win, that is feeling I am not feel for long time.

After 3 days 2 nights in Pendang, Kedah, I think the students will forget about us and continue their lives, but they didn't, some of us still getting messages from them that they missed us. This make me feel that this is the real generations that the society needed, kind, passionate and can warm our hearts with small actions.
 

REFLECTION BY ROSNADIYA BINTI ROSLI (SIB150061)

                           ROSNADIYA BINTI ROSLI

                                       SIB150061

Sosial engagement is a university course that all students must be take it. Sosial engagement is a course that students need to do activities in a teamwork. The activities performed should be relavant with another society like give some feed to society of bum(gelandangan) in Kuala Lumpur, visit an orphan home or do some activities with them and so on. The best part about sosial engagement is it does not have quiz, test and final exam. Although it is no exam but it’s pushing hard because we have to prepare a proposal and sent to relavant authorities for approval of their discretion to implement the activities in there. We also have to update all activities in our blog.

At first, it never crossed in my mind to take sosial engagement but I need also take it for this semester and drop another university course because this course is in teamwork. Actually, I really do not know sosial engagement is what about. Then first meeting with Dr Selvi that she explains what should we do for this course. After discussion, I decides to choose MRSM Pendang in Kedah although it is far from University of Malaya but it’s okey because it provides food and lodging during our there. 

One week before we go to MRSM Pendang, a lot of preparation to do such as preparing the hampers, dance “zumba”,”gummy bear” ,”merdeka” for our aerobic. Then create some cheers for MRSM Pendang, cheers for University of Malaya. This can be make the program more interesting  and fun. We always back through the night to do preparation.

On 7 April 2016, we took long journey  about 6 hours. We started our journey at 2.30pm and reach at Kedah about  9 pm. We stayed in homestay near with MRSM Pendang.  That night,we gave some briefing about games, LDK and the layout of the event.

During the event at MRSM Pendang, I was very nervous to introduce myself in front of 121 students form 2. I as a facilitator for a group “ALL BLACK”  should always focus on activities, talk nicely with them,give some idea for their cheers, and give proper instruction in LDK’s activities.  In the stations games, I had to take untalkcable part of game where they just only can show the action to their team without any voices and the team need to think what the idiom about. For the next game was  grandchase game that I had to keep recycle part where they required to collect the rubbish and they would get right money from me. That night before the closing event, I got a good feedback from my group”All Black” about Inspire The Aspire program.

On 10 April 2016, the last day we in Kedah, we met the principal of MRSM pendang to give appreciation for allow our program with form two students although they have exam on that week. Each of us also got a gift from MRSM Pendang. Small handkerchief. So cute.

                      

                                             My group-:"ALL BLACK"

That’s my challenge and experience as a facilitator during the program.So I can conclude the sosial engagement is the best course than the other university course because it give a lot of experience to me to implement any programs. Besides that, sosial engagement also closer our coursemates relationship. Futhermore, it has added my confidence  skill communicate infront of people. Then,it teach me to manage the time with the activities and study because before I went to the MRSM Pendang on 7 April 2016, I got a test and from that situation I can manage my time properly.Lastly, thank you to my teammates that gives cooperation to this program.

THANK YOU..!

 REFLECTION

NAMA : NUR IZZATI ARINA BINTI ZAHARI ( FASI ARINA )
NO MATRIK : SIB150038

Assalamualaikum dan selamat pagi semuaaaa (baru ada idea pagi-pagi ni nk tulis) HAHA

        University courses are the one of the compulsory courses that students in University of Malaya should take this courses which include in their credit hours. One of them is Social Engagement which only open once in a year in Faculty of Science. Otherwise, you have to take this course with your juniors +_+. Actually, at the beginning, this course did not include in my subject but all my classmates took this course and I don't want to take this subject with the juniors, So, I decided to drop one of my subjects and replace to this course. For my opinion, this course was really good because I really one to do some engagement with the community and this gives me the opportunity to do that. After that, all of us do some discussion and try to get a place for us to complete this course. A lot of arguing from us especially the date because some of us are really busy. But, at the end, we manage to do this collaboration with MRSM,PENDANG to be a facilitator and shared some of  our experience as the university student.

        All of us are divided into a group which every group has their own work and I am in program unit which is boon as our leader. He is a very responsible person and I really interested how he manage to give all the good and fresh idea. ( BOON  I PUJI YOU NIEE ) So, you are really functioning Boon . A week before the event, we do many of preparations so that this event will be successful and all we want are the students enjoy what we try to do because actually most of us do not have any experience conducting an event with student especially a bonding school students because as we know they only  a selected can enter the school and we afraid that they it for granted.

       During the event, I was paired with Zhee Khang ( why not mention my name in you reflection ) and we have chosen group 4 as our group, names Horcux. They are actually a quiet group  because some of them do not give the cooperation when Zhee Khang and I do some activities, especially in LDK session. So, this is hard for us to make the games fun and smooth because they do not give that cooperation at all. This happens because actually the group member was chosen randomly and maybe he want the same group with his friend. And what I saw in this group, they do not have chemistry and some of them have their own attitude. But, I can see that the chemistry slowly gain and at the end they give a really good cooperation among them and this shows when they got 6 out of 12 best group. I really happy for them and I hope that their friendship never end.

       From this social engagement project, what can I conclude are actually in this world friends are really important because they are the one who is close to us especially we as a student and all our problems we will share together and finding a good friend are not easy. So, through this social engagement project, now I can differentiate what is a good friend is and you are actually a good friend. We do not even know each other well before (walaupun dah sem 2) but from this project I realised that you are actually a fun and good friends. Trough this project also I learned how to communicate with each other and how to manage the events especially with the students. I also learned how to interact with outside party and others.

THANK YOUU !

      

Reflection - Chong Jhuang Hung SEM150008

Name : Chong Jhuang Hung
Matric. number : SEM150008

University courses are the courses whereby every undergraduate has to take regardless whether they like it or not. As a student who determined to put his heart and soul into the study of physics, honestly I allocate the least time and effort in these courses. In order to make my credit hours full, the course Social Engagement is the only choice I have to match with my schedule while I have no plan and no idea what the course is about. Fortunately there's a detailed briefing on this course and at the same time I was burdened by the 48-hour requirement of this course in engaging with the social. The group members are proactive in taking action such as contacting every possible parties and holding meetings.

The 7-hour journey to Kedah seemed to be a tiring one, but unexpectedly the time goes faster with books and comfortable seats of the bus. The students at there are also unexpectedly friendly and sporting as they surprised us by singing the national anthem and institution song exceptionally loudly and proudly. I am happy that been given the chance to be the "booster" as this is something you don't get to do when you get older. Engaging with the students reminds me of the days I was at their age, their problem solving skills and creativity are much higher than my expectation. I feel proud of my team members who become the champion of the games held during the 2 day event.

Time passed fast during the event, again the 7-hour trip is still faster than I expected with the accompany of book and friends. Engaging with the student is fun and hopefully our engagement with them is able to inspire and aspire them as the title says. Engaging with the students, which is an important part of social is something I never done before, and I believe this kind of engagement need to be promoted because it acts as an vital connection between people coming from different places and background.There are still student who texted me 2 weeks after the end of the event, portraying their respect towards the organizer. I would like to thank the head organizer of our group, who put uncountable effort in making this event a successful one, and also every other members assisting him to ensure the planning and aftermath of the event run smoothly, not forgetting Dr Selvi and Dr Goh who traveled all the way to Kedah giving a talk and guided us patiently.

PS:I'm the left one from your view