Its been a freaking long time since my last post. Today, I am sharing my experience in the Biro Tatanegara Camp that had commenced two weeks ago.
WARNING: Walls of text crushing in! Read at your own risk! If you feel that it is necessary, you may take breaks to rest your eyes if you wish. The poster will not be responsible for any liabilities or inconvenience caused by this post.
PROLOGUE
Before entering the camp, I had asked those of my housemates whom
had went to the first and third batch of the Biro Tatanegara Camp. They
exclaimed that it is pretty decent and urged me to enjoy it. However, I was a
bit skeptical initially and didn’t really take their remarks seriously. And
guess what, they had proven me that I am wrong!
At 20th
April, Sunday, my friend, Michelle and I took a bus from Sungai Petani to Kuala
Lumpur. I shared a room with another friend, Joshua who was flying from Sarawak
at the motel right in front of Taylor’s College. We stayed for the night and at
noon next day, we just walked to the opposite of the college to wait for the
bus. The bus arrived at 1pm and we reached the Kem Bina Negara Kuaters KLIA,
Nilai in less than an hour later. Upon reaching, we went for a registration and
checked in to our respective rooms.
DAY 1
A FRESH START
The first day
in camp was always the introductory or warming up phase. There is really
nothing very special at this moment. After hearing some briefings and welcomed
by the head of our camp, Kak Nadiah, we learnt that this camp is created for
scholars whom are going to pursue their higher education at the overseas. The
purpose of attending this camp is to enable ourselves to understand more about
our own country and thus, planting more seeds of patriotism in our hearts. We
proceeded on electing the camp committees, and later asked to learn to sing the
“Satu Malaysia” song and the “IM4U” song which will be played at the start of
each seminar session.
We were told that we will have a movie
screening every night at 8 o’clock. It was a patriotic movie that is divided
into 4 parts of 30 minutes each. We were told to pay attention to the movie and
identify every day 5 messages or themes that are portrayed by the actors in the
movie.
THE FIRST SEMINAR
Our first seminar session that night is about
the core concept of “Satu Malaysia”, its purpose and the culture of racial
unity and acceptance, not just toleration that it tries to create among all
Malaysians.It was a concept that encourages individual growth and gives
emphasize on the achievements and performances of individuals as a whole that
will contribute to the development of a better nation.
DAY 2
The next day, I woke up early at 6:50am. Well,
actually it is not early at all because the first activity starts at 7am!
Although I reached the field 10 minutes late, I was quite relieved that I am
not the last one to reach there. I was expecting some punishment for us who are
late since we were told to line up in a marching formation. However, we were
just given a verbal warning, not even a scolding. Without any further ado, we
had some marching practice and a flag-raising ceremony, a daily routine in the
camp. After breakfast, we proceeded on our seminar sessions.
THE 3 SEMINARS
There are 3 seminars today. To be honest,
I don’t really like seminars especially when the topics fail to grab my
attention. Nevertheless, I still told myself to pay attention because the
topics discussed may eventually be tested in the final examination at day 5.
The first seminar was about Malaysia’s initiative in moving forward to become a
first world country and the subsequent measures implemented by the government to
realize its mission in correspondence to the “Satu Malaysia” program. The
second lecture is about the challenges and problems faced by the country in
moving forward towards development and some snippets about the federal
constitution.
The third one is a more casual sharing session
given by a second year Malaysian student whom was currently studying Politics
and International Relationships in Royal Holloway, London. This session is
really interesting for most of us whom are going to study abroad in UK had to
chance to learn more about the life in UK and some preparations that we ought
to make before going there. Her one hour sharing session brought more
anticipation for me to study in the UK.
SIMPLE PHYSIOLOGICAL TESTS
Not long after that is our recreational
activity session. We were told to do some physical tests to have a glimpse of
our physiological age. Most of us are in our 30’s and 40’s, physiologically
which is regarded as a disgrace for our tender age. It made me reflect that I
should really exercise more to halve my current physiological age.
THE START OF THE GROUP ACTIVITY SESSIONS
The second night is where the fun starts.
After our usual movie screening, we were introduced to our group activity
facilitators. We played some awesome yet hilarious ice-breaking games such as “Simon
says”and “the tree and the squirrel”. These games tested our attention and
focus as well as our flexibility. After the volley of games, 94 of us were then
assigned to groups of 8. I was placed in group 5 along with the other 11
members. Each group was then given a patriotic song and was asked to practice
it well for the creative performance at the fourth night. Little did we know at
that time, that this was the start of a remarkable friendship.
DAY 3
ICE BREAKING AND CREATIVE PERFORMANCE
Things turn pretty enjoyable at day 3.
After some morning exercise and the flag-raising ceremony, we got into the
newly formed groups and did some group work. The group works were all conducted
in assigned rooms and each group was led by a facilitator. The facilitator of
our group was Mr Hasri and he was a cool but nice person. First, we had
ice-breaking. Everyone was told to ask relevant questions whenever a person
introduces himself and write their first impressions about the person. This
process actually helps us to know more about others and learn how others view
you from their perspective. The ice-breaking session actually helped us to warm
up and increased a sense of understanding among us. Later, we were given a
task. We needed to prepare for a short performance entitled “The 5 awesome
factors of Malaysia”.All groups immediately started off to work.
FROM THE EYES OF A GROUP 5 MEMBER...
Preparation process is usually a tedious
one but with our awesome group leader, Chris, we managed to overcome every
obstacle that we face with ease. He was a good leader that has great
experiences in directing short films. He divided us into two teams, the props
team and the plots team. We planned a documentary style performance showcasing
a program host interviewing Malaysians and experiencing the Malaysian culture
himself. I was so amazed to find that members of our group are very
enthusiastic and cooperative to get things done. We even went to have our lunch
late for the sake of completing our task.
SOME SELF-BRAGGING STUFF...
The team spirit among us was very
mind-blowing and it eventually paid off. In the end, our group became the group that received the most
‘X’s from the juries. We were praised for the hilarious and interesting
storyline, beautiful yet creative props created by wonderful artists of our
group, our deep understanding towards the Malaysian culture as well as being
able to convey our message to the audience. Our group members are certainly wonderful actors, especially our documentary host, Joshua, our mamak stall cook, Arun and the Hari Raya Open house host, Abi and Tian Jia. Man, I couldn’t have done all of
these without you guys!
THE NIGHT GAMES
After some cultural aerobic dance for
exercise, we had some station games that night. Teams are given a paper with
clues about the name of the facilitators in charge of the 5 stations and were
told to find the stations marked with white candles hidden all over the camp. All
these stations teach us of something related to our country such as the
important articles within the federal constitution, the five National Pillars,
the importance of national unity and many more. Some stations are like
classroom lectures while some use games to convey their message.
HARDEST STATION (IMHO)
The hardest station that we attempted
requires more than just problem solving skills. We were asked to fill a 1.5
liter water bottle with water using the regular 500ml bottle. The large water bottle
was placed inside an area surrounded by nylon strings. You cannot touch the
strings nor breach your limbs across the strings and you were only given 12
wool strings to complete your task within 30 minutes. The solution is none
other than tying the bottle with the strings and maneuver the bottle to pour
water into the large bottle. However, as we progressed with failed attempts to
pour even a single drop into the large bottle, we started to realize that
communication and coordination to control that single bottle is not as easy as
it seems. When we managed to succeed by changing plans in the last moment, our
time was up. We were later told that it will be easier to handle if there are
12 strings controlling the bottle.
THE "GHOST STATION"
There was a “ghost station” as well, which
highlights the issue of LGBT and sparked controversy among groups that had been
tricked to enter the particular station. Our group has not been able to
complete all the stations due to time constraints and the fact that all of us
had been deceived by the “ghost station” too which “doesn’t exist”. Even so, it
was still a wonderful experience to all of us. Say, how can you ever forgot running
around the track holding hands with one of your group mates while shouting ‘I
love you’ to each other?
DAY 4
THE ORDEAL
The next day was a challenging day. With
that night’s patriotic song competition looming ahead, it seemed that everyone
was trying to memorize the song assigned to them and desperately finding time
for rehearsing the performance. We had an interesting game at the morning. It
was a game that tests the wits and cooperation of all participants. Each group
was given a long pvc pipe. We were told to pass the Ping-Pong balls given
through the pipes from our starting point to an end point. The rules are: 1)
nobody is allowed to speak; only the head of the participants, our “Tok
Penghulu” can give commands. 2) The group carrying the pipe containing the
Ping-Pong balls cannot leave their standing positions. 3) Every participant except
the head must hold the pipes at all times, but is not allowed to touch the ends
of the pipe. 4) The ball shouldn’t fall down the ground. If one of us infringed
any of those rules, all of us will have to “die”, lying down on the ground, and
then later “reincarnate” at our starting point.
ENLIGHTENMENT
At
first, everyone was not used with the rules and mistakes kept happened. As a
result, there were many “deaths” initially which was most of the time caused by
a single individual whom forgot to obey the rules. Everyone started blaming
someone deep under their heart for making them lying on the wet and filthy
ground, thanks to that morning’s drizzle. Then, remarkably, after dying a few
times, you got numbed of the sands and pebbles stuck on the back of your shirt.
Everyone started to become more focused on the game. And eventually, the
mistakes disappeared. We passed the balls further and further. Out of the blue,
we heard a rumbling sound and not long, raindrops fluttered from above. The
rain continued to fall as we progressed to pass the 3 balls into our hall. Within
a few seconds, it became a downpour and drenched all of us wet. Seeing that we
were almost there, we ignored the rain and pressed forward. The facilitators
even stood in the rain with us, giving us encouragement to complete the game
despite all odds. Within a few minutes, we arrived at the hall. At that moment,
we made a mistake and were told to die. Luckily this time we were not told to
return outside but to restart at the front of the hall. In the end, we managed
to pass the balls into the checkpoint. This was my first team game performed
under the rain. Although all of us ended up cold and wet, but I think that the
sense of satisfaction originating from this was the most rewarding part of the
game. At that moment it felt like you already conquered the world, and nothing
was there to stop you.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
During the afternoon, teams were given a
topic to discuss with their facilitators. After the topic discussion, every
team was given some time to practice the song that they were going to perform
that night. Thanks to our kind facilitator, we skipped the topic discussion and cut straight to our practice for the night's performance. Our group had tried to make a more special performance. We split
our group into two. The girls practiced acapella style-singing under the
guidance of former choir leader, Percy whereas the boys do formation marching,
a great idea thanks to group member, Eugene. Later, we merged back and practice
the whole song overall. Again, the process was a beautiful one and everyone
pretty much like the interaction during the practice.
A LESSON TO REMEMBER
We got scolded…the very first time in this
camp by the head of our camp, Kak Nadiah that night for being not punctual for
our supposed movie screening. The reason behind this en’ masse unpunctuality is
most people felt that the practice for a better performance in stage is more
important than the patriotic movie screening. It was the first time I felt her
being so upset and angry of us all. Well, I could possibly understand how she
felt because I had some experiences in organizing activities and to me, being
able to follow the schedule to get activities planned done as pre-planned is
important in the sense that it doesn’t waste the time of those whom attend my
activities and it leaves a good impression on the management level of the
committee in charge of that particular event. She was actually trying to give
us a lesson because she believes that successful people knows how to make the most
out of their limited time. A moment of silence follows after she spoke. It was
certainly a food of thought for all of us for that instance and a lesson to remember.
SHOWTIME!
That night’s performance began after our
final movie screening session. The whole performance was handled and hosted by
students. Each group was so keen in performing their best after hours of practice. All groups unleash every single creativity that they have.
HIGH EXPECTATIONS
Being the second group to perform, everyone of us was actually quite nervous when we saw the first group was also having some marching slots in the performance. It seems that the pressure of striving to maintain our previous record and the fear of lack of practice were the feelings that haunt us. Well, even though we managed to pull out an overall good performance, I had to admit our group actually did quite a lot of mistakes during the performance. All of us felt that we didn't give our best during the song. Everyone sank into a self-blaming mode after that until the next few performances that managed to make everyone temporarily forgot about that.
KEEP THE PARTY GOING!
Even after the 2km’s run and the fireman’s lift test we performed during the
evening, everyone is still in high spirits throughout the night. Cheers and
laughter filled the night. There were also extra "performances" done by some of the famous comedians of the camp. Credits to our beloved hosts, Puru and the Penghuluwati,
for making all of these possible. After the end of the performance, we then
realized that it was not a competition at all. Everyone was a winner. It was
the greatest night of all. But sadly, it was the last night in the camp. Well,
it seemed that most of us including me didn’t even study at all due to being
too tired after the day’s activities.
DAY 5
THE EXAMINATION AND THE CLOSING CEREMONY
The next day, it was finally the exam day.
After returning the blankets and bed sheets, we gathered at the complex before
heading to the hall for breakfast. Later everyone sat for the supposedly
dreaded exam and found out that the questions are actually not too hard despite
most of us didn’t really study for the exam. It was an open book MCQ and had quite
“user friendly” options. Then, you had the Closing Ceremony. Kak Nadiah
debriefed us with best wishes on our future undertakings and expressed her
thanks for our cooperation in this camp. Following the end of the Closing
Ceremony is a lunch and an informal photo session for most of us before going
back to our respective colleges.
Attending the BTN camp is surely one of the most greatest experiences in my life. Not only I learned so much and developed a better understanding about my country, but even managed to make so many new acquaintances that are similar to me whom are going to study abroad soon. I wish everyone all the best in their future undertakings. Here's to quote a word from the Hunger Games :
Cheers!
The Usual One
