My Encounters, My Life

Revamping the Youth Room

2010-01-06T01:54:00.005+08:00

28 December 2009

It's the time of the year when spring cleaning starts.

Pristine, Jordan and I embarked on our ambitious mission on revamping the youth room at Eunos Community Club.

Jordan's Mum fetched us to Ikea Tampines for our furniture shopping.

It was quite a challenge, having to source for the most value-for-money furniture. There were so many different shelves and cupboards, that we were practically walking in a maze.

To save cost, we had to give up bringing this ideal cupboard back as we would have to pay for delivery.

To give ourselves a treat for the hard work, we rewarded ourselves with the delicious hotdog bun and the Ikea smooth ice-cream!

Trip to KL, Cameron Highlands, Malacca

2010-01-03T23:11:00.016+08:00

25-27 December 2009

Day 1 - 25 December 2009

After 3 hours of sleep, I dragged myself up to spend the Christmas long weekend in Malaysia with Mother and Baohui. The tour is organised by Eunos Zone '3' Residents' Committee.

Just about 2 weeks ago, I went to Malaysia to attend the One Asia Forum and WAY 60th Anniversary Celebrations. Memories of Malaysia were still vivid in the mind.

Our tour guide, Bernard Yeo, is a very experienced one. His sharing of his knowledge on Malaysia really engaged us tourists. He also has a great sense of humour. Referring to the old cars in Malaysia, he said, "马来西亚的车是没有投胎的" (Malaysian cars don't undergo reincarnation), unlike Singapore cars which have to be scrapped after 10 years.

At Kuala Lumpur, we visited the National Monument. It was constructed to commemorate the heroes who lost their lives fighting against the Communists, led by the Malayan Communist Party. The communist insurgency ended with a peace negotiation between Malaya and Thailand. The communists were given plots of land in Southern Thailand. Those who returned to Malaysia had to face imprisonment.

The statue shows victorious Malayan soldiers stepping on defeated Communists and waiving the Malaysian flag proudly.

The park adjacent to the monument had this ASEAN sculptures that were created by a Singaporean.

Next, we visited Malaysia's largest Chocolate paradise - Cocoa Paradise.

We tasted samples of chocolates of coconut, durian, strawberry and sesame flavours. Too bad they didn't provide samples for the Hot Curry chocolate. Couldn't imagine how it would taste like.

Before checking into the hotel, we spent some time shopping at the Megamall.

At night, we walked around Sungei Wang.

And had our supper at the roadside. The Hokkien Mee is totally black, with sauce and whatever is on the "seasoned" wok. Awesome!

Day 2 - 26 December 2009

It was a great morning. The travelling to Cameron Highlands was smooth and without delays. Although it was a festive season, we didn't experience traffic jams.

We pulled over at a warehouse for a break.

We drank strawberry coffee and tea.
For the first time in my life, I ate raw corn. It was crispy and sweet and feels real healthy.

Our next stop was a Water Cress plantation. Father used to cook water cress soup for us as its a cooling drink. I finally get to see how a living water cress look like.

Before departing to the next stop, we drank some water cress tea.

Some random cabbage:

We also visited a bee farm. The bees at this farm roam freely around the whole farm, so as to enable the flowers to be cross-pollinated.

According to the sales attendant, hot honey water can help soothe sore throats but the cold version can cause phlegms.

Bees & Honey

On our way to Cactus Valley, we encountered a traffic jam and missed its closing time.

So we ended up checking out the shops instead.

Tomatoes:Cactus:Grapes:

And Hydroponics:

For dinner, we had steamboat vegetable buffet. Consuming plates after plates of vegetable really purifies the body.

Day 3 - 27 December 2009

En route to leaving Cameron Highlands, we passed Kampong Raja, the largest town there and also Tanah Rata (flat land).

Tea Plantation:

The tour group took a group photo at Malacca:

Malacca is well-known for its Peranakan culture. The architecture of minarets of mosques have a strong Chinese influence. The traditional Nonya would don 3 hair pins, representing the 3 countries of heritage - namely, China, Indonesia and Britain. In Penang, the Nonyas would don 5 hair pins, which represent Myanmar, Thailand, China, Indonesia and Britain.

Had the delicious Chendol.

Damai Secondary AV X'mas Party

2010-01-03T22:40:00.005+08:00

24 December 2009

Damai Secondary School Audio Visual Club Alumni held a Christmas gathering at Stacey's house. It must have been 2 years since I met with my lovely juniors.

The party was very well organised. Enter the house and the Taboo Words game kicks into action.

I scored pretty badly initially but managed to get many of them to say the taboo words. The top accumulators of taboo words faced forfeits.

The food was awesome. The turkey and ham were delicious!

Halfway through the party, Ziyang, Chee Lee and I went to a neighbouring block with the hope of locating our long lost AV Club member Lois Lin. We knocked on every unit on the floor, but our efforts were in vain.

Not forgetting the gift exchange.

YP International Relations Social Gathering Nite

2010-01-03T22:12:00.005+08:00

23 December 2009

It had been some time since I met up with the Sichuan Kakis. Early this year, a group of us went to Chengdu, Sichuan, China for a bonding trip.

Bumped on to Hwee Ping while figuring out my way to Tori Toma, One Fullerton. What a coincidence.

Joel the Santa Claus did a surprise wedding proposal, and of course the answer was "I do".

Christmas for Kg Chai Chee Toastmasters

2010-01-03T21:46:00.004+08:00

22 December 2009

Kg Chai Chee Toastmasters club had a mini Christmas celebration at the last chapter meeting of 2009.

Mdm Sim wrapped some gifts for fellow Toastmasters to ballot and pick them.

We enjoyed a log cake together.

The Table Topics session was also Christmas-themed.

And I guess my best Christmas gift by Toastmasters would be my Competent Communicator award. Look forward to embarking on the advanced manuals!

MPS Christmas Gift Exchange

2010-01-03T17:12:00.004+08:00

21 December 2009

He is a Singaporean citizen with a foreign wife. She is now 9-month pregnant and owns an expired visa. No airline will allow her to travel.

He was retrenched by his company and promised a repayment sum, which had not been paid. Heavily laden with debts and having to pay for divorced wife's alimony, he is struggling to tide through each day.

They are among the residents who came to see the Member of Parliament to seek help at the weekly Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS). Being able to listen to their woes, make them feel better, and pushing their cases to the relevant agencies make my Mondays a satisfied one.

After all the residents had returned home, MPS volunteers stay back late, way past 12am, to ensure that appeal letters are promptly sent out.

MP Zainul Abidin Rasheed reads every letter, before signing them. He would always be the last person to leave the place.

In celebration of Christmas, some of us held a Christmas gift exchange.

Jasmine does the honour of labeling the gifts for balloting.

Received a glue stick as a gift....

Make A Wish This X'mas!

2009-12-31T12:26:00.010+08:00

20 December 2009

I had always wanted to see a collaboration between my RC and YEC. Therefore, in October, the idea of a joint project to celebrate Christmas was born. In a novel attempt, I invited some youth residents, who were not grassroots volunteers, to sit in the organising committee for Make A Wish this X'mas!.

Organising Secretary Pristine took charge of the gifts, with the assistance of our new volunteer Evelyn. Huijing and Jordan planned games for participants. Alex and Huzaifi arranged for the instant photo print-out booth.

We also conducted our usual door-to-door sale of tickets to the residents residing in the adjacent blocks beside the event venue.

Hours before the Christmas party, Jovell, Evelyn and Megan employed their creativity and transformed the Pavillion into a cosy living room.

I spent some time convincing Huijing to be one of the Masters of Ceremony for the event. Being her first time emceeing for a grassroots event, she was really nervous preparing her script. But she shined when she delivered her maiden speeches. Glad to have Megan be our Mandarin Master of Ceremony. You will hardly get to see such a disparity in heights between Emcees.

Upon arriving at the Pavillion, residents get to pen down their wishes, which were pinned onto a netting that would remain at the venue past new year.

The Guest-of-Honour was Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, MP for Aljunied GRC & Adviser to Eunos Grassroots Organisations. Also present was Mr Lin Tze Kin PBM, Chairman of Eunos Community Club Management Committee.

Donning a Santa hat, Mr Zainul was warmly greeted by the applause of residents.

YoSpinz put up an eye-catching Yo-Yo performance. Mr Zainul then officially launched YoSpinz, a Yo-Yo interest group of the Eunos CC YEC.

Among the games were the Squirrel and Trees game, Musical Chair and the Santa Makeover.

The Santa Makeover was the climax of the whole event, with residents assisting their team mates to decorate the best looking Santa Claus out of... children.

Family members also came to support the event and enjoy the festive celebrations.

Pristine spent days to paint the backdrop, of which we would take our photos with and then print it out instantly. Here's a picture with Hock Rong and Santa Chee Lee.

Photo with Cousin:

Photo with Pristine the artist and Huijing the Games Master:

After the event, we then celebrated it with ice-cream at our usual hangout place - the MacDonald's.

Aljunied-Hougang Zone '5' RC Christmas Party

2009-12-30T13:54:00.002+08:00

19 December 2009

The beautiful paintings on the HDB flats in Aljunied-Hougang Zone '5' greeted me as I searched for the venue for the RC's Christmas Party.

I was engaged as the Master of Ceremony for the void deck party. Some residents had set up flea market stalls, selling a range of products such as clothings, accessories and soft toys. Movies were screened to engage the early-bird participants.

I conducted a Musical Chair game for the energetic kids and am glad they found it a thrill. "Hohoho!" Santa Claus came with sweets. Children, from a nearby childcare centre, performed Hawaiian Dance.

For Professional Emcee Services, log on to http://www.r2e.com.sg

MP Zainul visits Blk 616 residents

2009-12-30T13:40:00.005+08:00

19 December 2009

Member of Parliament (MP) for Aljunied GRC (Eunos Division), Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed visited the residents of Blk 616 Bedok Reservoir Road.

During block visits, the MP would bring along grassroots leaders, in particular members of the Residents' Committee, Constituency Office officer, Town Council officer, HDB officer and NEA officer so that feedback from residents can be promptly answered or noted down for further actions.

Floor by floor, the MP makes it a point to cover every unit and interact with residents.

Residents were surprised with the candid nature of MP Zainul. Some of the Chinese residents would converse with him in Malay, and he would bid farewell by a simple "再见" (Goodbye).

When asked if she sings Karaoke, this resident said no, but quickly pointed out "爱拼才会赢" (Ai Pia Jia Eh Yia), the Eunos Hokkien song, which MP Zainul sings fluently.

Often the conversations break out into laughters.

Here's a short video I managed to capture:

Jazzing Christmas @ Eunos

2009-12-30T13:05:00.003+08:00

18 December 2009

In collaboration with Singapore Raffles Music College, Eunos Grassroots Organisations present "Jazzing Christmas @ Eunos". I was honoured to represent my RC as a member in this organising committee.

It was hard to imagine such a formal event to be occuring at the CC. In fact, everyone turned up in their formal attires. Mr Michael Fong PBM even came with his tuxedo!

Students from Singapore Raffles Music College sang along with the jazz tempo. Guest-of-Honour, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs & MP for Aljunied GRC, also led everyone to sing a Christmas Carol Song.

Really loved the Jazz music!

Meanwhile, at the theatrette, the Marvel Kidsworld child care centre was having their very own graduation concert.

R2E Concepts Wedding Emcee

2009-12-30T12:39:00.007+08:00

13 December 2009

Leaving Eunos Community Club, Hock Rong and I headed to the Four Seasons Hotel, where Hock Rong would be the Master of Ceremony for a wedding lunch.

As the bride was Korean, the emcee spoke English and Mandarin while a co-emcee provided the Korean translation.

Being my first time at a wedding lunch, it was an experience witnessing the solemnisation process and the beautiful Korean traditional clothings.

For professional wedding emcee services, log on to http://www.r2e.com.sg

Eunos Zone '3' RC Karaoke Marathon

2009-12-30T12:09:00.005+08:00

13 December 2009

2 hours upon arrival at Changi Airport after the One Asia Forum and World Assembly of Youth 60th Anniversary Celebrations, I went to the Eunos Community Club theatrette to help out at Eunos Zone '3' RC Karaoke Marathon.

The event received overwhelming response, with most of the singing slots already reserved.

Garlands were available for rent by supporters and fans.

And here's Mdm Sim Lai Ngin, Vice-Chairman, Eunos Zone '3' RC, who headed the organising committee for the Karaoke Marathon.

It was a pity I had to rush off for another event. Singing can be quite addictive.

WAY 60th Anniversary - "One Youth, One World, We are the World"

2009-12-29T18:34:00.018+08:00

11-13 December 2009

Day 1 - 11 December 2009

In August 1949, an initiative was undertaken to establish a youth organisation to promote global cooperation and understanding amongst the young people of the world. Recognising the need for a universal youth organisation, youth leaders from national youth councils of all member countries of the United Nations were invited to attend an international conference at Westminster Hall in London. That conference saw the establishment of the World Assembly of Youth (WAY).

After the Asian Youth Council General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, we were ferried to Puteri Resort, Malacca. All the other delegates were already touring the historic city of Malacca, so we quickly settled our luggage and headed off to meet them.

Photo with Acting Secretary General of WAY, Ms Ediola Pashollari:

In the evening, we went for the Melaka River Cruise.

During dinner, I got to know Patrick Kasyula, who's a Research & Development Officer at the Youth Enterprise Development Fund Board, Kenya. When I said I'm a Singaporean, he was quick to praise the Singapore Government. In fact, he pointed out that in the 1970s, Kenya and Singapore were in similar conditions. If Kenya hadn't been plagued with civil wars, Kenya could be like Singapore. He also shared that his country is learning from Singapore and he is confident that with the civil wars over, Kenya would be catching up.

After the cruise ride, we took some photos while waiting for the bus. Later would we know that our boat had dropped us off at the wrong place and the buses had left us. In the end, we spent hours waiting.

Photo with Prof Jakarin Srimoon, SEA-LAC Trade Center Executive Director:

Photo with Du Dong, Deputy Director, International Department, All-China Youth Federation:

Photo with friend from Nepal:

Photo with the Asian Giants - Du Dong from China and Ravi Narayan, Secretary General of Indian Committee of Youth Organisations:

And I bumped into Joanne, my fellow Toastmaster, who was in Malacca for a Chinese Calligraphy competition. What a small world!

Day 2 - 12 December 2009

In the morning, WAY participants gathered in front of the PKNM building to prepare for the Youth Walk "Democracy". The programme the One Asia Forum read WAY's Run, so many of us were quite surprised that we were going to actually walk for "Democracy".

The Guest-of-Honour was Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam, Chief Minister of Malacca and President of WAY. He led the participants in the walk towards the new World Youth Complex.

With the World Youth Complex in the background:

There was an official launch of the World Youth Complex and the WAY Headquarters.

Welcoming Address by Ediola Pashollari, WAY Acting Secretary General:

Address by Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, Chief Minister & WAY President:

Official opening of World Youth Complex:

Photo with a WAY executive member:

And we signed off our names at this historical event:

Back at the hotel, had the last meal in Malaysia together with Fred and Lesley.

The send-off:

Later in the afternoon, some of us decided to head to Malacca city centre instead of the bowling competition. Patt, Yunos and I were lucky to have a Malaysian Peng Hooi with us.

Our first stop was to try the famous Chicken Rice ball.

And not forgetting Chendol!

In the evening, WAY participants joined in the WAY's 60th Anniversary Celebration Dinner at Dewan Seri Negeri, Ayer Keroh.

Photo with friend from Jordan:

There were cultural performances from various countries, including Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Friends from Vietnam brought some Vietnam snacks for us:

When Yunos was named as the 7th place bowler, we were all stunned! How could he have won the competition without being there to play it?

Someone had used his name to play the game and won it for him! Yunos must be very happy. He told me he hadn't played bowling in his whole life.

We were all very amused and humoured by the different sizes of the prizes.

Videos of past WAY's themes were screened and awards were given to various youth leaders.

Photo with Dr Kwang Sun Cha, President of National Council of Youth Organisations in Korea (NCYOK) and Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, Chief Minister of Malacca & President of WAY:

Photo with Ole Lovig Simonsen, WAY Past President (1988 -1993) & former Minister for Housing and Building, Denmark:

Day 3 - 13 December 2009

Home Sweet Home.

One Asia Forum

2009-12-17T01:14:00.025+08:00

8-11 December 2009

Day 1 - 8 December 2009

Jing Hui delivered the good news that I had been nominated to attend the One Asia Forum just slightly more than a week ago. Later would I know that only 4 Singaporeans will be participating in this forum.

The One Asia Forum - Youth and Social Media: Online Collaboration and the Future of Asia is organised by the Asian Youth Council (AYC), supported by Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia, in collaboration with Malaysian Youth Council, Institute for Minds Development (INMIND) and the Committee for ASEAN Youth Cooperation (CAYC).

Hock Rong sent me off at the airport, where I met two other Singaporean delegates - Fred (Tiong Bahru CC YEC) and Lesley (Frontier CC YEC). The other delegate, Xianyang (Kovan CC YEC) took the bus.

At the arrival gates of the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Kuala Lumpur, we were ferried by taxi to Swiss Garden Hotel, where the forum would be held for the next two days.

In the evening, the welcome dinner was held. There we interacted with delegates from other countries. There are a total of 23 countries participating in this forum, with a total strength of about 100 youths.

We forged a friendship with the Thais that would bond us together for the next few days to come.

Malay cultural performances entertained us for the evening...

as we enjoyed a sumptuous meal.

After the dinner, Singapore delegates started planning for the cultural performance item each country has to present on the closing ceremony.

Day 2 - 9 December 2009

The itinerary for the day reads "Knowledge Sharing". Guest speakers from various countries talked about various dimensions of social media. The session began with a briefing on Malaysia's Information Communication Technology (ICT) presented by a government official from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). On route to Vision 2020, the 9th Malaysia Plan would conclude in 2010. The 10th Malaysia Plan would focus on infrastructure, content development, industry development and access to markets.

Prof Jakarin Srimoon, Executive Director of The Southeast Asia - Latin America and Carribean (SEA-LAC) Trade Center, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) spoke on the power of social media. Social Media has overtaken pornography as the #1 activity on the Web. Using SEA-LAC as a reference, Prof Jakarin talked about how to get our organisations to embark on social media and how SEA-LAC uses social media to engage its members.

Mohd Fauzi Shafie, lecturer from the Faculty of Management, Multimedia University Cyberjaya, spoke on "Social Marketing using Social Media". Defining social media as a channel and not a strategy or a tactic, he talked about the reasons behind the popularity of social media and the benefits of social media. I particularly like the part where he mentioned that in social media, it's the Return on Influence instead of Return on Investment that counts. A weak person can have high influence on the world if he knows how to.

Reza Razali, Managing Director of Terato Tech Sdn. Bhd., covered "Social Media Applications". His advice is avoid clutter and focus on one platform instead of diversifying into too many infrequently updated platforms.

Hazel Hassan Hisham, Marketing and Communications Manager of Asia Pacific Region F-Secure Corporation, talked about the emerging trends in social media. Facebook is the #9 most popular brand online, with users spending an average of 3 hours and 10 min per person per day. This is more time spent on Facebook than email, and the highest average time per person amongst the 75 most popular brands online worldwide. Hazel also shared how social media can support our businesses and used F-Secure as a case study.

Karsten Wenzlaff, Social Media Manager from Germany, spoke about "Social Media in Europe: Collaboration, Cooperation and Participation". This was a very fruitful topic since it's the only one out of Asia and there are many learning points from his discussion.

Roshidul Hasan, President of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) International Student Association, spoke on "Rural Youth and Social Media: Engaging Rural Youth to Build Digital Generation". Bringing everyone back to reality, Roshidul urges participants to work towards bridging the digital divide and extending social media technologies to the rural parts of Asia.

Dato' Fuad Hassan, Director General, Department of Special Affairs, Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture Malaysia, summed up the session with "Let's Connect and Build One Asia!"

The Opening Ceremony was held in between the sessions. It was graced by Dr Puad Zakashi, Deputy Minister of Education Malaysia.

The gong was sounded to signify the opening of One Asia Forum 2009.

We were proud to meet Jackie, PAYM Central Youth Council member, Treasurer of AYC & Deputy Chairman of CAYC. He shared his experiences in international forums and also introduced us to various AYC members.

A photo with Mr Moammar Mutahar Mohamed Al-Eryani, Yemen's Deputy Minister, Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports, also the Vice-President of Asian Youth Council & Yemen friends

One Asia!

3 participants were selected to be interviewed on Metro TV.

As soon as the Knowledge Sharing sessions ended, we changed to our casual attire and headed out to the streets with our Thai friends.

Malaysia flags were proudly hung everywhere. Many organisations also show their support for Malaysian Premier Najib Razak's call for One Malaysia by displaying the icon on their buildings.

This is my first time at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC). I had always seen it from a distance and finally I'm up and close to this twin towers. The night view is breath-taking.

Some of us thought that KLCC resembles Suntec City, for instance the logo and the fountains...

We had our nostalgic A&W for dinner.

Back at the hotel, we rehearsed our cultural performance item until late night, ensuring that it would be a spectacular performance. Laughters rocked the room from time to time. Like what Fred said, we have the "Chemistry". We managed to think of a skit (that humoured ourselves so much that Lesley says too much laughter will hurt the heart) and perfected it within just a few hours. Xianyang was so committed to the skit that he lost his voice!

Day 3 - 10 December 2009

We have to literally drag ourselves up in the morning, with just 4-5 hours of rest.

The "Youth Speak!" sessions for the day were moderated by Dr. Turiman Suandi, Professional Development and Continuing Education Department, UPM Malaysia.

As an ice-breaker, Dr. Turiman asked everyone to draw his/her portrait using the non-master hand, and pen down our wishes for Asia. We then presented our drawings to our peers.

Delegates from the Phillipines, Republic of Korea and Indonesia shared some of the social media intiatives in their countries and organisations.

We then broke up into groups and brainstormed ideas on how to accomplish One Asia with social media. Each group would be given USD300 as a grant to kickstart the project. Xianyang is a genius to think of "Youth-nited" (that's so PAYM!) as a theme.

With friends from Indonesia:

With friend from Mongolia:

With friend from Yemen:

I felt that the participants are all very warm and friendly. The forum provided a wonderful opportunity by uniting youths from so many different countries.

There was a 3-hour break before the Closing Ceremony, so the Singapore team hit out onto the streets again to explore KL. After Sungei Wang, we saw a Lok Lok van!

Participants turned up in their countries' traditional costumes. It was candy to the eye to see all the different costumes that our friends are wearing. In other words, you can call it "Culture Shock".

Mongolia:
Cambodia:
Korea and Vietnam:

Wael, from Yemen, dons a dagger at his waist. Karina, from the Phillipines, with the elegant umbrella.

Sara, from Vietnam, and currently working in Singapore.

Before the dinner commenced, one by one we received our certificate of participation from AYC President Dato' Seri Dr. Mohamad Khir Bin Toyo.

Dinner was served just before our cultural performance items.

Most of the participants sang native songs and performed native dances. Singapore does not have a rich culture, but we were determined to show to our counterparts that Singapore is an interesting place to visit. As such, we performed a skit that narrated the experience of a first-time tourist to Singapore.

This is Fred driving the aeroplane with our tourist Lesley Marry Brown as his passenger, in front of the Changi Airport.

"Congratulations for being the 1 billionth visitor to Singapore! You win yourself a very special tour package."

And then, we talked about National Service (with Xianyang and Fred performing the Water Parade drill), Kallang Wave (where Xianyang lost his voice shouting), the Merlion, the "Fine" city and the Great Singapore workout!

Participants, including the AYC members, stood up and joined us in our Great Singapore Workout! Concluding our skit, we called for everyone to join us in our Youth Olympics Game 2010 in Singapore!

As soon as we completed our skit, we dashed off to send Xianyang to the bus terminal.

Fred, Lesley and I managed to be back at the hotel in time to see our Thai friends performing the Loy Krathong dance. We also joined our Vietnam friends by dancing on stage with them. Other performances include the Nobody dance by our Korean friends, Bangladeshi song by Roshidul, etc.

As the night gets darker, the temperature just gets hotter. After the closing ceremony ended, the stage was turned into a mini-club. Some of us rocked and danced like there's no tomorrow.

After the party ends, the Thais, Koreans, Jordanian, Singaporeans, Filipino congregated at Fred's room for chit-chatting...

Day 4 - 11 December 2009

After breakfast, Fred and Lesley departed to Malacca for the World Assembly of Youth (WAY) 60th Anniversary Celebrations while I stayed for the Asian Youth Council Annual General Assembly.

Thanks to Jackie, I had the privilege to experience what an AYC general assembly is like. Like he said, the AYC meeting is like a bigger version of the YEC meeting. True enough, the proceedings are very similar.

Members presented their activities for year 2010. They include the Indian Committee of Youth Organisations, Yemen Youth General Union, All-China Youth Federation, National Council of Youth Organisation in Korea (NCYOK) and Malaysian Youth Council.

The AYC is a non-governmental, youth-serving, regional organisation formed in 14 August 1972 to promote solidarity and family spirit among young people in Asia as well as to strengthen national youth organisations in the region. AYC is a member of the WAY, and is in consultative status with the United Nations Economics and Social Commission (ECOSOCS)

National youth councils in Asian nations shall be eligible for membership of the AYC if they are recognised by the national Governments as umbrella bodies for youth organisations in their countries, and if they are voluntary and have as their main purpose the promotion of youth interests and development. Only one member organisation shall be admitted from each country.

The People's Association Youth Movement represents Singapore in the AYC.

During a tea break, a Cambodian friend told me that youths in his country compete for the ASEAN scholarship that is sponsored by the Singapore Government because of its prestige, and the possibility of leading a better life.

After the AYC meeting, we were then ferried by coach to Malacca to join the WAY 60th Anniversary Celebrations.

Eunos Emergency Preparedness Day & International Volunteer Nite

2009-12-17T00:17:00.008+08:00

6 December 2009

Lin Qiang and I woke up early in the morning to attend the Cyber Patrol Squad briefing by the Internal Security Department at Bedok North Secondary School. The Cyber Patrol initiative is a project under the Kampung Spirit @ Eunos.

The intent of Kampung Spirit @ Eunos was to build resilience and strengthen the social fabric amongst the residents of Eunos by rekindling the kampung spirit of yester years. This was done through a slew of initiatives like the formation of the Eunos Community Engagement Champions (CECs), the Most Caring Neighbour Awards and the Eunos EP Day.

Recent incidents around the region show cyberspace could be used to spread rumours and fuel tensions. Recent trends also show an increase of internet users being victims of cybercrime. The intent of the watch group is to spread crime prevention messages relating to cybercrime and to alert the law enforcement agencies of any activities that will affect the safety and security of the community. The Cyber Patrol Squad consists of youths and students from Bedok North Secondary Schoool and will be under the charge of Eunos Youth Executive Committee (YEC).

The ISD briefing was insightful. Terrorism videos were screened to create awareness among the attendees. Coming from a combatant unit in the military that is at the forefront against terrorism, I can fully appreciate the facts that were shared. Police officers from Bedok North Neighbourhood Police Centre also presented some of the common cyber crimes, such as smooching, hacking, identity theft, phishing, etc.

As the leader of the Cyber Patrol Squad, I collected the certificates of appointment from our MP Zainul Abidin Rasheed, later during the Eunos Emergency Preparedness Day.

The Eunos Emergency Preparedness Day is organised by the newly formed Community Emergency and Engagement (C2E). In collaboration with grassroots leaders and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), the EP Day creates awareness on how to handle emergency situations.

The theme for this EP Day is the I.C.E (In Case of Emergency) project. The SCDF is encouraging mobile phone users to label their emergency contact with ICE in front so as to make it easier for others to contact the victim's next of kin. For instance, you can key save your Mum's number as "ICE -Mum" in your phone's address book.

Eunos CC YEC took charge of the games stalls for the event. The games were traditional ones, including Chapteh, Five Stones and Dart Throwing. It was happy for the youths when parents/grandparents start to talk to their children/grandchildren about how they were so good at these games when they were young.

Residents also get to experience water rationing when water supply gets cut off during emergency.

In the evening, grassroots leaders (GRLs) walked over to the Old Temporary Market to be appreciated at the International Volunteer Nite @ Eunos.

Wacky informal awards were up for nominations. These awards included: Best Uniquely Dressed GRL/ Most Thoughtful GRL/ Most "Relax One Corner" GRL/ Best Logistical Support GRL. Hock Rong received the Best Uniquely Dressed GRL award, with the reason of nomination being "always wearing the Red Liverpool Shirt", while Abdillah won the Most "Relax One Corner" GRL. Haha!

Throughout the event, I was busy looking after the YoSpinz kids. It's a pity my phone ran out of battery, but fortunately I could use one of the boys' camera phone to record the spectacular Yo-Yo performance.

Chilled with the YEC members at MacDonald's, and with Jialing's spontaneous idea, we each took photo with a huge Mac Smile:

It was a tiring yet fruitful day. 13 hours of grassroots volunteering. Cool.

YoSpinz Power

2009-12-07T12:36:00.004+08:00

4 December 2009

The Yo-Yo Interest Group under the Eunos CC YEC gathered again. I was encouraged by the attendance, which was the same as the first gathering 2 weeks ago.

The session commenced with a brainstorming on the naming of the Interest Group. Many interesting ideas were generated and concluded on one. We are now called YoSpinz!

As a tribute to grassroots volunteers for their dedication, the Eunos International Volunteers Nite would be held in the weekend. YoSpinz, despite just a few weeks old, decided to put up a performance for the grassroots leaders.

YoSpinz will also be launched by Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, MP for Aljunied GRC and Adviser to Eunos CC YEC during the Make A Wish This X'mas party.

Hock Rong interacted with the parents while Alex was recollecting his Yo-Yo tricks.

YoSpinz will be engaging professionals to conduct Yo-Yo courses for its members. Want to join YoSpinz? It's FREE. Just sign up at Eunos Community Club!

Christmas Tree Decoration for Singapore Botanical Gardens' 150th Anniversary

2009-12-07T11:58:00.004+08:00

4 December 2009

In celebration of its 150th Anniversary, the Singapore Botanical Gardens invited schools, embassies, companies, and community organisations to decorate the 150 Christmas trees planted at the SBG. National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan would be lighting up the trees on 5 December 2009 at the Singapore Botanical Garden Party.

Eunos CC Youth Executive Committee is 1 out of 30 PA grassroots organisations to be invited to decorate a Christmas tree. The PA Corporate Communications had also made an appointment with the YEC to film us doing the deco.

Edmund, Hock Rong and I went to the SBG after purchasing our materials. At the SBG, there were many buggies ferrying people around and we hopped onto one. Along the way to our tree, we saw many beautifully decorated trees, some with a theme, some with their organisational identity.

It was raining as we decorated the tree. Donning Christmas hats, we captured the attention of some passers-by.

For the YEC's Christmas tree, the theme was Wishes. Written wishes of the YEC members, staff of Eunos CC and other grassroots leaders decorated the Christmas tree.

As my first time decorating a Christmas tree, I would say it's not that difficult to do so. But with a bad weather and wet shoes, it was fun and tired at the same time.

Lions Club of Singapore Eunos turns 13

2009-12-07T11:44:00.002+08:00

3 December 2009

I was invited for the Lions Club of Singapore Eunos 13th Anniversary Celebrations Dinner at Bliss Garden, Expo. Mr Ho Ying Sang PBM was the organising chairperson for the event.

It was an experience for a first-timer at a Lions Club event. Despite the fact that it was a dinner, the President of Lions Club of Singapore Eunos, Amber Sim, called the meeting to order with the sound of a chime. The roll call was then made. There were many District Governors and other District officials seated among us.

Lions Club members address each other as Lions. For instance, The President of Lions Club of Singapore Eunos would be called Lion Amber Sim. In Mandarin, the terms used to greet fellow Lions would be 狮兄，狮姐.

The Guest-of-Honour for the celebrations is Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, MP for Aljunied GRC and Adviser to Lions Club of Singapore Eunos.

After speeches were made by appointment holders and the GOH, the mission and code of ethics of the club was read, before the President called the meeting to end.

BNSS SLC Orientation

2009-12-07T11:33:00.003+08:00

28 November 2009

The Eunos CC Youth Executive Committee holds an orientation session for its Bedok North Secondary School Service Learning Club (SLC) annually. This is to welcome the new batch of SLC students and to make them understand the People's Association grassroots network.

The mood inside the Eunos CC Theatrette is significantly different from past years. The main reason being that the in the recent inaugural PAYM Service Learning Festival 2009, the SLC was 1 out of 3 SLCs in Singapore to win meritorious awards in both school-level and community-level category.

I presented the PA grassroots network and shared my experience as a mentor of the "Are YOUths Stressed?" SLC forum, before rushing for my Principles of Marketing examination.

In 2010, the SLC, with the mentorship of the YEC, would be planning and organising a sports carnival, Sportacular, and YouthOUT! 2010. Let Eunos CC YEC and BNSS SLC wow the rest in next year's Service Learning Festival!

Reflections from SSEAYP PYs Hosting

2009-11-30T21:22:00.006+08:00

Playing host to the Ship for South East Asia Youth Programme (SSEAYP) Participating Youths (PYs) had given me a memorable experience. What better ways are there to forge friendship with friends from other countries besides staying together under one roof?

In the weeks leading to the hosting period, I was hesitant in whether to bring them around Singapore. That was the study week right before the school exams. The decision to host them was made just a day before meeting the PYs. It was a decision well made.

Over the course of 2 days and 2 nights, I learnt much about Cambodia and Myanmar as much as they learnt about Singapore. The following are some of my take-home points after the hosting.

Alex (Cambodian) shared that MediaCorp TV soap operas are screened everyday during the prime period in Cambodia. Cambodians adore Singaporean celebrities and Alex even calls Zoe Tay as "Bobo" (the name of the character in one of her popular shows). Interestingly, Alex said that one reason why Cambodians love Singapore shows is that our productions usually promote family values and good moral values.

When Alex and Thu Yein heard that Singapore politicians meet their constituents once a week during Meet-the-People sessions, they were amazed. They don't have any channels to meet their local political leaders when they want to.

Thu Yein (Myanmar) shared that he likes our Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong because SM Goh frequently travels to his country. The friendship fostered by our political leaders with their counterparts built over the years is valuable. The efforts to build ties with other nations are consistent.

36th SSEAYP Homestay Programme

2009-11-29T18:30:00.017+08:00

25-27 November 2009

The Ship for South East Asia Youth Programme (SSEAYP) is a 52-day programme, which sees youths from 11 countries (Japan, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, Laos, The Phillipines, and Vietnam) gather on board a ship and travel to different countries. The whole trip is sponsored by Japan. Youth participants fly to Tokyo for their first stop, before departing to other countries. During each visit, they would be hosted by locals in the homestay programme.

My senior Chee Wei was selected for the 36th SSEAYP this year, thus he sought my help to host 2 Participating Youths (PYs). And I agreed.

So after my RT IPPT at Bedok Camp, I rushed over to Buona Vista Community Club. There I met my PYs - Alex from the Kingdom of Cambodia and Thu Yein from the Union of Myanmar. As we took the cab back to my place, Alex kept asking questions about Singapore while Thu Yein dozed off from motion sickness.

Alex (Kem Sithipanha) is in the education business and currently teaches English and elementary Japanese. Phyo Thu Yein is a government administrative officer under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Once we reached home, I introduced them to Mother and Brother. Alex affectionately addressed me as Gor Gor, and Mother as Ma Ma.

How could anyone miss the beauty of Singapore's night scene. While Thu Yein turned in for the night, I brought Alex to take a look at the skyline of Singapore. From City Hall, we went to see the St Andrew Cathedral, Supreme Court, Parliament House, Old Supreme Court, City Hall, Padang, and Esplanade.

Alex was crazy about the "durian", so I brought him up to the roof and enjoyed the breathtaking skyline.

On our way back, Hock Rong joined us for supper at the famous Bedok 85 market.

We ordered sugar cane drink (Alex said it's real expensive here), satays (Alex's favourite), oyster omelette, and barbeque stingray! According to Alex, Cambodians love spicy, sour and sweet food but not salty ones.

We reached home, with a satisfied stomach, at about 2 am.

The next morning, Thu Yein was feeling much better. We visited the wet market, a unique heritage of Singapore. We settled our brunch at the Pasar Makan @ Bedok Reservoir food centre. For their first time, they tried Mee Rebus and Mee Siam.

After brunch, they learnt about our local grassroots network, with the first visit to Eunos Community Club.

And my Residents' Committee centre.

Hock Rong and I also briefed them about Singapore politics, stopping by the PAP Eunos Branch, where I collected the party magazine, Petir, as their souvenirs. They were fortunate that the current edition of the magazine featured the party's 50 years in power, so they could learn much about Singapore from the readings.

Both Alex and Thu Yein were surprised to hear that Singaporeans can see their Members of Parliament every week at the Meet-the-People Session. In their countries, they don't usually get to see their political leaders.

We also went to the PCF Kindergarten and share with them how the Party created the Community Foundation to provide affordable early childhood education to Singaporeans.

Leaving my neighbourhood, we went to Bugis Village for simple souvenir shopping. We met quite a lot of hosts and PYs there.

We also visited the Kwan Im Thong Hood Temple and an Indian temple beside it, before going to Illuma for window shopping.

Time is the essence. 2D2N is really not enough to discover Singapore. On foot, we headed towards Dhoby Ghaut, where we wanted to show our guests the official residence of our President - the Istana.

Along the way, we checked out the National Library.

The Singapore Art Musuem.

Singapore Management University.

We took a rest at Plaza Singapura, the most popular hangout place for local youths. Just as we were leaving the shopping mall, Kung Fu Panda appeared! We playfully lined up among the crowd of children. We were the only non-parent adults in the queue!

Alex and Thu Yein took a photo with the Istana as their backdrop. Then we headed to the Singapore River, where we walked around the shophouses, across the Cavenagh bridge to the Merlion Park at One Fullerton.

Alex finally had his dream come true - for having the splurting water photos.

Along the way back to City Hall, we found ourselves at Parliament House (for Thu Yein who missed it).At night, they presented souvenirs from their countries to my family.

From Myanmar: a scroll and a traditional puppet

From Cambodia: An Angkor Wat plate, keychain, hand-woven scarf and a postcard (drawn by the handicapped)

Before they slept, I too surprised them with some local goodies, which included: a copy of the Petir, PAYM wristband, a copy of the Army magazine, a book titled "Things that make us Singaporean", Uniquely Singapore postcards (which I collected and kept for years!), PUB notepads, Singapore's 40th NDP caps (which they proudly wore on their way back to ship the next day), as well as my secondary school's camp tshirt and my junior college orientation shirt (which they were so touched, they immediately wore it till they reached their ship). While presenting the souvenirs to them, I talked about the background information of each souvenir. That took a whole hour, and we found ourselves turning in at about 1am.

In the morning, all of us, including Mother and Hock Rong, ate at the Kopitiam. We bought half-boiled eggs and toasts for them to savour the local breakfast.

We reached Vivocity at about 11.30am. Their ship proudly stood at the harbour. It was great to hear Singapore songs like "This is Home", "Uniquely You" and various NDP songs being played.

Note the NDP caps and their tshirts in this picture!

At noon, the PYs went up to ship for a change of clothes. When they returned, they were dressed in their smart attire, with name tags bearing their respective state flags and their names.

The Kingdom of Cambodia (Kingdom of Wonder):

The Union of Myanmar:

The Republic of Singapore (Uniquely Singapore)!

And the rest:

At about 1.30pm, we boarded the ship for a tour.

This is where the PYs dine. When they stop at different countries, they get to sample the local food specially prepared by the chefs on board.

3 PYs are housed in one bunk.

While on board, the PYs have a packed schedule. In the morning, there is physical exercise. During the day, they discuss various issues in their designated themed groups. Alex is in the group that discusses educational issues. They would need to develop a plan that can be executed. This is one of the place where they discuss:

They even have a hall and a theatre:

So this is how the Snowman looks from a ship!

The sending off ceremony was supposed to commence on the ground, but due to the sudden heavy downpour, it was carried out inside the ship instead.

We were rather disappointed when we were told that we could wait but we won't be able to see our PYs. Alex had routinely requested us to stay until the ship leaves, as there would be a ceremony where the PYs would throw a roll of paper tape down from their deck and the hosts would hold on to them until the paper breaks.

Fortunately, the rain went off just as the ship is setting sail!

Perhaps due to the rain, there were only about 3 PYs throwing the paper tape down, and Alex was one of them!

Shouts of "I Love You" came to and fro. Alex and Thu Yein did their part too. At one point, Alex turned emotional and wept. That was really touching. It was just 2 days ago that we met.

The ship left the berth but the waiving of farewell didn't stop, until the ship vanished from sight.

I wonder what's the probability that 2 people living in another side of the world would actually get to stay at my place and spend time together for days. It is really a fruitful experience and a very memorable one too.

A Celebratory Weekend

2009-11-29T13:43:00.006+08:00

21 November 2009

The organising committee for Make a Wish this X'mas met on Saturday morning and conducted a site recce. Many interesting ideas were mooted and I really look forward to the party!

22 November 2009

Eunos Zone '3' Residents' Committee launched its Basketball Interest Group with a friendly multiracial basketball match. The Guest-of-Honour was Mr Lin Tze Kin PBM, Chairman of Eunos CC Management Committee.

Students from Telok Kurau Primary School also participated in the match.

Halfway through the match, Mother, Brother and I went to a restaurant at Defu Lane to celebrate Uncle's birthday.

The Birth of Yo-Yo Interest Group

2009-11-23T23:01:00.003+08:00

20 November 2009

I thought the playing of Yo-Yo had died out after my secondary school days, until I saw more and more children and teens playing them in my neighbourhood. The best way to confirm a trend is to take a look at the shops they frequent, and yes, they are selling more and more Yo-Yos.

Hence, the idea of a Yo-Yo interest group under the charge of the Eunos Community Club Youth Executive Committee is formed. Slightly a month ago, recruitment banners to the interest group were strategically placed near Eunos Community Club as well as around Telok Kurau Primary School.

The response was overwhelming. In less than a month, we had more than 35 names. The participants were so eager that they kept asking the Eunos Constituency Office about the details for the first gathering.

For our first gathering, we met at Eunos CC basketball court. In attendance were Chairman of the YEC Hock Rong and Children's Programme Secretary Diana. The age of the participants varied from as young as 7 years old (!!!) to 22. After understanding the objective of the interest group, everyone introduced themselves and did their own signature Yo-Yo trick.

They were then grouped according to their proficiency levels, picked their own leader and named their own groups.

The experts then coached their peers.

It is fruitful to provide a platform for people living around one another to gather and foster bonds.

PAYM Service-Learning Festival 2009

2009-11-19T10:10:00.006+08:00

17 November 2009

Edmund, Hock Rong and I attended the inaugural PAYM Service-Learning Festival 2009. The festival comes 4 years after the inception of PAYM Service Learning Clubs (SLCs) in secondary schools. The SLCs partner their respective Community Club/Centre's Youth Executive Committees (YECs), leveraging on the existing grassroots resources to organise projects that benefit the community.

The event was graced by Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of National Development, MP for Sembawang GRC & Adviser to Central Youth Council.

Outside the Brickworks Auditorium, the meritorious award winners of the Project Accolade displayed booths featuring their winning projects.

Bedok North Secondary School SLC, which partners Eunos CC YEC, won 2 meritorious awards, 1 in the school-level category (Project Care) and 1 in the community-level category ("Are Youths Stressed?" forum). I was excited when I heard that the SLC students that I mentored for the forum won. It was a lot of hard work and effort put in.

Looking forward a BIG win next year too!

Festivals of Lights - Deepavali and Loy Krathong

2009-11-17T00:29:00.004+08:00

14 November 2009

I was the Master of Ceremony for the Deepavali & Loy Krathong cum Block Party celebrations, organised by Eunos Zone '2' Residents' Committee. Before the commencement of the event proper, I went around to learn about the significance of these two festivals.

Loy Krathong is a festival celebrated by the Thais. During the celebration, water lanterns would be released. The release signifies the expulsion of bad luck, and to get a refreshing start.

Deepavali is celebrated by Indians. This festival marks the triumph of good over evil. To them, darkness is evil, and candles and oil lamps are lit to brighten away darkness.

During registration, participants were sprinkled holy water (rosewater) and added the "dot" on their forehead in the Indian tradition. Ladies used the red powder made from sephron flower while men use the powder made from sandlewood.

The celebration begun with the lighting up ceremony by grassroots leaders. The special Deepavali stand is constructed by the RC members.

Dinner was Indian-style Nasi Briyani, prepared by Velu's Family Restaurant. The restaurant is located at Eunos Community Club and is well-known for its curry fish head.

After a sumptuous dinner, participants started praying for a better year ahead and released the water lanterns. Regardless of religion, everyone prayed on the same platform. Such is the uniqueness of multiracial Singapore.

The lanterns were made by the RC members as well. They are made from styrofoam bowls.