I walked into the hotel room. There were lots of bags inside the hotel room. My dad had been in a 3 day medical conference to earn 20 CPD (continuing professional development) points, from this year onwards, all doctors in Malaysia needed to earn 20 CPD points in order to keep practicing medicine. This 3 day conference allowed doctors to earn 20 CPD points, but it was a 3 day conference. This year, the conference was held in Ipoh, which is my dad's hometown.
My dad got to meet his parents and go eat at great places. On Saturday, we went to Ipoh to meet him, and from there, we planned to stay one more night and then go to Cameron Highlands and stay one more night there. My mom liked to go to Cameron Highlands because she said that it was colder, and we don't get to experience that in KL (Kuala Lumpur), where we live now (and trust me, according to Google, the temperatures today ranged from 24 to 32 degrees celcius, whereas in Cameron Highlands, temperatures drop down to 17 and rise up to 23 degrees celcius only.)
When I first entered the hotel room, I looked inside the bags. There were lots of things inside. I went through everything. There were literally pens, brochures, notebooks, and all sorts of useless and useful things. I fished through everything, and there was literally everything you could imagine. What do companies give away now days?! I thought. There was even food, and some sample creams for doctors to try out. Hehe, now that you've gave it to me, for free, I guess I'll try it. Thanks for the free cream!
I looked through everything. There were even heavy things inside, which I thought was some type of electronic thing, but apparently was paper. Because my mom wanted to go to the nearby mall to see what there was to buy, I had to leave everything on the bed (and it was really messy - if you was a cleaner, you would be wondering what had happened inside the room.)
After coming back from shopping, we went to this place called Lost World of Tambun. I got to soak in the hot springs, and watch the 'Fire Percussion' show. In my opinion, the Fire Pwercussion show was a little "over" because the people were literally drinking poison to make the fire (to make it look like they were spitting fire). There were a lot of things involving fire, but I do have to say, the people were really skilled. I just hope they don't get hurt! After the Fire Percussion show, we exited the theme park and went back to the hotel.
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Slice Of Life #138 - I'm Going to Melaka! - Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018
Currently...
- It is : in the morning.
- The sky is looks pitch black, but I can see signs of brightness in the distance.
- I am very excited because I am going to Melaka again!
- My bag is already packed.
- I am dressed in my school uniform, and I am ready to leave at moment now.
- I do not like the fact that we have to wear our school uniform even though we are going on a trip. Okay, it's so they can recognize us so we don't get lost. At least we get to wear the pants of our choice.
- I am telling you that this is going to be a short post because I will have to leave soon (because I don't want to miss the bus to Melaka!).
- I wonder what happens if you miss the bus to Melaka.
- I am making sure that I have a book in my bag.
- Okay, I do. I have Anything But Typical in my bag to read on the bus.
- That's if, I don't play Chinese Chess - or something else - on the bus. But the bus ride is 2 hours anyway. Plenty of time to play.
- I am going to wear my mint green watch because I just realized that I am not wearing it.
- Apparently the hotel doesn't have any clocks, so we have to bring our own watches to keep track of time.
- I am looking forward to doing the elevated ropes course at Skytrex Melaka when we reach there.
- I am going to search up our hotel - Hotel Puri - On Google.
- It is a Chinese hotel.
- Woah! 4 star rating! (out of 5 stars)
- Woah! The luxry package in Hotel Puri includes a Peranakan tea set! According to my art teacher, a Peranankan vase is RM500 (because she bought about 10-20 of them for our school). And it's only RM608.
- Speaking of the price, it makes me wonder why it ends with a 8. Usually they end on a 10 or 100 or 5.
- I am logging onto a typing game.
- And... I have to go now.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Social Change Makers Conference (SCMC) - Tuesday, 9th October, 2018 / Thursday, 11th October, 2018
Changing the world isn't the work of one person. Changing the world is the responsibility of every human in the world. Everybody in the world has a big responsibility that lies on their shoulders. The world is filled with people who are being the change the wanted to see. On Tuesday, the 9th of October 2018, we had a small part of our Social Change Makers Conference (SCMC). Dr. Teh Kok Hoi, who is a pediatrician and works in the cancer ward in the KL Children's Hospital.
In my opinion, I think Dr. Teh was very passionate about what he was doing. I think he sub-sub-specialized because he told us that he was a pediatric hematologist and oncologist. I think most of what he was doing was trying to get us to go to the hospital to go care for the patients. He talked to us about how the patients needed to believe that they could get cured, have hope, and have a family to support them. Unfortunately, I didn't really learn much from his talk because my dad is a pediatrician and I already know quite a lot about medical things (not to brag, but I know lots of medical terms and what they mean).
On Thursday, October 11th, we had more people come to talk to us - it was the official SCMC day, but Dr. Teh was occupied on Thursday, so he came to talk to us last Tuesday. We had Janine Williams come, who volunteered at the Chin Women's Organization (CWO). She brought a few refugees with her, and I thought that what they were doing was great. I felt bad for the refugees (well, I felt bad for them the whole time) because of what happened to them. Ester, who was 13 years old, but she didn't remember how she escaped from her country, because she was 7 at the time. Stephen was not so lucky. He was 17 years old and remembered the terrible story of how he escaped. He was crammed into a car with lots of other people and was secretly driven past the Malaysian border from Thailand. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are 161,140 refugees registered with UNHCR in Malaysia - as for the night of Wednesday, October 10th, 2018. There are 139,740 of the refugees registered with UNHCR are from Myanmar, 77,130 of them from Chin, which is a state in Myanmar. Unfortunately, refugees don't have many rights in Malaysia (more like no rights...), but our new prime minister is working to give them more rights. When I asked the refugees what they wanted to do with their lives, Stephen wants to be a musician, while Ester wants to be a singer.
Other than that, we had Swan Tan come as a representative of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). She told us about what they were doing in Malaysia, which included exploring the natural habitats of Malayan tigers. WWF Malaysia was established in 1972. They held anti-poaching patrols, and if they found any clues, they would work with the government to find the poachers. She told us that WWF Malaysia was in charge of about 90 environmental protection and sustainability projects. They also put cameras in forests so they can see what the animals in the forests are doing. The Malayan Tigers are currently endangered (there are now only 250), and they are working to raise the population of the tigers.
We also had Naima Ismail come, who helped the Health Equity Initiatives (HEI) as a translator, and founded the Somali Women's Association Malaysia (SWAM). If refugees had a UNHCR card/UN letter, they would have 50% discounts in public government hospitals, but that would still be a lot of money for them, because even if an operation was 30,000, they would still have to pay 15,000, and they probably would not be able to afford it. As a kid, Naima lived in Somalia (and is from Somalia) and underwent sexual abuse, as boys would always beat up her and her brother. Unfortunately, according to their tradition, girls that didn't stay in their house would bring shame to their family and community, and I am VERY AGAINST THAT. Currently, she is working to give refugees free healthcare and advocate refugee rights in Malaysia, because unfortunately, refugees don't have many rights in Malaysia. Fortunately, our new prime minister is working to give refugees more rights in Malaysia so they live a normal life.
But what I was really looking forward to, was to see Siti Kasim talk to us. She was a lawyer and activist, and everybody knew her. She fought for the indigenous people of Malaysia, the Orang Asli. Unfortunately, people are trying to take away land from the Orang Asli. One of the most recent cases involved of 10,000 acres of their land trying to be taken away and be made into a durian plantation. While I loved durian (yeah, I LOVE it), I am also VERY AGAINST THAT. She and some other lawyers are trying to educate the Orang Asli about their rights, and fortunately, they are setting up blockades so people cannot take their land to stand their ground. She does all this without getting any return, which I think is great because she is doing good things but not asking for anything back. The company actually offered Siti bribes, but she rejected them all (thank you for rejecting them!) - and I got her signature!
We also had Munirah Hamid come, who was the founder of the Pertiwi Soup Kitchen. She provided food and medical services for the homeless & poor who didn't have any soup to eat. As a child, her mom always told her to do what she thought was right, and if she wanted to do something, she had to actually take action and do it instead of just wanting to do it. And when she saw lots of homeless & poor on the streets, she decided to give them some food to eat. The Pertiwi Soup Kitchen provides 4 meals a week to the homeless, and usually they are from 9-10pm. They also would provide medical services so they all wouldn't have wounds or scars on their body.
Ana Popovich is a 7th grader in our school and does weekly cleanups with her mom, Amy Popovich, who is a math teacher (and she also teaches in our school). She told us about a recent case, they found 20 kilos of plastic in a whale, which was why it died. When on holiday, they found out about Trash Heroes and they emailed the Trash Heroes organization, and they started a chapter in KL. There are 6 Trash Hero chapters in Malaysia. So far, their chapter has collected 3458kg of trash, which is NOT GOOD. They also make audits, and they send the information to various organizations. They also introduced us to Eco-Bricks, which are ways of using trash that cannot be recycled to build things. Something I found surprising was the fact that there is a school built of Eco-Bricks. I think this is actually a great idea, because they probably bend better instead of bricks, and if they were to fall, they wouldn't hurt as much as normal bricks falling on you. So far, they have 512 volunteers and have organized 48 cleanups so far.
All these people are doing things to make a difference in the world. They are not looking to be popular, but are looking to make a difference in the world. They all are from different organizations, but have something related in their blood. They all know that if they want something to change in the world, they have to make that action and "be the change you want to see in the world", like Mahatma Gandhi previously said. In the end, we left them with RM500 to help them with their cause. These notable people left us with a valuable lesson, and that is to do what you think is right.
 |
| Dr. Teh speaking to us. |
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| Meeting the refugees and Janine Williams |
On Thursday, October 11th, we had more people come to talk to us - it was the official SCMC day, but Dr. Teh was occupied on Thursday, so he came to talk to us last Tuesday. We had Janine Williams come, who volunteered at the Chin Women's Organization (CWO). She brought a few refugees with her, and I thought that what they were doing was great. I felt bad for the refugees (well, I felt bad for them the whole time) because of what happened to them. Ester, who was 13 years old, but she didn't remember how she escaped from her country, because she was 7 at the time. Stephen was not so lucky. He was 17 years old and remembered the terrible story of how he escaped. He was crammed into a car with lots of other people and was secretly driven past the Malaysian border from Thailand. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are 161,140 refugees registered with UNHCR in Malaysia - as for the night of Wednesday, October 10th, 2018. There are 139,740 of the refugees registered with UNHCR are from Myanmar, 77,130 of them from Chin, which is a state in Myanmar. Unfortunately, refugees don't have many rights in Malaysia (more like no rights...), but our new prime minister is working to give them more rights. When I asked the refugees what they wanted to do with their lives, Stephen wants to be a musician, while Ester wants to be a singer.
Other than that, we had Swan Tan come as a representative of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). She told us about what they were doing in Malaysia, which included exploring the natural habitats of Malayan tigers. WWF Malaysia was established in 1972. They held anti-poaching patrols, and if they found any clues, they would work with the government to find the poachers. She told us that WWF Malaysia was in charge of about 90 environmental protection and sustainability projects. They also put cameras in forests so they can see what the animals in the forests are doing. The Malayan Tigers are currently endangered (there are now only 250), and they are working to raise the population of the tigers.
 |
| Naima Ismail advocating the rights of refugees and how they don't have free healthcare. |
 |
| Me (in the gray shirt) getting Siti Kasim's signature. I seem happy, right? |
But what I was really looking forward to, was to see Siti Kasim talk to us. She was a lawyer and activist, and everybody knew her. She fought for the indigenous people of Malaysia, the Orang Asli. Unfortunately, people are trying to take away land from the Orang Asli. One of the most recent cases involved of 10,000 acres of their land trying to be taken away and be made into a durian plantation. While I loved durian (yeah, I LOVE it), I am also VERY AGAINST THAT. She and some other lawyers are trying to educate the Orang Asli about their rights, and fortunately, they are setting up blockades so people cannot take their land to stand their ground. She does all this without getting any return, which I think is great because she is doing good things but not asking for anything back. The company actually offered Siti bribes, but she rejected them all (thank you for rejecting them!) - and I got her signature!
 |
| Munira's great slides |
 |
| Munira Hamid introducing us to the Pertiwi Soup Kitchen. |
 |
| Ana and Amy Popovich speaking to us about Trash Heroes |
All these people are doing things to make a difference in the world. They are not looking to be popular, but are looking to make a difference in the world. They all are from different organizations, but have something related in their blood. They all know that if they want something to change in the world, they have to make that action and "be the change you want to see in the world", like Mahatma Gandhi previously said. In the end, we left them with RM500 to help them with their cause. These notable people left us with a valuable lesson, and that is to do what you think is right.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Slice Of Life #137 - Flash Floods - Tuesday, October 16th, 2018
Water quickly fell and hit the ground hard. I could hear water swishing down the road, and see circles of water in the road. Drops of water plummeted the ground hard, and rushed down the downhill road as if they were ants rushing to tell their friends that they had found food. We couldn't go anywhere, for we didn't have a umbrella. We were eating in an open air restaurant, and every single of the tables slowly filled with tiny little dew drops. I saw innocent motorcycle drivers waiting for what seemed like forever for the traffic lights to turn green. While they waited, they were splashed with lots of water, and when the light did turn green, they accelerated and drove off.
Because of the weather, we had to wait before we could go to our car. I saw a lady that we knew well, as she worked at the restaurant take a long stick and push water off the roof (after Googling what it was supposed to be called for 3 mins, I give up, and I will just call it a roof.) She then put a big bucket below the roof and waited for it to fill up. What's she doing? I thought. Because it was just one bucket, so I didn't question it. But then another big bucket came. And another. Until there were 3. I asked my mom what they were doing.
"Why ask me? Ask them!" She replied, which was basically all she always said. But that was not all. I saw buckets come one after another, and it never seemed to end.The buckets quickly filled up, and they had to replace them with other buckets. There was so much rain falling from the sky, but there was no water, because they were doing a major repair in the water treatment factory.
Then a thought hit my mom's brain. "Oh... Maybe their taking the water to wash the plates because there's no water!"
"Wait, are you allowed to do that?"
"Obviously not."
"Like I thought."
As I saw more and more buckets come, I was starting to believe that what my mom said was true. Then I saw something inside one of those blue buckets. The thing inside it was transparent. It took me a few seconds to analyze what it was in my brain.
Then it hit me. Cups. I couldn't believe this.
"Should we report them?" I asked my mom.
My mom rejected my suggestion, because she said that it was 'tattle-tailing'.
What a beautiful planet we have! And it's slowly getting destroyed. It has rained so much these days that I cannot believe it. At the beginning of the year I read an article that said how some countries would get lots of rain, but there would be droughts in others. But what do Homo-Sapiens hold? We're humans! We're supposed to care for each other! Yet we use rainwater to wash cups. I cannot believe it. What have we become!?
Because of the weather, we had to wait before we could go to our car. I saw a lady that we knew well, as she worked at the restaurant take a long stick and push water off the roof (after Googling what it was supposed to be called for 3 mins, I give up, and I will just call it a roof.) She then put a big bucket below the roof and waited for it to fill up. What's she doing? I thought. Because it was just one bucket, so I didn't question it. But then another big bucket came. And another. Until there were 3. I asked my mom what they were doing.
"Why ask me? Ask them!" She replied, which was basically all she always said. But that was not all. I saw buckets come one after another, and it never seemed to end.The buckets quickly filled up, and they had to replace them with other buckets. There was so much rain falling from the sky, but there was no water, because they were doing a major repair in the water treatment factory.
Then a thought hit my mom's brain. "Oh... Maybe their taking the water to wash the plates because there's no water!"
"Wait, are you allowed to do that?"
"Obviously not."
"Like I thought."
As I saw more and more buckets come, I was starting to believe that what my mom said was true. Then I saw something inside one of those blue buckets. The thing inside it was transparent. It took me a few seconds to analyze what it was in my brain.
Then it hit me. Cups. I couldn't believe this.
"Should we report them?" I asked my mom.
My mom rejected my suggestion, because she said that it was 'tattle-tailing'.
What a beautiful planet we have! And it's slowly getting destroyed. It has rained so much these days that I cannot believe it. At the beginning of the year I read an article that said how some countries would get lots of rain, but there would be droughts in others. But what do Homo-Sapiens hold? We're humans! We're supposed to care for each other! Yet we use rainwater to wash cups. I cannot believe it. What have we become!?
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Slice Of Life #136 - The Man - Tuesday, 9/10/2018
"Ugh." I heard the sound of a slap as I went down the dark, gloomy stairs. My parents and a few of their friends were talking as we went down the stairs. I clutched my blue water bottle in my hand as I went down the stairs. I hope everything's OK down there. I thought in my brain.
I was in the headquarters (or at least I think it's their HQ in Malaysia).When we went down, I saw a young man in a blue shirt sitting on a chair outside the toilets. He was reading something, but made sudden movements in the process. He also produced sour sounds, and everyone didn't dare to go close to him. My parents met a old friend, and they started talking together. After 3 minutes of talking, we started talking about the young man that was sitting outside the toilets. She said that she would always come and read. When we went down to the carpark, we talked about him in the car. We decided to go up and talk to him for once.
Uncertainty flew around in my mind. How would he react? What would he do?
"Is there anything we can help you with?" My dad asked.
"No, I'm fine." He smiled.
"We were just wondering why you're still reading here. It's real dark here. Do you want to go in?"
"No, thanks."
"Do you live close by?"
"No."
"Well, feel free to go in if you need to."
"Ok."
After talking to him, we found out that he was a normal person. My dad told me that the man suffered from a disease called 'Ticks' (That how you spell it?). I felt really bad for him. He probably didn't have many friends because of this disease, but he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't control the sudden movement he made.
We went in and met a guard (well, not really a guard, but a person that walked around the building with a flashlight every night making sure everyone was safe). When we asked him about it, we found out that the man would stay in the store room in the guard house. He stayed 1 hour away from the building, and his parents would come and pick him up every now and then. His dad was old, while his mom suffered from Alzheimer (which is a disease where you can't remember things. I also think that that's how you spell Alzheimer.), and his brother was working. When he tried to help mop the floor, his hand made a sudden jerk, and all the water splashed on the floor. I felt bad for him because I knew that he wanted to help in the community, but there weren't many ways for him to do so.
There are a lot of diseases these days, and I hope that as we progress into the future, we will be able to fight them and win the battle so all of mankind is free of fear and know that we got the cure.
I was in the headquarters (or at least I think it's their HQ in Malaysia).When we went down, I saw a young man in a blue shirt sitting on a chair outside the toilets. He was reading something, but made sudden movements in the process. He also produced sour sounds, and everyone didn't dare to go close to him. My parents met a old friend, and they started talking together. After 3 minutes of talking, we started talking about the young man that was sitting outside the toilets. She said that she would always come and read. When we went down to the carpark, we talked about him in the car. We decided to go up and talk to him for once.
Uncertainty flew around in my mind. How would he react? What would he do?
"Is there anything we can help you with?" My dad asked.
"No, I'm fine." He smiled.
"We were just wondering why you're still reading here. It's real dark here. Do you want to go in?"
"No, thanks."
"Do you live close by?"
"No."
"Well, feel free to go in if you need to."
"Ok."
After talking to him, we found out that he was a normal person. My dad told me that the man suffered from a disease called 'Ticks' (That how you spell it?). I felt really bad for him. He probably didn't have many friends because of this disease, but he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't control the sudden movement he made.
We went in and met a guard (well, not really a guard, but a person that walked around the building with a flashlight every night making sure everyone was safe). When we asked him about it, we found out that the man would stay in the store room in the guard house. He stayed 1 hour away from the building, and his parents would come and pick him up every now and then. His dad was old, while his mom suffered from Alzheimer (which is a disease where you can't remember things. I also think that that's how you spell Alzheimer.), and his brother was working. When he tried to help mop the floor, his hand made a sudden jerk, and all the water splashed on the floor. I felt bad for him because I knew that he wanted to help in the community, but there weren't many ways for him to do so.
There are a lot of diseases these days, and I hope that as we progress into the future, we will be able to fight them and win the battle so all of mankind is free of fear and know that we got the cure.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Slice Of Life #135 - ISA Testing - Tuesday, 2/10/2018
Boy, am I relieved know that ISA testing is over. Over the past 2 days, we had the International Schools Assessment (ISA). Over the past couple of weeks, kids just like me in international schools were going to be doing a test just like this, according to their grade. In our school, grades 3-10 would do the ISA test, while grades 11 and 12 would be studying for their IB exams, which was way more important than the ISA test. Yesterday, we had 2 math tests and 1 narrative writing test.
In my opinion, the math tests weren't too hard, but the narrative writing test took a lot of creativity. They gave us a topic, which was A COMPUTER IN A RUBBISH BIN, WHICH I THINK IS A PRETTY BAD TOPIC. Ok, it was a good topic, but it would be considered 'a weird topic'. In the end, I decided to write about how the computer belonged to a undercover CIA agent, and the CIA agent had to go and get his computer back. Another thing I was concerned about was the time limit. We were given 30 minutes, and with a topic like this, I think we really should have longer time to write the story.
Today, we had a reading test and a opinion writing test. I found a few of the questions in the reading test challenging, but in the end I think I managed to find the correct answer. Well, I'm pretty confident with my answer.
After lunch, we had the writing test. Now came another topic. Music is not just fun, but is also good for you. I knew that music was good for you, but I was only able to come up with 2 reasons. Music can brighten someone's day and reduce stress and help with depression. Playing a musical instrument may help you to make new friends, and may also improve their motor and cognitive skills and build new connections between your neurons. I would usually write 5 paragraphs, but because I didn't have enough reasons, I had to stick with 4. I think I did pretty well in this test, and I hope to see some good results (well, everyone does).
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