Special Assembly: Hari Raya Celebration

by Emma Lim Su Mei, Junior 2 Higgs, Class of 2015

The long wait is finally over. A week full of mouth watering food, fabulous Raya clothing and precious moments with family and friends has finally arrived. Just what everyone needed after the exam week stress that has been radiating around school and the gruelling exam preparation the seniors have been enduring for the longest time, no? Of course, the wondrous occasion called for a celebration, all done up in a traditional Cempaka style assembly. A proper holiday celebration just wouldn’t be the same without the mandatory formal assemblies full of exciting performances and riveting speeches. 

All dressed in traditional clothing, the students were sat in the hall in anticipation of the show to come. Our competent emcees kicked off the assembly introducing the first performance - a poetry citation done tastefully by the Primary students. Typically, poetry citations don’t keep the crowd interested, but the enthusiasm portrayed definitely put us in the holiday spirit. The verses in their poem spoke of the Raya festivities that are celebrated every year. All in all, they did a good job at setting the mood for the day.

A throwback to Cempaka's International Understanding day, the Sophomore 2 girls came out on stage with a well choreographed dance number. For those who didn’t attend the event held in school the previous Saturday, this dance provided a glimpse of what they had missed. It was a blend of traditional and modern, which definitely couldn’t have been an easy task. However these girls definitely mastered it to the best of their abilities, leading to the most elegant yet heart racing performance of the day.

Next up was probably the most memorable performance of the assembly. Rarely do we ever get the chance to see our very own teachers grace the stage. Encik Izad and Miss Sha started by playing some traditional instruments, followed by Coach Shahar and Puan Julia on lead vocals. Who knew that in addition to scolding rebellious PE students, Coach had a hidden talent. The back up dancers - Encik Shaik and Puan Zuraida, were not overlooked as well, swaying to the music, their wide smiles instantly brightening the hall.

Soon following their performance, the teachers were replaced by the Freshman dance ensemble, performing a plucky and spirited number. Though their talents could not match up to the girls who had amazed the crowd before, they showed great promise and at such young ages, there is no where but up for them. Improvement is to be expected and I’m sure they are more than capable of dazzling us next time around. 

Though they’ve made comments of their lack of practice, the Junior 2 and Form 5 students gave us their own rendition of a Malay song. Accompanied by the cajon and guitar, the quadruplet certainly seemed like they were having a great time on stage. They were no strangers to the spotlight as individually or as a group, they’ve performed numerous times during school events in the past. 

Last but not least, the Junior Cempaka Voices ended the show with a bang as they sung their uplifting Hari Raya song. The vocal ensemble has always been a crowd pleaser since the members consist of some of our youngest, yet most spirited Cempakans.

Instead of closing the assembly with Dato Freida’s address, students were invited on stage for a singalong with the principals, teachers, even Dato herself. Many danced and sang to the Lagu Raya that was playing, ending the assembly on a very happy note.

Throwback: Kelantan Trip 2015

by Lee Ting An, Junior 2 Higgs, Class of 2015,

The states of Malaysia live at the constant whims of mother nature. Often, there is endless heat with bright sunshine and scorching temperatures, and you’ll see kids coming back from the ‘padang’ after their football games brown and burnt. This year, we were instead met with a colossal amount of rainfall, which eventually led to one of the worst, most devastating floods in the history of Malaysia.

With mud levels up to the waist, houses wrecked and their daily lives rather suddenly torn apart, the people of Kelantan - among one of the places which was hit the hardest - found themselves in desperate need of aid. While flood relief centres helped to supply basic needs like drinking water and food, they could only do so much, and were short-supplied and equally short-handed. Cempaka Schools leapt to the opportunity, and held a massive donation drive where we collected not only food and water, but the things donors tend to overlook - items that would help them resume their normal, daily lives, such as toiletries like soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, sanitary pads, clothes, hangers, towels, exercise books and stationery, and other assorted household items.

This mammoth donation drive, with so many items to collect, sort, separate, package, and distribute, took an enormous amount of effort to get done. It took the entire Cempakan family of teachers and students alike several days to go through the entire process, but with a remarkable efficiency borne of teamwork and cooperation, we achieved it with time to spare.

In February, another team of teachers, students, and staff, sat through a 9 hour bus ride to Kelantan, to help lighten the load of those who had the misfortune to be caught in one of the worst floods of our time. Together with us we brought a lorry full of donated items, and the burning desire to help those in need. On the way we could already witness the devastation that the floods had caused: torn houses, buildings with roofs caved in, and the unmissable mark that mud waters left on walls, all of which was visible even from our bus.

The first challenge we faced was housing. Finding a place to sleep for a 50-odd group of people was not the easiest task, and I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of everyone from my school, to the thank the man and his family who allowed us to stay at his house. He selflessly gave us his house and food, and the 50 of us spent the night on sleeping bags on his comfortable floor.

The next morning, we were up by sunrise, and ready to bring what help we could to SMK Teriang, a school that was left completely ravaged by the flood. Tables, chairs, and several buildings were destroyed by the flood, and by the time we’d gotten there, they had already scrubbed the mud that reached up to their knees off their walls. The entire compound was dusty and had little furniture that had survived against the destructive power of the water. Our first priority was unloading the tables and chairs that we had brought from our own school compound, and

reassembling them with the tools that we’d brought.

While the teachers who were more competent with hammers and nails slowly changed a pile of wooden slabs and metal into tables, the students and other teachers organised themselves into groups and decided on a timetable and goals. We started off the day by painting the now dark brown walls of the school to a clean, refreshing, white. After scraping the dirt and dried mud off the walls, some of us put on the first coat of white while the rest cleaned, mopped, and tidied up the little school.

By afternoon, the first coat was dry, and the compound had gained the busy, bustling atmosphere of extremely efficient work. Everyone was running around, sweating heavily under the hot sun, all of us carrying a roller, brush, mop or broom, but we all had a smile on our faces. The face masks that we wore to stop us from breathing in the old paint that we scraped off the wall, along with our hair, were by now flecked with white paint. By now, the school’s students had joined us, and together with our combined efforts we managed to finish on schedule.

After putting four coats of paint, the entire school had a new, different look. We formed assembly lines and began passing tables, chairs and shelves to each class, and then arranged them according to a floor plan. The art teachers painted a massive mural on a wall, and the students began to happily sit at their new desks, some already deciding where they wanted to sit.

The next day, we said our goodbyes, and then left for home on another 10 hour long journey. We made several little pit stops along the way to witness the culture of Kelantan, taking a glimpse of the various markets that sold knick knacks and held little nuggets of a traditional civilisation that we’d left behind. We were all tired and weary, but I daresay that none of us would have missed it, and we will gladly go again, should the opportunity arise.

It was an enlightening experience to help someone in need, and see their eyes light up when they look at their new books. Or watch a dusty, murky school slowly transform into a new centre for learning and education. I felt privileged to be a part of this trip, as I believe I speak for everyone when I say that I learned, gained, and experienced so much. I’ve seen first hand the sheer grit that the people there show, waking up with a smile even after their lives have been destroyed, and I’ve learned that if you just bite your tongue and pull through that everything will turn out ok. I’ve seen proof that if you work hard enough, and work together, nothing is impossible - even transforming an entire school within one day! But the best lesson I learned is that often times, receiving something for yourself is great, but doing something for someone else, is much, much better.

Math Olympiad Upper Primary Damansara

by Julian Yang, Year 6, Class of 2020.

Every year, we have a competition for Mathematics called “Maths Olympiad”. Previously, the competition had three levels each, for Year 1 and 2, Year 3 and 4, and Year 5 and 6. There also used to be three rounds, everyone did the first, selected students partook in the second, and only one from each level, for each house, competed in the third. This year, the competition was changed entirely, instead of basically just sitting down and taking a test, there was a treasure hunt. There were eight teams in total, two for each of the four houses, all with their own group leaders and group names.

The day before Maths Olympiad, the Upper Primary students were gathered to be briefed and assigned into their groups. The group leader and group name for each group was chosen by the members of the respective group. On the day that Maths Olympiad was to be held, the students gathered again in front of the swimming pool before they set off for the challenge. When it started, each group was given a different puzzle to solve, the answer to the puzzle was the name of the next place they had to go to.

There were several challenges that were presented to the challengers. A list of those challenges would include: making the most number of triangles with sticks, moving a stack of leaves with certain rules, arranging chess pieces in a certain way, drawing angles by laying down, measuring the volume, area, and perimeter of the swimming pool, a maths relay, and some other maths challenges.

When all the groups had finished all of the challenges, they gathered yet again at where they started to announce the champions. After proclaiming the points that each group had received, the announcer said, “The winner is… group Bob!” Everyone laughed or at least giggled at the rather funny name of the Beruang group amongst the other, more serious ones like, “Mathologists” and “Eye of the Tiger”. In the end, everyone had lots of fun with the new and teamwork based version of Maths Olympiad. We all look forward to the next Maths Olympiad in 2016!

Visiting Cambodia

by Emma Lim, Junior 2 Higgs, Class of 2015.
All photographs by Lai Li Chan, Junior 2 Higgs, Class of 2015. 

Waking up early for the education you so rightfully deserve from Monday to Saturday, with no ounce of dread just to attend classes for a mere 4 hours, walking or cycling your way to every destination you wish to reach even if it means a pair of swollen feet. Working to your full capacity every day to earn enough money for your four siblings to get the already insufficient nutrition they desperately need. This is not my life; neither is it yours. However, it is the lives of many underprivileged children living in Cambodia. 

Nevertheless, their monetary status does not affect these children's views in life. The life in their eyes has yet to fade and their smiles have not been wiped off their faces despite the unfortunate circumstances they live in. No bitterness was found in their hearts as they wholeheartedly embraced us, the Interactors, as we fully prepared ourselves to be immersed in the culture they had to offer. 

For most of the Cambodian population, the country’s official religion - Theravada Buddhism, is the faith of choice. Theravada Buddhism has been their state religion since the 13th century, with the exception of the Khmer Rouge period. The minority religions include Islam, Christianity and tribal animism. Previously, Islam was practiced by about 200,000 Cambodians but their numbers dwindled due to the persecutions under the Khmer Rouge.

The orphanages we went to gave us glimpses of Cambodian dances. The girls performed intricate and slow hand gestures which were complimented by simple and light footwork, alongside a slow traditional song in their native language, Khmer. Dressed in the Cambodian national dress, the "Sampot", with an armful of chunky, colourful bangles, their gentle and fluid movements were executed to the best of their capabilities.

Though every meal we ate was provided by Muslim restaurants, unknowingly, we were eating Cambodia’s staple foods. As Cambodia is one of our Southeast Asian neighbours, their eating habits are very similar to ours. Most meals were accompanied by rice, with dishes containing fish sauce, which is widely used in the country, evident by the countless tom yam soups that our troop were served during lunch and dinner. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to savour the popular dishes Cambodia was known for, namely their pork broth rice noodle soup and curry, which are highly influenced by the Chinese and Indian cultures respectively.

The abundance of culture in Cambodia is meant to be indulged personally, not to be read as a mere article which doesn’t do it much justice. The world Cambodia has created is unlike any place you have been to before. Dare to throw yourselves into a journey of excitement and adventure? You will not regret it.

Interhouse Dance Competition 2015

by Akhilan Manivannan, Junior 2 Higgs, Class of 2015
All photographs by Lai Li Chan, Junior 2 Higgs, Class of 2015

On the 10th of February, Cempaka Schools had one of its most popular and highly anticipated events of the year, the Interhouse Dance Competition. The Interhouse Dance Competition is an annual event that tasks each sports house to perform dances split into three categories(A,B and C) based on ascending secondary school years. 

Seladang Damansara Category A

Harimau Damansara Category A

Category A consisted of Freshmen and Sophomore 1, Category C consisted of Sophomore 2 and Junior 1 and Category C consisted of the senior students, Junior 2 and Form 5. The event was a combined spectacle between both the Damansara and Cheras campuses, the results tabulated together as well. With only a very limited amount of time to prepare, all dancers gave it their all and the performances spoke for themselves.   

Helang Damansara Category A

With the the Category A dancers being the youngest participants, all houses were given the exact same music and only had to choreograph their dances. The song was “Get It” by Phillerz, an upbeat, exciting, electronic dance track. While a standardised song might seem like an easier option, with identical music the dancers found it much harder to stand out and there were many performances that felt stale and repeated. However there were a few that managed to describe the purpose of Cat A perfectly, fresh, energetic and full of promise. Those were the top 3 performances, the winners Beruang Damansara and the runners up - Harimau Damansara followed by Helang Damansara.

 Beruang Damansara Category A

Beruang Damansara Category A

Category B dancers were given arguably the most difficult and strenuous task of all, composing their own music and then choreographing their dance according to that music. Music is a major part of the performances and therefore if the music wasn’t appealing and fitting to the dance or was poorly crafted, audience members and judges would gradually turn off. This proved to be the case for many dances that featured much too generic and unimaginatively put together tunes. However the winning performances were clearly pegs above the competition and were incredibly enthralling and memorable to behold. 

Helang Cheras Category B

Harimau Cheras Category B

Harimau Damansara Category B

Beruang Damansara Category B

This was a case in particular for Helang Cheras featuring an acrobatic hip-hop themed dance routine that truly took audience members through a futuristic and heart thumping journey. They certainly stood out of the pack and were completely distinguishable from the rest of the category. In fact a vast majority of the audience felt that they should have clinched first place rather than winners, whom in all fairness did put on a good performance as well.

Seladang Damansara Category C

Seladang Damansara Category C

Finally, the most consistent and outstanding set of dances, Category C. The Category C performers were given the most freedom among all groups, the ability to choose an existing song and choreograph their dance according to it. The senior students did not disappoint in the slightest, and proved their talent and metal with this string of astonishing performances ranging from a fun and alluring routine with a mash up of "Mercy//Rehab" by Helang Damansara passing through a vibrant and catchy routine with “Bang Bang” by Harimau Damansara) to well refined and dramatic routine with “Telephone” by Beruang Damansara. However the performance that without a doubt claimed first place was Seladang Damansara's out of this world routine of DJ Snake and Lil Jons “Turn Down for What”, and it would be an absolute sin not to talk about it.

Helang Damansara Category C

Beruang Damansara Category C 

Beruang Damansara Category C

Harimau Damansara Category C

Led by assistant house captain and head prefect “Ruhaani Mahadeva”, the dancers owned the stage like no other performance, clad in joker costumes and faces sprawled with terrifying joker paint. To say they left a lasting impression would be an understatement, and the level of uniqueness yet unparalleled synchronisation was marvellous to behold. Furthermore the routine was arguably the most full-body dance routine of the day, and the performers exhibited a very professional level of control despite their fast paced movements. Definitely the most polished and perfected performance, which to this day students are still found re-watching, minds engrossed in utter awe and spectacle. Overall the Damansara campus dominated this category, taking all four top places.

                                      Seladang Damansara Category C

In the end of the day Beruang Damansara rose to first place thanks largely to their consistent placings in all three categories. However it would be safe to say that competition for runner up was very close with Harimau Damansara ultimately pulling through. All in all the Interhouse Dance Competition 2015 was a huge success and it’s safe to say that we at YJC are already looking forward to next years event.

Interhouse Dance Competition 2015 Champions

Beruang Damansara

Saving The World: A Race for Humanity

Written by Yap Jia Xin, Form 4 Science 1, Class of 2015

Photographed by Lai Li Chan, Junior 1 Higgs, Class of 2015

It was just two days before we had to say our painful goodbyes to the school holidays and jump back into the frenzy of homework and studying 24/7. That’s two days to shake off the holiday mood and recap everything from our books that we had gladly forsaken just a mere week ago.As luck would have it, the Save The World society (otherwise known as STW) had introduced and planned out what they call “STW’s Race for Humanity”, a STEM-based treasure hunt where all proceeds would go to charity. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and that was the theme that the treasure hunt was going to be centred around in order for all participants to learn and be educated while having fun - perfect for getting us back into the studying spirit.

On the last Saturday before school reopened, 9am to be precise, 25 teams of four gathered at the Pusat Sains Negara, ready to take on whatever physical and mental challenges STW had in store for us. The race was kicked off with a quick briefing by the STW presidents, Chin Wye Mun and Ryan Yoong, followed by a group picture. After the picture was taken, we were off!

Every team was provided with a card with seven different clues on them which led to seven different checkpoints. As for my group, we started off solving a riddle about some black and white keys, which led us to a floor piano. There, our team were to play the song “Mary Had A Little Lamb” as a group, by stepping, or in our case, skipping along the keys of the floor piano.

We played the piano with our feet.

After that task was completed, out next clue led us to the dome shaped entrance of the science centre where we had to create then belt out our war cry until an echo could be heard. We then had to face a series of Biology related questions which definitely got our brain juices flowing. You would think the biology component at this checkpoint was all mental, no biologically physical strain whatsoever. My group found out the hard way, via the mistakes from the questions we answered.  Push ups, sit ups, as well as running down a VERY long winded, never ending ramp in just under 20 seconds - we had to carry out a much gruelling penalty. Thankfully we completed penalty given its circumstances and didn’t have to stick around for more.

Next up, a challenge which most groups completed pretty quickly. Four per team, one on each side of the table which within it, was a maze. A ball was inserted into the side of the maze, and the task was to tilt the maze, and direct the ball into a hole in the centre. I would say it took about 30 seconds, tops.

“Take a selfie with Potamotrygon Motoro” - Our following clue. “I think it’s a fish”, was the first thing my teammate blurted out. With no other ideas, except for another suggestion that it was a dinosaur, we headed to the aquarium which turned out to be exactly where the clue was leading us. Yes, it was a fluke, a fluke which had served us well.

My group's 'SELFIE-SH'! (sorry, couldn't resist it)

After our insta-worthy selfie with the fish, we hopped along to our next checkpoint, the mathematics checkpoint. We were given a piece of paper with rather stimulating questions which we had to obtain all the right answers to. All I remember from that station was counting brown tiles then recounting them all again, and I think it is safe to say everyone is with me on this one. Right guys?

At checkpoint number 6, we were given four stations to choose from as options. My group, consisting of rather lazy people, made our decision by picking the station nearest to us, obviously. We had to build a dice. It might sound easy but it most certainly was not! That was unquestionably the most mind challenging checkpoint that my group encountered in my opinion.

Finally, we reached our last checkpoint. Isolated from the rest, it was effectively concealed near the playground beside the ramps we ran down for our penalty. Once again testing the mind, we had to answer a riddle. When we had succeeded in doing that, we were directed to look for a person in the area who was wearing cape. It took my team a few minutes but eventually, we stumbled upon this mystery person right in the middle of a children’s swimming pool, which meant only one thing - we had to go in.

After waddling in then out of the pool, we complied all the alphabets given to us after the completion of each checkpoint and began to unscramble. Soon enough, we figured out the so called ‘password’, was “charity” and did our war cry one last time before successfully completing the Race for Humanity! Yay!

All in all, it was a great way to start off the weekend before the holidays were over, exercising the mind (and the body, for some) and getting to see our friends! Whether we realise it or not, I’m sure everyone learned a thing or two at least, from the experience of simply being a part of the treasure hunt. Can’t wait for the next one!