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.

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!

JUNIOR EDITION: Flying Fancies; Educational Trip To KL Bird Park

by Jayden Lum Jun Yi, Class of 2019

This year on 7th March 2014, the Year 6 pupils from Cempaka Damansara were taken to visit Taman Burung Kuala Lumpur. We were given group assignments which covered Maths, Science, English, Bahasa, and ICT, by our teachers and were divided into groups of five for the assignment.

Photo Credit : En Syariz

We took a bus to the bird park in the morning and all of us were very excited on the way there - the atmosphere in the bus was nothing short of electric. Before the bus even stopped we could see a peacock on a tall fence with beautiful blue and purple feathers and a blue crown. The sight of the peacock got us even more excited and we could not wait to alight the bus and get into the park.

The inside of the bird park had a lot of lush greenery and looked like a tropical wonderland. The whole area was fenced up as high as a 3-storey building to prevent birds of prey and others from escaping from the bird park. It was extremely large, as big as 5 football fields. The attractions inside included many bird exhibitions such as owl cages, mandarin duck ponds, pelican and milky stork ponds, birds of prey cages, Hornbill Park, Flamingo Pond, Bird Gallery, Bird Education Centre, Ostrich Sanctuary, Southern Cassowary Sanctuary, Love Aviary, Bul Bul Land and many more. Besides the extensive bird exhibitions, there were also marvellous, manmade waterfalls, a bird show area, Egg Incubation Room and Nursery and a building filled with the history of birds building. 

There was a guide who showed us around the bird park and he told us all about the birds that we've never heard of or seen before. Some birds were as colourful as a rainbow, (especially in the World of Parrots exhibition!) some were bigger then my entire arm and others were hardly the size of my palm. The few birds that we recognised were barn owls, the emus, pheasants, an ostrich and many more. 

Photo Credit : En Syariz

Personally the birds that interested me the most were the ostriches and the parrots. The parrots could mimic us and we had fun making up funny noises for them to mimic. We also fed them small cups of milk. They were very beautiful and colourful and had crowns on their heads.

The ostriches were magnificent because they were the largest birds at the bird park. Their feathers looked like hair and they had long, scrawny necks that were not proportional to their bodies. They are flightless birds and despite their size are the fastest running birds on the planet, as a result of the need to run very fast to escape from predators and danger. We were given a chance to feed them vegetable leaves. Then we went to the Hornbill Restaurant to eat lunch.

After lunch, we started focusing on our assignments. Though working in a group was a new concept to us and initially it was like herding cats, we took the bull by the horns. My group observed the behaviour of two birds for Science. We surveyed 206 people for Maths. Each of us also gathered information about birds of our choice and used them to fill up the worksheet for English. We were also tasked to write an autobiography of a bird of our choice for Bahasa Malaysia once we got home. Finally, we were required to combine a part of everything to create a keynote summary presentation for ICT at school two weeks after. It was hard work but we relished the challenge thrown to us.

Photo Credit : En Syariz

Once we were satisfied and had acquired the data needed, we went to the bird amphitheatre to watch a bird show. We were really impressed by the tricks that the well-trained birds could do.

We returned to Cempaka Damansara in the afternoon and went home, exhausted but happy. We had a whale of a time. Looking back, the educational trip taught us to build bridges among our group members in order to get our assignments done. It also taught us to go with the flow when needed and that all things are difficult before they are easy, and finally showed us the beauty of nature in all its magnificence. Despite the hard work, all of us are already eager at the next educational trip.

THROWBACK: JUNIOR EDITION : Annual Campori 2013

by Ashleigh Teng, Year 6 Aqua, Class of 2018

I woke up to a beautiful day filled with bright skies and not a cloud in sight -thank goodness! For on the 25th of October 2013, Cempaka held their Annual Campori for the Upper Primary students - where we were expected to "rough it out" for three days. Where we'd be away from the slightest usage of technology and instead, be one with nature. Giving us the chance to bond and work together with our friends, it was a very comfortable and fun atmosphere indeed.

After nearly three long hours of strenuous travelling, we arrived at the grand Cempaka International Ladies College (CILC) located at Enstek Technology Park, Sepang. The view was breathtaking. It looked more like a resort than a school campus, really! We were divided into groups for our team projects as soon as we arrived. Our first task as a team was of course designing out team flag and creating our war cry. Then, we were introduced to our facilitators who had spent weeks before devising many fun and challenging games to keep us occupied during our three-day stay at CILC.

Once the briefing was over, we were told to set up our tents in the scorching hot afternoon sun. Learning how to pitch a tent was a great first-time experience for most, if not all of us. The first night was immensely hot even without the sun's rays sizzling our skin. Due to the unbearable heat of the night, I spent the night tossing and turning in the tent. As a result, I woke up feeling rather like a zombie in the morning. Speaking of the morning, it was no different from the night - in fact, it was almost twice as hot. Just standing still for five minutes outside made me sweat buckets!

In the evening, was survival cooking, where we made our own quite delicious satay! After that, we completed our craft project and group presentations before going for supper. The last day of Campori was the amazing race, where teams had to pass through various checkpoints designed to build teamwork and cooperation. We had quite a hard time locating the checkpoints to complete our tasks! Even though my team did not win, we still had a blast trying. After the race ended, everyone was pretty exhausted, but Campori was not over yet. There was a final briefing, where points throughout Campori were evaluated and the winning teams were announced. 

Eating our homemade Satay!

Photo credit: Encik Iqbal

Throughout Campori, I learnt many invaluable lessons. Be it not to waste electricity, food, or water, to the importance of teamwork and cooperation. For me, Campori has been one of the greatest and certainly most enjoyable experience in Primary, and I am truly grateful to be able to experience it.

Primary Concert 2013: Broadway Here I Come!

by Nicholas Tan Hao Yu, Year 6 Terra, Class of 2018

All of us at Cempaka have been waiting in anticipation for the day of this great event - Primary Concert 2013! Both teachers and students have worked diligently to make sure this concert would be a success. In conjunction with this year being the 30th year since the founding of Cempaka Schools, a special theme, ''Broadway, here I come!'' was chosen. This year, we planned to use some of the numerous Broadway classics, and give a Cempakan tone to them. 

Jellicle cats - or should we say Cempakan Cats!

The concert was comprised of songs from Cats the Musical to Oliver to Annie and even Mary Poppins - some out of the many popular Broadway shows today. Pieces of music from Andrew Lloyd Webber's work were also staged. Not forgetting, some of our very own talented musicians performed the glorious music from The Sound of Music. It gave us a sense of pride to be performing what adult musicians, singers and dancers have done for these musicals. 

Phantom Of the Opera Medley - some of Andrew Lloyd Webber's greatest work

At first, when we started out concert practice, many of us did the math and we found that we had a month's time before the concert. One month! But still, many of us gritted out teeth and pushed on. With the mindset that "Nothing is impossible!", we practiced our very best until the day of the concert. Due to the limited spacing in the hall, we had to do the performances twice; once for the parents of the upper primary students, and once for the parents of the lower primary students.

Marry Poppins' lining up and getting ready for the show!

On the day of the concert, everything went smoothly. We were graced with the presence of our founder and mentor of Cempaka Schools, Dato' Freida binti Dato' Mohd Pilus as well as the chairman of Cempaka Damansara and Cempaka Cheras, Dr. Iskandar Rizal. Firstly, there was a prize-giving ceremony to honour the high achievers of the year. Prizes were presented to the top three students of each class and to all-rounded students. Certificates were also awarded to students for their participation in the World Education Games. Then, the concert began - or as said in Broadway, it was showtime!

Chim chimney chim chimney chim chim cheroo'! 

Everyone definitely performed with enthusiasm and much vigour, culminating all the hard work we had put into this concert into one spectacular performance. We took the audience on a roller coaster of a ride, through the brightly lit streets of the city that never sleeps, showing them the best of Broadway. It seemed like all of our effort certainly paid off. 

Annie and Oliver Medley

Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down!

When the stage lights turned off and the house lights on, the CPAC teachers could finally breath a sigh of relief that the concert was over, and the hall was filled with tumultuous applause. Parents were brought to their feet, clapping at the wonderful show, and none of us wished we were anywhere else but the North Hall, Cempaka Cheras. As a final flourish, all the students sang 'When I Grow Up', a song from the musical Matilda, ending the Primary Concert 2013 with a bang. 

Finale and a widescale view of the wonderful set

Photo credit : Ms Ann Salina

JUNIOR EDITION: Science Camp 2013

by Jaden Chan, Year 6 Aqua, Class of 2018

Photo credit : Olivia Lee 

This year's Science Camp, open to all Standard 6 and Year 6 students, was held in Cempaka Damansara on the 25th and 26th of August. There were loads of activities and experiments during the camp that kept students on their toes and brain juices flowing. From launching a rocket to building parachutes, it was a truly great experience. 

We started by separating ourselves into groups on the morning of the 25th. There were seven groups in total and mine was named “Natural Satellite”. I had the privilege of being the group leader. After our first briefing, we were required to make a poster. With reference to our textbooks, we got to writing information on the poster and decorating it. As group leader, I made sure everything went smoothly. 

After one and a half hours of hard work, we had our tea break and then went to the hall to do a Science quiz based on the UPSR syllabus. I was extremely happy to find that my team got 41 out of 50 questions correct for the quiz. After the quiz, we went to the Biology lab and the Year 6 students were given tips for their Checkpoint examinations. The teachers also demonstrated nine exciting experiments later. 

Following the experiment showcase, we played a few Science-related games. For example, we played matching the prey to its predator and we had to build a parachute. Parachute-building required a lot of brainstorming and discussion. We had to make sure that it could support an egg and that the egg would not break when we dropped the parachute from the top floor. The egg was like a precious baby to us and we were glad to find that all our hard work had paid off when the egg landed safely on the ground, wrapped in a blanket of newspaper and makeshift parachute materials. The games marked the end of the first day of Science Camp. 

On the second day, we kicked off with morning exercise. After the exercise session, we did some Science orienteering and had our lunch break. Then came the most exciting and thrilling activity of the entire camp - the water rocket launch! This activity entailed us filling a bottle with water and attaching it on a Launchpad. Luck seemed to be on our side as our rocket managed to launch into the air successfully. The bursting sound when the rocket gets its first kick into the air and the grace with which it sweeps through the air really amazed all of us.

Photo credit : Ms. Pavithra

After the launch, all groups did a presentation based on the information we gathered from the launch. Finally, the closing ceremony concluded the camp. Overall, Natural Satellite ended up placing 5th out of the seven groups. Although some may think it is a low placing, I must say we put it an incredible amount of effort into all our work and paid full attention to all the activities. Despite our seemingly poor placing, I felt so happy I could participate in the Science camp. 

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and the camp is a once-in-a-lifetime experience! All in all, this year's Science Camp was definitely one to remember. I'll definitely cherish the laughs, the lessons learnt and the memories made. To all students who participated, I hope you treasure these moments as much as I do for they are irreplaceable. Finally, a big thank you to all the facilitators and teachers who helped make this camp such an amazing event. Thank you for adding yet another extraordinary chapter to my schooling life here in Cempaka.