Happy Appreciation Day

As the Chinese say, "If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people." So from us here at the Young Journalists' Club, we wish all teachers Happy Appreciation Day and thank you for teaching us that nothing is impossible. Thank you for your endless efforts, support and for making a difference in our lives.

Young Journalists' Club Damansara

Submitted by Law Veng Yee, Class of 2014, Junior 2 Cempaka

Submitted by Lim Jade, Class of 2014, Junior 2 Cempaka

Submitted by Lim Wei Xin, Class of 2014, Junior 2 Cempaka

Submitted by Choo Li Ling, Class of 2015, Junior 1 Venter

THROWBACK: Platinum Expedition 2012 - Day 1

by Amanda Lee, Junior 2 Cempaka, Class of 2014

The first thought that comes to mind when you think about Platinum Expedition is worms. Worms then bugs, fear factor, killing chickens - the list of endless horrors goes on and on.

Photo Credit : Encik Syariz

There's a little sense of foreboding  when you see "parang" is on the packing list, and even more so when you realize there isn't just one, but four fear factors you will have to endure. You start to think of the endless possibilities of what they can feed you and count down the number of hot showers you have left.

Tuesday morning dawned, the bus to Perak running on Cempakan time, was late as usual. Our first challenge began once we arrived at Bukit Merah Lakerown Resort, Perak: build a raft. There were no instructions, no guidelines, just a pile of bamboo sticks on the ground and rolls of raffia string. Teams set off once they finished building their rafts to the first stop - Survivor Island. From the jetty, Encik Salleh pointed off vaguely towards an island that looked far away enough, but we soon learned 45 minutes later that Survivor Island was much, much further away then we had first envisioned it. So much further.

The paddling was endless. Your back starts to ache, your legs start to cramp and your hand feels like it weighs a ton, but then a speedboat comes along. The taunts from the camera crew and facilitators as they zoom around us in circles are just what we need to plough on towards our unseen destination. We sang nursery rhymes, counted till a hundred, even sang the alphabet song backwards - a continuous source of entertainment and amusement for the facilitators. By the time we (team Bravo!) could make out Survivor Island at last, it had already began to drizzle. 

Photo Credit : Encik Syariz

Upon arriving on Survivor Island, we discovered first class accommodations - a shelter we had to build ourselves. It was absolutely freezing. Raindrops trickled annoyingly into our faces as we tied the bamboo together as hard as possible, trying to avoid seemingly unavoidable splinters. It was at that time group leaders were called over, and given a rabbit each. Keep it safe they said, we need it to be alive until tomorrow - yeah right. Like we predicted, the rabbits were doomed to become our dinner that night. All us of solemnly said our goodbyes and watched as one by one, Johnny, Angel, Deltina (also aptly named Dinner) and Alpha got the chop. Skinning and gutting a rabbit is not for the faint at heart, especially not when our rabbit's still full bladder burst, nearly spraying us in the face (Warning : the following photo may be inappropriate for weak hearts and weak stomachs). A moment to remember, was when Azmin started to cover our rabbit in  marinade, only to discover that a plaster he put on earlier due to a cut from his 'parang' had came off, no doubt swimming in the marinade - oh well. 

Photo Credit : En Syariz

"Wow, Angel truly is an angel now then"- one of the comments Encik  Raphael made as judges sampled our Rabbit dishes. Delta won the challenge, and as a reward they got to return to the mainland (this time by speedboat of course) to have a proper dinner and shower. The rest of us however, had to stick to our rabbit rice. All I can say is that it tastes a lot like chicken, only chewier - or maybe ours was just a tad raw?

As winners of the previous challenge, Delta had the opportunity to pick which team had to suffer through the fear factor eating challenge first. First to start, we (team Bravo!) could "enjoy" the delicacies without any added background noises from the other teams. The pressure builds, as the whole team is motioned to stand around the table where three closed styrofoam boxes lie stacked up on top of each other beside cups full of a dodgy looking liquid.

First course? Raw squid, still with the ink inside and oh-so chewy with an indescribable ... raw-squid taste. Not such a good start for people wearing braces. And trust me, it tastes nothing like sushi. Give me plain old sashimi anytime. Next was some form of bitter gourd which was not too bad. To top it off, the last course served was 'popiah'! Well, pit certainly looked like 'popiah', with 'popiah' skin wrapped around a suspicious black substance. I can assure you however, that fish brains and chicken feet are ingredients not found in 'Popiah'. As a bonus round, we had to drink the brownish liquid in the cup. It's unsettling resemblance to the lake water we paddled in earlier did not help neither was the straw we had to use to suck it down. It turned out to be the easiest part, tasting like chinese herbal tea but infused with a lot of chili powder. Being the first to go, we got to watch the other groups, choking and gagging while holding their noses as they worked their way through the courses.

Photo Credit : En Syariz

Straight after that, was fear factor two. This time, other teams had to choose a member from another team to face the next challenge. Being one of the picked members, I had to sit away from the other teams and wait for my turn. For me, the waiting was one of the worst parts. You sit there waiting for your turn, horrible thoughts of what they might do to you running through your head as mosquitos feast on you. I was third to go. The camera crew handed over a small camera I had to wear on my head. By the light of a flashlight, I could see a cage-like structure, covered with tarp. All flashlights were then switched off. The facilitators threw back the cover of the tarp, and the flashlight turned on again.

Crawling on the walls, and covering the entire floor of the cage were what seemed like thousands of maggots and crickets. The strong buggy smell was overpowering. You had to stick half your body in, untie some bottle caps tied on to the cage walls, then stay in the cage for three minutes. You can hear the rustling, squiggling noises of the insects all around. You feel slightly claustrophobic, most definitely disgusted and even tickled on your knees by the stray insects crawling out from the cage. The smell just makes you want to gag. All you can do is shut your ears, close your eyes and wait as three minutes slowly tick by till you can finally crawl out of the cage, breathe into fresh-smelling air, and let facilitators pluck stray insects off your back.

Photo Credit : En Syariz

After our tribal meeting, we finally got to go into (or in our case crawl into) our bivouacs, and turn in for the night. Yes it's cramped so much you can hardly move, yes the odd drop of water falls onto your face every now and then (so much for waterproofing), yes it's uncomfortable with the stalk of the 'daun pelepah' sticking into your back, yes you tend wake wake up every now and then and have the great urge to scratch your feet - something even a contortionist would not be able to achieve in those cramped conditions but sleep, is sleep.

The next day dawns, and as the sun rises, we can finally see in clear light, all the red ants crawling in our shoes. There's a lot of stomping and beating of shoes while teams disassembled their bivouacs, and bundled everything up again. Soon, we set off back to mainland (thankfully by boat) where we could shower and eat before the next activity started - white water rafting! 

Eagles Attack!

written by the Panel (Austin Ng, Akhilan Manivannan, Class of 2015, Ryan Yoong, and Amanda Lee, Class of 2014)

The successors of ex-captains, Azmin Massoumi, Jamie Kok and Seah Chin Lee stepped up to take their place, just in time for the first event, Games Carnival. Known as Helang’s strong point booster, it was up to Colin Yoong and Amirah Farhanah to see how the gold medals would play out during the matches. It came as quite a blow, when unforeseen circumstances led Helang to incur multiple penalties, putting them at a disadvantage right off the bat. 

Photo Credit : En Khairul

“As of now, I believe we are doing well so far in the race, but I can't say much as it is still in the early stages of the FHC. We won 2 events so far, but due to the huge number of penalized points from the Games Carnival we are at a big disadvantage.”

- Colin Yoong Shern Zian, Helang House Captain 2014

When asked, Colin unsurprisingly mentions that Helang is not strong in only one particular category but they are, instead, a jack of all trades. A master of all? -  still yet to be proven. Comparing the Helangs now to the Helangs back then, he states that there is a not much of a difference. He believes the seniors now are as proficient, if not even better as previous seniors were in the year before. The cup just barely slipped through their claws last year, by a mere 0.3 points, proving the point that Helang was one tough house to beat. 

Photo Credit : En Khairul

When asked on the future competitions, Amirah has high hopes and believes that the Helangs can win anything if they put their hearts and souls into it. It may be a tough competition but Helangs don’t back down that easily. She emphasizes on the teamwork between the Helangs, be it the juniors with the seniors or the Helangs and the teachers. “We planned and worked together, though there were some rough times and we never gave up whilst kept pushing until the end.” says Amirah.

Though they have a few flaws here and there - like every other house, Colin and Amirah remain sanguine about the possibility of Helang taking back the FHC title this year. “There is always enough room for upgrades and improvement and that is why Helang is not backing down this year; not now, not ever.” For Helang, things may have just kicked into gear what with sports day and swimming gala still ahead of us. With some of the hectic events put behind in the past, they now focus on what lies ahead. Stiff competition, high spirits and exhilarating performances are almost guaranteed from the boys and girls in yellow. You better get ready for the Eagle's Attack!  

Photo Credit : En Khairul

What the Panel has to say:

Helang’s shaky position in the first event of the First House Cup was a tough blow to the usually sports-orientated house. It’s not all over however. This year’s Games Carnival is unexpectedly long and dragged out. The Eagles still have tennis to vie for. Though this last Games Carnival event is usually conquered easily by the bears who have renowned tennis player Balaguru in their paws, Helang’s position in tennis may or may not help to switch up the placings right now, if not boost up their own position. Besides Games Carnival, the Eagles also placed a competent third in the recent Interhouse Dance Competition. Not a big shocker given the fact that Beruang always had the upper paw in this particular pie. It was also a tremendous win indeed for Helang at the House Decoration Competition, where they had placed first on the board.

Photo Credit : En Khairul

With a good scale of intellectuality and athleticism, Rumah Helang has much to prevail in the upcoming events, with hopefully one of them being the Annual Swimming Gala. Though the history books are not in their favour, with Helangs having not won Swimming Gala in years, determination is still key - and that’s one thing everyone in Helang has in plenty. 

For the time being, Helang has been doing fairly well in terms of maintaining the score. If you take everything into account, Rumah Helang still has a pretty good prospect of snatching back the FHC trophy and to win back its title as FHC Champion. With it's reins being held by two very capable individuals, not forgetting Mr Shaik as their house master followed closely by the very formidable and determined Puan Nurra at it's helm, the other houses had better be wary of the Eagles sharp talons.  

Photo Credit : En Khairul

Our closing question to Colin was, “Before stepping down as the house captain, what would your last words be to the Helangs?”

"It's not easy. The journey, the process and the amount of preparation that goes on behind the scenes should never be underestimated. However, with everyone working together, it makes things just that much easier. So, to the upcoming seniors who will take our place, be leaders, not commanders; and to the juniors who will follow closely behind them, be contributions, not retributions. Helangs; I believe that we will win. Do you?"

May Issue: Manic Month of May

A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS 

May starts off deceivingly with a one-day holiday, Labour Day. Ironically enough however, most of us probably spent this day of rest for all labourers labouring over our textbooks. It's that time of the year again, where you spend your nights falling asleep with your Sejarah textbook over your face or maybe drooling on your Chemistry notes, only to wake up in utter confusion and panic. Though most of us are no stranger to the aforementioned situation (or similar), the mere mention of exams has us all sweaty-palmed and panicky. 

Just as the theme suggests, we can expect a crazy month ahead for Cempakans. First and foremost, we've of course got our Mid Term exams coming up, which marked its first day for some already. Then there's Cempaka's annual Box Office Production, the Wedding Singer showing in between and for some, there's still interzone competitions. A streak of sports practices would follow, leading up to the combined Swimming Gala and Sports Day at the end of May. After which we can finally sit back and relax with the Mid-Year Holidays. 

When you take a step back and look at it all, you might just get the urge to shake your head and sigh at Cempaka's amazing ability to cram more activities in an already jam-packed month. Or, you might just feel like crawling under your blankets to hide out and hibernate for the rest of the month.  It's going to be a hectic month for sure, but that's what life is about - doing things. The buckets of sweat, sore throats and sunburnt skins will exhaust you but by the time it's over, you'll look back and say it wasn't so bad after all and you might even miss it. (I don't think we can say the same about exams unsurprisingly) Life is about learning, trying and doing things. Believe us, we understand what it feels like to just want to lay in bed and watch television shows all day. But, there's a time for everything. Experience and memories are invaluable and more often than not, the door to it will not invite you in twice.

We wish you the best of luck for surviving the manic month of May, no matter what your endeavour may be in: sports, academics or soul or perhaps even all three. Don't forget, it's also Teachers' Day and Mothers' Day! Be sure to thank the individuals who have been behind us every step of the way, and will no doubt continue to push us forward, especially in this manic month of May.

Best wishes, 

Amanda Lee & Chin Wye Mun.

Birds

by Clarissa Teh, Class of 2019

Birds are beautiful creatures,

some with aquiline features.

They are amazing in flight,

to attract mates whenever they’re in sight.

The Great Hornbill’s ‘crown’,

or the legs of the graceful milky stork,

are no match for an ostrich’s fluffy down,

which can be as brown as a cork.

Photo Credit : En Syariz

If you have watched a Roseate Tern

do its acrobatic flips in the sky,

you’ll reach for the clouds and yearn.

But if you try to fly you’ll surely die!

In the water, the black and white penguins are the speediest,

but if they spot some fish they’ll instantly be the greediest.

If you’re lucky, you’ve seen the tiny, twittering hummingbird.

There’s no bird smaller than it, please don’t be absurd!

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.

Selamat Datang President Obama!

by Ryan Lien Kar Sheng, Freshman Terra, Class of 2017

As of 26 April 2014, President Barack Obama became the second U.S. President to visit Malaysia. President Lyndon B. Johnson visited back in 1966. Obama arrives hoping to strengthen bilateral relations with Malaysia after decades of less than easy ties.

After the landing of U.S. Air Force One at the Royal Malaysian Air Base, President Obama was brought to Kuala Lumpur’s Parliament Square. Upon arriving, a 21-gun salute rang out as Malaysia’s king, Abdul Halim of Kedah and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak greeted the president. The national military band played the U.S. and Malaysia national anthems twice in honour of the 2 countries.

After the ceremony had come to an end, Obama’s next stop was Istana Negara (National Palace), for an audience with the royal family before he took his seat at a 600-people state dinner as the honoured guest. The state dinner was held at a banquet hall inside the king's residence.

President Obama was interviewed by The Star, a local Malaysian English newspaper.

“I see my visit as an opportunity to formalize a comprehensive partnership and lay the foundation for even closer ties for years to come," he said.

Trade, defence and maritime security are also issues President Obama and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak are expected to discuss about during talks scheduled for this Sunday.

Currently trending on twitter: Obama & Naijb selfie! 

The disappearance of MH370 carrying 239 people in March placed Malaysia in the international spotlight just as President Obama was preparing to head to the region. The U.S. is also assisting in the massive international search effort.

Absent from President Obama's journey to Malaysia: a meeting with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who now represents the strongest political threat to Prime Minister Najib amid a decline in the prime minister’s popular support over the past two elections.

The U.S. had rejected calls from human rights groups for the Obama to meet with the 66-year-old former deputy prime minister of Malaysia, but instead sent Susan Rice, his national security adviser and a former U.N. ambassador, to meet with him.

President Obama's deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, told reporters traveling with President Obama that the president will not meet with opposition leaders during foreign visits, but felt the issue was important enough to send Susan Rice instead.

Before completing his tour of Asia and returning to Washington, the president will spend Monday and Tuesday in the Philippines.