Among the Villagers

One of the 7 Pillar Activities I had to take in order to graduate is Baktisiswa. A foster program, sort of. When I heard about it, I was thinking, there goes my weekends...

Most Biomedical Electronic Engineering students are sent to Kampung Titi Tinggi Ulu, around a total of 90 people. Arrived at the mosque and waited for the prayers to be done, so we can be called upon to meet our foster parents.

A 3-day-2-night trip needed this much luggage... Just kidding xD

I was paired up with JianFeng as foster children to the Secretary of the village. We were suppose to stay with another Malay guy and Arabian guy, but they somehow went MIA, so lucky for us, its just us two people in a big house with our foster family :)Our room, pretty nice :) 10 times better than my hostel =.=

Catherine and SuezTing lived 2 houses away so its convenient for us to pay a visit. Then we decided to go for a stroll on a bicycle around the village.

Its been ages since I last rode a bicycle, and I think I lost the ability to stay balanced =.= not to mention my butt hurts like hell after a few rides...

Next up, each group had to draw a map and the organisation chart of the village. The map looked sort of like...

...this. We didn't have much time so we have to continue the next day. Its impossible to get it done in 2 hours...

Next morning, aerobic exercises. Not my cup of tea =.=

TzeYang lead the exercise midway, and made it... well... enjoyable but... SUPER embarrassing... I wouldn't be caught dead doing those -.- hence no pictures.

'Twas supposed to be Maid-Day for my group because when the leaders draw lots, we could the cleaning up duty =.= Luckily for me, KM decided to change things a little bit. He changed the program a little bit, making it a moon-gazing event at night, and preparations in the evening. Out goes my maid duty :) Thanks a TON haha.

And when night approaches...Time to see the moon :) Its the Moon Eclipse Day, which is a rare opportunity, but too bad those darn bloody clouds are blocking the view... Only got to see a bit of it, and the rest was viewed online...
Reena gave a lil' bit of knowledge about the solar system to the kids, and even offered some gifts if they answered her questions correctly.

Since the bloody clouds are disturbing, time to watch the moon online. Like-a-boss way.
Oh yeah, KM and his team made something pretty interesting.
Its called a Planisphere. Rotate the sphere according to your date and the date stated in the sphere to see what kinds of stars you could see in the sky, provided without clouds.

And now its time to do what I always do when there's an eclipse.
Egg-standing competition! Lost terribly =.= Only JianFeng managed to make it stand. Went back to our house around 12.

The next day all UniMAP students are asked to help out in the wedding ceremony. I was thinking, what can we do? I came late, and most of the jobs are booked by other people. What to do leh? In we go to the kitchen.
This is how they cook meat in mass. Like, seriously. This is the 1st time I've ever witnessed with my own eyes, the way they cook. They dig a keyhole like... hole and place the wok on the round shaped... hole... The firewood goes below and voila! You have a cooking pit.

We don't have enough firewood so, Handyman TzeYang to the rescue. He can cut wood. Really. He CAN. Then on to the cooking. I COOKED! Surprised? The beef curry two pics above, made by me, and my teammates :) We were given directions on what to put so no worries about the taste :) We don't have the experience in this kind of cooking, so sue me.

The bride and groom.

After that was over, its time to go home. We had out last goodbye with out foster parents, and took some pictures, served them some drinks, etc. etc. etc.My foster family had one of the cutest daughter I've ever seen. So hyper and outgoing (although camera-shy).They even gave me a present :)

Although I most probably wouldn't wanna do this program again, I kinda enjoyed my stay there. The people are surprisingly a LOT more friendly than they seem to be when I 1st saw them in the mosque.

This is a one-of-a-kind experience that I would treasure for a loooooong time. Its been a while since I ever did something so meaningful.

I'm pretty thankful for everything I have received from my foster family. Be it food, shelter, warmth and even the stories they share with me. May all of you be blessed for your kindness and spirits.




Signed off,
Kelvin.