Think Outside the Woods (28~30 May)

Posted by Silas

I greatly anticipated the Kiwanis Builders' Camp at Benum Hill Resort, Pahang. I love facing the challenges, alone in the woods and doing different things with new friends. I noticed that this time more than half the participants came from sheltered homes  (ie homes for the abused, neglected or abandoned children). I like them because they were very open in one to one conversations, independent, but very shy in groups. It took a lot of effort to get them to speak out in group discussions, although they had brilliant ideas. But as we spent more time together, we grew comfortable and started to be more confident. 

People think camp is a time to have fun, to learn, to get along with each other, and come out a better person. That's just pretty much it. But to me, those are not the main reasons.

Thinking hard without thinking caps...

Besides fun, I realized that these games were trying to train us to look at things from different angles; think further outside of the box.

 Humpty-Dumpties dropped from the sky,
We watched as we bid them goodbye.
Can the Egg-catchers save the eggs?
Or will they fail, and watch them break their legs?

Games are supposed to make you smile, not frustrated. I know that pond rafting is hard. But just take a look at the surrounding; we're in a lotus pond! It's hard to be frustrated in the midst of a peaceful environment. So just change the way we look, and find peace.


 Let's take Mr Potato as an example. Trying to stab him with a straw sounds absurd, right?  He would probably die of laughter before you even try to stab him. But the guy below just made the other potatoes felt nervous.

Look! If he can do it, is it counted as impossible? Just put in lots of concentration, along with some strength, believe in yourself, and Follow Through!

I noticed that in this camp, nobody jeered even though we performed badly. Instead, they were very supportive. The CAs had always encouraged us to speak out, or volunteer, since Day 1. So I realized that camps are a place to learn, where people are more patient with us, because it is never too near our comfort zone, nor too far out of the discomfort zone.

A happy morning before the end of camp...

"The story of my past, present, and future-The Vision Collage"

So I realized that although we came from different backgrounds, we must get to know one another and work together. That is, I think, the purpose of a camp, besides having fun.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Al-Attas Garden in Janda Baik - 4 August 2012

Image
Besides being a well-known contentious writer, little do we know that Syed Hussein Alattas is also a self-taught gardener and an architect. He had built Taman Hana in Janda Baik from scratch and named after his wife.  Taman Hana sits on a 8-acre plot of land in the quiet village of Janda Baik. It boasts a collection of 1,000 species of plants including fruit trees, more than 700 big flower pots and five buildings that include the home of the Alattas family.  The good news is that it is open to visitors every day.  As we made our way past the entrance, this place appeared unkempt. It was well beyond its heyday (in 2008) but still showing off its faded beauty. Some parts were badly neglected, which was so unfortunate, because it originally was to be a quiet kampung retreat. A mix of traditional Malay, Peranakan, Indonesian and colonial British architecture and a Minangkabau styled roof. Syed Hussein had actually started building the structures in 1982 and he spent a lot of time
Read more

Spilling the Beans in Ipoh - 6 Apr 2012

Image
Ipoh's familiar specialty - Nga Choy Kai or the Taugeh (Bean Sprouts) Chicken. What else to accompany the poached chicken than the fresh, fat and crunchy Ipoh famous bean sprouts!! The bean sprouts are served blanched, with a dash of sesame oil, white pepper and soy sauce. Ipoh is a well-known food haven in Malaysia, and most will agree that Ipoh's bean sprout is the best in Malaysia. The premium-grade bean sprouts come from the Buntong New Village, which is also my husband's hometown. Growing bean sprout requires only water and more importantly, watering techniques. Madam Toon told us that there were at least 8 operators in Buntong. They were all family-owned businesses, and the three Toon brothers have been growing bean sprouts for more than 70 years.  Bean sprouts are grown from black mung beans imported from Myanmar. The beans need to be watered every 4 hours throughout the day for 5 days, no shortcut, otherwise they will be not be fat and juicy. At
Read more

A Potter Village in Sayong - 30 May 2013

Image
Pit Stop at the Perak royal town, Kuala Kangsar. The 1st rubber tree in Malaysia was planted in this town. That's about all I knew about this place. Labu Sayong or water pitcher from Sayong village, known for its health value to help migraine, lower blood pressure etc due to the special properties inherent in the local clay. Before this, we didn't know much of labu sayong.  We didn't go to the village or plan this visit. Out of curiousity, we bumped into this unassuming workshop at No. 3, Kg Setia, Enggor, run by Mohd bin Harun.  Pakcik was very open and gave us a tour of his workshop and how he makes labu sayong. His warm, friendly welcoming people made a lasting impression on all of us - a trait that we've lost in the big cities. The traditional way of making labu sayong uses hands to mould the clay into the shape of a 'labu' (gourd-like vase) but this is too slow. Now, the clay mixture is poured into standard mould blocks. It's
Read more