Honey4Boyz

Posted by Xian Jin "Now, what am I going to do with a 4-month break?" I thought, back in December. All of my friends are in colleges, brothers back to school, and I'm stuck at home for 4 months. I could laze around, wait for time to pass; or I could do something I had never done before!  Through friends, I got a job in a tuition centre as a marker.  I remember my first day working, how everything was new to me. Everyone was really friendly, as they taught me the procedures and process of my job. I made many mistakes, and I remember how nervous I was. I'm so thankful to have actually gone to the centre before - as a student, so it didn't feel so alien to me. About a month has passed, and I still feel excited and enthusiastic whenever I go off to work (I call it work, but really, its more like learning from a different position/viewpoint). Eye Level, a Maths and English tuition centre (NOT an optical shop!).  I got some opportunities to teach there al...

My neighbourhood is a melting pot of multi-racial, multi-status people. Malaysia is a multi-racial country, we've the Chinese, Malays, Indians and Sikhs. But now I cannot tell who are those in my neighbourhood anymore. Our society is now much more diversified than before, and includes the  refugees, migrants, asylum-seekers and many stateless children.  This is the reality of the global migrant and refugee crisis. It affects everybody. The local communities will also feel the social and economic impact of large refugee and migrant populations in our country. The fact is Malaysia is not a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Thus, the refugee and asylum-seeker groups do not have any fundamental rights, no protection and no assistance.  There's no formal registration. They cannot work, move around freely, go to schools, seek medical care and have no housing. They're open to much abuse and exploitation by the authorities as well as the local communities.  They...

The end of another school year has come. I've enjoyed spending time with my students, all teenagers, being there to talk and listen to them as they grow and thrive in foreign land. Most boys and girls in Malaysia will be taking a break before they continue their secondary education, whilst the older ones will be busy making preparation for tertiary education. What about these Myanmar teenagers, from ages 13 to 18 yo? My class is the highest level provided by the learning centre, and they know they're coming back to the same class next year. There's not much motivation for the older teens. Two of them have dropped out during the year. Their future as refugees in Malaysia is bleak.  They continue to hope in our heavenly Father.  "To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the ...

Most of us have heard of the Kuala Gandah elephant sanctuary in Lanchang, Pahang. But within walking distance from this sanctuary is a small Orang Asli village, known as Che' Wong tribe. The tribe is a subgroup of the Senoi indigenous people group. They live near the villages of other races and close to the jungles. There are about 25 simple houses here, built with nipah, bamboo, rattan and wood. Thanks to the popular elephant sanctuary, there is a road access to the village, thus allowing the young ones to look for jobs in the surrounding plantations and factories. Due to easy access, they're quite used to visitors dropping by from time to time. However, the orang asli villagers are quite shy. When we first arrived, we could see children playing from our cars. But most fled when we came down....  The Che' Wong villagers still forage in the jungles, hunt and do some subsistence farming. Most of the times, the old folks, women and chi...

Posted by Xian Jin My Mum volunteers at a learning centre for Myanmar refugee students in our neighbourhood. This centre is open from kindergarten all the way to upper primary level. She teaches English once a week as a volunteer. The students range from 12 to 19 years old. Sometimes the younger students also join in. During my school holidays, I help my Mum to teach the students. On my first experience teaching them - many pairs of eyes stared at me while I stood awkwardly in front of them. Worse still, the younger class had to join in because their teacher was absent. I was really scared and luckily my Mum was there to support me. My confidence started to wane as class started. My forehead was already sweating and my voice was getting softer. What more, they were giggling here and there and I just wanted to pass on to my Mum. I shared with them about birds. I explained about birds' characteristics and behaviour and tried to make the lesson interesting. I co...

I think it's time to update about Ken, the boy that I had shared in my earlier post, Misconceptions about Down syndrome . I've observed and guided him for about 7 months as a volunteer at PKIK. It was a learning journey for me, full of little discovery here and there.  I've to put aside my academic plans. Ken has no speech and poor motor skills. So in a classroom setting, we do mainly activities that help with his fine motor skills. These are movements to the hands, wrists, fingers, feet, etc in coordination with the eyes. They are smaller actions such as throw/catch balls, kick/pass balls, squeezing balls, using a pair of scissors to cut, using a pencil to write carefully and other tasks that occur daily. I usually put a surprise toy inside a paper bag. Ken would use the scissors to cut open the bag, but even if the toy drops out halfway, he would still continue cutting until the bag is completely separated. Ken is not very keen in arts, especially if it g...

Persatuan Kanak-kanak Istimewa (PKIK), a learning centre for persons with learning disabilities had their Sports Day in Kajang Utama recently. There were about 90 students/trainees who came along with their families.   The kids were very at ease and would pose for a picture any time. A family affair for us to volunteer at the Sports Day. Daddy was the cameraman, assisting him was Jin. I helped at the finishing line. Brandon was pretty excited at first, but the hot sun drained him fast. Wei & I took part in the family game. We didn't get a prize, much to his disappointment cos he thot he could beat the aunties but these 'aunties' were PRO!   March past from the little ones to adult trainees. Warm-up and stretch before the events. Sports events for the little kids. The parents were enjoying themselves so much in these events. Because of their encouragement and support, these kids beat their physical disability to finish the races. And everyone...

I will be sharing three disabilities that are increasingly prevalent:  cerebral palsy , autism disorders and Down syndrome  from my experience as a volunteer at PKIK (read  more ). XianJin followed me to PKIK during the school holidays in March. He's kinda 'stunned' to see the environment and disabled kids in the beginning. And pretty nervous like me too. He played some soothing music in the background while we're attending to the kids. Classical music does have a very calming effect. When he's more warmed up, he even helped to guide a student. He observed that during a task to hang clothes peg on a line, the student had arranged them in a repeated similar colour pattern. Like XianJin, many of us have some common misconceptions about people with learning disabilities. I think most people can pick out a person with Down syndrome. People with Down's have some characteristics that make them look like each other, eg  eyes that are often almond-shaped an...

I will be sharing three disabilities that are increasingly prevalent:  cerebral palsy , autism disorders and Down syndrome   from my experience as a volunteer at PKIK (read more ). Autism is a common disability at PKIK, something like 7 out of 10 students have autism disorders (the other 2 for Down Syndrome & 1 for CP). It's a broad term, meaning the child can be a little autistic or very autistic. The disability can be devastating that may require institutional care, and on another spectrum,  you've the Asperger syndrome, which is often of average or above average intelligence.  Loges is 16yo, he joined the Day Training Programme in mid 2011. He was accompanied by his mother to attend the programme for more than a year. Finally, in March this year, he didn't need a chaperon anymore. Like many other autistic kids there, he looks like a typical child. If these kids remain still, it's kinda hard to identify those who have the autism disorders.  ...

I will be sharing three disabilities that are increasingly prevalent: cerebral palsy, autism disorders and Down syndrome from my experience as a volunteer at PKIK (read more ).  I met RuYi at the Day Training Programme. She's  the first CP child I know at PKIK. At 12 years old, she has the height of a 6-year-old. I was pretty nervous as I've no idea where to start. She has such a sweet smile that put me at ease immediately. Her caretaker acted as her translator at first. I realise that she could understand Tamil cos it's the mother tongue of her caretaker. She could also understand  English and Malay fairly well.  She started with some simple motor-skill coordination puzzle.  You see,   RuYi sees the world from a horizontal point of view. She spends her day lying down, in bed or on the ground. She waits for her caretaker to carry her around as she has   uncoordinated movements and postures.  Her immobile condition did not rob the joy o...