character development programme
Thursday, January 22
well cdp is over, and that is perhaps the most screwed up camps i've been to so far. the food was terrible, and didnt do justice to the many awesome restaurants and hawker areas that malaysia possesses. i mean, even hawker food is much nicer, and much cheaper than many of the disgusting restaurants we went to, many of which insisted on having spicy food, especially in dishes that didn't need to be hot. all that terrible food just made me lose my appetite, and it didnt help my condition since i had just recovered from food poisoning!
but nonetheless, mealtimes never failed to make me laugh, with the entire table's cutlery darting forward whenever a dish was placed on the table. of course, that was coupled with certain people's dietary fussiness, such as a large number of people refusing to eat prawns cos they dont like it, or cos they're lazy to peel the shells, and gareth who doesnt eat fish unless someone removes the bones for him, and is allergic to sotong.
but of course, mealtimes were also an opportunity for people to show their warmth and care for others, the most obvious one is eugene who always got stuff for the people around him first, even without asking them. so sweet! then of course came qin xiang, where my maid training for him came in handy, pouring out all the water for us. of course you must realise that our table are full of aggressive non-pai sei people, so a lot of times we just went to the counter to steal the jugs of water ourselves, and we would keep pestering the waiters and waitresses in every restaurant for more rice, till they got quite irritated. hehehe, so funny seeing them scurrying around to appease our every request, though they didnt do it very well. of course eugene and qin xiang were not the only ones lah, but everyone constantly did it, just that eugene would reach all over the table just to serve others, and qin xiang always stole the jug from others. but siti cant beat the skills of yati lati in water pouring!
okay, so much emphasis on the meals... but i need not go into detail about the activities, since we all did the same thing! except that i was told our eagle extreme challenge route was shorter.
so, character development... sure, their activities may have allowed for character development, but their reflections at the end sure didn't. i mean sure, you wanna let people think and consider what they've done to improve themselves in the camp, but for the larger part of it, the reflections was just an area for people to reaffirm their believes about how pro they are, with a few exceptions of people who really looked deep into themselves and made a decision to change. i always feel that self-glorification is the worst thing ever to exist. all we're doing for our reflections is, "i'm showing CARE for my friends by supporting and encouraging them!" like okay, if you say so.
a true evaluation of how a person has grown should be done by the peers and other around them, giving an unbiased and objective review of others' performance. after all, if you've truly changed, it should show on the outside, and should be observed by those around us. if nobody notices it, obviously one hasnt done enough to make a change! so here's my true reflections, about my experience in the camp.
cdp wasnt exactly the best in terms of class bonding. the groups were divided based on the rooming list, which was really arranged by cliques, since i wanted to make interroom interaction easy for everyone in the night. so our groups ended up being the nonsense crappers, the jocks, and the studious people. i cant say i found out a lot more about the people in my group, since i already know them very well, except for our leader i-zacky-wacky. i must say though, the experience ended up being much better than i thought, and the group members were just pure awesome! so here's to the wonderful members of Pho Phuck Lai / the iTeam / team Isaac, in order of rooming list...
LEON HENG
mr heng lei kiat leon is sprightly and forever full of joy. you can never mistake his signature laugh for any other, and hearing is so highly infectious, that it stirs up the well of joy within me.
his uncanny knack to find my occasional facial expressions funny also makes me break out in a smile, and most usually, go red with embarassment, especially when he asks me to make the similar expression again, which i myself have no idea how i contorted my face into such a fashion.
he also makes significant contributions to the group, performing everything to the best of his abilities, a great team player that effectively pulls his own weight, generally easy to conduct conversations with, fun to be with.
JOSHUA LIEW
mr joshua liew tze leon is like some 3 in 1 extra value pack. of course i'm not saying hes cheap, but like wow, hes a great team player, and truly a great person to talk to, and definitely a nice person in general. so where does the 3 in 1 come in? its easy, you know it!
firstly, he does so much for the group, his contributions are really outstanding, and he pulls more than his own share of the load. its like he sustains the group with the other 3 pillars of physical strength in our group, and all the time without any complaint.
secondly, he helps to keep the group together, and sustain us all. he gets the group to listen to isaac when he's speaking, and makes sure we're cooperative and participating ourselves. he also looks out for all of us, and makes sure that we are all fine. not to mention his constant encouragement for the entire team, though sometimes he irritatingly singles out certain people when they're directly in front of him, for example when we're rafting out at sea, and he keeps bugging me to row wider and not anyone else, when leon was rowing so much less than me :P but i have to admit, pissed as i was, it gave me the strength and determination to continue rowing instead of pulling in my oar and rest every once in a while :P especially when we were racing with nick's group to shore :D that was so epic, and i couldnt be bothered about my arms crying out in pain, especially seeing joshua himself working to hard to row.
thirdly, to end off this extra value meal (want to upsize?), hes so fun to talk to! hes one of the few people i can have a great conversation with without ending up getting very loud with my actions. its like having nice sensible talks about the things happening around us, for example how the true motivation behind certain people's achievements is so screwed up, which adds on to the screwed up-ness of the camp. if i have this kind of conversaion with qin xiang and ryan, we'll always end up fighting to talk over each other, like some competition to see whos louder :P not that i'm saying it isnt fun, it just offers a wider variety :D he's really one truly genial person.
ISAAC KOH (the awesome team leader)
mr "isaac" koh teng kiat is one heck of a leader. honestly, i expected him to take on the approach the rest of us would, that being to sit back and slack, and let the group do whatever is necessary. at least that's what i would do, and that was what the other 2 leaders did too :P but instead, he actively got our team to participate in the activities. and though the group was sluggish at first, he managed to kindle a flame of fire within all of us, which made us all more enthu about the activities. for example, the silly treasure hunt in which almost every grouped slacked off and didnt bother to participate, isaac got our group ready and going, despite our groans and protests, and mutterings behind his back :P but in the end, who can say no to a long-suffering leader who tries so hard to do his best in leading?
sure, he shouted at us at times, but how can you blame him for shouting when our group started out being so uncooperative? haha, and honestly shouting is the only way to get people like us to listen :P but he never gave up, and in the end our group was... mostly cooperative (: i guess its especially hard for him to lead us, since he's perhaps the most different, while the rest of us constantly gel together.
he was so nice to tolerate all the nonsense that we gave him, as our group always had people coming down minutes before we needed to leave (like me! XD) and all that jazz, and he had to get scolded everytime just because of us. a truly selfless leader that helped to power all the way through, and motivate us in everything that we did, leading by example too. he is definitely more deserving of the silly best camper award compared to a leader who sits and slacks whose team's success can only be attributed to the brawn of the members, especially when they get drunk the night immediately after they've been crowned with that lame title. hopefully your mom didnt steal your token of appreciation we got you :P
GARETH NEO
mr gareth neo jia hwee is usually quiet in everyday context, but for the later part of the camp, seemed to express himself to the people around him, and not restricting his interaction to qin xiang alone, as such is usually the case in class.
i clearly remember him talking a lot more during the rock climbing and the eagle ranch resort activities, he was actually talking a lot more to the people in the group. maybe it was cos of the kaq that we did the previous night, haha, but nonetheless, improvement was clearly visible, and all i can say is that i'm impressed. he was like going around expressing his elation after climbing the rock wall, saying how fun it was XD i mean, thats something i rarely hear from caveman neo! besides that, gareth neo was constantly pulling his own weight, and never dragged the team down. as far as i know, he was one of the few in our group that kept to the timings given by cindy. looks like plato can be proud of this caveman!
NG QIN XIANG
mr ng qin xiang is always full of crap, and i mean that in a good way. i can always count on this boy for some lively entertainment and an engaging conversation to take me through the day, whether during the boring bus ride, the lame activities, or the inaudible briefings. but of course, we cant expect any less of qin xiang, since he does this on a daily basis already.
it was rather sad that his room was on another level, if not i surely would have visited his room quite a lot, but it wasnt meant to be. nonetheless, qin xiang filled my days with fun and laughter, together suaning the teacher who's surname rhymes with suan. at least she was laughable about it too XD
i gotta say qin xiang really impressed me during the activities too. despite him not being the most fit of people (CLEARLY!), he still put his best foot forward in everything he did, and was super cooperative. even with his fear of heights, going on the canopy walk, which made him realise theres nothing scary about canopy walks at all heh. and even so, he constantly checked on the well-being of others, despite being on the brink of unconsciousness himself hehehe XD
another big part of his contribution to the team is how he constantly was mindful of the feelings of others, and how he tried his best to accomodate their requests, especially isaac, who was clearly having a hard time at first. he really sympathised with the members of the group and their troubles, and he himself kept his thoughts to himself, so as to prevent any tension between the group. okay more like he didnt tell the person in their face, but told ryan and i as an outlet of his feelings XD
and last of all, i need to thank him for not killing me for taking pictures of him while he was having his nose bleed, one of such pictures being showcased above :P if not for that i wouldnt be here to be blogging about it already
EUGENE LEONG
mr leong kwong fei eugene is a true gentleman, in every sense of the word. he displays so much care to those around him, and also encourages those around him, and is also able to carry more than his own weight in the team.
first off, he truly has a heart of service. like i said earlier, during mealtimes he would always scoop dishes for others before himself, and for buffets would help others to take drinks too, without being asked to. and not only is this confined to mealtimes, he does what he can to make the lives of others easier in general.
then, he always is there to support everyone during the activities. whether it was running at the back of the pack to accompany and spur on the physically less fit people, or with verbal encouragement for everyone to charge themselves. also, he tries to do more than 1 person's share of the load, in effort to help the team at times, and help pick up the slack of some members. at times, he would try so much to help even when he wasnt capable, such that he ended up hindering us. but that aside, i think its the attitude and motives he had at heart that matters, instead of whether it sorta brought us down. nobody can have everything :P
oh yes and how can i forget, during breakfast time he'd do so many cool stuff :P like cutting out shapes in bread and toasting them XD hahaha, such a joy to have around.
and to top it all off, he was my roommie, and he was so awesome at being that, i feel so privileged to be his roommie :D there was never any fighting over who got to shower first or whatnot, he got me hooked on mocca frap from starbucks cofffee, and he sorta reminded me to do QT every night by doing it himself (: but perhaps the most silly things of all was that both of us heavy sleepers were roomed together. we anticipated we would be missing lots of the morning calls, so we set our own phone alarms too. and while i'm the sleeper that goes back to sleep after being woken up, hes the sleeper that can sleep through being woken up. so i slept through at most 1 morning call per day, and after that kept waking up to the next 2 morning calls, and the insistent ringing of eugene's phone alarm to the tune of 'break free' by hillsong united, and made me realise how irritating it is as one, particularly because the song never ever reached the chorus by the time the alarm cut itself off. so i was basically hearing the tune of the verses over and over again, since eugene could sleep through like 6 times of his phone alarm, on top of the morning calls. let me take a momentary step away from this testimonial and slip in a recount:
[[[one of the most memorable memories i have being his roommate was the day we were supposed to go to port dickson. now as we all know, thats the day we're supposed to wake up 1 hour earlier than normal. i woke up at 1am feeling slightly nauseous, but decided to sleep it off, and thought nothing more of it. then the morning calls came at 5am, and like always, i slammed down the phone and thought nothing of it, expecting eugene's phone alarms to come next, with the last morning call i got coming at 5:24am. for some reason, eugene didnt set his phone alarm, and that inevitably spelt our doom.
then when i woke up again, i looked at my phone and saw the time as 6:34am. so with my half awake mind, i thought that was still fine, as it would be on previous days, so i slept on. then wei jian called at 6:42am, telling us they were waiting for us at the lobby XD that was like the moment of revelation, and i immediately woke eugene up, and we chionged through our morning routine, when eugene 'conveniently' got a nosebleed. still, we made it down to the lobby at 6:53am :D but of course that was still late by ct's standards, so i just told her i felt nauseous in the morning and went back to sleep, while he had a nose bleed when we woke up. which though it isnt the cause for our being late, its the truth and the truth alone, so i wasnt lying :D and i was careful to make sure i said that before she asked for why we were late, so its considered a statement of facts, and not a response and answer to us being late XD]]]
RYAN TAN
mr tan jun-yi ryan is ever able to relate everything and anything back to our beloved teachers. its so totally hilarious to be sitting around, going through cdp, when we're still constantly reminded of the thrills and spills of our first look at the schooling year of 2009. its like ryan can see this certain teacher everywhere we go, which somehow just MAZ pop out of nowhere, LINgering in every corner, and jump into our minds haha. but i'm not complaining :D adds spice and flavours of home when we're in that mudhole XD i think i've finally figured out why the hunt for MAZ selamat is so tough now, its like ryan found her soul sister within a tour guide there. so though she wasnt there, she was indirectly there with us every step of the way.
and of course, his room being the closest room to ours, we would keep going to each others rooms, especially since our roommates werent in the room very often, for some strange reason haha. so i'd sit around in his room to watch guard while he was showering, and he would always call on me before going off together for breakfast or to assemble. though such gestures may seem small, every little thing is heavily treasured and appreciated, and it shows a lot more of his concern for others, compared to if he had just gone off his own way without checking in on other people. simple actions can truly go a long way.
and of course, not to mention his participation during the activites, which deserves commendation. i remember the nonsense challenge at awana eco park, where people had to be parallel to the ground on a rope and climb all around. and just by doing that, ryan got himself nauseous and got some rope burns i think. so tragic! but such is the spirit of self-sacrificial boys, putting their group before themselves! ok i dont think they were intentional, nor did he expect to suffer like that, but haha, still counts :P
oh and he deserves special mention for creating many photo opportunities of our ct, during the rock climbing :D
TAN WEI JIAN
mr tan wei jian is a fungi. oh sorry, a fun guy. hes really participative in all the activities, and throughout the entirety of the camp, lives up to his self-given name of 'crapptalker'.
hes one of the 'big four' that provided the physical strength in the group, which was really put to good use during the numerous team building activities and obstacle courses that we went through, especially when it called for lifting of people.
also, i've gotta say he was perhaps one of the most cooperative members, rarely questioning isaac's authority, and never voiced out any disagreements with any other member in the group, thus maintaining the peace within the group as far as possible, and never ever adding on to the conflict.
not to forget the random interjections of random stuff he says. of course not half as random as random king eugene. but i remember his maggi mee parties in the night at least :P where we watched such a lame show on discovery channel, which was so anticlimax! wasted my time. but was still fun to sit there with he, eugene and ryan.
MATTHEW LEE
mr lee wei liang matthew is like a kind mother, who nurses everyone with his best effort, whenever possible. he performed his first aid duties with utmost quality, and went the extra mile in everything he did. he kindly came around with the alcohol spray to spray any sore muscles which would numb the pain. such a service wasnt necessary, but his eagerness to help others where possible is clearly seen here, though maybe its also the result of being bored. also, despite having his injured toe, he helped out and participated in various activities such as the raft-making, even though he was excused from joining in. such is the nature of matthew the juggler, always helping without being asked.
MARK ONG
mr ong shi jie mark is my fellow cameraman :D but while i focused on taking happy lovely memorise, mark ong focused on taking unglam shots of people, something i was obsessed with doing last year in vietnam. well i think its no secret that mark and i have lots of our activities together, being in same class, same bb, and same drama, so spending time with him during the camp was just like all other days :P
but nonetheless, that doesnt mean he cant have nice stuff said about him XD i think during this camp, it became very clear to me that we both share the same weakness for stuff toys, haha. well anyway thats slightly beside the point. i guess we both have quite a lot of the same interests, and he really is a good companion to have around, since we can talk about a lot of things along the same subject.
a totally fun guy, and i must say i've never seen him emo, dao, depressed, or pissed off before. either he's inhuman and has no feelings whatsoever, or he just lets the blues roll away. heh for me, thats a super hard thing to do, cos my emotions affect my mood and actions a LOT, and i usually take words to heart, unless i know that the guy is joking or whatever. but i guess that also goes to show all the joy he possesses within him :D
well that brings us to the end of the list of members in my awesome group (: in closing, i would just really like to say a big mega huge THANK YOU to all the people in group 1, that made cdp a camp that is truly memorable, not for the activities, but for the people i got to mingle with throughout the entirety of the camp. i can honestly say that every single individual in the group played a huge part in making my cdp experience the best possible experience, and the group wouldnt be the same without any one of you. i'm eternally thankful that i was put in a group with all my good friends (:
well oh well, congratulations! you have reached the end of my super duper long post, which as of the number you will see appearing, is made up of 3,999 words, including the smileys. so give yourself a round of applause for a job well done!
xoxo!
AMEN;
9:24 pm
