Student Leaders Board SMK Sultan Ismail: Brunei Darussalam ♥ ♥ Yantong

★ The immersion and internationalisation programme to Brunei Darussalam is tailor-made for the future young ambassadors of Malaysia. 60 of us, consists of 28 secondary school students and 32 primary school boys and girls, had been given green lights to be a part of this immersion and internationalisation programme. This objective of the programme is not only to fulfil the Key Performing Indicators which is introduced by Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia through the High Performing School Concept. It is also meant to groom future leaders of Johor and highlight our leadership qualities. Before we set foot on Brunei, all of us attended courses, which was specially prepared by PPD for us, to widen our knowledge of our country, improve our English communicating skills and polish our dancing skills for the culture show.

★ On the 4^th of October 2010, 60 students from Johor Bahru Students Leaders Council have departed from KLIA to Brunei Darussalam for our 6 days immersion and internationalisation programme. That was where the sweet memories begin and the starting of my report. A picture is worth a thousand words - therefore, I'll tell the story of the one week Brunei trip in pictures :)

►Day 1: 4^th October 2010, Monday

Departing from Pejabat Pelajaran Daerah, we reached Kuala Lumpur International Airport at about 12:00pm. We went through the exit formalities and boarded in the plane after lunch. Bidding goodbye to Malaysia, we left for Brunei Darussalam at 3:30pm and reached Brunei International Airport at about 6:00pm. We were welcomed by the Ministry of Education of Brunei Darussalam and were ushered to the tour bus which then sent us to our hotel, The Holiday Lodge Hotel in Jerudung. At 7:30 pm, the Ministry of Education of Brunei organized a reception dinner for us at The Holiday Lodge Hotel. We enjoyed the dinner and the musical performances. The food in Brunei is delicious and has not much difference with ours. Everyone sleep early after the dinner as we’ve a tiring day. GOOD NIGHT :)

★ Kuala Lumpur International Airport

★ Khai, Shafiq, JianKe & me

★ S M I L E:)

★ Jiongsheng & me

★ Afiqah,Amirah,Nabilah,Tommy & me

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►Day 2: 5^th October 2010 (Tuesday)

The schedule was tight. We were told to be early to avoid getting stuck in the heavy traffic. We woke up at 5:00am to get ourselves ready. After having breakfast in the hotel, we set off immediately to respective schools by bus at 6:50am. 6 girls, including me, and two teachers were placed in Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Masna Secondary School, a high performing girl school in Brunei Darussalam, abbreviated as SM PAP Hajah Masna. We reached there at 8:30am. We were filled in with the ins and outs of the school from the briefing of the principal of SM PAP Hajah Masna. Then, we were leaded by our new friends, visiting every corner of SM PAP Hajah Masna. My buddy is Farhanah, a 14-year-old girl in Year 9, which is form 4 in Malaysia. The school compound is much bigger than schools in Johor Bahru but not every part of the school is well maintained. In the afternoon, all of us were sent to Maktab Sains, the best school in Brunei with integrated facilities, for the handing over of adopted child. My mummy is Dayang Hajah Mariah Binti Haji Ahmad, a school teacher of SM PAP Hajah Masnah. She is a pretty young lady who husband is a consul in Sarawak and they have no child. After the ceremony finished, I went back home with my mama and get myself ready to visit the grandparents in Seria. The one and a half hour journey from Bandar Seri Begawan to Seria was quite tiring. We reached there at night, about 7:30pm, and were welcomed warmly by the family. I tried a few types of hand-made traditional kuih and found it delicious. The four-year-old little cousin of mine, mixed of Chinese and Malay, is cute but shy. We played with the mirrors and he did salam to me before we went back home. I fall asleep almost immediately I touched my pillow in my very own air-conditioned room with a bathroom.

★ Roommates- Elicia, Lisa, Shima and me

★ the conference room of SM PAP Masnah

★ the library

★ My new friend, Farhanah & me

★ Computer Lab

★ Air-conditioned Chemistry Lab

★ Farhanah & me again :)

★ Reading room

★ My foster family ♥♥♥

►Day 3: 6^th October 2010

This was the day I enjoyed the most. Following the timetable to school in Brunei was a bit weird but interesting. Since I’m staying with my foster mummy, she sent me to the school in the morning. It takes only 5 minutes for us to reach school. I was nervous as I was requested to give a talk about our immersion and internationalisation programme during the assembly. Thanks to the English courses I attended which brought my confidence to another level, I didn’t get my tongue tied although giving a speech in front the crowds really did make me feel butterflies in my stomach. I was relieved that everything went on smoothly and nicely.

After the assembly, the six of us were arranged to different classes with our new friends. My first lesson in Brunei was Physics, followed by Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK), Physical Education, English and Chemistry. Physics was quite easy and had not much difference with Malaysia’s syllabus. I love the old but spacious and air-conditioned laboratory. Frankly speaking, IRK was terrible for me as I can’t understand the Jawi Script and could barely understand the different accent of Bahasa Melayu. The weather was hot and I almost fall asleep in the class. That was when I found out the less population of Chinese students in government schools have to wear tudung and study IRK , the core subject for their public exams. My oh-my-god reaction had surely surprised my buddy, Farhanah. Physical Education in the air-conditioned hall was fun. I spent my one hour playing the piano at the backstage and playing netball with the girls. Proud to say, my team won. The group activity in the English lesson was great. We wrote story about eyes before the teacher told us a touching story of a blind mother and her son. Almost very one shed a tear for the poor mother. Chemistry was taught by a Chinese teacher from Malaysia. His humorous teaching methods really impressed me. The class ended and that was the time I have to say goodbye to my new friends. We exchanged our e-mail address and promised each other to keep in contact. Why does it take a minute to say hello and forever to say goodbye? Bidding goodbye is always sad. Girls, I am going to miss you all.

The culture show started at 2:30pm. We put on our costumes and makeup before performing. I looked ugly with the makeup. Beside our performance, the students from Brunei brought us lots of wonderful performances. The culture show ended at about 4:30pm and I went home with my mama to have some rest. At night, we went shopping at the mall which is the students’ hangout. Then, we have a sightseeing trip around the town area and some interesting places. I was surprised that the town was quiet and dark as almost all the shops in Brunei closed at 9:30pm. We decided to go home as I kept yawning in the car. It was a tiring but great day and I really enjoyed it very much.

★ Blue team won!!!! Hurayyy☆☆

★ Physical Education in the hall

★ Bruneians & Johoreans

★ Mama & me

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★ the front gate of the 24K gold plated Brunei mosque

★ mama and me ♥

►Day 4: 7^th October 2010 (Thursday)

Thursday was the fourth day of our trip. This was the day we bid goodbye to our home in Brunei and move back to the hotel. Bidding farewell to our foster family, hugged mama goodbye made me feel a bit sad. Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a little while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same. A big, heartfelt thank you to my mama:) Love you ♥

After waving goodbye to our foster parents, 60 of us departed from the hotel to the floating city, Kampong Ayer. We visited the Kampong Ayer Cultural and Tourism Gallery and went for a rumah terbuka. We were served with various types of yummy traditional kuih and tea. Then, we visited a school, Sekolah Menengah Awang Semaun. No offence, but I didn’t have great times there. I spent almost an hour crying. Well, I shouldn’t have cry. One of the teachers in the school offered to help me taking a group photo and dropped my camera on the floor causing the lens to dent. Instead of explaining what had happened, the teacher passed the spoilt camera to our facilitators and left. Forget about the unpleasant incident, the school was nice and special as half of the school compound was built over the river and another half is on the land. The trip to Jerudung Park was cancelled so we have a short visit to the Embassy of Malaysia in Brunei Darussalam. The programme planned ended earlier that we expected so we were allowed to go out with our foster family. Yeah! My mama fetched me from the hotel and we went shopping. She sent me back quite early as it was raining heavily and we can’t go anywhere.

Back to the hotel, a few girls who haven’t slept gathered in my room and we shared lots of juicy gossips. We talked about our schools and our foster family. At about 12:00am, everyone went back to their rooms and that’s all for Thursday. Merry meet and merry part:)

★ mama, mustaqiim and me

★ mama & me

★ jianke & me

★ Rumah Terbuka Hari Raya

★ Aisyah & me

★ Sekolah Menengah Awang Semaun

►Day 5: 7^th October 2010 (Friday)

The second last day was spent mainly travelling on a bus and sleeping. We woke up early and get ourselves ready to Miri, Sarawak. It takes almost 3 hours travelling from Jerudung to Miri. We reached our destination, SMK Lopeng Tengah. We were welcomed by the teachers and students with performances and warm wide smile. A briefing about the school was given by the school principal and a short video is played. The prefects showed us around the school and told us about their duty in different departments. I like the way they manage their prefects’ board and the way they fulfil their duties. Not much to comment about the school. It’s nice and the students are friendly.

After a few hours in the school, we left for the shopping mall. Then, we went back to Brunei and were allowed to spend time with the foster family at night. My foster family brought me to a river-view satay stall. We enjoyed the delicious satay and ketupat with the thick peanut satay sauce. Thinking of the yummy satay with the thick sauce makes my mouth waters. I was sent back to the hotel after eating as my mama had another plan that night. Again, we gossiped and slept late =)

★ the conference room of SMK Lopeng Tengah, Miri, Sarawak, MALAYSIA

★ dancing performance by the students

★ Lion Dance !!

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►Day 6: 9^th October 2010 (Saturday)

This was the last day of our immersion and internationalisation programme in Brunei Darussalam. Before we went back to Malaysia, we have a short visit to the University of Brunei Darussalam. After the closing the closing ceremony of the programme, we went to the airport. Most of the foster family came to bid us farewell. We hugged goodbye and exchanged presents. Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again =)

Departing from Brunei International Airport at 3:00pm, we reached Malaysia at about 5:30pm. We took bus from KLIA back and reached PPD at 11:30pm. HOME SWEET HOME ♥