Projek Kalsom

Projek Kalsom is an initiative by UKEC to have a bunch of university students to go to help out high school students. For this year, the details are following.

The date and venue for Projek Kalsom 14 2008 will be as follows;

Date: 16 August 2008 to 20 August 2008
Venue: Sekolah Menengah Sains Sultan Mohamad Jiwa, Sungai Petani, Kedah

Quoting more info from the website above.

Do check it out
----
Objectives for Projek Kalsom
1. To inspire and encourage students to want to achieve more in studies and life by:
a) Helping them develop a positive self-image and sense of confidence through the various activities.

b) Providing positive role models in the facilitators for the students to look up to and aspire to be like.

2. To equip the students with the means to achieve more by:
a) Helping them develop and use practical study skills.

b) Developing an interest in and debunking the fear of the English language.

c) Exposing them to the wealth of career and education opportunities available to them after secondary school, and

d) To provide information on higher education funding opportunities (scholarships and loans) available to students.

3. To help them develop good character and values, aside from producing good academic results, thus enabling them to be better citizens.
a) Instilling good leadership qualities and team-work via various inter-group and intra-group activities.

b) Developing highly competitive and self-disciplined personality in participants

4. To encourage interaction between university students abroad and local students from lesser privileged backgrounds in line with the ideals of national unity

What do we do in Kalsom?
Through out the 5 days, we will working about the 3 modules of the Projek Kalsom which are:

Effective Study Skills, English Made Easy and What’s Next After SPM?

We will carry out one module for each day. Each module will comprise of various lectures and presentations by selected speakers, group discussions led by well trained and informed facilitators as well as interactive stations and games.

The following would be an introduction to some of the things we would be carrying out during Kalsom 13.

1. Effective Study Skills
In this module, participants will be exposed to and guided through various study skills and time management methods. More importantly, the skills and tips to prepare for examinations will be highlighted. We are aware that teaching them how to study is not very helpful as different individuals has different study pattern and style. As such, we will try to expose to them most of the study skills known, so as for them to choose the one best suits their ability and style.

Also, participants will also be introduced to Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. With that, we not only hope to instill good attributes in our participants to help them excel in their studies, but to contribute immensely in their character building as well.

Although there will be a lecture in this module, we will approach the major part of the module via interactive station games to make it more interesting.

2. English Made Easy
In this module, participants will be encouraged to overcome their reservations about speaking in the English language through interactive group work and other activities.

During the English Day, participants and facilitators are only allowed to converse in English, and this is to create a subtle platform for them to start feeling comfortable to speak in English. We will also have role-play and sketch-making sessions for them to have some fun while using English. Overall, the module is to be run in a very informal way as Malaysians tend to speak less due to shyness and are afraid of making grammatical mistakes. By making it informal, it would be helpful to overcome this mental block, and let them express themselves in English.

3. What’s Next After SPM?
Post-SPM Career and Education

Participants will be exposed to further education opportunities and financial aid available for them after SPM.

We will do our very best to list out every single financial aid available in this country for them. This would serve not only as a guide for them in future, but also to help them realize that there are aids available for them to pursue a career of their choice. However, these aids are not given to all so therefore they would have to show some merit in order to obtain them. It is our hope that the participants will subtly learn that they need to put in a certain amount of effort before anyone else can help them.

A career fair will also be held to expose participants to a variety of different careers options. Every group would be given 20 minutes in each station which exposes them to various job opportunities, not only the professional jobs, but opportunities in art and music, public services such as fire-fighters and arm forces as well as teaching.

We hope to get some of the real-personnel from each field to be there to answer any of the queries, and at the same time, giving a more realistic picture of the career. By exposing them to all the different careers, we hope that the participants will realize which jobs suit their interest and abilities best thus helping them maximize their potential.

Conclusion
Helping them in the job selection process might be slightly early for the participants but at least it will give them a target or a goal to work towards to. This would definitely help when they are preparing for SPM as it keeps them in focus. Together with the study techniques, we hope that this would help them do their very best for the exams. As English now is a necessity rather than an advantageous skill to have, helping the participants to be comfortable with English will give them the confidence they need to carry themselves through out the rest of their studying and working career.


-----
Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Relay For Life KL 2008

National Cancer Society of Malaysia will be organizing its 2nd Relay For Life KL 2008 (RFL KL 2008) from 31st May 2008 6pm to 10am 1st June 2008 at MSN Training Stadium, Bukit Jalil.



This is definitely a great event where you will walk/run/crawl etc in a relay format around the stadium for 16 hours!!!! It is a good way to support the charity.



You just need RM10 to participate, and of course, it would be great if you can help to raise fund/donate for it!



Last year, a total of 3,500 people participate in it, includng a number of Cancer Survivors!



To get your Relay For Life KL T-Shift and ID Band, do pre-register at the following Starbucks:-

- 1 Utama (Old Wing)

- Sunway Pyramid (Phase 2)

- Great Eastern Mall, Ampang

- Metropoint Mall, Kajang



Dates & Times

- 30th April (4pm to 8pm)

- 10th and 11th May (Noon to 4pm)



Please spread the words around, blog about it etc



For more questions, call 03-26927705 or 03-26987300 or go to :-

National Cancer Society of Malaysia

Bangunan Persatuan Kebangsaan Malaysia

66, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz

50300 Kuala Lumpur



Fax: 03-26984300

Email: contact@cancer.org.my



-----
Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Touching Experience

One of my Senior Managers went to India to contribute to the community, while working with my firm, as part of a special program to strike a balance with corporate social responsibility.

I am very attracted by one part of her experience, which I would quote it as follow:-
"My day ends and I head home with my laptop and water bottle. We stopped at the traffic lights and two 10-year old street girls came on either side of the rickshaw. I waited for the pity and beg routine. The left girl cupped her palms and lifted it to her chin.

It was a profound moment. I’d made a stand not to contribute to street kids as it encourages them to remain at this instead of seeking employment or education. The green-eyed girl said ‘panni’ and pointed forward. Oh, she wanted water. I poured water into her palms which channeled to her mouth. She was dehydrated and clean water tasted good. Both friends smiled in appreciation. A pause, they didn’t ask for money.

Something made me look into their eyes. I saw serenity, sincerity and bliss. They were poor; they wore rags and were barefoot. What are they so happy about? I observed the scene around – same expressions.

I flashed back to friends around the world. I don’t see the same. We move around constantly planning for the future, mental to-dos and worrying if we’ve enough saved. Yet now amidst extreme poverty, I see people who are ‘in the moment’, smiling, just getting through today. We’ve made life so complex that ‘living in the moment’ is hardly experienced.

I’ll remember this forever. Let me live in the ‘now’."

This definitely gives us hope on human beings, on the softer side of people. We shouldn't prejudice when we see people begging around. I myself made the mistake once at Kelana Jaya LRT. I saw two young girls approached me, and I thought it would be like the typical people who beg for money at LRT. I said no to them, and later they approached another guy, and I found the guy bought two tickets for them to ride LRT. Apparently, they needed a ride on LRT, as they ran out of money. I really did badly on that, as I should have come forward to offer to do that.