18 June 2007
Two days, life changes..for some
June 16, 2007:In the morning, I had to wake up at around 7 and head to the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports to attend a 2-day long session of motivational, moral, mandarin-oriented sort of speech/talk/camp, by some head pro speaker from Taiwan/China, Mr Wong something(it was in Chinese, don't know how to translate) I don't really know why I agreed to attend in the first place; was never one who really fancied such things. But yes, onto the event itself.
Upon arrival, I realized that I was rather late, considering the fact that the place was filled with throngs of students of all ages. There were some familiar faces, some ex-sas, some current sas, lower secs and many more. It was around 8.10-8.20 when I got there, but had to wait for an hour or so till even more people came. At 9, we were finally called in and the event proceeded. We were brought into this large room, all 191 of us(if not wrong), with seats arranged neatly and a stage in front of us. Looked a lot like some formal gathering, and all the staff were dressed in blazers all around; much like a scene from so many movies. On stage was some huge projectile screen, with some slide and stuff in Chinese, so I had no idea what it said. Soon, the preacher or rather, main speaker finally arrived, after some brief introductions by someone whom I think is his manager/agent.
Everything started off fine I suppose. He gave some brief intros, talked about a few topics, asked a few questions, stuff like that. Then he asked us to pick a partner to stick with and perform all of our games and stuff with for the whole two day long session, and it has to be someone you don't know well. So finally I ended up with Julius(I hope thats how you spell his name) from Form 4S1 2007. It didn't really matter to me at first that I chose him; I didn't really care, but at the end of it all I was really glad I did.
Now if I were to elaborate on every single event that occured on the day, I would end up typing for the whole afternoon, so I shall keep it as concise as I possibly can. Throughout the morning, it was mostly talks by the speaker and a few games that were usually played in such occasions so that we can all get to know each other. Nothing too new there. At noon, there was a lunchbreak and everything continued after. From time to time, they would just dim the lights and pump some loud music, and get everyone to start dancing. You'd get scolded if you don't, so everyone had to dance. Apparantly there were some hidden meanings to them, which he furthur elaborated on, which I will not. More games were played, everyone had fun, it was all good. There was also the game where people had to fall on their backs and another person would be behind them to catch them; accidents happened, but yeah. Everything went on till around 7, then we were allowed to leave and go home.
June 17, 2007:
More or less the same schedule, was there in the morning, he gave some talks, stuff like that. A lot of the time it was difficult to fully understand what he was trying to tell us, since my Chinese ain't exactly that great, and I can't read anything that he writes down, so I guess i couldn't fully benefit from it all. But what I could understand, really does help if you really make use of it. The lessons and teachings, they arent't just talk. But of course, many such things have been mentioned before, its just your choice whether you want to accept them.
On that day, we played more different and more serious sort of games and activities. A lot of the games revolved around using your *heart* and *mind* to actually accomplish what you had to do. The way he portrays the games and encourages you on, accompanied by the soft, soothing piano and violin music in the background, gives the sort of atmosphere that all this, actually matters. It requires a calm state of mind to fully comprehend and take in all that has happened there; not something just anyone could do. The teacher hated it whenever someone talks when hes talking, or isn't serious in his activities. Well he just wants the best for us, so I wouldn't blame him. There were also many *emo* moments throughout it all, and it makes you think a lot about everything.
But whatever the case, in the end, it really was worth it to attend this. If only it was in English, I would've probably enjoyed it a lot more. But it was fun all the same. I'd also thank my partner for helping out in all the games and stuff, especially the last activity(not mentioned in this blog) The ending of it all was also rather emo. Many people actually cried out too in front of all the parents and everyone that was there, but I'll just leave it at that. The whole thing ended only at around 9, but I think it took longer. I wouldn't know, cause I left earlier. But yea, overall, it really was a worthwhile experience, and though not the best, its still worth attending. Only requirement is, you need a good command of the Chinese language, or it'll be really difficult to cope with it all. I've learnt a few things here and there; but whether I'll apply them..well..we'll wait and see, won't we. Until next time people.
(Edit) Forgot to add in, Happy Father's Day, for everyone, though its a day late. And also Happy *BaChang* Festival, which is tomorrow I think. Have fun.
Steven put thoughts into writing at 12:50.
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