GIG1005 SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
Reflective Writing
Che Jing Ying (MIC170010) Date: 5th May 2018
The
first time I get to know about this course is when our course coordinator, Dr.
Puah Suat Moi met us for the first time during Semester 1. After the meeting,
the first concept I had about this course is that it is a volunteering-work
program. We will need to organize events like gotong-royong or charity work to help people. I have joined
volunteering work before such as street feeding and visiting old folks home. So,
for me, this course sounds the same, but the difference is that we are going to
be evaluated.
When Semester 2 begins and we
officially start our lessons, we have been informed that the criteria of the
course has changed. We are no longer conducting short-term volunteering work as
what we were planning last semester. Instead, we need to come out with a
project that carries a long-term impact to the society. I am shocked and
confused when the news is first delivered to us but eventually we come out with
the idea of carrying the project in Orang Asli Village to spread the importance
of science and education to the local children. I am quite excited when we came
out with this decision because I never been to Orang Asli Village before. All
the time we are told that Orang Asli live in a very rural place with limited
resources and they are poorly educated. So, I think that through this project I
will get a chance to go and experience how Orang Asli Village really are and to
meet the villagers there.
Among the 5 bureaus (bureau
sponsorship, bureau technical, bureau activity, bureau external relations and
bureau special tasks), I have chosen to join bureau technical. I chose bureau
technical because I had a little experience for video editing in Semester 1 and
I have just learnt to use Adobe Illustrator during the beginning of Semester 2.
Hence, I think that this will be a great opportunity for me to polish my skills
and being able to help in this project. In fact, the bunting of this project is
my first design in Adobe Illustrator. It is not an easy job for me in bureau
technical as I often need to spend a lot of time to produce a complete design
or video because I am not an expert in technical work and I have to learn along
the process of generating ideas to applying the ideas and to coming out with a
draft. The draft will need to undergo many editing processes before it can
consider as the final version. I am grateful that my bureau leader guided me
and trusted me throughout the project. I really learnt a lot throughout these
processes.
On the day of the activity
(29-04-2018), it is the first time I go to the Orang Asli Village because I
could not join the activity on 25-03-2018 as I went back to my hometown. The
place is actually better than what I have expected. The place is clean and
equipped with the necessary facilities such as library, hall and a mini
playground. The houses there are all concrete buildings and not those “Atap
houses” that I always heard about. In the morning, I am involved in the food
preparation. We start to prepare for sardine and egg mayo sandwiches once we
get there. The sandwiches are made from scratch all by ourselves from spreading
butter on the bread to making our own sardine and egg mayo spreads and packing
them into plastic bags so that it is easier to distribute. It took us about 2
to 3 hours to complete everything including cleaning up the area we used. After
lunch, I am free before the closing ceremony. Therefore, I help my teammates to
take some photos and videos to be used in the presentation video. When I am
filming for the dancing and music chair session, I am influenced by the
happiness of the children. Their laughter and excitement let me enjoy myself in
the hall with them. I feel a little disappointed not being able to play with
the children and get to know them because the work I did does not interact with
the children much. During the closing ceremony, I work as the usher to lead the
VIPs into the hall and leading them up the stage.
Through this project, the greatest
thing I have gained is the happiness of the children. They really enjoyed
themselves in the activities we planned for them. I think that teamwork is
really important to run a project successfully. I really appreciate that I am
in a great team with all my course mates in this course. Everyone did their
parts and helped others to make things run. I am glad that I did not hinder the
progress of the project and in the same time manage to learn some new skills
through this project. Besides the hard skills, I also learn to manage my time
better so that I can juggle between different tasks without freaking out. Planning
is very important before starting to do anything. A plan acts like a guide to
tell you what should be done next. In short, I think that I will continue to
involve myself in volunteering work after this because happiness lies in
helping others.
(885 words)
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