Spring Break 2012 Day 8.

Basically, I didn't do much today  but I did contributed to the Bersih thingy. Yup. I bersihed my clothes since I didn't do laundry for 5 days due to camp. Spent the whole morning sleeping while waiting for le laundry and in the afternoon till late evening with le tomes and le internet.

Enough about that. I decided to share part of my experiences before, during and after BTN.

Before going for camp, it was Spring Semester 2012 finals. I rarely had time to search for blogs of previous participants' just to get a rough idea about the whole thing and eventually I found one. Just one blog. Thank you Blogger!

I attended Program Transformasi Mahasiswa Luar Negara at Kem Bina Negara Meru, Klang from 23-27 April 2012 with almost all of INTEC MARA ADFP students, JPA ACTP seniors and JPA ADFP students.

Don't ask me for directions. I'd like to thank INTEC for providing buses to the camp site even though there were some of us who drove and hitch rides and managed to arrive in time.

Sorry, no photos at all since the whole campsite is a protected zone.

Before camp:
We were given a letter from MARA regarding this camp. There were checklists collated with the letter. I spent the day before camp searching proper clothes for the week as I do not want to appear as someone without any credibility.

Requirements:
Formal wear:
Shirts, slacks and black shoes for male participants, baju kurung/ blouses and slacks + black shoes for female participants.

Sports wear:
Collared shirt, trackpants and sport shoes for the former
Long-sleeved shirts, trackpants and sport shoes for the latter.

Nightwear:
Something comfortable but decent, in case of emergencies. The nights really mollify me after a hectic day. It's quite chilly yet comfy, lie natural air-conditioner.


Don't forget other essentials and never fear, you'll definitely receive the same thing as I did together with the letter from your sponsors.

During camp:

Day 1:
The buses from Shah Alam arrived at KBN Meru, Klang after 1400hrs, even though everyone was informed to be at the meeting point by 1300hrs. Well, I'd rather not elaborate further about that matter.

Upon our advern, we left out things outside and assembled in the hall and had a briefing. We were introduced to all of the jurulatihs or I prefer to call them our guardians. Then we were divided into groups of 10-12 people to be in the same room/dorm.  We received 1 pack of bedsheet, pillowcase and fleece blanket. I advise you to bring along your pillows as I folded my bath towel as a substitute for my pillow. If you get what I mean.

I ensure that you'll have 6 repasts a day: breakfast, brunch, lunch, teatime, dinner and supper during this camp. you can also go for seconds or more if you are very hungry. Besides, everything has been paid for so, use all the utilities wisely.

That night we had our first lecture aka Wacana Minda 1: Gagasan 1Malaysia-Perspektif Umum in which I find quite interesting since I'm quite ignorant about these kind of matters.

Curfew depends on the last slot of the day, whether it ends early or not.

Day 2:

In the morning we had to assemble and did some marching. Continued with another 3 lectures/speeches:
Wacana Minda 2: Gagasan 1 Malaysia- Ke Arah Negara Maju, Wacana Minda 3: Perlembagaan dan Isu-Isu Semasa, Wacana Minda 4: Sesi Perkongsian Pengalaman.

I find the 4th session seems the best among the other 3 since I was able to relate the whole topic easily compared to the other 3 which seems to be something new (not that new) to me. Despite all that, I gained a lot from all of the 4 sessions.

In the evening we assembled and did some exercises 
That night we started with the first PKPK (Perkongsian Keilmuan Peningkatan Kesedaran) session where we met all the facilitators. The first task was Ujian Kepantasan: 17 questions in 4 minutes. All you have to do is scan and skim through all the questions and you'll be able to do it. Next was, as usual, group formation, there were 10 groups and I was in Group 5 and Brother Bob was our facilitator. each group was assigned with one patriotic song which was to be performed during the night before the big day(I'll mention about this in a while). Group 5 was assigned Tanggal 31 song. We didn't meet our facilitators since it was almost curfew.

Day 3:

Had PKPKs, more like class sessions with group discussions about important matters the whole day, plus the morning assembly and evening recreation.

Day 4:

PKPK till evening and for recreation activity was mini jungle trekking, it's actually just a nice stroll in the woods, for 20 minutes with the guide of our guardians. For the night PKPK session each group performed our songs and were assessed based on our vocals, uniformity and feel of the song.

After all the fun, things started to get serious, which to me was expected since I attend quite a lot of camps. I'd like not to elaborate further about that, you need to experience that yourselves. I can say that I was able to relate the whole situation with the situation that our ancestors experienced a long time ago.


Day 5:

The big day. After 4 days of lectures, class and group discussion, we had to sit for an hour,40-question exam based on what we had learned throughout the week. If you pay attention to all the WMs and PKPKs you'll do fine.

I guess I'll stop here just in case I gave too much info about the whole thing. I really gained a lot and this program did increase my awareness about a lot of issues.


I'd like to apologize to Brother Bob on behalf of the group as we tried our best not to fall asleep during class and unfortunately some of us were defeated. I tried various methods to keep myself awake as a respect gesture to Brother Bob and I can say I managed to do so. I guess everyone was super exhausted with the disrupted sleep cycle plus the non-stop activities.

All the best to the next batch who will be attending this camp. Grab this once in a lifetime experience, besides it's one of your sponsor's requirements so you can't do much unless you have super valid reasons.