Getting used to KML

 Pasca Orientation

     First thing you'll notice about Labuan is that it is always HOT, sweltering HOT. Fan is a must! Many would prefer to wear only singlets in room. The absence of hot water is no problem, sometimes you might even want ice water to shower. After one week, your body will adjust to the climate. Still, remember to bring jackets because the temperature might plummet sometimes. 

   In order to lead a happy and peaceful life there, you must be able to blend in with your roommates and classmates. Sharing is caring~ If one of them accidentally poke your taboo, don't get too mad because all students come from different surroundings. I really learnt a lot by meeting many different people there. If everyone tolerates and shares happily, you might not wanna leave KML at all.

   Lectures started on 4/6/2012. Since then, life is hectic. Although we're only taking four major subjects, there is not enough time to do all the tutorials, assignments, reports etc nicely. Students need to spend their limited time wisely. There are so many things to learn in just one year. Don't give up easily. Remember to keep 4.0 in our hearts. =) 

    "Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars"

2nd Day- Orientation Starts

21/5/2012

   Orientation = Hell. The pattern is almost same for every year, very strict, exhausting, not enough time to eat, shower and sleep. In that one week, the facilitators will try to tame the students and stress on importance of punctuality, co-operation, respect etc. 

   It officially started that night and everyone immediately knew that it was gonna be tough week. All of us were punished and scolded for being noisy. We had to squat while biting our matric cards. So sad. Still I heard that the last batch had seen worse.

   Next day we had to wake up around 3am, maybe latest 4am to shower and wear formally. By 4.20am we must reach hall or surau (Muslims). The doors would be closed at 4.30am and the latecomers would see hell. The rest would get punished as well. *sigh* Thanks to the 'all for one, one for all' concept.

   Even though we always had to compress and get scolded, we had lots of fun, through learning funny moves and playing games and also doing aerobic exercise.

   We were released by 10.30pm or 11pm each day. Every morning and night we would receive punishment, so we kinda got used to it and didn't complain much. There were people fainting here and there though during 'denda', especially when we had to lift our bags high up for a long time. Not to mention the hall was jam-packed and stifling. 

   Nearing end of orientation, the atmosphere became more cheerful, as the punishment got lighter since we were tamer and we started to like the facilitators. You can really notice the changes. At first many didn't bother to greet the lecturers and facilitators. After five days you could see people greeting each other with smiles everywhere.

   After the end-of-orientation ceremony, my roommates and I slept for a long long time. >< We were all having sleep deprivation that week with only 2-3 hours of sleep each day. Many students  napped during orientation talks, so orientation week can also be called as zombie week, since everyone looked like zombies. XD

    Although I would never want to go through that orientation again, it was a valuable experience.

Life in Labuan Matriculation College: 1st Day of Registration

    It's been almost three months since I enrolled in KML(Kolej Matrikulasi Labuan). Now I'm nearing the end of my holidays but I still wanna share my experiences there. ^^

20/5/2012

    I went by early flight. More than half of the passengers were students. Upon reaching Labuan International Airport, we were welcomed by a reception group with banner. We didn't have to worry about transport because the college prepared buses to collect students along with parents from ferry terminal and airport during registration days. 

   At my first sight of KML I was like 'wow....' The campus was huge and it seemed like there was a carnival going on. The parking lots, hall and waiting area were seriously crowded. That time it was 10am. No doubt those early birds either came by ferry or already reached Labuan few days earlier. 

   Students must wear long-sleeved shirt with necktie and long pants (for boys) or 'baju kurung' (for girls). All must wear black formal shoes, and remember to cut your nails. All those rules and regulations can be found in KML website. Those who were not 'formal' enough were not allowed to register. 

   Registration took me two hours, and mine was considered very smooth already. Those without complete documents needed even longer time. After registration, students got their matric cards and headed off to their dorms. 

   If you wanna live on ground floor, come real early. If you wanna live on fourth floor (highest), come real late. >< I think that middle is the best. However, 1st floor life can be rather unfortunate in terms of drying clothes, because you'll have water dripping from 2nd, 3rd & 4th floors onto your clothes. Thus, most would buy large plastic sheets to cover their clothes. 

   The student hostels are quite nice, kinda like apartments. Four would share a room, two Sabahans, two Sarawakians & two Muslims, two non-Muslims. The room conditions are better than I expected, though too bad there is no air conditioner (asking too much XD)

   There is no problem with water supply, but occasionally there are pipe problems. Electricity, hmm..... Just don't use high-voltage stuffs or too many electrical appliances at one time if you don't want blackout ^^ 

  All in all, I think you'll love KML

Crowded waiting area

Dedicated parents waiting for their children to finish registration

The great hall of KML

MP- Office of Lecturers

The place to deal with hal ehwal pelajar

The area of girls' dormitories

Block C

Study desks

Four beds

Remember to bring a lock o~

Guys' dormitories and lecturers' apartments

The place to buy notes and photocopy stuffs

College library

  

Life

Sometimes, you have to look at life in a whole new way.

BBQ

Today, fellow members of Chinese Orchestra had a very 'pleasant' bbq at Taman Selera. It started from 8.30am and was supposed to end at 12pm.Maybe you'll wonder how 'pleasant' it was. Let me tell you, when I arrived at the barbecue spot, which was at the very very far end of the beach, quite near to the cliff, the guys were already TRYING to make a fire with 2 cigarette lighter. Apparently, it was very difficult to make the coals burn long enough to cook anything. The wind was quite strong at that time, maybe that's why the fire kept saying bye bye to us. Then, leaving those guys behind to deal with fire, other members skipped off to the beach to make sandcastles and drawings. We must have played for about an hour before Tiffany called us back for breakfast. At that time, the guys still hadn't get the fire blazing. Luckily we all brought cooked food, otherwise we might have to wait until evening for our breakfast.

Madam Lau and her 2 little kids arrived and so we ate under the seemingly nice weather. Then, the guys cheered as a decent small fire stayed alive. We helped by fanning the fire like crazy. Suddenly, we all felt little drops of water falling on us. Soon, big drops of water replaced the small ones and we ran into the hut bringing all the food. However, despite the heavy rain, three brave guys would not let their hard work being wasted. So, we stayed sheltered from the rain while watching them struggling to keep the fire burning with paper fans and 2 umbrellas. Now you know how 'great' this bbq gathering was.


火种是不会灭的。Thanks to those guys' strong wills, the fire burned well and we helped when the rain was smaller. I mentioned that this gathering was supposed to end at 12pm, however, with the rain coming from time to time and the wind blowing relentlessly, it was held on past 1 pm. Those who could wait after 12pm, would get lots of hot dogs, fish balls, chicken wings and roasted pork. XD This bbq was certainly one of the best I had in my life, and also the most unforgettable. Bbq in rain...lol, next time, make sure you watch the weather forecast before having a bbq.

Canvas

We all have brushes called "being ourselves".
Look, with just a little bravery you can change it into any colour.
Lets draw our hopes.

How far does this sky continue? The world we know is so narrow.
When we hear somebody's voice calling for help,
we decide to pretend we didn't hear it.
By fighting we reaffirm the worth of our existence
and then find doubt in our hearts.
Finding differences to not be "individualities" but "enemies".
We become stubborn and push others away.
Our relationships with people become dominating
and not something that tie together.
Hold my hands and listen to my voice.

The world becomes colourful.
You don't have to hate since you can bond beautifully.
There are no useless lives, let's accept each other.
The infinitely extending canvas becomes dyed in hope.

We all have brushes called "being ourselves".
Look, with just a little bravery you can change it into any colour.
Lets draw our hopes.

p.s I post the lyrics of one song I like coz it's quite meaningful. Families, friends and partners are bonds which make our lives wonderful❤

Chinese Orchestra

Yesterday, CH Chinese Orchestra was invited to perform in Boulevard Restaurant.

Before the performance, we had a nice dinner at ground floor.

Some people just didn't want to appear in photos. That's the table our teacher sat with other members. We used two tables. I sat in the other one.

Our dear ex-president who just loves to take photos.

Here's our first dish, a big plate of fried mee. The next dishes were mixed vegetables and fried oat chicken, we're too busy eating that I forgot to take the pictures. Still, we were satisfied.

After that, it's time for our performance. It lasted for about a hour til all the guests arrived. Then, we performed the last grand song, 将军令.

Time to go^^