Sunday, July 14, 2013

Newsflash: Turtle Eggs Found to be on Sale in Serikin Market

News of turtle eggs on sale in Serikin market in Kuching, Sarawak.

Some information taken from Wikipedia:

"Serikin is a small Dayak Bidayuh village in Kuching DivisionSarawakMalaysia. The town is located about 15 km from Bau town and 80 km from Kuching city. Kampung Jagoi Serikin is famous for her week-end market to local tourists from Malaya and Sarawak. In the week-end market, you can find numerous items ranging from batik, handicrafts, fish, birds, turtle eggs, herbal products and jamu, electrical items, electronic items, male and female workers, jungle produce and exotic meat."


Do read more @ http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.sg/2013/07/malaysia-turtle-eggs-on-sale-at-serikin.html

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Special Edition: Flying the Wau

We were back again to Kampong Mangkok after spending a few days of R&R at Pulau Redang. upon arrival at Pink House, we realized that Abang Lan had finished up with the whole railing for the front porch!

Both railings are online!
Today, we got to try out the wau that we made a few days back. But before that, we need to attach the lines to the wau.

Abang Lan helping to attach the lines.
Watching the Master at work.
After attaching the lines, it was time to try out our creations!

Ready.. Set..

GO!!!
And finally, after much trying..

Waqiu's wau made it to the sky!!


Sijie's wau soared to the clouds as well!!

Posing with Iman the Mischievous. 
We will be departing from Kampong Mangkok and head back to Singapore in a few hours' time. Much has happened within this short span of 2 weeks, and our attachment with the village has grown to a point where we feel like a part of the local community. Despite the urge to stay on longer, we have to go back to our duties and responsibilities in Singapore.

Team Photo with the school mural.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners, the Singapore Scouts Association for its support, World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia for providing the assistance needed to carry out our project, and to the Perwanis for playing host to us and helping us out in many of our requests. 

We would also like to extend our gratitude to our sponsors, Lee Foundation, Tan Chin Tuan Foundation and Henderson Security for their kind support to fund the project. And to Benje Marketing Pte Ltd, for sponsoring their insect repellent products to keep us safe from mozzies and other creepy-crawlies, and for the mosquito patches for the children in the village.

Do stay tuned for more, as there will be updates as well as a post-project event coming up!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Day 11: The (Final) Day of Project Orion IV

Today would be the last day of our project phase for Orion IV. We are happy to note that we have been able to complete the work we had set out to do from the beginning. We also managed to complete some other achievements as well.

Achievement Unlocked: Goat Catching

Achievement Unlocked: Holding Chicks
For the last day, Pink House is finally furbished with a new railing, complete with a fresh coat of paint.

New railings, with fresh paint!

Caution: Wet Paint.
The mural at SK Mangkok was also completed in time.

Orion IV Mural!

And we joined the rest of the murals to be a part of SK Mangkok.
Last but not least, we managed to finish up with the signboards for the 3 stalls as well!

Another "Master" at work.

The Masterpiece of Sijie.

Signboards are done!
Finally the night came and we had a farewell dinner with the villagers of Kampong Mangkok. We presented the mementos to key people who made this project a success.
The Head Chef whose kid looks like Crayon Shin.

Girls night out.
Kak Ta presenting a memento to us.
  
Lynn and Yat from Pernarik Inn.


Nurol from WWF getting her badge.

Allim from WWF with his new t-shirt.

Cikgu Sahara from SK Mangkok receiving his mementos.

Cikgu Sahara with his new scarf.

Nurol, all decked out and ready to go again.
With this, Project Orion IV marks an end for the time being. But fret not, the journey does not end here. Do stay tuned for an installment of Orion V soon! Until then, Adios, and may your Scouting Light burn bright as always!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Day 10: Pink House is back! Turtle on the wall.. and Time to Play with the Scouts!

The day started off with concurrent work again. Waqiu and Wei Yung went to SK Mangkok to start on the painting of the mural, while Ben, Kelvin and Sijie stayed on to make Pink House look pink and refreshed. Ben went over to help the pair out at the mural subsequently when the work load at Pink House lessened. Unfortunately, the railing for the front porch was still not completed by the end of the day. Tomorrow shall be the completion of Pink House revamp!

Pink House is pink again!


Strawberry lined with chocolate.. Yummy!


Mural Painter at work.

Cannot.. Go.. Out.. of.. the line!!


Halfway mark of the mural..
The team then spent the afternoon in fun and games with the scouts of SK Mangkok. The session started off with songs, when the team taught the scouts some classics such as Gaku the Frog, Chestnut Tree, Shark Attack and Flea Fly.

The 4 Gaku frogs leading..

.. and all the small frogs trying to Gaku along..

Shark Attack!
We moved on to some physical games – Pass It On, where the scouts had to pass a rubber band down the line using only the straw in their mouths, and Captain’s Ball. 

Games Briefing.

Pass it on!!

The Great Toss!

BOLA BOLA BOLA!!!!


Everyone had a smashing time and we ended off with a group shot together to etch our common memories onto digital eternity.


Tanks averybardy tanks!!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Day 9: More Toilets.. Strawberry Milk House.. and Maths Lesson in both English and Malay?

It’s another day for the Project Orion IV team to continue where they stopped yesterday.

Today Ben and Waqiu did much better in their plastering of the toilet walls. However, the weather did not seem to let up on the team. They were thankful that Abang Zamri and Azam were there to provide their assistance. Today, it was the completion of the interior walls of the toilet and the top portions of the exterior wall. Ben and Waqiu helped to mix the plaster mixture too. But, the weather dealt another uppercut with heavy rain for about an hour. That meant that they could not continue their work on the toilet. They quickly resumed work as soon as the rain stopped, and successfully completed the plastering. The rest of the toilet, such as the roof top and the flooring, will be done by Abang Zamri and Azam. Ben and Waqiu then headed back to the Pink House to assist Sijie, Kelvin and Wei Yung on the painting.

Abang Lan and Abang Zamri. 

Adding water..

Mixing the cement
 Sijie, Kelvin and Wei Yung got down to work after breakfast. They made quick work of the paint job this time, as there were less grooves and hard to reach areas, unlike Pak Awang’s house previously. They, too, faced the effects of the wet weather, but moved on to paint the porches at the front and back of the house. With their hard work and perseverance, they managed to complete painting the pink portions of Pink House. With that, they just left with the brown frames of the house.

Only 3 children from the village came over to the pink house to attend the night lesson tonight. The team conducted a Math lesson where they got the children to read out numbers in English. We understand that their examinations will be in English, and they have difficulties in reading the questions. Thus, having them to know the numbers in English and doing simple sums will help them to improve their literacy in both Mathematics and English. All of them enjoyed the lesson and we are sure that the lesson will not go to waste. 

Tomorrow, Waqiu and Wei Yung will be going to SK Mangkok to complete the mural, while the rest will continue with painting of the pink house. 


Cikgu Waqiu at work.

Teaching dates and calendar in English.

Adam trying to figure out the dates for tomorrow.