Selama ni kau mengharap parents kau selalu call kau?
A'ah.
Dan mereka tak call kau sekerap yang kau harapkan?
A'ah.
Dah tu, apa yang kau rasa bila parents kau tak call kau?
Sedih la.
Kenapa nak sedih pulak?
Ye la... Aku nak jugak diorang ambil tahu apa khabar aku, dengan siapa aku berkawan, aku buat apa harini... Things like that la...
Bila kali terakhir parents kau call kau?
2 minggu lepas kot. Itu pun sekejap je. Bila call pun, bukannya nak tanya khabar sangat, malah marah-marah itu dan ini. Aku down dowh...
Kalau takde sebab, kenapa diorang nak marah-marah? Mesti ada sebabnya...
Ye la aku mengaku aku ada buat salah, tapi jangan la call cuma bila nak marah-marah je. Bengang je...
Lepak... Diorang marah-marah tu tandanya diorang sayang kat kau. Cuma mungkin caranya tak seperti yang kauharapkan. Dalam hidup kan lebih banyak yang kita tak dapat apa yang kita harapkan.
The initial intention of proposing the programme to Jaed was to participate in the race, not to organize.
Before this, although I've been very active in societal activities, I have never been a Programme Manager in any programmes. But now I am glad I managed to do one before I grad.
The Special Awards were available due to the mistake I made when I arranged the budget in the proposal.
I offered myself to be the host in the video.
Zikri and I were out to do the shooting a week earlier before the race but the files were not able to be extracted and edited. So we had to shoot all over again during the day of the race.
The Research Unit had to add some ad hoc tasks like flying kites and lighting bonfire to the participants because out of our expectation the leading teams were very fast.
The worker at one of the checkpoints changed the task without our knowledge and yet participants followed his instruction. Duh~ Follow the one stated in the paper la dey~
We purposely didn't put any committees at the checkpoints. If anything, they just needed to call the Research Unit using the specific number given in the paper provided. Miscommunication happened when they called the wrong number since there were 2 numbers: one for SMS and one for call.
I didn't prepare anything for the speech during the Award Ceremony and what I talked was completely an impromptu. I did write something on a paper but then it was useless. Haha~
During judging, the judges laughed out loud watching the videos and pictures the participants took during the race. We stayed at Resource Center of WacKOS until almost late night and we were undescribably hungry and tired.
However, everything worth the results. The KOS Amazing Explorace was a successful programme with a lot of compliments from the Dean, Deputy Deans, participants and committees. I am glad it turned to be something that I can be proud of before I actually graduate this semester.
During last KOS Amazing Explorace, among the tasks that the participants had to complete were to find few things at the seventh checkpoint - Gua Charas, which to me not more than just a recreational place to my understanding, initially.
However, I got quite a number of comments about the visit there. To utmost extent, tawheed/belief issue was raised.
Before I write more, I'd love to clarify that my intention of writing this entry is to be partly responsible as I was the Programme Manager of the KOS Amazing Explorace and I approved the tasks given there. Should anything regarding this issue is raised in the future, please refer to this blog for clarification.
For your information, Gua Charas is a place of worship for Buddhists and Hindu believers to perform their religious duties. But then, it is adopted to be one of the attractive recreational places in Kuantan. To put this thing into the drama, the participants were required to take picture with some statues. So, the question is: Is it, in the context of a believer of Allah and Prophet Muhammad s.a.w., allowed to do that?
So I asked my friend who is knowledgeable about this matter. His points were:
If you go there and have intention to do worshiping, it's totally not allowed and could fall into syirik.
If you go there to see the non-Muslim to call them for believing in Allah and Muhammad, it is encouraged.
If you go there for suka-suka and playing around, it is not encouraged.
Then I asked, what if it's for the sake of a race? He said, as best as possible, avoid it. It may fall to become a slander.
The points are clear, so here is my main stand of writing this entry. Please take note, dear participants. Should there be in the future, someone with bad intention raises the issue of you taking picture with the statue and tries to link you with being unislamic and murtad, so with the proofs from the picture you took from the place during the race, tell him/her that it was merely for the sake of completion of the race, without any intention to have any connections with the belief outside the border of Islam and being a Muslim. The tag that you wore is the best proof to indicate your participation in the race and thus explains your connection with the race, not with the worship things.
On behalf of the organizing committees, I would love to apologize for the matter described above should it caused dissatisfaction and uncomfortable feeling among the participants. We admit we were lack of information especially regarding the religious matter and this entry, I especially write to express my regret.
The videos above are the multimedia presentation entitled The Journey towards being The Explorer. They are all about the task they needed to do during the KOS Amazing Explorace last Saturday. I have cut the video into 4 parts so it'll be easier for viewers to watch them. Note the low quality viewing. To participants and others who would like to get the copy with a better quality, just consult me. I'll pass it to you for free.
Thanks to Zickree for preparing the video and thanks also to all participants who captured the materials for the video.
Do you enjoy watching the video?
Tak dapat jadi Host TV , jadi host Explorace sendiri pun jadi la~ :P
"Zaki, yang task ni, takleh ke kalo buat macam ni macam ni bla bla bla..., boleh tak?"
"Zaki, sapa yang menang?"
Those were among the questions that I got during the race and during the pre-ceremony of the KOS Greatest Explorer Award.
To face with those questions, I had to keep in mind that I have my own professionalism, position and job to do and I should not interfere other people's work.
For example, referring to the first example above, although I knew where Gua Charas is, but it wouldn't be fair if I answer that question while other groups got to figure out by themselves. They can ask that question to other people, but not to me. I didn't want to be bias.
Next, in the second example, I have appointed my committees in Research Unit who were in-charge of the tasks during the race to be fully responsible with that matter. I have reminded my committees not to give any directions or instructions to the participants as it would cause miscommunication between committees and participants. On behalf of the participants themselves, they had been informed during the briefing session to ask the Research Unit for further questions should they didn't understand the task, not to the people around.
And lastly, since I was among the 0nes who knew the winners before the announcement, I had to keep my mouth shut. Or else, it wouldn't be a surprise for the participants. I got SMS asking whether his/her group won any prize the night before the prize giving ceremony, but being professional, no information was leaked.
Other than that, during the race itself, at Kamdar, I was introduced by my committee the manager of the company and I politely introduced myself and asked him should he got any problems with our programme. I also wished and thanked him for his cooperation in making our programme successful.
Last but not least, I had to keep a distance with my close friends because they also participated in the race. In fact, most of the participants in the race were familiar to my eyes and heart, but to keep the professionalism, I have to be fair with all participants no matter friends or not friends. This is the harderst part actually because we as human can't avoid from having a mercy towards people who are close to us but yet to me, friends or not friends, we must have a barrier when it comes to being professional. Kan?
However, despite all difficulties and problems, I think everyone have given out their best in making the KOS Amazing Explorace successful and enjoyable. Based on the survey form filled in by the participants, mostly we got compliments and positive comments about our programme, alhamdulillah. And most importantly, they want more of such programme in the future.
Sorry beb, gua dah nak grad. Haha! Sape la agaknya yang akan sambung program ni yek? Matematis Muda ada berani?
Quite a number of the participants were bloggers. Jot down your comments about the race, guys! Did you have fun?
These are the tasks that they need to complete in order to win the prizes. Believe me, we don't let them to win RM500 just like that. Extra efforts are essential. What you are about to read below aren't as easy as reading it through. Hehe...
Tasks 1: Taman Pertanian Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah
Find ostrich. They were only given its scientific name: Struthio camelus.
Find "Meranti". They might be confused; is it a name for a tree, or a camp?
Task 2: Teluk Cempedak
Buy RM5 batik drawing.
Paint the batik. The challenge was that some groups that came late to the checkpoint needed to wait because there were limited number of paints and the paintings themselves.
Task 3: Taman Teruntum Mini Zoo
Find 5 species of animals based on their scientific name. They needed to take pictures with the animals. Mind you, although it was a mini zoo, it's still hard to find each of them.
Find the foe of the crocodile. It's actually kancil. They might be confused between kancil and deer.
Ride a pony 2 rounds. It's a very easy task. Hehe...
Task 4: Tanjung Lumpur
Find 3 ikan bakar restaurants.
Find Mak Cik Wok and Pak Cik Husin's keropok lekor stall and buy RM1 of the food. The stall has no signboard so the participants had to ask the villagers.
Task 5: KAMDAR
Dress a dummy using the provided textiles.
Find the exact textile in the shop. Can you imagine, how tough it is to find it in a shop full with thousands of textile designs?
Task 6: Padang MPK2 in front of Masjid Sultan Ahmad Shah
Find one person among the public and ask him/her to sing Pahang state anthem.
Sing along with him/her.
Prepare a kite and fly it at the field. They were provided with anything thus they need to buy the equipments on the spot.
Task 7: Gua Charas
Find few things like dinasour, cobra, Sleeping Buddha, lady looking into a mirror, elephant, monkey, fish etc. The challenge was that, they needed to climb to enter the cave. The things in search were scattered every where inside and outside the cave and they were not easily found.
Count the number of steppings leading up and leading down to the cave. The challenge was that, the steppings were unorganized with different sizes and height. The answers are: leading up: 130 and leading down: 150.
Task 8: Sungai Pandan waterfall, Panching
Find a "broken" pitcher plant (periuk kera). It is actually not the plants, but a slightly broken signboard. They need to act like a monkey in front of it.
Act like a TV commersial: the fisherman and the fish inside the river.
Light a bonfire.
Task 9: Benteng
Unlike other checkpoints, they were only given the clue "Kuantan". What they need to find was huge alphabets of KUANTAN at Benteng.
Now I can't wait for Monday as the prize giving ceremony named KOS Greatest Explorer Award Ceremony is scheduled. During the ceremony, we'll know who win the prizes and the newly announced special prizes: Best Picture Award, Most Hilarious Video Award, and Mystery Award.
All students, lecturers and staffs are invited to the event. Monday 11.45 am at Main Auditorium, Kulliyyah of Science. Watch the video entitled The Journey towards being The Explorer and there'll be lucky draws in an Explorer-style. You'll like it!
Fact #2: I am so excited for today is the day of the race.
Fact #3: I am nervous for some unknown reasons.
From my observation, the participants were also very excited and that was obvious during the briefing session last night. I could see some have arranged their strategy and plan in order to win the great prizes.
For all, committees and participants, who involve in the programme, I wish you all the best!
The article below I wrote for the SCIENCESS Bulletin named Erudition. Get your copy now!
Erudition here I come again. Aah… It’s been long since my last words in this bulletin of SCIENCESS. I still remember the time when I first publish the first edition of this bulletin when I was the Head Committee of Information and Communication Bureau in SCIENCESS 2006/2008. I am glad the current Erudition backbone still uses the name. Thanks!
This is my last semester in this campus. My life has been fun and great towards the years as a degree student in IIUM. If given more time to continue studying here, I believe it’ll never be enough as there are many great friends, lecturers, staffs and other people who have made my days colorful and joyful. I still remember the first time I was informed that the kulliyyah was about to move to Kuantan campus when I was in Gombak. That time, I thought life was going to be dull as I heard so many bad news about this campus than the good ones.
Now, I’ve spent 5 semesters in Kuantan and I am happy to say, I love Kuantan campus more then Gombak. Not to discredit Gombak, but I found the real meaning of life here in Kuantan. I found myself developed so fast when I am outside of my comfort zone. Yes, it was the comfort zone that made me and my life dull and inactive.
My point is; we have to challenge ourselves with different things each and everyday. I don’t have to quote the saying that means it’s such a disastrous waste if we learn nothing from yesterday. To do that, we have to be brave to expose ourselves with new things all time and that need a lot of courage and motivation from inside of ourselves.
Other than that, don’t blame other things if you don’t find your life here. It’s us ourselves who need to figure out how we can make our days beautiful and meaningful where ever we put our body and mind. It is the mindset that is important to be positively configured. As in case our life in Kuantan here, people might have a comparison between Gombak and Kuantan campus especially for those who have experience studying there. But believe me, if you are looking for a peaceful life, you can find it here in Kuantan.
Speaking more about this matter, this is going to be my last few months spent in this very peaceful campus. There is a room in my heart that feels hard to leave the campus and the life as a university student but the fact is that, I have to move on. I can’t stay here all life long as life needs changes as the clock and the globe spin.
For all students of my batch, I would like to congratulate for our graduation in advance and we’ll see in the 25th Convocation of IIUM. Note the number 25 there. It comes along with a word named “jubilee”. It’s a hint for the newly appointed SRC members to make it somewhat unique and special for the coming convocation of ours. Hehe…
And for the juniors, I wish you all the best in your life as degree students and enjoy your each and every day challenges as those are the teachers that would make ourselves grown up.
Terima kasih ye Zaki. Terharu sangat. Aku betol-betol terkejut, tak sangka rupanya ko ingat harini besdey aku!
Ala... takde apa nye la. Hari ni hari special ko, kita sambut la sama-sama kan?
A'ah.. ko kan abang aku~
Situation 3
In an event, Danial was the master of ceremony. In the end of the event, a girl came to me.
Eh Zaki, ko datang jugak program ni?
A'ah. Saje la. Bagi semangat kat budak MC tu.
Eh dia tu adik ko ke?
A'ah.. Lain mak lain bapak.
Situation 4
Zaki, ko ni satu je aku nak cakap. Ko caring.
Erm... Pada aku, selagi kita ada kasih sayang untuk dikongsi (sesama manusia dan makhluk Allah yang lain), berikanlah, kongsikanlah. Sebab aku percaya ia akan kembali kepada kita.
