Wednesday 18 July 2007

Back from BTN

...or perhaps the title above should read 'Back from Slumber'? I think it's a bad habit to leave a blog untouched for more than 4 weeks...


Opener: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hirs1DTYgNg

(Yeah, he sang the wrong lyrics a few obvious times. But I appreciate the artistic effort.)


To be honest, my "Kursus Kenegaraan" (Patriotism Course?) fun factor was like an exponential graph. A rising one. Day 1 was the usual, "Oh hi, hello!" thing. Plus the "Congratz!" exchanges.

Day 2 was an ass-burner. Four 2-hour lecture sessions, with minimal time in between. That's EIGHT hours of continuous absorbing. And ass-burning. I don't know what was it that caused my backside to sweat so much despite the air-conditioning in the hall.

On day 3 and 4 we were put into our LDK's (Latihan Dalam Kumpulan @ Group works), with 2 experienced facilitators. A 42-year-old and a 61-year-old for our group. And it goes without mention that I, being of a rather peculiar species, personally received hard, dilemma-ish questions. Not just once, mind you. But overall, I had fun, just like the rest of my groupmates. Even though while under sleep deprivation. I think that makes it enjoyable.

LDK's are thinking and talking sessions; that's where the fun comes from. In the evenings, we had our physical session: fitness tests, timed jogging and dance-aerobics. My physiological age group was 40-44. I wasn't shocked though. It must have been some funny fella who suggested to do the breathing test straight after 17 jump-and-claps (the heels do the clapping, not palms) in 10 seconds. And the pulse rate measurement to close the test. Really funny.

One of the best surprises is that the "Kembara" (adventure) activity was scheduled one day earlier, allowing us to leave clean on the final day.

Do I hear everyone saying Malaysia is too exam-oriented? I think I can agree with that, up to around 75%. I leave my common sense in God's hands, hoping my answers match the mark scheme as much as possible. I don't wanna fail to fly just because of wrong answers in an objective paper. And I hope to pass the 60% LDK assessment too.


Credits: www.youtube.com

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