it has been a tiring weekend for i had gone to the orang asli village in pulau indah for a programme under JASA in collaboration with MAIS. the programme with the name "kembara asli II" is quite a tough programme to me. it was short, brief but full with objectives. we went there of course to spread the Islamic teaching (da'wah) but in a very subtle way since the majority of the villagers are still non-believers. we also aimed at helping the orang asli community in terms of education, self-esteem building and such in this outreach programme. i like to dedicate myself to this kind of healthy activity.

so we went there with the total of 30 participants on friday noon, 6th march 2009 . after some hiccups, we finally get there at 5 pm and started working as we have promised to give our best to the orang asli community there. i straight away went into action as the Head of Catering committee. my job scope is mainly to be in the kitchen compound, help the food preparation and serving. it was fun to work once again in the catering committee but the experience is different from what i've experience in the previous programme (kg sg berua, hulu terengganu). it's definitely different due to the fact that now i'm the head and the surroundings are different. we even have the MAIS officers to cook for us. i rather felt awkward working at first and that resulted in some not so scrumptious events like lateness in serving food for the VIP. then i realised that it is not an easy job thus i tried to work harder and dedicate all my will to the job. it was tiring but fun. it is certainly a serene feeling watching people eat and indulging the food with happy faces. i felt full already when watching the orang asli eating with their whole heart. i felt happy to serve them. the villagers are quiet participative, active and outward. they liked it very much to have us there and offer them every kind of activities. i was relieved to know that most of the children there are constant school-goers and can read well. they are not as backward as i imagined.

children of kampung org asli pulau indah

eat your heart out

then i of course didn't have the time to roam around and get into the activities others were conducting since i was very busy at the kitchen. i just made some precious moments to get out from the kitchen once in a while to just visit and have a glance at the activities like children's module, sports activities, opening ceremony and craft class. but i never let go the chance of joining the chicken dance slot. it was so fun to dance the chicken dance together with the villagers. then i was proud with us all for working with all our heart. all the committee, namely module, sports & welfare, prep & tech, special task, prog coordinator, D&I, and mainboard have worked so hard to make the programme a success. although some problems ocurred and changes made, we managed to made it through. what a great team we are. hehe.. thanks to all for giving me the trust to lead the catering committee.

helping with the food preparation


posing with craft souvenirs

there were some new experiences i got there and the most appealing one is witnessing the reversion of a man back to Islam. it was a new experience for me as i never get involved into any reversion ceremony before. it was a moment of truth and i got goosebumps everywhere. and also it was great to experience the traditional orang asli dance by the name "sewang" and this ritual is a must in every village that JASA visited. it was fun to watch. i love learning others' culture.
reversion to islam ceremony ~ ALLAHU AKBAR

sewang

i was hoping to join more JASA programme in the future but that seems impossible since my time here in iium is about to expire and i will be too busy to join any activity for the short time i have left here before i leave this place. (waaaaa!!)