Saturday, June 21, 2008

BTN Camp '08

*Disclaimer:Very long post

Location : Panorama Taining Camp,Langkawi
(In the middle of the island,neither near a mountain or the beach)

Duration : 5 Days 4 Nights

Participants: 219 JPA Scholars (INTEC-Russia,KTT-Indonesia,IMU-Canada,UK)

Previous BTN camps for me: 1

Enthusiasm for this camp: Very Low

Took a flight from Lcct in to Langkawi together with Li Ying,Bela and Hafiz, the pilot probably thought we were rushing because he got us there way before the scheduled 1 hour flight ,we had 20 minutes to spare to be correct.
I see Islands..if only i were really on a holiday
The Coast Of LangkawiBela called a Mr Affendi and we were directed to a Panaroma Hotel.When we got to a taxi service counter, they seem to ask.." Pergi ke kursus ya?" How come everyone seems to know?We didn't say camp, we said hotel.Nevertheless, after enjoying our last few tourist/holiday moments we headed for camp.

Hafiz:Gimme a B
Chee Mei:Gimme a T
Bela:Gimme an N...BTN

We were as happy as trainee's can be because we found out our accommodation was unlike the previous camp which has multiple double decker beds in 3 adjoining dorms and a common bathroom,we were upgraded to hotel rooms.Okay maybe a very dilapidated hotel room but it did come with air-conditioning.What more we could ask for ?Li Ying and I had very low expectations for the camp.We were going crazy over the thought of not having to use common bathrooms, i doubt we would be similarly excited if it was a holiday trip.Dilapidated!!
Scary Pic...Different reflection


An hour or 2 to kill before the rest of the trainees arrive, oh did i mention the rest of the other 215 trainees were coming in by ferry after their long 7 hour bus ride from KL?What fun.
While waiting....

Camp officially starts..everyone please ignore coloured clothing
Dresscode : White Shirt, Black Slacks
I nearly died going sitting through 4 ceramahs(Talks) or they would rather call it Pembentangan Kertas Kerja (Paper Presentation).Before each one,we would need to sing a song called Menara Bangsa.I dunno who the lyricist or composer was,but i'm pretty sure everyone wants to give him/her a whack for creating such a weirdly worded and irregularly tuned song.

Then we had small group discussions called LDK(latihan dalam kumpulan).Contents are a little too sensitive to be mentioned here.In short,it's about our country and it's constitutions as well as the citizens.So if you wanna know more,use msn k.The only time i had fun was during the 2km run.Needless to say, even that was an evaluation.And they couldn't pick and easier route,i swear there is at least 4 or 5 uphill runs with the last being the steepest then it's back to the starting point the same way.That was kinda off the only physical activity we got besides a few movement test to gage our physiological age.I turn out to be a 44year old aunty.Darn...Kembara(Trekking) was literally a walk in the park, the most challenging part was going under a small fallen tree then continuing the journey on tar road :( No mud, no river-waste of my time looking for cheap shoe to throw away)

This is Li Ying's hobby after Ryiadah(leisure probably,i dunno what it means) time

All in all the camp was not as bad as we dreaded,they never force us to wake up for moral class at 5.50am anymore.Can sleep till 7am then morning parade.Meals are still 6 times a day as usual.I now understand why Robert Kwok (Malaysia's richest man/Sugar King) is so rich,malaysians use a lot a lot of sugar in their drinks.Moral classes aren't moral classes,it's video time which means sleeping time for me.And exams are just a way to sum things up.

The graduates from BTN camp after exam...Holiday Spirit

Freedom to fly like the eagle
I Love this shot...Looks more like some Pendekar Silat rather then an eagle

High FiveFerry and plane tickets very expensive
How can any Langkawi visit be complete without this big bird?
View from the ferry
My ride home
I'm kinda missing camp now.Not the course but the whole interaction.I don't get to wake up to watching Li Ying and Wei Wei studying.Always rushing for morning assembly,food,classes,talks and afternoons outdoors.I guess after 5 days, it has become routine.Living with people is really the best way to get to know them,i miss the friends i made too.It is without a doubt I've learnt patience and perseverance maybe not for the same reasons the facilitators in camp would like but i do know that i have to take my place in society some time.What can i say,when you can't beat them..just keep your mouth shut.

P.S : Anyone bound for BTN camp,don't waste your time reading the brown,blue,orange and yellow book.It has no relevance what-so-ever to the exam questions.Just bring your common sense.

4 comments:

khairul said...

i believe the actual number of the peeps=129.. lol..
why u 'bocor' the question!! if they read this post surely they'll change the format altogether lol... how come u didnt post ur pix with ur twn lol

Cheemz said...

Oops..I really thought it was 219.I must have been dreaming.Anyway i never bocor question also.I just advise not to read nia.Different from actually telling people the questions.
Twin?What twin?Got meh?

huiyen said...

eessh.. so nice.. that was a complete upgrade from the one in klang..ure so lucky chabohh

anyways.. missing u here:)

faster come faster come:)

Cheemz said...

i wonder if it's really that good.Let's just say the environment is good,new information delivery method that makes it hard to retort without being offensive.But i did kinda enjoy it,no need to wake up for moral clas.++ point.

Missing you from here too.Want anything from sydney?A kangaroo perhaps?