EDUCATIONAL TRIP TO PENANG

On the 4 and 5 June recently, 79 school kids from SK Selama had an enjoyable experience as they went on an educational tour around Penang. These kids were accompanied by 8 teachers and the successful trip will definitely be memorable to all of them. This outdoor programme was jointly organised by the Red Crescent Society, the English Language Society and the Co-curricular Unit of this school.

This programme had indeed increased the general knowledge and experience of the participants. They had learnt about the history, culture and traditions of the Peranakans of Penang ,the Muslims and other communities who contributed to the development of Georgetown, UNESCO Heritage City especially. The school children enjoyed the visits to many places of interests in two days and their special stay in a big rented bungalow in Tanjung Bungah for a night. Moreover, they surely enjoyed each other's company and had a lot of fun throughout the trip.

The participants left the school on a Friday, a school day at 8.oo am . It started of with Us. Zakaria leading in a prayer for safety. We packed a lot of things into the two buses including boxes of bottled drinks and buns sufficient for two days. The school children were divided into Bus A and Bus B, with most of the smaller children in the first bus. Most of the participants were made up of the Red Crescent and English Society members as this is the planned programme for them this year. Luckily the rest of the school children came to support this programme too.

The headmistress herself, Pn Hjh Jamaiyah told us she was very happy and enjoyed herself. We are sure she will treasure sweet memories as it was her first trip with us and she is going to retire this year. Pn Hjh Norhaizan Mahussin, our Senior Assistant for Co-curricular activities who led the second bus kept us all cheerful and lively with her bubbly character. Infact, all the teachers had played their role well and took care of all the 79 pupils. It was not an easy task especially when the children were excited, very active and noisy .

Actually we wanted to visit the Penang Acquarium but it was under renovation. So our
first visit was to the War Museum in Batu Maung. The pupils walked around the whole open museum which was an old British fort excitedly. They saw the various sections where weapons were kept, cells, quarters, the scary execution area and the guilotine. The most wonderful experience they had was the crawl through the tunnel. The children had an experience of a soldier and learnt briefly about the history of the days during the Second World War.

The next stop was the Art Museum in University Sains Malaysia. We missed the Dinosaur Exhibition which had already closed a few minutes before we arrived. Here, we saw a wide range of display of Malay traditional musical instruments, costumes and pottery. They learnt about traditional cultures and way of life of the people in olden days.

At 12.30 noon, we made a stop at the Penang State Mosque and chose a shady place to have our lunch. Food which was catered had already arrived on time and everyone ate hungrily. Well, it was sometime before the Friday prayers could be performed. The children were amazed and excited to have a chance to pray in a beautiful air-conditioned mosque.

Then, we moved to Georgetown, Heritage City and visited the Pinang Peranakan Heritage Mansion which was very beautiful. Its surroundings and walls had beautiful designs and carvings. The special rooms displayed a wide range of antiques,furniture, nyonya kebayas, beaded slippers and silver ornaments. Visitors here had a glimpse of what life was like for the Babas and Nyonyas in those days. The whole mansion was rich in culture and truly amazing.

After that, we stopped by the Islamic Museum or the Syed Allatas Mansion which had some exhibits that tells about the life of the Achehnese who were merchants and dealers in spices. They brought Islam and spread its teachings to the community. Then, we walked to the beautiful Kapitan Keling Mosque, the largest historic mosque in Georgetown for the Asar prayers.

We did not have the time to stop at the Fort Cornwallis but only passed it. Our buses parked at the esplanade. Our food caterer had brought our dinner. Some finished up the food while others preferred to taste the delicious 'pasembor'and 'rojak'. The children had fun relaxing and buying little souvenirs while their teachers kept watch closely.

It was getting dark, and we moved through the beautifully lit Penang streets until we reached our rented air-conditioned bungalow in Tanjong Bungah. The boys occupied the first floor while the girls the second. After bathing and prayers, there was a reflection and quiz session on the top floor . Prizes were won for correct answers. That it rained heavily but the children had a wonderful time playing until late at night.

The next morning, after bathing and packing up our belongings, we gathered downstairs for breakfast. A short while later, we visited the Butterfly Farm in Batu Ferringgi. We enjoyed walking through the beautiful garden which had various species of colourful butterflies, insects and plants. Many snapshots were taken of this place and we took group photos at the entrance too.

Next, we had a picnic at Taman Rimba, a forest reserve which has a waterfall and stream . The water was so tempting that the children begged to have a swim but were not allowed to do so for their own safety. After a short while enjoying the beautiful scenery and fresh air here, we decided to leave for the beach. Therefore, we chose Miami Bay for our next picnic spot. The kids were playing happily on the shore and most of them were wet after being splashed by the waves. There was a sand-castle building contest and they worked in small groups of ten. Later, Hiroshen's group won the first prize.

Lunch was served at the beach and the 'ayam masak merah' surely tasted more delicious while eating together by the sea. It was noon and we left for the Floating Mosque in Tanjong Bungah, near our rented bungalow. As most of them were wet, they took a bath, dried themselves and changed into clean clothes. After Zohor prayers, we left to continue our visit around Penang Island.

Knowing the children would love the World's Largest Toy Museum , the teachers brought them there as this place must not be missed. Though the place was too cramped, it has a large collection of toys. Truly amazing. It was like in a land of fantasy. Soon, everyone had to leave the place and move on.

We had to skip the visit to the Botanical Gardens and Air Itam as we were short of time. The next stop was the P. Ramlee House at the end of Perak Road. Children do have a chance to watch the late Tan Sri P. Ramlee's movies on TV and have a great admiration for him. They visited both his old house and the gallery here. Visitors could understand his past history and wonderful achievements in the world of entertainment.

Next, we had to make it over to the mainland to be in time for the Asar prayers at the Bandar Perda Mosque. There too we had our dinner sent there by our caterer. After that, we went shopping at TESCO nearby. It was to satisfy the children who did not have a chance to buy souvenirs while on the island. Actually, some of us were too tired to walk but for the sake of the children we took them around the complex. The happy children used up all the money their parents had given them.

Then the Maghrib and Isya' prayers were performed at the Perda Mosque again. Then it was home sweet home. Everyone were too tired even to chat and many had already dozed off along the journey home. We knew these children had really enjoyed themselves and were exhausted. We reached our school, SK Selama at 10.00 pm.as scheduled.

As the organizer of this wonderful Penang trip, I would love to thank our headmistress, Pn Hjh Jamaiyah, Senior Assistant, Pn Hjh Norhaizan, Mdm Cheang Poh Lin, the Red Crescent teacher and our treasurer, Pn Suhaila Salleh and her husband, Tn Hj Abdul Latif, Pn Faridah Kamaruddin and Cik Nurul Ashikin who accompanied us on this trip. We are very lucky to have generous sponsors who supported our programme and we would like to thank them from the bottom of out hearts. Last but not least, to the lovely children and their parents who made all this happen.

Beautiful memories will be treasured forever and hopefully knowledge and experience gained will be useful to them. Many photographs have been uploaded to the web. They can be seen in the Photo Gallery in our school official portal at
http://www.skselama.net/v7 and in Facebook Group ,"SK Selama Jalan Menteri".
Participants of the trip will receive a CD on the trip when they are ready. Hopefully, each of them will write a report on their trip and print some photos out for memory sake.
------By Mdm Oon Lay Wah