10 - 19 September 2014www.republicanpost.sg

Special Edition:TF SCALE Outbound - Malang, Indonesia

Trepidation loomed in the air as 23 School of Infocomm (SOI) students embarked on the jour-

ney to Malang, Indonesia. This was engendered by the daunting pros-pects of having to propose innovative ideas using the palm-sized computer Raspberry Pi to benefit the disadvan-taged in just within a week. But what seemed like an intimidating Student Overseas Trip (SOT) ended up as a fun-filled and self-enriching one.

In alignment with the Raspberry Pi pro-ject, the students visited an orphanage and a school for the disabled in order to find out more about the needs of the less-fortunate side of Indonesia. Having expected to be greeted by a gloomy and depressing atmosphere, they were in-stead met with their jubilant occupants who were content with every little thing being done for them.

“Visiting the orphans and the disabled students has been an eye-opener,” said Lim Shun Yong, a 24-year-old Diploma in Information Technology (DIT) stu-dent. “Despite being less-privileged, they are still able to live so happily and this has made me learn to treasure eve-rything that I already have.”

And this was what School of Infocomm (SOI) Senior Lecturer Mr Li Yan, 34, wanted the students to get out of this trip.

“Besides getting ideas for their pro-ject, I also wanted this to be an open window for them to observe and experience something different,” said Mr Li. “They have been in an air-conditioned environment for too long so this is a place where they can step out of their comfort zone.”

Not everything was just about Rasp-berry Pi – the SOI students also had the opportunity to learn about tradi-tional Indonesian culture and visit tourist hotspots in Malang. From visiting the widely-acclaimed Batu Secret Zoo, to being treated to the picturesque view on the peak of the 2329 metre high Mount Bromo, this trip is definitely one that they will look back and reminisce about.

“Malang has been really memora-ble and fun. I’m glad that this is not just any typical SOT where we just walk around and visit exhibitions,” said Cheok Jia Chin, a 24-year-old DIT student. “Besides doing a lot of work, we are also given the chance to have a lot of fun, experience some-thing completely different from Sin-gapore and learn from it at the same time.”

TF SCALE: Not just all work and no playThe Singaporean scholars from Republic Polytechnic’s School of Infocomm crossed borders to meet up with their Indonesian counterparts for the outbound programme of the TF SCALE collaboration. But what was a learning trip turned out to be something more.By Elgin Chong

AN EXPERIENCE TO REMEMBER: Scholars from Singapore gained more than what they asked for as they got a chance to immerse in the local culture in Malang, Indonesia. (Photo: Kane RaynaRd Goh)

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ACTIVITIES

Enabling joy in the disabled The social team headed down to Yayasan Pembinaan Anak Cacat

(YPAC), a school for the disabled for a morning of games and in-teraction with the kids, as well as getting to know more about the school of disabilities in Indonesia. Photo & tExt By Elgin Chong & KanE RaynaRd goh

HELPING HANDSenior Lecturer Sharmila Kanna, 47, was all smiles

while interacting with a disabled student at YPAC.

She, along with the social team, were there to distribute donations and play games with the

disabled students.

SPINNING AFFECTIONA YPAC student displays his excitement during the TF SCALE crew’s visit to the disabled school by continuously spinning around in circles.

TECH GURU

TF SCALE participant Cindy Lim, 20, demonstrates the usage and functionalities of her smartphone to YPAC students, who were noticeably amazed with the gadget.

COUNT ME IN

TF SCALE participants, Goh Qian Ning (left), 21, and Paratisa Kharismadita (right), 22, playing a game of ‘Arrange-It’ with a YPAC student.

The game involves participants using cardboard pieces to arrange the numbers shown on the screen.

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ACTIVITIES

Giving compassion, receiving companionsWith boxes filled with donated items brought from Singapore, the TF SCALE team visited Al-Kaaf Orphanage to hand over donations - hoping to fill some joy into the lives of the orphans. The scholars from Singapore and Indonesia also spent the afternoon playing games together with the orphans.Photo & tExt By Elgin Chong

ALL SMILES

TF SCALE participants Chan Wai Khiew (centre top), 19 and Raditya

Hendrawan (extreme right), 21, were jubilant when playing games with the

orphans at Al-Kaaf Orphanage.

HUDDLING TOGETHERTF Scale participants Lim Shun Yong (left), 24, and Lili Suryani (right), 22, gathering with orphans during a game of ‘Number Group-ing’ at Al-Kaaf Orphanage.

This game involves the Game Master shouting out a number, whereby participants have to group together accordingly.

A PACKET OF JOY

A small girl at the orphanage walks away happily from Senior Lecturer Li Yan, 34, after being given a packet of Milo by the latter.

The TF SCALE crew was there to distrib-ute donations of food, clothing and cash as

well as to entertain the orphans.

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TF SCALE has given me an opportunity to show my leadership skills and help me in my personal growth. I also learned to appreciate the

little things, be thankful and to complain less.

This programme allows us to be exposed to a completely different cul-ture and provides us with an opportunity to meet new people. It has helped me to be a more expressive person, enabling me to communi-

cate better with others.

Through this programme, I have met and socialized with a lot of peo-ple from different cultures and backgrounds. It taught me to respect each other, regardless of nationalities and to cherish what we have.

This trip allowed me experience a lot of things that I have not done before. I also learned a lot about the Indonesian culture along with

discovering more about my friends and teammates.

This experience has allowed me to push myself pass limits and bound-aries I’ve previously set up for myself. I’ve discovered more about myself, and I’m now more aware of my strengths and limitations.

VOICES

OEI XIE YI HANNAH, 18, REPUBLIC POLYTECHNIC

NICHOLAS TAN JUN XIAN, 20, REPUBLIC POLYTECHNIC

LILI SURYANI, 22, REPUBLIC POLYTECHNIC

CHAN WEI ZHANG, 21, REPUBLIC POLYTECHNIC

LIM QIAO ROV, 20, REPUBLIC POLYTECHNIC

And that’s a wrap...Since the inbound programme in March earlier this year, the scholars from both Singapore and Indo-nesia have learned new skills and knowledge and fostered new friendship across the border. We find out from them on their thoughts of this experience as TF SCALE wraps up its outbound programme in Malang, Indonesia.

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Through this programme, I can show my new friends a lot of new things they have never seen before. I had a lot of fun and have seen a

lot. I hope this family will last forever!

It’s such an honour for me to be part of TF SCALE. We learned so much and practised to be more discipline. I hope this isn’t the end of

our friendship, thank you Temasek Foundation for arranging this.

TF SCALE is a great present to me. A new family, experience and spirit has readied my mind to better face the world and accept cultural differences. I will miss this programme because it allowed me to learn

something new everyday.

I’ve been to so many fantastic places that I have never been to before. I have made a lot of friends from different countries and I hope these

bonds will last for a long time.

I hope that TF SCALE will be the start of another experience for all of us. Thank you for all the great adventures!

VOICES

RADITYA HENDRAWAN, 21, POLYTECHNIC NEGERI MALANG

PARATISA KHARISMADITA, 22, POLYTECHNIC NEGERI MALANG

RIZKI ANGGARSASI, 21, POLYTECHNIC NEGERI MALANG

CHALIMI FITHRATU, 21, POLYTECHNIC NEGERI MALANG

MUHAMMAD ARIEF RAHMAN, 21, POLYTECHNIC NEGERI MALANG

This programme can give a lot of new experience to every student. It also builds a good relationship between the students from different

countries and the result of TF SCALE can give a lot of goodness to the student, the different countries and to the world.

MR PRAMANA YOGA SAPUTRA, 26, POLYTECHNIC NEGERI MALANG

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ACTIVITIES

Immersed in an Indonesian impressionThe Singaporean TF SCALE scholars got a chance to experience the Indonesian culture at a local village - Kedung Monggo, Malang. There, they learned the story and art behind traditional Malang mask paint-ing, dance and music, which has been passed down for decades.

Photo & tExt By KanE RaynaRd goh

MASK ME UP

The Singaporean scholars got a chance to work hands on and customize their own traditional mask to bring home.

Indonesian student Bintar Maday, 21, is helping Cheok Jia Chin, 24, in the process.

MALANGGAMELAN

Singaporean scholars Ariel Seah, 21, and Lim Qiao Rov, 20, giving the Indonesian traditional instruments a try while

syncing together with the rest of the orchestra.

FOLKMOVEHannah Oei, 18, (far left) is learning the traditional Indone-sian dance from the instructor.

ONE AND ITS OW

N

The Indonesian schol-ars showing off their one-of-a-kind tradi-tional mask that they have painted and desgined.

The colours of the mask each have a dif-ferent representation and each mask has it’s own unique personality

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ACTIVITIES

Scaling to new heightsIt was not all work and no fun this trip. Students had the chance to visit one of the most popular active volcano in East Java, Indonesia - Mount Bromo. The 3-hour journey to catch the sun rise kicked off in the wee hours with excited scholars ready for an adventure.

Photo & tExt By KanE RaynaRd goh

JUMP INTO A JEEP

GALLOPING UP

MORNING GLORY

EXCITED CLIMBERS

Students switched gear and hopped from a mini van to a jeep that brought them up and around Mount Bromo.

The bumpy ride was a whole new experience challenging for some, but enjoyed by most.

The Indonesian students posed for the camera before heading up the active volcano.

Participants climbed up 200 steps to the peak of Mount Bromo to enjoy a scenic view and make a wish by throw-ing a bouquet of flowers into the volcano.

Students could choose to take a slow ashy walk down to the volca-no but many chose an alternative ap-proach.

The area was filled with horses and students could ride onto one which would bring them to the foot of the stairs.

Many students took this option and the reason is pretty obvious. How often do you get to ride a horse up an active vol-cano?

Donned in layers of thick clothings, the stu-dents made it on time to witness the sun rise together in the cold windy weather after travel-ling for 3 hours overnight.

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FACES OF TF SCALE

Faces in placesFor the 10-days that the Singapore and Indonesian scholars spent together, they have visited different places and done different things together. Here is a look at the places they conquered together.Photo By KanE RaynaRd goh

This special edition of The Republican Post is produced by students from the Diploma in Mass Communication, Republic Polytechnic for Temasek Foundation (TF SCALE).

tF SCalE EmBEddEd JouRnaliSt - malang, indonESia: KanE RaynaRd goh and Elgin Chong

(FROM TOP TO BOTTOM): Polytechnic Negeri Malang, Batu Secret Zoo and Mount Bromo