Another chapter in our H.O.P.E diary..

Quoting Sister Susan, “Treat this as an adventure children ! God is letting it rain as a sign of blessing pouring down upon us thanking the tutors for a day out”.  So lo and behold our adventure begins that evening. We have been planning for a day out with the children for weeks now and it was finally the day ! It was set to happen on the 11^th of September in the beautiful park of Tasik Sri Permaisuri located in Cheras.

     Everything was planned out accordingly but needless to say our patience was tested as it started to pour heavily. The children were treating it like an adventure indeed, hand in hand searching for our designated shelter. As they arrived, they were treated to the aromas of delicious food . As soon as everybody settled down, the buffet of dishes were served ranging from pizzas, nuggets, sausages to jellies and sweet treats. 

     The children were more than ready to play after having filled their tummies. So we proceeded with an introductory game of pass the parcel.  As the music started, the parcel filled with various task was passed from one child to another. The atmosphere changed from then on as everybody was excited to play and yet afraid to get the said parcel containing their proposed task. The first task was selected by John Wong. He was to describe three of his favourite movies to the rest us whilst acting the parts out. He was certainly not shy in showing his passion for his cartoon heroes.

     The next task was performed by Andrew, he was to pluck a flower for his dearest caretaker Miss Susan and that’s exactly what he did all smiles. Not forgetting some tasks performed by the tutors themselves, Adam had to dance to the beats of a song in front of the judging audience and he definitely gave it his all and gained worth applause for it. Last but not least was the act by Ruby and Vivien who had to sing and pull the hair of Kah Yung out respectively. That concluded the first introductory game.

     The rain had stopped, so we proceeded to the outdoor games. We started off with the infamous game of “Duck, Duck, Goose” as well as “Ice and Water”. These games definitely tested the agility and stamina of the children as they were constantly running and screaming with excitement. It was definitely quite a sight watching the alliances made between the boys and the girls in attempt to win the game.

     By seven, the children were exhausted. We decided to end our day of adventures with a photo taking session. Everybody was definitely exhausted but they still managed to leave all smiles with screams of “thank you teacher!! See you next week”. Knowing that they have enjoyed themselves so much and are looking forward to seeing us soon definitely sets in us a new motivation and desire to teach and mould them into becoming the future leaders of the future generation. We left happily at 7.30p.m with ear to ear smiles on our own faces !

New faces to add to the tutor family

Well its been a while since I have updated you guys with the list of tutors.. :)

Well we are now a proud family of ten.. still with Han as the daddy :)

List of Updated Tutors

a) Han Xern

b) Horng Qing

c) Adam

d) Kah Yung

e) Serenity Chitty

f) Toh Kar Tong

g) Chia Pei Yeen

h) Teo Sze Yi

i) Stephanie Ling

j) Eng Jun Herng

It should be obvious by now who the new tutors are as they are the unfamiliar names

.. and now i shall dedicated the rest of this post towards them !

First up, Miss Chia Pei Yeen

Pei Yeen is a graduate from Damansara Utama and is currently pursuing her A Levels qualification at HELP University College as a School Achievers Scholarship Awards recipient. 

During her high school years in SMK Damansara Utama , Pei Yeen has been actively involved in co-curricular activities. She was elected as the Head of First Aid Teachings in St. John's Ambulans Malaysia as well as the Community Service Director for the INTERACT Club of SMKDU. Besides that, she was also a member of the school's basketball team in the under- 18 category.

She also often describes herself as a weird and random person who has a strong passion for Hong Kong TVB Dramas, photography and children. Thus, she has the belief that talking dogs would make the world a happier place altogether.

Next up.. its Miss Toh Kar Tong

An alumna of SMK Damansara Utama , Kar Tong graduated from school in 2009, and she is currently undertaking her A Levels in HELP University College where she is the recipient of the Schools Achievers Scholarship Awards. In 2008, she achieved a Distinction for the University of New South Wales Science Exam whereas in 2009 she was among the three others in school to be awarded a high distinction English equivalent.

Kar Tong has been a member if the St John Ambulans Malaysia since the beginning of her secondary schooling, and held the post of the Head of Public Relations in the Damansara Utama division between 2008 and 2009. Having left school, she is now an adult member in the Adult RPNS Division. She has also previously held positions in other assosiations such as the Living Skills and Tennis Club. She enjoys volunteer work as well as graphic designing. 

Last but not least is Miss Teo Sze Yi !

 

Sze Yi is a graduate from SMK Convent Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur. She is currently pursuing her A-levels at HELP University College. She has been performing well in her studies as well as her extra-curricular activities.  She obtained 7’As in UPSR and also PMR, 9A’s in SPM and she continues to work hard to excel in her studies.

During her school life, she has held several important positions in school . She has held the position of vice president for both Interact Club and Chess Club. She is also the president of Red Crescent Society of her school. Besides that, she is a qualified first-aider.

Sze Yi has also been elected as the Class Monitor and Assistant Class Monitor for 4 consecutive years throughout her secondary life. Besides that, she is a qualified first-aider.

Meet Our Award Winning Cuties

I have dedicated this entire post to all our adorable students here in Rumah Sayangan :)

Honestly there are way too many to be named.. but I'll restrict this category to be only for the young ones :) i would deem for that to be fair :) 

Our second runners up position goes to...

Joshua !!

and our runners up position goes to...

Timothy !! 

and last but not least is Andrew !!

 Our winner :) :)

Tick Tock Tick Tock

Its that time of the year now, usually known as crunch time..

The exam season is on the way and the tutoring sessions are getting more and more personal as more attention has to be paid to the older children. With that said, the younger ones are still never neglected.

We have ONE student that will be facing a major exam come September and that would be Miss Vivien. She's definitely realized it herself as she is working much harder than before to achieve her good grades. Our tutors Han Xern and Kah Yung definitely has the work cut out for them this last few months :) All the best for your PMR !

With all that being said, all the other tutors have also got their fair share of the load as each and every one of them are now allocated with two students each. This would definitely ensure a more personal and structured session with all the students. Additional questions and tips would be given by the tutors as well to fully prepare the students for the yearly finals !!

On a lighter note, we are planning on having a picnic with the children in the KLCC park come Raya Holidays :) Fun games and yummy food are definitely on the itinerary. :D Miss Serenity and Pei Yeen are in charge so more updates from them some time soon :)

till then, spread the HOPE people !! 

:)

Long Break Away

Well its been a long break for us tutors as we had a two week break due to school holidays and the orphanage being occupied by visits form the Alliance Bank. So this week we'll be back on track again..

We ourselves are gonna restart the new term of college, some of us remaining in out current colleges while many of us restarting their pre u all over again in a new college due to the acceptance of their applications under the JPA scholarship. Kudos to this brilliant group of people. :) namely Han Xern, Sabreena, and Kah Yung.

But also due to this reason, we have lost a dear tutor as she will be focusing on her studies from now onwards. This said tutor is our dearest Sabreena. Indeed she will be missed, hopefully she'll come and visit us :) 

Then again, when one door closes another opens as we welcome our newest member, 

SZE YI !! :)

Week 3

This time around it was just 5 of us heading for the home so one car was actually sufficient.

Han Xern was the driver for the day and thankfully we dint get lost back in Kay L :)

From this week onwards, we started of our tutoring schedule. Each week, 5 of us are to be present to teach the children.

Every pair of tutors shall take turns alternating the weeks between themselves. In that way, the children will have a fresh face and approach to learning every other week. This week we started of a little later which is about 9.45 in the morning due to our dear adam's delay :)

The five of us, namely Han, Serene, Adam, Pei Yeen and me headed of to our respective venues.Han Xern focused on the subjects of BM and Science for our one and only Form 3 student in the house. Meanwhile, Serene handled the older girls and shuffled between the subjects of Maths and English. She even managed to squeeze in a little dialogue session with her pupil, Cindy just to spice up the story and to maintain her interest.

Adam had the upper room to himself as he taught the older boys the subject of Science. He started of with the basics of calculating mass and density before further advancing on the topic. 

Pei Yeen the other hand had a rough time handling the younger children ranging from the ages of 4-7. As it was her first week flying solo, she did admit to having some difficulties in handling the students as well as in maintaining their attention. Well we hope that in time, teacher Pei Yeen would be able to cope yea ? :)

As for me, I handled the upper class primary school students. I started of by explaining further on the topics of occupation, colours and vehicles. I then continued with a short game to emphasize the meaning and spellings of the said words. I finished of my lesson with a short role play by each of my three students to ensure that they have truly understand the terms they have been taught.

We ended our lessons at twelve in the afternoon followed by a short debriefing by the caretaker of the home, Miss Susan.  

Photo Reel

Han Xern and his only pupil, Vivien

Role Playing by Thomas and John

Lessons Begin

Week 2 

8th May 2010

Well its our second week here and lessons commence this week.. The children were definitely eager to see us all and I can only say is that the feelings are mutual from our end.. This time around Brother Edward was in charge.. We started of at 9.45 in the morning. 

After all the children have been divided into their various groups of tutors and allocated venues, classes started. At first, the children were somewhat reluctant to kick off their Saturday morning with more school work but after a while they realised that it was not too bad after all as it was not a dry boring class as it was in school.

All the tutors made an effort to connect with each and every one of their students respectively. They approached them personally and identified the weaker and less preferred subjects of their students and started work from there.

The children were even given breaks in between classes to ensure their attention span and restlessness would be contained. The younger ones in kindergarten were played with and taught how to write the basic numbers and alphabets whereas the older children were taught how to solve mathematical equations , understand Science facts as well as English literature that is required in their respective syllabus.

All in all it was a productive day. Class dismissed at 12.00 and we left by 12.15 in the afternoon. We were tired but definitely content. ;)

Photo Reel

Horng Qing having his first official lesson with Derrick, Peter and John Wong

Serene along with the juniors

Sabreena and i with Thomas and John Peter

Exposure Week

Week 1

 24th April 2010

Well this would be the first week our entire group of Project H.O.P.E visits our fellow future students from Rumah Sayangan. We met in Damansara Utama before heading of to the home in 3 cars.. Altogether there were 11 of us. 

Upon our arrival, we were immediately greeted by several smiley children. We could tell they were as excited to meet us as we were to meet them ;) We started of with an introduction by the care taker of the home, Miss Susan.

Later on, the children ranging from the ages of four to fifteen were each given a chance to introduce themselves to us. This was followed by a short explanation on the objectives of us carrying out this project by Han Xern, our project director as well as a brief introduction from us the tutors.

After all the formalities, we proceeded to carrying out our individual assessments and grading of each student to set the benchmark and level of each student before being able to divide them into their respective classes. 

It was indeed an eye opener to all of us as to how much they are willing to learn and work towards improving their conditions in life. We certainly were granted the opportunity to make new friends. We ended of with a short debriefing by Miss Susan before leaving at 4.

 Even though it was a Saturday, and we know just how much we all love our weekends, the turn out of all the group members just showed everyone's eager enthusiasm and passion to give back to society.


Photo Reel

Profile of Key Resources

Khoo Han Xern , Project Director

Han Xern is a graduate from SMK Damansara Utama and has an excellent academic track record. He was awarded Outstanding Student for the PMR - 7A Category in Year 2007 and has also maintained a top position in his form for three consecutive years.

Being an active student, Han Xern has held many key postitons few years including Vice Chairman of the St. John Ambulans Malaysia Damansara Utama Division and Head of Discipline of the school’s Prefectorial Board.

Han Xern is also a qualified life saving training instructor and Institute of Mental Arithmetic tutor.

       

Lee Horng Qing, Executive Secretary

Horng Qing is a graduate from SMK Damansara Utama. He is an intelligent conscientious young man who possesses immense potential and capabilities. He obtained straight A’s in both the Lower Secondary Assessment (PMR) and the Primary School Leaving Examination (UPSR). He has great interest in Malay Language, History and Chemistry.

His dedication and commitment paved the way to various posts and responsibilities such as the very prestigious Head Prefect, President of the school’s Science Club and Vice President of the school’s Scouts movement. 

Horng Qing is a person who is willing to render service to all and often offer a helping hand to those in need. Besides that, he is also a qualified first-aider.

  

Toh Kah Yung, Finance Director

Kah Yung is a graduate from SMK Damansara Utama. He has an exemplary academic track record with preferences to English and Physics and Accounts. His results during the UPSR and PMR examinations were excellent, scoring straight As for both while being active in extra-curricular activities.

Kah Yung is currently studying his A levels at Taylor’s College and has taken up the Further Mathematics subject which many regard as the toughest A levels of all. He is also an active member of the Taylor’s Business Club and holds the position of Vice Chief Financial Officer. Furthermore, Kah Yung is also a qualified MENSA member.

Ng Zhi Yung, Activity Director

Zhi Yung was graduated in SMK Damansara Utama in the year of 2009 and had been performing as one of the top students in his class for the past few years. He had been in recognition by the teachers and thus been elected as the Class Monitor and Assistant Class Monitor for 3 consecutive years.

During his year of studies, Zhi Yung holds many positions in the school’s co-curriculum activities. He held the position as Public Relations in St. John Ambulans Malaysia, Treasurer of the Science Club and also the Camp Commander of St. John Division Camp.

Zhi Yung was awarded the “Student with Excellent Attitude Perfomance” in the year of 2009. He also ranked as Cadet Leader in St. John Ambulans Malaysia.

 

Stephanie Ling I-Lynn, Public Relations and Communications Director

Stephanie Ling is a graduate from SMK Damansara Utama, Cluster School of Excellence.  She has constantly maintained her grades as a pure science student and has also acquired a credit in her New South Wales Quiz for the subject of Physics. Besides that, she has also obtained 7A’s for her PMR examinations and is a SASA scholarship holder of HELP University College.

Being actively involved in extracurricular activities, Stephanie has held the post of Assistant Head of Discipline in the Prefectorial Board, President of the Golf Club and School Team, Assistant Secretary of St John Ambulans Malaysia Damansara Utama Division as well as the Treasurer of the Crime Prevention Club.

  Stephanie is also a qualified black belt first dan holder of taekwon-do and a qualified first aider.

Eng Jun Herng, Logistics Director

Eng Jun Herng is a graduate from SMK Damansara Utama who is an above average student in his studies throughout the five years. He obtained 8As for his PMR and continued to work hard to improve himself in his academic achievements.

Eng Jun Herng has held several important posts in the societies that he joined. For example, he has held the position of President of the Chinese Society, Quartermaster of Bulan Sabit Merah Malaysia SL(Y) 180, all in years 2008 and 2009. He has also held the position of Assistant Class Monitor in year 2009.

Serenity Jedidiah Chitty, Junior Curriculum Director

Serenity is a graduate of SMK Damansara Utama and is currently pursuing her A-Levels at HELP University College. She has consistently performed well academically and has received awards for the Highest Achiever for English Language in her form in both 2007 and 2008.

Serenity has also been actively involved in extra-curricular activities. She was the Deputy Head Prefect of the school's Prefectorial Board and the Funding Director of the LEO Club.

She was the Chairman of the St John Ambulance Malaysia Damansara Utama Division. In January 2010, she received the prestigious Grand Prior Award. She is still an active committee member in the RPNS Adult Division.

Adam Leong Siu Chun, Intermediate Curriculum Director

Adam is a graduate of SMK Damansara Utama and has been maintaining and above average academic and extracurricular records in the past few years. He is currently pursuing his studies in HELP University College in the course of Edexcel A-Levels.

During his high school years, Adam has held many major responsibilities and positions in different fields of extracurricular activities.  He has been a school prefect for five years and his hard work and dedication had enabled him to become an active committee member in the Prefectorial Board.

Furthermore, Adam was actively involved as a member in his school’s LEO Club allowing him to contribute back to the society through multiple charity home visits. His involvement in the LEO Club has given him invaluable experience and knowledge about helping others in need.