Day 1
We made full preparation in school on Monday before going to Malaysia. It was very important for us to learn something about Malaysia in order to be comfortable when we were there. The first day’s lesson, though seemed mundane to many, could not be left out. From the sharing session, we absorbed some basic knowledge about the things we would come across when we were there. The lesson on culture was an eye opener to me, now I knew what culture was really about. The simple Malay greetings lesson was the most important of all. With all these skills honed, we were prepared for our maiden exchange programme journey the next day.
Day 2
On the journey, I did not think much about the differences in culture and the difficulties I would face; I would just accept the differences and try to overcome the difficulties. Customs and bus journey, certainly burnt most of our energy off. Not to worry, we stopped at a coconut plantation just as we reached Dorani Village for the refreshing coconut juice. We were given the warmest welcome by the people at the plantation. Although our hosts were friendly, we still could not break the ice and seemed quite cold as we wandered through the plantation. No matter what, we still took the first step to integrate into the Malay culture.
I was introduced to my host at the shed together with my partner. We would be staying together for the next two days at his house. Our host was most friendly and helpful as he took care of us and made sure that we were most comfortable in the homestay. Although I could barely understand him, we still had a good time for the two days by communicating in hand signals and eye contacts. He fetched us to his house with his motorcycle, it was thrilling and fun as I whizzed through the road. I was totally satisfied with the house and the facilities. We were very happy with our hosts as they were really thoughtful. They prepared the room well and their efforts to make us comfortable in the house were all noticeable. I was really thankful of that. What made me glad most was that his daughter was fluent in English, having a “translator” was certainly a relief to me and my partner. I was coming out from the bathroom and was stumped by my partner as he told me to look outside. I kept asking him why and he finally shyly told me there was a girl. She was our hosts’ daughter, I said hello to her and she smiled back at me. After that, we did not say anything, maybe waiting for each other to speak first. I started wandering around the house which was made of wood, with the true kampong element in it. I was fine with the facilities, what worried the most was the language barrier and I hoped I could get along well with everyone in the house.
Dinnertime came, it was when we truly broke the ice and started talking to each other. I soon learnt that the hosts’ daughter was also Secondary 2, studying in a nearby school. We finally got to know each other better and started communicating without stumping anymore. I was glad about this and felt successful about being able to communicate without big difficulties. I felt great about the breakthrough, it was then when we really embarked on the immersion programme.
We then hurriedly assembled at the shed for watching fireflies at the reserve in the village. It was truly fascinating as we sat in a boat to watch the wonderful light given out by the fireflies. Returning to the homestay, I thought about the day’s activities, it was certainly fun and it was once in a lifetime experience. I felt really good about the hosts and the whole programme as we were on the right track despite all the delays along the way.
Day 3
This day was packed with activities and we went from place to place in our tour coach. I got all the first-hand experience from all the activities I participated. I took a further step understanding the culture and embracing the differences. Now, I was most comfortable getting along with the local people. Our host’s thoughtfulness was once again seen as he drove in his motorcycle to see us in our activities. I was touched as he always took his time off to give us moral support for our activities. He was certainly a good old man and treated us like his own sons. Despite from the language barrier, we still could communicate well enough to make our homestay enjoyable.
The activity I enjoyed most at the Kuda Kepang, which was called “Horse Dance” in English. I stared at the exciting performance without blinking, fascinated. I was very happy with myself as I did not find dancing with a cupboard horse weird at all. Instead, I find it the most fun and exciting amongst all the activities in the day. I realized that I finally could accept and even enjoy most of the Malay cultures, this was certainly a big improvement for myself.
After the whole day of immersion in Malay culture and Kampong life, all my worries were gone. I was most happy that I enjoyed my stay here to the utmost. One thing I learnt and I liked to hone was that no matter what race people belonged to, we still had to embrace their differences and accept people’s culture. I also learnt form my host to be a good host when time comes for me to be host for visitors.
Day 4
The last day of our stay in Dorani Village came and I was most unwilling to part. I enjoyed the Kampong life here and hoped to stay longer. However, we still had to bid farewell to our wonderful host. We took pictures and I asked for his address, hoping for another visit when there was a chance. We were still in good mood throughout the day despite the farewell with our host.
In the afternoon, we embarked on our bus journey to Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia. Arriving there in the evening, we went to shopping malls. The price of goods there were mostly cheaper, but there were few we could afford so I only ate a cup of ice cream. However, we were stunned by the prices some shops offered. They were totally unacceptable, we ignored these shops and went on.
We later went to another bigger shopping mall which was much similar to our shopping malls in Singapore. My friend and I went to a VCD shop and browsed through the VCDs for almost an hour. Each of us bought one VCD and I did not even realize that it was five minutes past 9pm. We quickly assembled and went to the hotel to check-in. The hotel was most comfortable and well facilitated. Kuala Lumpur was indeed similar as Singapore’s bustling city life. After two days of Kampong life, city life was once again brought forward to us.
Day 5
Today was the last day and we would go home in the afternoon. We checked out in the morning and went to a museum. The museum had every Malay cultural relic and certainly opened our eyes to Malay culture. I scanned through everything in the huge museum and learnt a lot of Malay culture not known before. I bought a dagger at the souvenir shop and bid farewell to this wonderful country of Malaysia.
From this whole programme, I had the most precious first-hand experience of living in a kampong. It was most beneficial interacting with the people and learning about Malay culture. Finally, learning how to accept other cultures than just tolerate was the most important skill that I had learnt through this journey.
