BRUNEI!(group work)

MINGGU INI
Selamat malam semua! Minggu Ini, saya pergi ke kem gereja. Kem itu lima hari. Kem itu letak di Sembawang, sangat jauh dari rumah saya. Di sana, saya main banyak permainan. Saya juga kenal banyak kawan. Kawan saya sangat ringan tulang. Di sana, saya sangat gembira, tetapi, saya juga rasa penat. Harap-harap, saya boleh peri juga kem gereja tahun depan. Sekarang, saya akan tidur. Selamat malam!:)

MINGGU INI....
saya pergi ke Bandaraya Kucing, Sarawak dengan keluarga saya. Bandaraya Kucing sangat cantik dan bersih. Kita makan jenis-jenis makanan seperti Mee Goreng, Nasi Lemak, laksa dan sayur midin. Pada hari Selasa, kita melawat Taman Buaya Jong. Kita nampak banyak buaya bear dan kecil. Di Taman Buaya Jong, kita juga nampak lain lain binatang seperti monyet, babi, kucing, ikan, burung mrak dan ayam. Kita juga pergi ke Parksons untuk membeli pakaian dan kasut. Bapa dan emak juga beli banyak barang barang hiasan dan barang barang seni buatan tangan. Pada hari Rabu, kita berangkat ke pantai Damai. Kita tinggal di hotel Damai Puri.

Pendudut pendudut Sarawak sangat baik hati dan ringan tulang. Saya sangat gembira.

MALAYSIA

KUCHING
HELLO! I'm in Kuching, Malaysia. Since it's my first day here, I've decided to find out more about Kuching.

Kuching actually means cat in Malay, and it is the capital of Sarawak, one of the states in Malaysia. It is located in East Malaysia, that is why it is not possible for us to drive there from Singapore. It is the LARGEST city on the island of Borneo.(Source: Wikipedia)

Yesterday, the driver that drove us from the airport to our hotel told us a little about Kuching too. The main race in Kuching is Ibanese, which is actually a tribe. These Ibanese are usually Christians.

My first impression of Kuching is that it is a very laid back city. The night life here is not very vibrant.

Last night, I had my first taste of the cuisine in Kuching, We ate Hokkien Mee, Cantonese Mee, Bamboo clams, and "Mani Cai". Among all these, I have tried Hokkien Mee and the Cantonese Mee in Malaysia before. the dish "Mani Cai" is also available in many restaurants in Singapore, but the one here is cooked in a different style-it is fried instead of boiled. Kuching is very famous for their Bamboo Clams.

USEA SEMINAR

USEA SEMINAR

On Saturday, 1st November, we went to the Peranakan Museum for the USEA(Understanding South-East Asia)seminar. The seminar was mainly divided into 3 parts, the exhibition with booths from the various schools, the exhibitions at the lecture rooms by the people at the Peranakan Museum, and a guided tour about the Peranakan culture

EXHIBITION BY VARIOUS SCHOOLS(RI, VS and ACSI)

I didn't really get to see the booths by the other schools as I was doing my shift at the booth, but I did get to have a little glimpse. I also remembered that there was a boy who came up to me, and asked me whether I wanted to try Malay perfume. It smelt quite nice, and he even mentioned that it had no alcohol in it, as Muslims are not allowed to touch alcohol

EXHIBITION AT LECTURE ROOM

There were many exhibitions going on, like the cooking exhibition and beading exhibition. The cooking exhibition was very interesting. The chef was demonstrating how to cook Nonya Curry, which smelt really good! There was even a bookmark on the recipe to make the curry powder(:

This is the recipe to cook the curry powder:

Basic Ingredients:(Makes 6 tablespoons)

1. 8 dried chillies

2. 2 table spoon Coriander seeds(ketumbar)

3. 2 tablespoon Cumin seeds(jintan puteh)

4. 1 teaspoon Whole cloves(bunga Chingkay)

5. 6" Cinnamon stick(kayu manis)

6. 1 tablespoon tumeric powder(kunyit)

7. 1 tablespoon ginger powder(halia)

8. 1 tablespoon cardamon powder(buah pelaga)

9. 1/4 teaspoon Fenugreek powder(alba)

Method:

1. Place the chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cloves and broken Cinnamon stick in a frying pan or wok

2. Dry fry the spices at low heat., stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes till lightly toasted and fragrant. Allow it to cool.

3. Transfer to a spice mill/blender and grind finely. Then transfer it to a mixing bowl and add the other spice powder. Mix it well and store it in and airtight container and keep in a cool dark place. READY TO USE!(:

The beading was very interesting too:D Beading is actually essential for all Peranakan Girls to learn, as it shows that they are well-bred.

Beaded Handkerchief

Beaded spectacle case

GUIDED TOUR

The tour was mainly to let us know about the way of life of a Peranakan. Peranakans are also called Strait Chinese. Most Peranakans are of Hokkien ancestry.

PERANAKAN WEDDING:

Stage 1: The "proposal"

The man does not go down on his knees to propose to his bride, his mum does it for him! However, his mum does not propose to the bride, she "proposes" to the bride's mother, by offering sireh to the bride's mum. If the bride's mum accepts the sireh, it means that the bride's mum has no objections to the marriage. However. if she rejects the sireh, the man's mum does not need to feel embarrassed at all!:D

Sireh

Stage 2: Preparations

Instead of using money as a dowry, the groom will give his bride these few things:

Leg of a pig(signifies that he can support the family)

Jewellery(signifies that he is rich)

Oranges and alcohol

Unused cloth(signifies that he can support the family)

In turn, the bride will give the groom these few things:

Clothes that were sewn using the unused cloth and beaded slippers(signifies that she has the capability to run the household well)

Oranges and alcohol

Thigh of a pig

Jewellery

Stage 3: wedding day!

The bride will dress in very fabulously designed clothes, the nicer the better. When she goes to the parents-in-law's house, she is accompanied by a woman known as the Mistress of Ceremony. This woman is in charge of making sure that the wedding runs smoothly(:

Mistress of Ceremony(in blue)

The wedding actually runs over a couple of days, and the bride and groom have to go through many procedures and even tests(like testing the virginity of the bride).

RELIGION

Peranakans were actually very open-minded when it came to religion, therefore some Peranakans are Taoist, Christians and even Catholics.

REFLECTIONS

The Seminar really opened my eyes to the Peranakan culture. I used to think that the Peranakan culture was boring, but that was because I did not bother to learn more about it. From their cuisine to wedding procedures, it is obvious that the Peranakans are very traditional people. This seminar has also allowed me to know more about South-East Asia from the various booths(although I only managed to get a glimpse of it). The seminar has made me realise that my knowledge of SEA is very limited, and I still have a long long way to go before I can confidently say that I am an expert at SEA. The seminar has also shaped my mindset, that there is more than meets the eye-I used to think that the Perankan culture was boring, but it isn't!

I really look forward to more seminars like this:D

MYANMAR/BURMA

Mr Azahar showed us an interesting PowerPoint during one of our RSP lessons. It was about Myanmar/Burma. and through it, I have learnt a lot!

Some Information:

RELIGION

From the PowerPoint, I can infer that religion plays a very big part in the lives of the Burmese.
The reason for my inference is:

( taken from http://www.sacred-destinations.com/burma/images/yangon-rangoon/schwedagon/bamboo-scaffolding-gold-maintenace-cc-flappingwings.jpg)

1.The main stupa in the Pagoda( a Burmese temple) is completely solid, every inch is covered in gold.
2.The upper parts are studded with diamonds totalling over 2,000 carats.
3.At the very top of the spire is the diamond orb - a hollow gold sphere studded with 4351 diamonds totalling 1800 carats. On the very tip rests a single, 76-carat diamond.
Since the people were willing to spend so much money to build their place of worship, they must really take their religion as a big part of their lives.

( taken from http://www.sacred-destinations.com/burma/images/yangon-rangoon/schwedagon/shwedagon-pagoda-from-hotel-roof-c-awfulsara.jpg)

Sometimes, even during a blackout, where all the buildings are cut off of their electricity, the Pagoda is the only building that still has the electricity supply, and the only building in the city that is shining brightly.

PEOPLE

There was a part of the PowerPoint, in which there was a quote, The quote was something like this:

“For centuries the Burmese have been famous for their gentile, soft-spoken manner. Indeed, they talk at a rather low volume and use very polite speech in whatever language they are speaking.”

From this, we can infer that The Burmese are probably gentle, and courteous people, who can probably come across as sweet-natured and polite people.

MALAYSIA

KUDA KEPANG

Mr Azahar showed us a video on the Kuda Kepang that day.

In the first part of the video, there was a group of female dancers who carried little horses(like the one seen above). The tempo of the drums were relatively slow, and to me it was just another Malay dance.

However, in the later part of the video, there was a group of male dancers with the same type of horse, and the dance looked rather similar to the female one. However,the males were made to breathe in some smoke, and the tempo of the drums quickened. Apparently, they were being possessed by spirits. The males started going a little "crazy" and "galloped" around the whole area. There was a male, whom I thought was the leader, and he started whipping the male dancers. The whipping sound was very loud, so it was probably very painful. I was wondering why the males didn't seem to be in agony. The people around there didn't display any shock at all, which made me even more bewildered. After awhile, there were fed glass pieces, and made to step in glass pieces. My friends all gasped with horror-I could tell that they were as shocked as I was. The males ran and shook their heads, and they didn't seem to be in pain at all. Mr Azahar said that they were probably in a trance. Eventually, some of the guys broke out from the trance(I think) as they laid on the ground, probably because the "spirit" had escaped from their bodies. I was really shocked.

HOW COULD THE AUDIENCE BEAR TO LOOK?

HOW COULD THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF THE PERFORMANCE TREAT THE GUYS LIKE THAT?

WHERE THE MALES WILLING TO GET POSSESSED?

WAS IT A WAY FOR THEM TO ACHIEVE A "GREATER SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP" WITH THEIR GODS?

The video really left me confused, and the questions kept popping out in my mind. Therefore, I decided to do a search on it.

Basically, Kuda Kepang is a dance performed by Malaysians, mainly of Javanese descent. It is a legless horse-shaped puppet that is straddled by the performers.

Source: Wikipedia

Hmmm, so it didn't really answer my question): However, I think that...

The males were really in a trance and thus didn't feel any pain. They probably wanted a personal encounter with their gods, and agreed to do it. Even though we might think that the people in charge of their performance seem evil, but to them and the people who believe in this practice, they were probably respected. In my opinion, these people were to them, what priests were to Catholics, and monks to Buddhist. After all, to be able to be in charge of such a spiritual practice,they must have to have some social standing in society, for people to trust them to carry out the ritual properly.

You might probably disagree with what I've said, or don't even understand what I'm saying at all, but this is just my opinion of things(:

Although the practice of Kuda Kepang might seem ridiculous to us, I believe that there is a reason behind it, a reason that we do not know. At first, I thought that this practice was absolutely ridiculous, but after much thought, I have concluded that even though our cultures might seem different, we should accept each other's cultures!

Video on Kuda Kepang. ENJOY!