Johor 2007

Smiling Stars of Johor Bahru Service Project 2007

Outside one of the houses we just re-painted.

Service projects are never easy to put together, and what better way to understand the latter statement than to see it for myself?
The story of nineteen girls from Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia coming together in the heat of June 30 to July 8 2007 to volunteer their time, money and most importantly, smiles, to the community, youth and children of Kota Tinggi and Ulu Tiram begins not on the day of the project itself, but up to close to a year in advance. Numerous “recee” trips up to Johor were made to understand the needs of the community, and to try to arrange for the miscellaneous administrative nitty-gritty of the trip. We bit our nails – everything was essential: timing, lodging, food, transportation, language and communication, service activities, cultural exchange. Thankfully, as the ‘start’ drew near, things began to fall in place, plans were laid out, and the stars of the show could arrive and do their thing.

And so assembled twelve Taiwanese girls, mostly between the ages of 18 to 20, two of them out of Taiwan for the first time, our brave solo act from Hong Kong, and of course us, a motley crew of four Singaporeans and two Malaysians, mostly armed and dangerous with survival-level Bahasa. Together, we re-painted four houses for the Kota Tinggi flood victims, cleaned and planted the garden for the local village kindergarten that was also affected by the flood, painted cheery murals for the school walls, gave a new coat of colour to the play equipment, interacted with the local children, gave English classes to the children of the Ulu Tiram squatter-dwellers, gave virtues/ character development classes to the youths of Ulu Tiram, and left our lodgings cleaner and better than they were before. Yes, it was a tiring week.

Mural outside the kindergarten specially designed by our budding graphic artist.

What I bring away with me, however, is not a record of the physical accomplishments of the trip. I recall the easy camaraderie our team built up whilst working together – spirits that were tired but never down. I can picture the smiling, glowing faces of Sham and his family as they welcomed us to seek shelter from the rain in his brilliantly coloured home. I remember the mysterious disappearance of the kindergarten teacher from the school only to arrive with dark blue caps which she gave to each one of us as a token of appreciation. I treasure each moment of surprise when we discovered one another’s talents – a young budding magician; many talented musicians; choreographers and dancers amongst our group as well as the local Malay girls; linguists in French, Korean and Japanese (we sang six renditions of ‘Happy Birthday’ at one point); a budding graphic artist with her first commission in the design of the kindergarten mural; and an unexpected kickboxer. But most of all, I remember the smiles on the children’s faces when they performed and sang for us – happy to have our attention in a showcase of their own little talents.

Some of our young stars learning english the fun way in Ulu Tiram.

These are what I bring away with me – small moments in time in which happiness and good cheer were shared, where everybody present could be a star of the show.

Article by Joanna Lim. Joanna was a participant of Sri Lanka Service Project 2006 who went on to become one of the organizers of Johor Service Project 2007.