I have experience a lot things I couldn’t have experience during this trip. The activities I had during the first week of this outbound trip allow me to see all the things and scenery I could not have seen in Singapore. Not only that, these activities also allow me to communicate and bond with the Indonesia students.
One such activities will be the trip to Mount Bromo. We have to wake up very early at 11pm as we have to depart at around 12am so that we could witness the sun rise at Mount Bromo. This is the day where I can see how bonded the team is as I can see all of us waking each other up preparing one another for the trip. To make things more interesting, the bond between the Singapore students and the Indonesia student is also shown on this day. The Indonesia students has prepared jacket for us as they were afraid that our clothing’s may not be able to fully shield us from the cold that we will be experiencing soon. This is something unexpected for me as through we met during the inbound programme, I do not think that 3 week is enough for us to build the bond that strong enough for them to prepare jacket for us. Honestly being a cold person, I am touch by their action.
There are many more activities I had during the first week of the trip but I would like to just mention the Mount Bromo trip. Not saying that the rest of the trip are not worthwhile mentioning but I believe that the Mount Bromo trip itself is able to explain how bonded we are not just within the Singapore team but as well as the entire TF Scale 2 team regardless of any citizenship.
Month: March 2016
Beautiful Indonesia 🇵🇱
Before i start reflecting my 2-weeks of amazing experience i gain in Indonesia, i will like to thank Temasek Foundation including both Faci Jason and Andy for giving me this opportunity to be part of TF scale II.
Learning Journey to Museum – “Interesting”
The one of the few things that i am always interested in learning whenever i travel to another country is to gain knowledge about their culture and tradition. When i first heard about Indonesia, the only thing that i got reminded of is the Javanese dance. haha. Well coming to the main point, it was our third day in Malang city and we were brought to the “Malang Tempo Doeleo Musuem” to learn more about their history and culture. It was a pretty interesting museum that will bring you back to the past 1.5 million years ago to see the various collections of archaeological objects, vehicles that showed the kingdoms that had occupied the city of Malang, namely Kanjuruhan kingdom, the kingdom of Kediri, Singhasari, wax statues to represent life in that period, antique cameras, documents etc. Mainly, what i learnt from this museum visit is that, hindus including the Kings existed in Indonesia decades ago. Which amazed me somehow or rather that hindus existed even during the 13th century as i have never thought of them living or lived in Indonesia before.
Campus Tour – “Inspiring”
I was so amazed and inspired by the way the students learn there. They learn practical lesson like an industry standard such as building a brick house for their FYP projects (under the scorching hot sun without complaining about anything.) By the way they learn together as a team you could feel that they are so passionate about what they do and learn. That is one of the values that we can look up to them.
Mt Bromo – “Dumbfounded”
My personal favourite day. No words to explain this amazing place. Everyone was getting prepared to depart from sweet garden guest house at 12am to reach the sunrise view point on time. My first time to witness the sunrise really closely to my eyes. Despite all the sacrifices of my sleep, freezing cold weather and the bumpy rides on the jeep i would say it’s was worth it after all. I was just so stunned and amazed by the beautiful scenery at mt Bromo sunrise view point. Everything seems to be so beautiful. I and khadijah was so prepared to take alot of pictures and time lapsed of the sunrise on that day. We stood at the barrier for almost more than an hour just to video and take pictures of the sunrise. Next, when we reached the Mt bromo moutain place, the only word that is appropriate for my reaction during that time was me being “dumbfounded” by the beauty of it. Never have i ever thought of gaining such an amazing experience. I am surely going to visit this place once again in future.
Taman Safari Prigen – “Zoo”
Basically i am an animal lover. I always wanted to visit “zoo” from different part of the world. It was totally a different environment and atmosphere from singapore. I feel like it is really cool and slightly dangerous as the animals are freely roaming around the forest. It was a different kind of experience as everybody have to travel in the bus while sight seeing the different types of animals live there. I was so happy to have gotten the opportunity to feed the zebra carrots. Moving on to the bird,dolphins and many more other shows was not so much of a difference from what i have seen in singapore zoo, but the last show (which i can’t really remember the name of the show) was really a good one. The whole scenario of the fire effects, stunts, water splashing and etc was super good. Moving on, i will not forget the part where i took a picture with a lion (i was really scared) touched the elephant trunks (which was really hairy) and wanted to take a picture with the monkey but didn’t had the chance to do so. The best part of this zoo is that, it’s a overall package of what mostly tourists look forward to when they travel to another country. It’s a zoo with haunted house, roller coaster, go kart etc. It’s kinda amazing and more like a day well spent with animals.
Pasar Pagi – “Car Free Day”
FREE DAY!!!
So wari told me that every sunday is a car free day at malang city. When i asked him why and he said that the government implemented such a practice to encourage them to exercise regularly. I was really surprise, as it was such a good practice to follow. What caught my attention the most was the colourful and vibrant setups on the streets. Just like in singapore we have pasar malams we call it pasar pagi in indonesia. They sell all kinds of sweet drinks, snacks, bags, socks, towels, toys, rabbits and etc. I didn’t had to chance to try out the street foods since i am a vegetarian but what i heard from the others that it was really nice and delicious. Since only a few of us were together throughout, we planned to go to the cotton cady cafe after that. Thanks to dikir, he drove us around making it so easy and convenient for us to travel to different places. Cotton candy cafe was so cool. The biggest cotton candy i have ever seen actually. We snapped alot of pictures there and went to Mie setan(SPICY NOODLE). Everyone was so prepared to try the most spicy noodle there. I was only daring enough to try the level 1 of the spicy noodle. haha… level 1 itself got me “OMG SO SPICY THAT I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE” kinda feeling. LOL.
Orange Farm – “Green”
My first reaction was, “Why are the oranges in green colour?” Like most of us was really shocked to believe that the oranges were actually not ripped yet but still taste much more nicer than the regular ones we usually eat. We were toured by some of the local university students to know more about the farm. I had so many questions in my mind that i was really reflecting on. Firstly, i didn’t know that the person that toured us around was an university student studying tourism. He also shared some knowledge that the trees there are 10 years old and due to the rainy season now, the oranges is taking a long time to change its colour. We were allowed to pluck as many oranges as we want to bring back home or to taste. My personal favourite was the sour ones. They surprisingly, taste much more sweeter than those regular oranges. Then we had picnic there for lunch, which was really fun since i never had a picnic in the middle of a farm surrounded by trees before haha. It was really a good experience. After lunch we were brought to the yoghurt factory. It was a very small factory which perform a much basic way of making cheese and yoghurt. I really liked the yoghurt drink but i didn’t get to taste the cheese though. I heard it was kinda nice.
Project Time – “Focus”
It is a whole new experience for me as i have never had an outbound program before. Usually the overseas trips i have been to is mainly for community service purposes. First of all, i was very happy with my team. We were working together as a group respecting each other decisions. Glen was really a great leader, he knew exactly what he wanted to see as the final presentation. He directed us accordingly to what we are capable of producing. Everybody played an important role in the team. We shared each other workloads together and managed to come out with a hydroponic automatic system. Hydroponic is common nowdays, but made ours abit more different than the usual ones was to include the temperature sensor, LED light to indicate the temperature and humidity status and also a LCD display for the temperature reading. We also install a pump so that the water will be transferred to the roots of the plants and the unused water will be pumped back to the tank. Such ways, helps to recycle the water without wasting it.
Closing ceremony presentation
Visit to the Special need school – “Love”
The place where you can find love in the purest way. Even though it was a short spending time with them and also despite the language barrier between me and the children there i was able to mingle around with most of the kids. I felt really blessed to be part of their happiness.
Kampoeng Kidz – “WOW”
Forget about everything else and lets reminisce about the performance by the students. WOW!!!! No words literally no words can describe the most amazing performance they performed for the both days. From dance, to stunts, to props, backdrops, costumes, fire walking and blowing it out from their mouth etc etc. Everything was done so damn perfectly on the dot. First time witnessing such a performance in live. Where have they been? These talented young people deserve to succeed even further. They are so talented that they should be in any kind of international competition or something. I really wish that they will be recognized in a bigger industry in future. Coming back to reality, this whole experience i had in batu was really one of the best one i would say. I had the little experience on how kampong really looks like, their scenery which was magnificent with that mountain view. I was really inspired by the students living there. They give such a positive vibes to the people around them despite all the struggles they have been through. Salute to those kids living there.
In conclusion, for this whole 2 weeks of outbound programme i have tried to learn as much as i can. From their culture, city, project, people, food etc. It is one of the trip that i will always remember and treasure the most. I will always be thankful to my Indonesian friends for putting in so much of their time and effort to make the whole 14 days a fruitful one for us. They really took good care of our safety and make sure that we are fed with various kind of foods that we have never tasted before for each and every meals. They gave more than 10000% of their effort. Really thankful to have met such an amazing friends across the globe.
TF Scale II is definitely a successful one.
AMAZING JOURNEY from TF SCALE2 INDONESIA!
Reflections of TF Scale day 1st week
The journey to this beautiful city wasn’t easy after a delay of flights and safely landed in Indonesia. The environment and the atmosphere immediately filled our heads with excitement! It was great to be able to see our friends again from In Bound and the emotions of not seeing old friends immediately showed.
The following week, we were showed around the city and I learn so much about the history of the city. After having a few conversation with the teachers, they have shared with me that the city of Malang is known as the City of Education as it is known for its many schools, University and its inter-varsity level schools.
The visit to Polinema was one of the most amazing moments of this very journey to me. I was able to enjoy to being able to imagine their daily lives here in Polinema. Their classes are cozy and every of their lecturers are nice and yet humble like Pak Chaya, Pak Yan, Pak Sofyan, Bu Wida, Bu Sofia and Bu Dewi. They were very humble to bring us around and especially our friends from Indonesia and we were able to learn a lot from their system of study.
After that, we went to another Polytechnic where Luthfi and Novan study at, Poltekom. It was a much different school as it resides in a much more rural area in the City of Education. Poltekom looks much more peace and quiet but maybe one of the reason is because the semester has just ended. The teachers and the event they had planned for us are interesting, as being able to see the Luthfi’s and Novan’s final year project was interesting and it encourages me to do more work and work hard in my coding so I can meet them again in TF scales 3.
The next day, we head off for a culture immersion in the city of Malang. In this trip, what that affects me the most was actually the big change in currency. I manage to see some old notes from the 1950s such as notes like 10 dollar notes or even 5 dollar notes. I went to ask Mr. Jason, he explained to me that this was the caused by the Asian crisis.
Then, the trip to Mount Bromo really opens up my views about the world’s possibilities and the discoveries of the world’s nature. I would want to visit the place once again to see the beautiful sunrise not blocked by the clouds. And also, the view at the base of that hill was simply amazing. It was if it was out from a movie scene.
The water rafting was amazing! The views of the bats caves and the thrilling water raft rides make me want to try it again! I made friends with the guide and his humbleness allows me to have a great day ahead.
I was able to understand the culture of Indonesia much better with these humble friends and with their willingness and generosity that I am able to have a wider view of the life and the culture of Indonesia which was my personal goal of all my overseas trips.
Then we visited the Wendid Monkey Park! It was bizarre and yet interesting because in Singapore we cannot feed monkeys in the wild but here, the monkeys are on the loose and still and rightly in the enclosure but we can interact with them!
Then we visited the Green Oranges farm or rather the “Greenange'” farm, where the oranges are bizarre and yet delicious at the same time. I love the view from the farm and met some of the locals there and also the owner of the farm.
On 22nd of March 2016, we visited the famous Taman Safari of Indonesia. It’s an amazing place where a zoo, theme park and also a safari. Beautiful animals roam within their enclosure and also having seen some great beasts of the wild. The most fun I had in the park was actually the bumper cars because, for me, it has been awhile since I drove them and it was really a great and intense experience!
Then we stayed at Selemat Pagi Indonesia where I met our guide and host Evelyn and Fanny. Who showed us around and also who introduce us about the place and what is the purpose of the place. Their performance was simply amazing and also they were students! Imagine how much time and effort they put into during their performances and especially their willingness to perform even in the rain! Much respect and gratitude to the people of Selemat Pagi Indonesia!
Finally Project completion and also project presentation!
Honestly, I wished I could have done more for the team and I wish I was more involved with the coding of the project but in this case, I have my part to play as well. I tried to contribute as much as I can in the project and also try to start the presentation of my team and it was a moment that I was slightly nervous about as my insignificant knowledge of the project made me nervous. This is something I will strongly reflect and hopefully, compensate for it.
Closing CeremonyThen closing ceremony, it was an exciting way to end it off with the amazing performance by PCR, PNM and PKM were simply amazing and party-like events! It was exhilarating and many of us shed tears as it was about to come to an end.
The next day, we depart for the airport and 6 of the Polinema students came with us to see us off. I was really thankful for their love for us. I can’t bear to say goodbye to such great friends but it was time for us to be apart.
The end is just the beginning.
Thank you for everything my friends from Temasek Foundation Scale 2 : Malang, Indonesia and Singapore
Team Spirit Forged
It is my honour to be a part of TF SCALE II as I did not manage to commit to the first run of TF SCALE I. I am really thankful that I am still able to participate despite the fact that I was unable to attend numerous meetings as well as missing a precious opportunity to be a part of TF SCALE II Inbound.
Before the trip, I’ve conducted serveral raspberry pi basic course for members of the team who have yet to learn about linux systems or even seen or worked with raspberry pi. Even though it was just a few days course before I went off for my internship, but I’ve gotten to know a few of the members in the team. While I was away in internship but came back for serveral events, I’m surprised that the members (especially juniors :P) still remembered me and asked when will I be coming back for meeting.
Through them asking when will I be returning, it made me reflect that it doesn’t matter who we are and where we are from. As long as we have a common goal to achieve, it is possible to form a strong bond among the whole team. The only factor that deters us from achieving the bond, in my opinion, would be tolerance and understanding that we should have for each other.
Just days before we started our adventure to Malang, Indonesia, I’ve just came back from Hong Kong and joined the last “local” meeting. When I was in the meeting, I was rather surprised that even though I was not with the team for quite some time, but I was still welcomed into the team as though I’ve been with them the entire time.
Upon arrival, I saw friendships that was forged during inbound reunited. Though I wasn’t with Indonesian students during inbound, they still brought me into the team and treated me as one with the team. It is something that made me comfortable to a part of the team, and not hesitating or rather, putting my 100% and stepping out of my comfort zone in this trip.
In this whole trip, I’ve witness characteristics of individuals in our team that makes each of us special. I have also witness how one had learnt from their mistakes as well as learning to be with each other and knowing that we have each other to fall back on; Because we are a team.
Conclusion of my experience for TFSCALE2
Through this 13 days student exchange trip, I have gain a lot from it. Hearing from my peers who have already went to the first TFSCALE, I find that the project itself is very challenging for me since I do not have any knowledge on Raspberry Pi. But what makes me come on board this year TFSCALE 2 is because I wanted to explore new places with my fellow friends who are also graduating this year. I wanted to have one last adventure before we go on a different path. I never knew that I would be doing those technical stuff much since my knowledge on coding is not strong.
However, little did I know I was able to contribute at least something to my team for the project. When I first look at the resources/equipment given (wires, relay board, raspberry pi, water pump, sensor etc.) I thought to myself how I am going to be unproductive to the team because I predicted how lost I am going to be. So I decided to let my teammates take the lead and I will support them in any way I can. Turns out, all the resources/equipment is not so hard to connect them up when we do it together as a team. I was guided by my teammates on where to place the wire and all. With their help, I was able to contribute to the team, which is to do the setup of the resources/equipment while the smart ones deal with the coding in the Raspberry Pi. Along the way, I actually learn more about Raspberry Pi itself, how to run the script, what is the command to edit the codes, the programming language used and many more. It is amazing how me and my teammates were able to make the whole project work. We did faced many challenges along the way but I am happy that my team members were cooperative enough to stick together and think of ways to overcome the problem.
In my opinion, this trip is by far the best trip because I have learned so much from it. In terms of knowledge on how Raspberry Pi works, to learning about the cultures there and also learning how to adapt to an unfamiliar surroundings. I am very thankful to be included into this year’s TFSCALE team despite my constant absent from the meetings.
And not forgetting all the places I have visited in Malang, Indonesia together with this year bunch of awesome TFSCALE students. We had fun together, work together and learn new things together. Thank you to each and every one of you that have made this trip an amazing one. This sweet memories will forever stay in my heart. I definitely did not regret getting on board this ship~
R e f l e c t i o n
I’m just going to skip through the part on whatever we’ve done where or not as it’s getting repetitive(I’m just lazy).
This isn’t going to be 2 weeks of my life in Indonesia, but 2 weeks of life driven into me. I certainly ‘lived’ differently. People, language, culture and food were all foreign to me, which i felt myself alienated in this world the for first time.
With warm hospitality and help from the Indonesia students, it didn’t take long for me to be integrated into their culture. From learning few Javanese/Indonesian language to eating with my hands, each foreign to me feels slightly natural now.
Besides the local students, I feel that our team is also doing their best which in turn motivates me to step out of my own comfort zone as well. Frankly, I didn’t came here with the intentions to do work but to be by the sidelines. Called it peer pressure but when you see the team engaging in work, it’s hard to be not doing anything.
“”Life isn’t about what happens to you, but how you react to it.”
In conclusion, I am surprised at how my life has changed during TF scale. I now have a new found family in Indonesia and certainly will have an everlasting long-term effect on my life with the skills I’ve picked up.
Hello from the other side! \ ^_^ /
This is my first trip to Malang, Indonesia. Though it is not my first service learning trip, but as compared to my past service learning trip, I had to step out of my comfort zone more than I had in my past trips.
Throughout my stay here is Malang, I am very thankful and grateful to the Polinema (PNM) students, who took such great care of the whole team.
Even though sailing wasn’t smooth as we were met with flight delay, the team spirit wasn’t defeated yet! Upon arrival into Malang’s Airport, Indonesia, we were warmly welcomed by the students from PNM. My first impression was how welcoming and understanding they were, even though they knew that our flight has been delayed, they still stayed on and welcomed up @ the Airport. It is indeed a warm and welcoming sight/moment to be in when we arrive ^_^
After a good night rest, we were up and ready for our visit to PNM and polytechnic of Kota Malang. Upon reaching the polytechnics, PNM and Kota Malang, we were given a detailed tour around their campus & we were introduced to the projects that they had done with raspberry pi. I was really impressed by their skills and the projects that they had done ( includes sensors knowledge and robotics skills! ).
The following day, we were taken to Malang’s city tour! The tour guide was really enthusiastic in sharing with us his knowledge on Indonesia’s culture and he’s really good at taking pictures too! With him being so enthusiastically introducing his culture and his country, it showed me how much he valued the culture that Malang has, and is actively keeping it alive by introducing and explaining to tourist patiently on what happened on different events.
Blessings in Disguise
Before coming to this trip, I had hesitations and thoughts holding me back. One of it was that I was only going for outbound – will I be able to learn to open up?
But when we arrived in Malang, it was different. In the beginning, I struggled to speak up and talk to people. However, as time passed by, I got to understand more about the members in TFScale. In a way, they have inspired me to be a better person. Their reflections at night made me think a lot about myself and seen that I am quite selfish in my thoughts. It has been a humbling experience to see people around me challenging themselves to be better everyday.
The Indonesian students have also changed my outlook on many things and they have taught me a lot with their actions. I have not gotten all the courage to talk to all of them but I can see from their actions that they have a heart for us. They love us wholeheartedly. They are also very selfless in their actions. In Taman Safari, they made sure everyone in our group had food when even most of them did not have food with them yet. Some people I would like to mention include Anom and Riris for helping me out in one way or another in this trip!
I have enjoyed seeing the life in Malang and the culture and history it has to offer. However this trip would not be as memorable if it were not for the friendships I have made and the lessons learnt along the way.
Life outside the busy world
My first thoughts on TFScale would be to think that our main purpose is just on programming, however, when it was our turn to visit Malang, my perception somewhat changed about our purpose. On the first few days it was the activities that felt like icing on the cake we’re making. Everything felt way different from the life I had back at home.
At that moment when I was at the peak, time somehow moved slowly. For once, I actually felt peace at mind, no worries, no stress, just gaining new memories to ponder on when I’m older.
While walking on the streets of Malang in the morning, I seem to notice that families seem to enjoy their life walking at a steady speed, with smiles everywhere, in polarity with some places where people tend to have straight faces and fast walking pace. The people here focus on the more important part of life which is their family instead of work and school which usually is the cause of most problems.
Where Singapore tend to be the strict district with limitations, Malang is full of street entertainment
TF Scale 2 (9 days)
Well, so far this journey to Indonesia have been quite awesome and fun as i get to meet many new people and also at the same time, had other events with the rest of the teammates, like the water rafting for example. We bond through this activities and it was always to help other people to improvise themselves better for their lives too and going on a few more days before the end of Tf scale 2, will enjoy it well and learn more with the others.
