31 December 2006

Lim Su
Muhd H Ann, Lee Yun-N
a
i,
Ng jum ziq and Jonath
p
the pla ing for joy wh an
yg
en
buildin round they we
g was c
omplet re
ed.

ELEVEN years ago, 28 teenagers from different walks of life got together for a
journey of a lifetime. It was the first year end expedition of the BRATs programme and the participants had the time of their lives rafting down Perak River,
mingling with the kampung folk and observing as much as they could along the
way.
Earlier this month, 40 teenagers from different walks of life got together for a
journey in Perak. It was the 11th edition of the BRATs year end journey and the
participants had a blast rafting down Perak River, meeting and helping out the
kampung folk they met along the way.
Deja vu?
That was my exact feeling this year as one of the facilitators of the BRATs 2006
year end journey. You see, I was one of the original 28 BRATs to raft down the
river.
Then, our expedition ended in Parit, the very location where this year's activities kicked off. Throughout the six days, deja vu would hit me at the strangest of
times. It wasn't only because I'd been to Parit, or the other location this year's
BRATs visited such as the Pasir Salak Historical Complex and the Bota Kanan
Terrapin Conservation Centre there were also moments of emotional familiarity.
My friends and I left Perak in 1995 as changed people the experience gave us
an insight into how the the rural community lived, taught us lessons on communicating with people different from us, and showed us that we had more grit
than we ever imagined.
Observing this year's bunch of teenagers, I believe that the experience they
went through was no different.
While BRATs is a young journalist programme, it is also able to offer our
teenagers a different perspective of life, and the opportunity to help others. But it
is not all academic teenagers will be teenagers, and fun has to be factored in.
Together, this is the essence of the BRATs' spirit.
For me, it was heartening to watch a bunch of urbanites (perfectly manicured
fingers and branded clothing to boot) dispel the myth that city kids have little
substance. The way they were determined to work through the rain to ensure
that the playground they were building
would be completed on time, or
overcame their fear of creatures like
terrapins when they scrubbed close
to a hundred clean or were patient
with the physically and mentally
handicapped students as they painted a mural together all of this was
proof that young people whatever
their backgrounds are have so
much to offer.
What was most inspiring is that
there was little whining or complaining even when the situation
allowed for it.
The BRATs played hard and
worked even harder but the true testament to their BRATs spirit was the
fact that they never gave up along
the way. Niki Cheong

Aimee Lee helping a student from Bethany Home with the

mural painting.

The absence of light didn't stop the BRATs from doing what they
had to do when a sudden storm erupted. They just went into the
shelter and used torchlights instead.

a
j, Aid
bara ng a
n
I
i
t
i
r
shar
ie Aa
n
elan rine See ir stop i
M
)
t
e
e
f
h
h
e
t
t
l
a
t
(Fromina and C dinner a k.
Zar g their sir Sala
n
Pa
havi

nd Toh
ei Chin a
M
e
E
i,
un-N
ft) Lee Y
udent.
f (from le f the centre's st
o
t
o
h
s
o
up
another
es a gro
dent tak re posing with
u
t
s
e
m
ny Ho
who we
A Betha
Jia-Wern

(front left
them out, Khong
d
re
ti
r
e
v
ri
down the y Suparmaniam and cilitagh the ride
Even thou deline Khaw, Parvath the raft guides and fa an.
a
n
to right) M red helmet) assisted nto shore at Bota Ka
n
o
(i
n
g
o
n
e
u
ey rod
Chi Ch
the raft th
tors to pull

'City bo
y' Adr
preparin ian Ong (left)
a
g the g
round b nd 'kampung
bo
efore th
e playg y' Muhamma
dA
round w
as built idil
.

(From left): Lim Su Ann, Muhd Haziq, Lee Yun-Ni, Toh Jia-Wern,Chan Lai Wah and Ee Mei
Chin at the Bota Kanan Terrapin Conservation Centre doing their bit to clean the tame
creatures.
n
ft) Chien Pan
s as (from le r hands at
es
el
ic
pr
is
s
ei
e try th
their face
The look on a-Wern and Soo Jue Lien
e.
Ji
yl
h
st
To
g
,
n
an
pu
Chu
cooking kam