International Understanding Day 2016: A Russian Rendezvous

On the 15th of April 2016, the Interact Club of Wesley Methodist School Kuala Lumpur (International) had our 42nd annual International Understanding Day. Like previous years, our main idea of this event is to teach others everything we could explain about another country. Russia was our chosen country and our theme was "A Russian Rendezvous", which directly translates to "A Russian meeting point".

We started off the event by having a very grand military march by our very own Interactors. The audience watched in awe as we marched perfectly and in-sync into the hall. Then, the Russian national anthem, "Negaraku", the Wesley anthem as well as the Interact song were sung. Then, many exciting performances were showcased, such as 3 different dances from our IUDD 6.0 (International Unit of Deadly Dancers 6.0). They did a ballet performance, a ballroom dance as well as a military powerful dance. How amazing are these people?! The event was attended by many honoured guests that we were fortunate enough to have invited, for example, The Director of the Russian Centre of Science and Culture, Mr. Alexander Gulko, our Principal, Madam Chia Loy Tian, Deputy Principal, Madam Pearl Moses, Vice Principals, Mr. Amaranathan and Madam Doreen. Many teachers, ex-students, students as well as students/Interactors from other schools came too.

A short and sweet dance performance prepared by a Russian performer from the Russian embassy performed "Kalinka" at our IU Day. Her graceful and delicate movements definitely had everyone's attention fixed on stage! Then, our Principal, Madam Chia gave her speech. After that, a very interesting and never-before-seen informative presentation was shown. The informative presentation was showcased in a form of a Night Show, and all the performers were our Interactors. This year, we added a different element to our IU Day, which was to spread awareness on nuclear energy by highlighting the infamous Chernobyl incident. There were many laughter and smiles from this informative presentation. Reviews said that it was both entertaining and informative.

After the informative presentation, we had the President Rotarian Hardeep Singh deliver a short speech too, followed by a skit (Act 1). The skit followed 4 young spies on a mission to find out about the Chernobyl incident. Along their journey and adventure, they encountered many difficulties and hardships, but little did they know, love was on its way too...if you missed the performance, sorry, your loss! :( Our Interactors perfected the skit by their superb and top notch acting which had people cheer and laugh. After a good 20 minutes of laughing, a speech by The Director of the Russian Centre of Science and Culture, Mr. Alexander Gulko was delivered. He mentioned the authenticity of our content and how he was very pleased with our representation of Russia. 

Then, our very own Assistant IU Director, Celine Tan Kaiwen gave her speech. Her speech was filled endless thank you's. It was very heartwarming. Before the event ended, a presentation of souvenirs was given as a sign of gratitude to everyone who attended our IU Day. Guests were then invited to the canteen to have light refreshments. The event ended on a bittersweet note - bitter because it was the senior Interactors' light IU Day, sweet because the event was a success.

We learnt a lot from this, especially about Russia and about teamwork. As the saying goes, "team work makes the dream work", the Interact Club of WMSKL(I) would like to thank all the Interactors for giving your best to ensure the success. Only having 2 months of prep, I'd say we nailed the event. We sincerely hope that all those who came had a piece of information about Russia or two to bring back home. Thank you for coming, and for reading.

Cross Country 2016: Be Their Clarity, Run For Charity

Our annual cross country was themed "Be Their Clarity, Run For Charity". There is a deep meaning that lies behind this sweet theme: "Be Their Clarity" means to be a helping hand to the ones in need and to make sure that they can live an easy and happy life, and "Run For Charity" means to put one foot in front of another and at the same time raise funds for the needy. This meaningful event was held on the 27th of February at Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur. The event started at 7:30am and ended around 10am (very much due to the organized flow of event that day). The event started off by a speech from our principal Mdm. Chia Loy Tian, then our very own Interactors emcees took over and it was proceeded by morning exercise.

On the morning of the event, our very own Interactors and teacher advisors arrived as early as 6:00am and began unloading the lorry, setting up tents and arranging all the necessaries (food, equipment, sound system etc). As the day got brighter, more and more students arrived. They lined up in each of their classes in an orderly manner and their homeroom teachers took the attendance. We were very humbled by the presence of our guest of honour, President Rotarian Hardeep Singh who came at 7:15am to officiate the event. After the national anthem, Wesley anthem and Interact song have been sung, followed by a prayer by the school Chaplain Mr. Oliver Wong, our Principal Mdm Chia gave her speech.

As usual, a short morning exercise session was led by our Interactors. At 8:40am, we flagged off our first batch of participants - U15 Girls, followed by it were the U15 Boys, U18 Girls, U18 Boys and finally the parents, teachers and ex-students category. This year, the route of the race increased to a distance of 5km, and there were 27 stations in total. Two Interactors were placed in every station, accompanied by a teacher to act as an energy booster and to make sure the participants were going to right way and were safe. Some stations were water stations so that no one got dehydrated during the run. Even though the route was extended by at least twice of last year's, the participants managed to finish everything by 10am! How impressive! Refreshments were served back at the gathering point.

Then, President Rotarian Hardeep Singh gave his speech, followed by the prize giving ceremony. Prizes were awarded to the top 10 winners of each category and top 2 for the teachers, parents and ex-students category. The highest donors for Cross Country were also given prizes such as iPad minis, victoria secret perfumes, Adidas sports bags, hampers et cetera. Around 10:45am, our Community Service Director, Int. Koay Tze Ni gave her speech of gratitude to the participants and Interactors. Students were dismissed at 11:15am and the Interactors proceeded with cleaning the compound.

Thanks to everyone's generosity and support, all 1006 students managed to collect a magnificent amount of RM100,000.00. We would also like to thank our very supportive sponsors for sponsoring us be it goods or cash so that our event could succeed. Last but not least, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our very own members for working non-stop to ensure the smooth-running of this event, not forgetting our teacher advisors - Madam Norhayati, Miss Lavanya as well as Mr Kenneth, thank you so much!

Enjoy some photos from the event.

Form 5 Community Service Project 2016

On the 9th of January 2016, the senior (Form 5 and Year 11) Interactors spent a meaningful day at Rumah Charis in OUG. This visit was for our annual Form 5 Community Service Project 2016.
All the senior Interactors gathered in school at 8am and left for Rumah Charis. Our school was kind enough to provide us with transportation to the place. We were also accompanied by our teacher advisors.
At around 8:30am, we finally reached the place. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary terrace unit but the inside was really spacious and accommodated more than 50 people (including children and elderly). However, we focused more on entertaining the kids that day. The caretakers came out to greet us and there were also around 6 dogs in the front yard too! It was very welcoming.
We prepared several activities for the children throughout the afternoon. Firstly, we divided ourselves into different groups and cleaned up different areas of the home while some Interactors kept the children entertained by talking or playing with them. It took us about half an hour before all of us gathered again and proceeded to our next activity -> skit! We performed a sketch that the children could relate to and had a good laugh about it with the kids. Then, the entertainment session which included: finger puppet making, jellyfish making, colouring, charades and bubble prints started. Children could choose what they wanted to do and we would assist/help them make it.
Then, we had lunch with the children and caretakers and some elderly at Rumah Charis. The food group in charge brought some homemade spaghetti bolognese, fried rice, sandwiches and a few buckets of McDonald's chicken McNuggets! Corn soup and orange juice were also prepared. We fed and ate with the children and fulfilled their needs and wants, it was really hard to get them to eat at peace but at last, everyone had a filled tummy and satisfied meal! After lunch, it was time for us to go back so we packed and cleaned up.
It was hard to say goodbye after spending a few hours there because we got so attached to the kids...but at least we went home knowing that we made some children happy by visiting them spending time with them and I think that's the greatest gift we got from that day. It felt good to be able to extend our care and love to the less fortunate and we are glad we were able to. We felt so much pain looking at these kids but they also taught us to be strong and happy as there is more to life than this. We would like to extend our gratitude to the caretakers of Rumah Charis for giving us the opportunity to spend half a day with them, and of course to the kids of Rumah Charis, thank YOU for letting us play and take care of you, it was short but we definitely had fun. :)
Also a big thank you to our community service directors Int. Koay Tze Ni and Int. Alex Leong for organizing this!
Enjoy some pictures taken on that day. Thank you for reading.