30-Hour Famine 2016

In collaboration with World Vision Malaysia, the Interact Club of Wesley Methodist School Kuala Lumpur (International) was given the permission to organise an external 30-Hour Famine on our own. This year's 30-Hour Famine was held from the 21st to the 22nd of May with the theme "Hunger Must Go" at our own school grounds. 110 participants along with 31 facilitators and 5 teacher advisors were in this camp. The main purpose of 30-Hour Famine is to raise awareness on hunger in other countries. This camp is to let the participants experience hunger that we often take for granted. A donation booklet was handed way before the event to let the participants collect donations, all proceeds with go to World Vision Malaysia.

The camp and countdown kicked started at 8:30am. Our guest of honour President Elect of the Rotary Club KL Diraja Dr. Hardeep Singh gave his speech as an opening. Then we had the opportunity to have the youth mobiliser of World Vision Malaysia, Shi Ning to give a short speech and presentation of what hunger and famine was all about. She also shared about her experience on a mission trip to China where she got to experience and see what people who lived in poverty and hunger were like. Then, our Vice Principal Mr. Nathan gave his speech, followed by the organising chairperson, Int. Han Chun Ting.

As 30-Hour Famine camp was a yearly affair, it was greatly anticipated by the participants. Participants wanted a fun-filled camp where they wouldn't even think about hunger, and I guess this camp succeeded. The committee and facilitators worked tirelessly to ensure the fun of this camp. With exams and holidays in the way, they still managed to work this camp. Ice breakers, educational games and station games were amongst the fun activities that were carried out throughout the 30 hours. These activities challenged the participants' mental and physical strength and capacity. So participants were like "meh", but some really couldn't take it. Every single game designed has been approved by World Vision Malaysia and was aimed to bring focus to this year's famine goal (raising awareness on the importance of hospitality for the poor and needy).

The next morning, games continued until 2:30pm where we broke fast. This was the official closing of the camp. Some participants were so hungry to the point where they chomped down everything, but some were more chill and took in everything slowly. Regardless, this camp managed to convey the message about real-world issues of poverty and injustice in many third-world countries. Issues as such should not be looked upon lightly because everyone has the right to get enough food and nutrition. This event was simply just a start to opening up the hearts of those who are truly willing to help. Aside from that, participants also bonded with one another as they had to overcome challenges with their teammates.

We would like to thank World Vision Malaysia, the Famine 2016 committee as well as the facilitators for putting up such a fun-tastic camp! As hungry and tired as we were, it was satisfying to know that we all starved for a good cause. We hope that this camp ignited a flame in your heart to help those living in poverty and hunger because "Hunger Must Go".

Thank you for reading.

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.