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Lantern Festival (Mooncake Festival)
Saturday, 30 September 2006 - The students of De La
Salle Institute (DLSI) had fun out at the Tanglung Carnival @
Puchong.
In good and adventurous spirit, they waited for the bus
which suddenly decided to make a disappearance act. When the bus
finally appeared after more than thirty minutes of waiting, the
students made a forty-minute journey to their final destination,
Bandar Puchong Jaya. In less than ten minutes of walking, they
finally arrived at the Carnival, at five minutes to 4pm, and just in
time for the free registration of various activities lined up for
the evening.
Some of the activities include Lantern making
competition, Treasure Hunt, Sand art competition, Mooncake eating
competition, Wheel of Fortune and Health check. Kudos to many of
them who sportingly took part in the activities and grabbed the
prizes, and not forgetting the free gifts. And the fun was not over
yet. Just as the sun was about to set, they lighted up the candles
for their colourful lanterns and what a beautiful sight it was! They
even had parents and grandparents asking them for the lanterns as
they thought the students were distributing them for free!
After lots of laughter and poses for the camera, they
had dinner at a nearby restaurant and finally head home, tired but
happy.
WHAT IS HOLISTIC EDUCATION?
De La Salle Institute is committed to
holistic education. As such, besides striving for intellectual
excellence, at De La Salle Institute we actively pursues activities
to promote the emotional, social as well as spiritual development of
its students. The non-academic curriculum comprises of talks,
workshops, outings and a myriad of other activities to ensure the
wholesome development of the person and the building of
characteristic is being achieved in every student by molding them
into someone. At holistic education, each student is assigned to a
group; currently there are 4 groups that consist of 9 to 10 pupil in
each group. The groups are Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. It helps
students work together in as well as a group and share ideas with
each other. The group does not only consist of Malaysian students
but also students from other countries who have come to this
Institute for higher education. Normally after discussion and group
work, every group is than asked to present the topic that was given
to them for discussion that will help students grow in public
speaking skills as well as presentation skills. Holistic education
is normally conducted only on Friday morning.
Terrorism, War & Peace, Crime & life Concern
This first session of holistic
education was given to us by our very own CEO Prof. Dr. Tarcicius
Chin. Each team was given only one topic. The topics were terrorism,
war & peace, crime and also life concern. Each team were than ask to
do research on the particular topic given to them and present it in
a group the following week.
Self Discovery
Bro. Rajamanikam from Montfort Boys
Town Shah Alam gave the students a talk entitled self discovery.
This talk helped them to focus on the discovery of their true self.
In the picture below, you can see a few students looking into a
basin of water – they were actually looking at a piece of cotton
they had put into the water. The students were asked to concentrate
on the cotton and observe how the cotton actually sank into the
water until it reached the base of the basin. They were then asked
to give their comments on how the cotton sank. Based on the
comments, students were asked to reflect on their lives as the
cotton and how we should come up in life.
Making Choices
A talk on making choices was presented
by Ms. Patricia Marian Lazaroo on the 8th of August 2003 at De La
Salle Institute.
Through various role-play activities,
students were being able to understand on how they could or would
make choices and what kind of choices they should make when it comes
to issues concerning like sex, pornography, alcohol consumption,
violence, smoking and so forth.
The presenter had helped them to
understand the great use of their conscious mind, their
“inner-voice” and free will in making important choices which every
human being has in order to become a better person in life as well
in the community which is growing every single second.
The Truth about the Deaf
It was a great opportunity that we
manage to learn about the deaf from Mr. Tan Yap founder of the
Community Service for the Deaf or can be know as SID which is
situated at Bukit Nanas was also named as Father of the deaf because
he is one of the very first Malaysian who picked up a very beautiful
and unique language which is called the sign language and also cared
very much for the deaf and hearing impaired people by getting a
Community Service for the Deaf. Mr. Tan Yap shared with the students
about his experience he had working and communicating with and for
the hearing impaired. He had also corrected the people by not
calling the deaf as “deaf and dumb” because dumb in this modern day
brings the meaning of stupid. We should call them deaf people or
hearing impaired people because even though they are deaf they are
very smart and also brilliant. Mr. Tan had told us that some of them
even own small businesses and had achieved to become successful
business people in Malaysia and also have big
companies under them. At the end of his sharing, Mr. Tan Yap had
also told the students and had asked to pass the message around that
no one in this world is stupid or dumb but it is through the
initiative of them that makes a person grow to become someone in the
community.
Visit to the
Deaf
Center
It was on July 18, 2003 a bright
Friday morning, that the students of DLSI had an experienced a fun
filled and meaningful way to interact with the deaf when they
visited the Community Service Centre for the Deaf or better known as
SID at Bukit Nanas. Miss Cindy, the chief facilitator of the Centre
gave an informal presentation and held a question-and-answer session
between the De La Salle students as well as the students of SID. Our
students were thrilled to be able to make friends with the deaf
students. This visit gave our students the opportunity to understand
the struggles of the hearing-impaired and better appreciate
community efforts to help them.
Making Choices
A talk on making choices was presented
by Ms. Patricia Marian Lazaroo on the 8th of August 2003 at De La
Salle Institute.
Through various role-play activities,
students were able to understand how they made choices and what kind
of choices they made concerning issues like sex, pornography,
alcohol consumption, violence, smoking and so on.
The presenter helped them to
understand the use of their conscious mind, their “inner-voice” and
free will in making important choices to become a better person in
life as well in the community.
Friendly Football Match
A friendly football match between the
student of De La Salle Institute and students of the Community
Service center for the deaf was held at the St.John's school field.
The De La Salle Institute student played as host for the event. It
was a fun filled, funny and the most memorable game the students of
De La Salle Institute had ever had. The De La Salle students won by
6 – 3.
Understanding Your Inner-self
Our very own DLSI lecturer, Dr Mabel
Marian, from the English Department, presented this topic. The
session was about knowing who we are in society and where do we
stand in the society these days as well as how to know ourselves
better, and to face the facts of life. This session has also though
the students in growing to be someone new in the mere future.
Drugs & AIDS
Mr. Rainner Rothoff Co-founder and
Manager Pelangi Foundation who is also the chaplain of Pelangi AIDs
& drug rehabilitation foundation center shared with the students
about his experience working with and for the AIDs and Drug patient
at the center. He had also though us how does a person get infected
by the deadly AIDs disease which is spreading throughout the whole
world. The disease can only be spread through unprotected sex, open
wounds, saliva, as well as sharing of the injection needles. Mr.
Rainner in his session had also told us not to be afraid when
communicating with HIV +/ AIDS victim as that deadly disease which
is growing everyday will not kill us or spread to us through
communication. He had also shown us the average number of people
getting infected and also death caused by AIDs and HIV+ every single
day in Malaysia.
It was a great awareness program which was given to the students.
Visit to Pelangi (AIDS
Center)
Mr. Rainer Rothoff Co-founder and
Manager Pelangi Foundation and Ms. Mable together with Ms. Sham and
Mr. Joseph head of the Computer Science Department took all the
students to visit the people who were staying at the Pelangi
foundation center. The students had also taken opportunity to
interview and also speak to some of the inmates. They had also
advised the students to be careful with whoever we mix with and
don't get into the wrong company. Before the students left they
bought a few souvenirs in order to help the foundation raise fund.
The inmates
GOODWILL PROGRAM
The students of De La Salle had done
and organized a goodwill program by collecting food donations from
every single student as well as lecturers and brothers from the
institute to help the Pelangi AIDS & drug rehabilitation foundation
Center. It was a very successful project which was done by the
students.
BRAIN GYM
The De La Salle Institute had
organized a workshop entitled Brain Gym for two days. It was held on
the 10 & 11 of September 2003 at the St.John's Institution hall.
This workshop was for all students ranging from 6 of age to 19 years
old. Our very own La Sallian Brother who came all the way from
Singapore Bro.Dominic Chong who is a certified Brain Gym Instructor
conducted the workshop. The workshop was officially officiated by
the ambassador of Ireland
to
Malaysia.
In His Excellency's speech, he quoted that he was very proud to
officiate this type of motivational event. He also said that he was
happy because this workshop was the first Brain Gym workshop being
held in Malaysia
and he hopes that there will be more of this type of motivational
event will be held in the future. People from as far as
Penang
had also come just to attend this workshop. For those who were in
their form 5 were very lucky as there were special workshops for
them on SPM specially only on English after the Brain Gym, which was
conducted by the De La Salle Institute's Lecturer of English
department. All those parents who came and join their children in
this workshop had also enjoyed themselves because this workshop is
not only for young school going students but it's also for all who
are young at heart.
Cognitive Skills
Ex-TNB chairman, Tan Sri Dato Dr Hj.
Ani Arope, who is also one of the Board of Directors of DLSI, came
to DLSI to share his life experiences with the students. He advised
them on how to make decisions in life; to “see” clearly and not get
tricked easily. He had also advised the students about how one must
know how to choose friends in life. According to Tan Sri, every one
needs to set their own goals and never to give up on them. We must
not only have dreams but we need to make the dreams become reality.
This was a good motivational talked given to the students as it made
the students to be more aware as well as making them to be more
motivated in achieving their individual dreams or goal in life of
what they want to be in mere future.
Main Religions Faith in the World
Buddhist Association (PGRM) had
organized an exhibition on all the main different religions, which
can be found in this world at the Menara PGRM. Besides exhibition
they also had documentary on all the various different kind of
religion. The main religion, which could be found at the exhibition,
was on Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Taoists and Muslim. This
program had made the students to understand their own religion
better and also the religion of the other people in this world. It
had also make us come up with a summary of every religion teaches
the same thing but it is only though in various different ways and
style for a better and greater understanding.
Cultural Day
Ms. Sham and students' body of De La
Salle Institute had organized a cultural day event in the college's
very own AVA hall. Their cultural shows and exhibition on
Vietnam, China, Thailand,
Myanmar, Korea and last but not list the host itself Malaysia.
The institute students themselves did this entire exhibition. It was
a fruitful and memorable as the students had managed to learn about
the various different cultures of people from different countries
and continent.
Study Skills
Mr. Leonard Wong Seng Hume a well
known lecturer of De La Salle Institute who teaches literature to
secondary school students and also English language to foreign
students and a part time The Star Newspaper Scrabble columnist had
organized a workshop entitled study skills where he though the
students how to enjoy and be part of the subject in his very own
effective way which many people love it and still practices the
method. He even though them the correct way or manner of answering
questions during exams.
Appreciate Nature
It was on a bright Friday morning when
all the students of DLSI were taken to the BuKit Nanas reserve
forest for a session on how to appreciate nature. The students were
asked to take a walk up (breeze walk) to the top of the hill and
choose something (e.g. a tree) and interact with it as if it was a
human. The students were also taught some relaxation meditation
techniques whereby they could sit or lie down in a comfortable
position relax and listen to nature. They found that this enabled
them to enjoy the breeze and really listen to the sounds of the
insects, the wind, the rustling of the leaves and the chirping of
the birds. They also managed to catch a glimpse of some monkeys
hanging from tree to tree in the forest while on the way to the top
of the hill as well as learn about the trees of the forest. The
session was conducted by Mrs. Mary Mag Arokiasamy
Self Discovery
Bro. Rajamanikam from Montfort Boys
Town Shah Alam gave the students a talk entitled self-discovery.
This talk helped them to focus on the discovery of their true self.
In the picture below, you can see a few students looking into a
basin of water – they were actually looking at a piece of cotton
they had put into the water. The students were asked to concentrate
on the cotton and observe how the cotton actually sank into the
water until it reached the base of the basin. They were then asked
to give their comments on how the cotton sank. Based on the
comments, students were asked to reflect on their lives as the
cotton and how we should come up in life
DECISION MAKING
Ex TNB chairman Tan Sri Dato Dr Hj Ani
Arope who is also one from the board of directors in DLSI came to
DLSI to share his experience of his life with the students. He also
taught us how to make decisions in life. He also advised us to “see”
clearly and don't get tricked in life so easily. He said that we not
only should but also must know how to choose friends in life.
According to Tan Sri, every one needs to have their goals in life
and he had encouraged as well as motivated the student to never to
give up in achieving the goal that we have set. We must not only
have dreams but we need to make the dream to become a reality.
Understanding Your Inner-self
Our very own DLSI lecturer, Dr Mabel
Marian, from the English Department, presented this topic. The
session was about knowing who we are in society and where do we
stand in the society these days as well as how to know ourselves
better, and to face the facts of life.
Debate
Love is more important than money was
between Charlie and Delta. Team Charlie had won the debate. Joshua
Thong from the ABE department was chosen to be the best speaker of
the event. De La Salle’s principal Bro chaired the debate. Andrew
Loke. It was a fun and challenging event as the students who were
participants of the debate had managed and also took the opportunity
to share their ideas with each other and also work as a team.
Techniques for Debate
Bro. Andrew Loke who is also the
principal of De La Salle Institute though us about the techniques of
debating. He also gave us an example of debate. He had also though
us the way of presenting topics given to us. He had also shown the
students a documentary on debate. This event was a very informative
event as the student was being able to build their knowledge more on
how to make a debate interesting and how to present topics at
debates.
Debate 2
Cigarettes and alcohols should be
banned was between Alpha and Beta. The champion was team Beta. This
time the debate was chaired by Joshua Thong who previously won the
best speaker for the previous debate on “love is more important than
money”. This time the debate was even much interesting as the
students now know how to enjoy the debate and the debaters knew how
to present their topic in a better and interesting as well as
interactive way.
Movie Review
Mr. Gabriel and Sister Rosalind had
come to organize a movie screening for all the students and to get
their feed back on the movie. The movie which students were asked to
watch and later come up with a review on was entitled “Passion of
Christ”. The movie was banned in Malaysia but the Malaysian
government later on after much consideration of the democratic basis
had than allowed only the Christians and non-Muslims to watch the
movie. After watching the movie, the students were than asked to go
and work in their respective group and work out on what they think
of the movie & should it be screened in
Malaysia
nation wide. Besides that, the students were also though on how to
evaluate and rate the movie through various aspects that need to be
considered before giving the summary of what they think of the
movie.
Family Values
Sister Rosalind from the order of
Daughters of St. Paul had come to share with the students of De La
Salle Institute on family values which is lacking these days caused
by upcoming challenges of the world. She had though the students of
the true value and also the benefits of a family and had reminded
them that they are actually very lucky as they still have their
parents and siblings to care & love for them. She had also asked the
students to think of the orphans or single parent families that they
see in the world today and with reports of child abuse reports which
they can read everyday in the papers. The students were ask to
appreciate their family and value whatever they have today and are
thankful towards the things they have instead of complaining.
Left Brain, Right Brain
Mr. Thim Liew who is an analyst on
characteristic of people through analyzing and studying the
characteristic of the human brains had spend some of his time to
give us a session on the characteristic of human can determine
whether the person uses the left or right brain more. At the
beginning of the session, as a starter, Mr. Thim had handed out to
everyone some questions which the students were asked to answer the
question and pass it back to him so that he would be to take it back
and help us to analyze our characteristic and give us the feed back
the following Friday. He has also shown the students some examples
by screening of how a family reacts to things, which they face in
daily life. Mr. Thim had also slide shows during the 2-hour session
with him. During his session, he had also though us some simple
tactics or ways to determine the characteristic of our friends.
Besides that, we were able to know why people do click around (stick
in the same group and doesn't want to mix with others) or does not
want to be open towards others and so forth. It was a very enriching
and interesting and fun talk as we could discover something new in
out lives, which we never knew it existed. It had also made us
discover our very own characteristics, which were within us, and we
had never known it too.
Reflection on DLSI students brain Function
After a week of giving us talk and
test on our left brain and right brain to determine what are our
characteristic Mr. Thim Liew came back to give us our test results
and his feed back of the characteristic of each individual who
attended his session the previous week entitled “Left Brain, Right
Brain”. This session was much more interesting as it made us to
understand which characteristic we actually have and also, knowing
the characteristic of the others who were present at the session.
Trip to Port Dickson
Student's body of De La Salle
Institute had organized a fruitful and successful trip to Port
Dickson for 3days and 2nights stay in at the La Sallian Brothers
quarters at the end of the year of 2004 as a get together and
relaxation as well as a wrap up for the year of 2004. They had full
of fun filled activities and games like football which was organized
by the trip organizing committee. They even had a BBQ session. They
even had the chance to get to know each other better and the bond of
students became closer ever since after the camp.
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