Yesterday we wrapped up a very successful and incredible two-day Arts English camp as part of a statewide cohort collaboration along with eight primary partners who helped make this possible: MAJLIS AGAMA ISLAM ADAT ISTIADAT NEGERI KELANTAN (MAIK), UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA KELANTAN (UMK), JABATAN PENDIDIKAN NEGERI KELANTAN (JPN), MALAYSIAN AMERICAN COMMISSION ON EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE (MACEE), YAYASAN ISLAM KELANTAN (YIK), LIMKOKWING ACADEMY, TAYLOR’S UNIVERSITY, and MAJLIS KEBUDAYAAN NEGERI KELANTAN (Culture Centre). With more than 120 students from the state of Kelantan, 12 different art forms, several distinguished guest visitors including members of the Royal Kelantan Family, and 3 different news stations covering this event, it truly was an arts extravaganza extraordinaire!
The planning for this camp started months ago when we were approached by a leading foreign employee of MAIK for this idea. We had just finished our first big collaborative event with them and he wanted to start-up another one this time instead of American culture focus, make it Kelantan rooted-arts focused. It started as a small-scale idea to display artwork made by our students throughout the year featuring various Kelantanese arts from our state where we are placed. But through various connections made and much planning that arose in the months along the way, it turned into the mega arts camp that we carried out through this weekend. Our partners grew, our budget, grew, our VIP guests grew, yet the dedication remained constant throughout the planning process. Everyone involved was passionate and eager to see this event through the last bow and selfie taken on the UMK Bachok stage where we held this major camp event.
One feature that made this camp special was the fact that we had our “glue” Dr. Simon Cooke from MAIK making major connections for us as a collaborator along with many other talented as well as smart, hard-working people, and we wanted the focus to be in arts rather than English. Through our limited experiences as ETAs in Kelantan, we saw our top students month by month and event by event be praised for their academic results or competition awards they won. Yet the same students from each school tended to be praised for similar reasons, leaving a majority of the students lacking with positive reinforcement, praise for their efforts, special camp opportunities, or recognition otherwise. The lower performing students were often the focus to improve as per usual with an uniformed schooling systems, similar to struggles in American education. The top students were continually praised with treats, prizes, and special trips. Our middle-ground students were left behind, and checking out of school mentally and even physically. We could change the system but could we change the methods, we thought? Is there a way to praise the middle-performers who have an interest in art and often go unrecognized yet have so much potential to do so and improve? This camp was our first step towards seeing if we can change this mentality and system-building we saw in our schools specifically and in other instances we saw throughout the Malaysian education system.
We chose students who were not necessarily the highest performing students but showed us potential through various ways throughout the school year. We noticed specifically their interests related to vocational arts whether it be singing, drawing, or otherwise that we saw they took interest in or even had a talent for yet no space to show in school. Since this was a Kelantan arts focused camp, we also looked into partnering with our art teachers and other local experts who knew the arts well to seek out these students and appropriate art workshops for them that students could learn, participate in, and have something to perform for our showcase we planned to have on the second day of camp. This resulted in 12 different types of art we were able to provide for these students to try out in a 2 hr or so workshop, then rehearse and put final touches on for a comprehensive showcase on the second day of camp, closing out the programming for our mega arts camp event.
The arts featured included Modern and Traditional Wayang Kulit (a storytelling art form using puppets to re-tell local stories and tradition that is nearly outlawed in all of Malaysia but updated and re-purposed to remain alive in Kelantan), Wau (a traditional kite-making technique to produce beautiful intricately designed handmade kites for flying pleasure or competition), Gubahan (a traditional Malaysian style handicraft of floral arrangement used typically for wedding ceremonies), Dikir Barat (a traditional Kelantan art form using various instruments as the backdrop to the recitation and singing of chants in Bahasa Melayu and local dialect with groups accompanying in a seated position using synchronized hand motions and assisting in the chants), Silat (a traditional performative-style Malay martial art form), Mak Yong or Joget (traditional Kelate dances used for ceremonies and special events including holidays), Eco-fashion (a fashion technique using traditional Malay styles such as Baju Melayu and Baju Kurung with recyclable materials to design and display in a catwalk presentation), Batik Tye and Dye (a traditional method for designing and coloring clothing used throughout Malaysia and using local Kelantan resources for this specific style of Batik), Syair (traditional poetry recited in multiple styles solo or in groups for an audience at special ceremonies and occasions), Animation (using basic technology that the university leading this session used often to comment on Kelantan culture and helped tutor the students in learning basic maneuvers with the software for the workshop purposes) and Cooking (demonstrated on the second day by Taylor’s University using local Kelantan ingredients to maintain the same Kelantanese focus and local tie into their demonstration).
Over the two days, students arrived by bus organized by the JPN and began with breakfast provided by MAIK. Then participated in a dance workshop, lead by a visiting previous ETA, Jolene Hernandez who introduced them to the world of jazz and hip-hop getting them warmed up for the mega camp ahead. Next, the students heard from each of the participating artists who would provide the primary workshop demonstrations for students to learn and interact with throughout the camp and finish something to present at the final showcase. After recording their top five preferences, us ETAs collaborated over lunch to decide how to divide the students into two different sessions for them to get as much variety as possible. Then the students wandered away into the different art sessions, some even by themselves representing their school in hopes to make new friends, throughout the large UMK Bachok campus with UMK and Limkokwing Academy students assisting in giving directions and making the art alongside our secondary students (great mentoring opportunity)! Once the two sessions finished we gathered for a celebrity gala planned by Prof. Rosdi from UMK who invited TT and Her Majesty (Third ruling Royal family member from the top in Kelantan and his wife the first daughter of the first Prime Minister of Malaysia), their daughter, the Vice Chancelor of UMK, and other distinguished guests from our various partnering organizations. The Royal family walked through the entire audience of students, teachers, and helpers alike greeting every individual during a multi-art performance over a catered dinner both planned by UMK artists and staff. Then a surprise Malaysian karaoke including a classic song sung by TT himself, breaking typical Malay Royal protocol to entertain the crowd and share his love of song, among me singing “Let it Go” from Frozen (my go-to performance song for this year), and ending the night with a final group number and official end offs before calling it a night.
The next day, students gathered for breakfast then a special talk and presentation from Nik Farhan also from UMK who introduced a video specially produced for this cohort of campers by none other than the famous New York bound Fashion designer who claims roots from Kuala Krai, Kelantan- Zang Toi himself. A professionally produced and quality short video narrating his childhood and growth into the famous, successful fashion designer he has become today. The students were impressed and enthralled with his words (all in English mind you) as well as seeing how he came from a background similar to theirs yet has become such a success today! Following that, Limkokwing Academy and Taylor’s University gave short talks about arts vocations in the professional world, university life, and options for these students interested in similar vocations.
Following that Taylor’s University who flew in all the way from Kuala Lampur, the other side of Malaysia brought their master chef, Khairul Anuar Muhamad to run a cooking demonstration for all 120 students making dry-ice ice cream with local Kelantan herbs and flavors for the students to see and try themselves. Along with the Chef, a staff member Nuqman Jauhari coordinated bringing two students that attended the University now as chefs-in-training who came from Kelantan (first Kelantan students in the culinary program in the history of Taylor’s University) that are MAIK scholarship students there funded by our main partner and a true testament of the possibilities for our students’ futures to come, to help with the ice cream-making. These two female university students now at Taylor’s were dropped off about six months ago, with very little vocabulary to converse in English and here they are finished with their third semester, officially in the culinary restaurants helping with the gourmet menus and using very “brilliant” English as Dr. Simon Cooke exclaimed. Finally, students put final touches on their visual and performative pieces then the showcase began.
I was the MC for the closing showcase, but still able to appreciate all of the magic that unfolded on that UMK Bachok campus stage. Students were a bit nervous and apprehensive as we could see yet, they still came to life, being applauded, and recognized in a new way, maybe even for the first time ever. Almost every student was significantly featured including a very shy student of mine who barely speaks or participates in school yet designed most of the puppets for the Modern Wayang Kulit workshop and narrated the story written by him and his friends from our school SMK Selising, Pasir Puteh, Kelantan for the performance. When I saw MJ from Limkokwing Academy who lead the session, hand him the microphone I nearly jumped on the stage to congratulate my student. Although instead, I excitedly poked my head out from the MC stand and whispered to my English cohort of teachers attending the showcase, “Syukur has the microphone! This is him talking!” They were thrilled beyond words to hear this news and were beaming as they recorded the whole performance. I was so proud and ecstatic to see the work that the students produced and the level to which they performed for this event. As our Kelantan JPN coordintor Che Najib said himself “There has never been an event like this… in all of Malaysia… I am very proud of the work you have accomplished… a job well done!” Many parties were very impressed with the turnout for this event. All of us collaborators and planners were both proud and beyond satisfied as well with how the weekend turned out. We hope this is a new model for a new way of teaching and opportunities that can be provided for the future generations of students in these districts, in all of Kelantan, all of Malaysia, and even worldwide. It is a weekend that will remain ingrained in our hearts and memories forever. We forged new relationships. We took roads never taken before and risks unthinkable as it seemed at the beginning of this planning process. We stuck to our mission and objectives then watched them be achieved before our eyes during the final showcase.
Coming to Malaysia, I had high hopes and big dreams to make a difference and leave a legacy here. I wanted to conduct some sort of arts and cultural exchange through the programming I was instructed to carry out. I hoped to foster relationships with students as well as my fellow cohort members, meet new faces, and learn new local traditional art forms to understand the true Malay way. I wanted to grow and change and see the fruits of something I worked on. This weekend was the epitome of that thought coming true in a reality I could see. I do not know what the students ultimately took away from this program. I do not know what they will do with the experiences they had, the art forms they were exposed to, the things they learned, or the “sweet memories” we shared. However, I do know I was proud of our event. I saw the students light up in various ways at various times throughout the camp. And whether we fully see it ourselves of not, I believe we did make a difference this weekend. I could not have envisioned, imagined, or dreamed of something like this happening this year, yet here we are. I am so blessed and forever indebted to all of those who helped make this camp become a reality and success! I hope to see and hear more things like this happening in the future of Malaysia and education beyond these borders.
Changing lives and creating artistic cultural exchange today, mystery lies ahead for tomorrow. Learning the Malay way.
On My Malay Way 