World Vision Malaysia : Our Official Blog

World Vision in support of ADORE

25 August 2010 at 11:52 am

Hi all,

Come to the ADORE Youth Concert 2010 - Live Life Loud!

Here are the details:

Date        : 28th August 2010

Time       : ADORE Bash (5:30pm-7:30pm),
ADORE Concert (7:30pm-10pm)

Venue     : Kuala Lumpur Baptist Church

Contact   : 016-2586396  (Alvin Kok)

Free Admission

「鼓」荡心魂，「击」情汇聚爱跟力量，您准备好了吗?

16 August 2010 at 5:25 pm

我不会打鼓，也没有任何打鼓的经验，而且我是个没节奏感的人，认识我的朋友应该都知晓吧！=.= 但有幸受邀联同九名本地艺人一起呈现「艺手打造无贫城市」我又怎么能错过这千载难逢的机会呢？于是我当然义不容辞地答应加入这个表演的行列。 =) 然而，如我所预料，对于没“底”的我而言，一切从零开始的确是比较吃力的，何况这是时间紧迫之下的“速成班”。要记动作，拍子和次序，当好不容易把拍子记下来时，却总是容易在总体演练时乱了阵脚。第一次排练还没结束前，我的手心就已脱皮了；而排练结束后的两天双手是酸痛麻木到不行，有“我的双手不是我所能控制的双手”的感觉。这时我就在想接下来我要怎么用这双“不能控制的双手”继续练习啊？可是我没有放弃，我知道这只是一个过程，只要肯付出多一点努力跟时间，一切都可以克服的；就好像只要大家愿意付出多一点爱心和关怀，那些需要被帮助的孩子就能被“照亮”。

最重要的还是得感谢手集团对于饥饿三十的全力支持与力挺，让表演艺人和我得到这样的一个平台， 透过这么一个具有中华传统精神的表演为慈善献一份力。这可是难能可贵的一个结合呀！其实本身对于手集团的了解并不深，但有个打鼓的朋友在知晓我的演出后写下此留言：“由吴圣雄教练亲自指导，艺手一定能打造无贫城市~ =） 加油! 张晨晖, 你这幸运的小孩~！”，加上之后浏览了网上的资料，才赞叹这可是个超专业的鼓团呀！建团已十三年的手集团拥有非常丰富的表演经验，遍布全世界，包括澳洲、中国、台湾、新加坡和夏威夷等等。早已久仰陈微崇老师的大名，有幸在其学生圣雄老师(Bernard 不喜欢我们们称他老师，但我还是十分敬佩他，故这里以“老师”相称 =P) 的指导下完成这个表演，我深感荣幸！圣雄老师十分细心，他在第一次的排练就记起了所有人的名字，而且对大家的进度可说是了如指掌（我的差劲功夫当然也逃不出他的千里眼啦！）。有句话他说得很好，与其大家因为表演而随便练习三两下，演出后拍拍屁股就走，倒不如认真用心的练习并了解它多一点。于是在每次的排练中，老师都会简略地介绍一些招式的来源或名字，二十四节令鼓的简史等等，拉近了我们与鼓之间的“距离”。
（有兴趣了解手集团的朋友可浏览官方网页www.hands.com.my ）

其实，每个艺人有各自的通告和工作要忙，好不容易才能抽出时间排练，我想这就是大家愿意“为孩子打造无贫城市”的其中一个强而有力的证据吧！虽然这次演出的排练只有区区的几次，而我也总得搭两个小时的车程从学校到排练地点去练习，但我想这都是值得的！我也很珍惜这样的机会。如果我们的表演能够在倒数活动为饥饿勇士们振奋士气，让大家在充满正面能量的氛围里完成饥饿壮举，那是多么开心的一件事呀！虽然我对于打鼓真的很外行，但我相信表演始终会圆满，因为我们都很尽力了！饥饿勇士，你们呢？做好准备了吗？饥饿三十倒数最后一个星期！我们不见不散！=D

晨晖
青年先锋

Are you ready for the 30-Hour Famine 2010?

12 August 2010 at 12:15 pm

By Jenna Loo

Jitters. Jitters. My inbox has been filling with emails from my campus Camp Leader, Rachel. Cheery, exciting emails about how many campers have signed up, where to buy the T-shirts, upcoming meetings to tweak and perfect plans for the upcoming Famine. Now that the scramble to submit all the booklets on time is over, excitement is mounting as we–volunteers, committee members, participants – gear up for the climax, the 30 Hour Famine DIY Camp itself, as well as the countdown at the Stadium.

Deric and I are especially pumped. We’ve been given the honour of participating in one of the performances! The Hands Percussion Team Artistic Director himself, Bernard Goh will be training a team of local artistes to perform during the Countdown. Deric and I are such small fry compared to the others on the team.

I Googled the Hands Percussion Team, and I was in awe. When Deric and I went for the first practice last Friday, Bernard came across as a humble, unassuming guy. He was nice, patient, and commanded respect from the team, but nothing about his demeanour suggested that he was the founder of a percussion team that burst onto the local arts scene 13 years ago and has since performed in international arts festivals such as the Singaport Arts Festival 2005, China Shanghai International Arts Festival 2005, the 48th World Festival of Folklore Schoten in Belgium, and various International Folklore Festivals in the Netherlands. I was standing in the presence of awesomeness!!!

I didn’t know just what to expect at the practice ( I had to Google “Hands Percussion”, after all), but I had a vague picture of myself playing the triangle every 1st beat of the performance. Ting, two, three, four, Ting, two, three, four. I found that I would be doing a little bit more than that. A lot more, actually. Come Countdown time, I’ll actually be standing in front of a huge Chinese drum, beating at it with the best of them! And I do mean the best. Have I mentioned that Hands Percussion has performed in many other countries? Check out www.hands.com.my, you’ll see why I’m so excited!

I’m going to have to start lifting weights. Beating at those big drums is tiring. But fun. Very fun. I can’t wait till my next practice. I should probably also start practicing my Chinese. The training is conducted in a mixture of Mandarin and Cantonese, as far as I can make out, and I understand neither! Luckily Deric was there to help me out, though sometimes he was too absorbed in trying to master the new complicated licks that I had to muddle my way through on my own.

加油!

See you at the stadium!

30-Hour Famine 饥饿30 2009 - A Flashback Video

29 July 2010 at 10:52 am

by Joanne Tay, Communications.

Here’s a simple video put together to extend our gratitudes to the support shown by various parties in making last year’s 30-Hour Famine 2009 a successful campaign!

We couldn’t have done this without your endless support, enthusiasm and passion - all the campers nationwide, camp leaders, donors, sponsors, celebrity friends, performing groups, volunteers!

Together, We’ve Got The Power To Make A Difference. THANK YOU, once again! See you again next month 

Click here to view more videos on our World Vision Malaysia youtube channel.

Peace Building: Lessons From The Children Of Bosnia-Herzegovina

22 July 2010 at 11:10 am

by World Vision Bosnia-Herzegovina

When Bosnia is mentioned, Malaysians always remember the catastrophic war in the early 1990s where civil war broke out and intolerable violence took place between the Bosnians, Serbs and Croats. Today, Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) is a relatively peaceful and prosperous country with multiple faiths practiced across different ethnic groups, mirroring Malaysia.

Islam is associated with the Bosnians, Eastern Orthodox with the Serbs, and Catholicism with the Croatians. Forty (40) percent of the population is Muslim, 31 percent Eastern Orthodox, 15 percent  Roman Catholic, and 4 percent Protestant, while about 10 percent of the population identifies with other religions. Most of the population is not particularly observant, but religion is an important aspect of national identity. Primary school students in central BiH are learning lessons about tolerance and understanding by seeing for themselves how people of different faiths can live side by side and respect both different and similar beliefs.

As part of the ‘Peace building through inter-religious understanding’ project, funded by World Vision Malaysia and Australia, sixth graders from Pale visited a mosque and a Roman Catholic Church, which for most of the children was the first time inside a different place of worship other than the Orthodox religion with which they identify. Although the children have had the opportunity to learn about other religions in their religious classes at school, the first real ‘face-to-face’ encounter with other religions and their leaders was a special moment for all who took part.

We should all be very proud to live in a country such as Bosnia and Herzegovina which is enriched with all main religions and is blessed with a great cultural heritage. As children, we should be very happy to have the opportunity to visit churches, mosques and synagogues and that way learn more about the richness of our cultures and religions”, said Malik Spahić (12), who currently studies in the seventh grade at a primary school in Zenica, central BiH.

“Visits to the religious places are not included in the regular curriculum and many children do not have the opportunity to learn more about other religions. This ignorance can turn into prejudices which does not stimulate inter-religion dialogues and in time can pose a threat to peace and prosperity in the country”, said Sevimka Drinić, Project Officer for World Vision BiH.

Through the ‘Peace building through inter-religious understanding’ project, World Vision aims to enhance peace building through school-based education programmes which advance inter-religious understanding among children and their teachers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Seminars, visits to religious places and development of communications materials will all play their part in the project.

World Vision hopes the Malaysian government will take a similar stand to initiate inter-religious understanding among school-going children.  Observed Liew Tong Ngan, CEO of World Vision Malaysia: “Conflicts and clashes of ideas stem from a lack of understanding and unfamiliarity with that which is ‘different’. Therefore, we should start to educate children as early as possible before they develop prejudices against other religions. We are convinced that this is the best way to reach a level of common understanding and assure peace for future generations.”

Artistes to try their hands at Hands Percussion! 艺手打造无贫城市！

16 July 2010 at 5:20 pm

Nine artistes – Kah Jun, Hao Ren, Mei Sim, Jym, Vinx Lim, Reno, Josh Lai, Wai Fun and Jason – will take to the stage with Hands Percussion during the 30-Hour break fast ceremony on August 22, 2010 with the hope of encouraging more people to take part in or donate towards the event!

They have been practicing really hard so that they can give a credible performance on that day. Joining them are Famine Youth Leaders- Jenna Lo and Deric Chong.

Come cheer them on by being part of the 30-Hour Famine! To take part, please sign up as a DIY camper or individual participant through 30-Hour Famine website: or give us a call at (603) 78806414.

为了鼓励及吸引更多人响应饥饿30 筹款活动，世界宣明会在今年的倒数活动中特别安排了9 名本地艺人连同手集团呈现一场别开生面的敲击表演。参与演出的艺人有朱浩仁，云镁鑫，凌加峻，庄靖毅，林一心，蕾诺，贾森，尹汇雰及赖力豪。

同时，饥饿30的青年先锋吕丽玲和 张晨晖也将加入表演阵容，卖力地为8月22日的演出严谨排练，势要让届时的演出尽善尽美。

今年饥饿30活动所得款项将特别用于维护街童需要和对抗城市贫困问题，帮助这些社会影响力微弱的孩童获得享温饱的机会和享有基本福利的权利。

每人都可付出一份力，每一分钱都将带来改变！请您也赶紧加入我们的行列，报名参加饥饿30 活动，和一万名爱心人士及艺人们一同为打造无贫城市出一份力！您只需游览世界宣明会饥饿30的网站报名参加这次的活动。若您有其他疑问，请拨电 至03 – 7880 6414和我们联系。

Malaysians Making a Difference 大马艺人全力支持饥饿30

8 July 2010 at 3:25 pm

世界宣明会特别感激愿意参与和我们一起联手对抗饥饿和贫困的马来西亚艺人们！

今年饥饿30倒数活动的演出嘉宾名单终于出炉了！

请马上就报名成为饥饿30营员！

We are most grateful to have supportive Malaysian Artistes who are willing to lend a hand and support World Vision’s movement to combat hunger and poverty!

Here is the list of Artistes supporting the 30-Hour Famine Countdown this year!

Join today as a 30-Hour Famine Camper!

凝聚-营长培训营有感

6 July 2010 at 3:36 pm

五月和六月不知不觉地溜走了，而我也不知不觉地参与了所有的营长培训营。5月8号的这一天，其实心里是紧张的，不晓得自己是否能在有限的时间里有效地与众营长分享我的媒体探访与办营经验，但无论如何还是得硬着头皮站上台去的。由于我的分享环节被安排在时间表的末端，营长与筹委们都显现了倦容，而我为了能让大家打起精神来就临时临记地设计了“当我说哇你说哈哈我说哈哈你说哇”的小互动，也就这样开始了我的这趟分享旅程。

对于自己的表现，从开始的担心到后来的顺心，再直到最最后的得心应手，我想这其间是营长们给了我这股力量。那是因为我们大家都站在同一阵线，为贫困的一群伸出援手，为这个世界做出小小的改变；而我的分享是发自心底的所见所闻所感，那就没什么好紧张的啦！=) 我是这么跟自己说的。从吉隆坡启程，北上槟城，怡保，再南下新山，而后关丹，最后再回到吉隆坡作了一个圆满的结束；一站接着一站的累积，全国一百三十个营会也就是这样组织起来的，可别小看这股力量，当中或许有些是小型营会，但这是一颗爱的雪球，每一颗雪都扮演了极其重要的角色，也因为如此，我才被感染了。怎么说呢？其实先前有了两年的办营经验，而现在担任青年先锋一职的我，一直在寻找着适当的人选在我的大学办营，当我的“继承人”。然而，这不是件简单的事，日子一天一天的过，却没有人愿意站出来接受这个挑战，有者愿意参加，有者愿意帮忙，但或许营长的头衔让大家觉得太重，担心承受不来而在原地踏步。碍于还是学生的身份必须兼顾课业，我想就算真的没人接手我也是心有余而力不足了；但当我到了第三站-怡保的营长培训营时，看见不同背景不同身份不同年龄不同职业的大家因为同一个信念而聚在一起，心中莫名的燃烧起一团执著与肯定的气焰，告诉自己如果到最后真的没有人在我校办营的话，我就站出来多一次，把这个有意义的活动延续下去。很庆幸及感恩的，后来我的友人因为耳濡目染产生了坚定的意志，愿意担任营长，影响更多的人，让这个世界更有爱。当我较后在营长培训营看见自己的“继承人”时，那种自豪感与开心是非笔墨所能形容的。

说到这里，在我的关丹一行中，发生了一件不可思议的事情。晓庆是今年关丹磐石中心的自办营营长，原来她两年前在我的大学就读，当时知道学校有人即将办营，也就第一次报名参加了饥饿三十，而当时的营长就是我啦！当时因为筹备的关系也没时间与每位营员交流与认识，而这一次意外地与前营员“相认”，而且看她即将举办自己的营会，实在是非常兴奋与期待。她跟我，还有许多人都一样，对于饥饿三十，从不知道到听说到参加到认同到了解到自办，跟着这个有意义的活动一路走来。我想当初我在办营时也没有预知会有那么一天，自己的营员也当起营长，让更多的人参加与醒觉。所以说，大家可别小看自己的一举一动，还有每一次的付出，很多事都是顺其自然， 且意想不到，尤其那是对的事。

世界宣明会的同工其实都很用心，每一次的培训都冀望能做的比前一次好，积极接受大家的建议与见解，这是我所看见的。其实本身在以前也以营长的身份参加过培训营，打瞌睡也是无可避免的，虽然一整天的活动以讲座为主，大家坐着听着就会不知觉的比较累，但我们也尽力以糖果，互动与冷笑话来让大家醒目。没有办法呀，这是个培训营，最重要的还是把正确的资讯与办营方针传达给每个营长，所以大家就体谅一下咯！=)  大伙儿虽然都有病倒的时候，但只要想到一起耕耘的大家，病魔也特别容易被击败吧！ 不相识的你和我通过一个有意义跟深度的活动而产生交集，全马各地的有心人士也都因此被牵引起来，这是多么美好的一件事。

好啦，培训营也告一段落了。接下来是大家冲刺的时刻，秉持着同一个信念，我们就可以办到！不管你现在在哪里，我们都在一起努力，势必让更多的人受惠，让更多的人了解城市贫困，也让更多的小孩得到帮助。不管你是营长、筹委、志工还是营员，别忘了我们正在为孩子打造无贫城市，light up their life！加油！

晨晖
青年先锋

I’ve already signed up – have you?

6 July 2010 at 3:35 pm

by Jenna Loo

Six Camp Leader Training workshops were conducted over May and June, and I had the privilege of speaking at the two which were held in Kuala Lumpur. Deric spoke at all six, including the ones in Penang, Ipoh, Johor Bahru and Kuantan!

It was very exciting to see so many Camp Leaders, most of whom were attending a Camp Leader’s workshop for the first time. I love how the 30-Hour Famine enables anyone, whether working adults or students, to rally those around them for a good cause.

Each participant at the workshop was there to collect the tools needed to run a DIY camp (booklets, activities guidelines, coupon booklets, receipt books, etc.) and to be filled in on what was needed to run one.  Listening to the World Vision staff deliver their briefings on the history of the 30 Hour Famine, 2010’s DIY Camp program and other details brought me back to my first time attending a workshop in 2009.

I had been really inspired by that workshop, and I could tell that this year’s workshops were having the same effect on its participants. I half envied them. They were embarking on an exciting and fulfilling adventure – one that would change their perspectives on life and further hone their leadership skills.

All you Camp Leaders and Camp Committee members are going to have so much fun!

The workshops were all-day affairs, but the World Vision staff kept it interesting with ice breakers and jokes. We were supplied with delicious blueberry cream rolls from Hi-5, and refreshing soya bean drinks from V-Soy, the official sponsors of the 30 Hour Famine.

The participants were also kept busy with note-taking, as we were educated on everything Famine, from what to do if campers became like zombies because of the lack of food, to how to update camper and booklet information on the Famine database. Gruelling stuff, but absolutely worth it. And at the conclusion of each workshop, the participants were rewarded with a really cool surprise – a free 550 ML water bottle, courtesy of Bros! I am now an official fan of Bros – especially since they also sell those funky World Vision edition bottles.

The ball has started rolling, and the countdown has begun! The booklets have been distributed to the camp leaders, and registration has opened.

I’ve already signed up for my university’s DIY camp – have you?

Day 4 - The Final Day

5 July 2010 at 4:22 pm

After a slight longer hiatus, we’re back to end Danell’s journey in India.

by Danell Lee

Widow and her brood

Mother of 2 children, she is HIV-Positive, and just lost her husband 4 months ago. He died of the HI Virus. Right now she stays with her mother-in-law at a very small hut.

When we visited their house, the mother-in-law showed the picture of her loving son that has just gone, and she just couldn’t control her emotion, and tears just came down from her eyes. Well maybe she really needs some time for her heart to heal.

But we are happy to see that the family is healthy and we didn’t even see any signs of complaint through their eyes, their responces, even they are staying in that small hut, even if she lives with HIV…

They seem to cope very well. The mother still able to earn a living and the children go to school as normal.

Young Couple

A 20-year old young man with both parents who have passed away cause of HIV, he’s now taking care of his grandparents, and his newly married bride.

They used to be very poor and he grew up as a child labourer in a tobacco company since he was 12. But after a year, World Vision has started to help his family. From a house that didn’t even have roof to a bricked house, he now lives comfortably and plans to start a family soon with his young wife.

Final thoughts by Danell

Now I can really feel that, many people in India have a lot of sad stories because of HIV/AIDS. But we are glad that the number of people affected and infected by HIV/AIDS has dropped. Many of them are taken care of by World Vision through education and regular medication.