Tag - Culture

KOTA KINABALU: Five Japanese high school students are here in the Land Below the Wind to learn more about our culture and way of life under the Global Generation Programme (GGP), a student exchange programme between Arima Senior High School, Sanda City, Japan and its sister school, SM All Saints. This is the third GGP between both schools, involving two girls and three boys, as well as two teachers from Arima Senior High School, who will stay in Sabah from July 29 to August 5. The Japanese students are Kohei Wada, 15, Moe Seriu, 16, Nene Arima, 15, Takumi Shigi, 15 and Taku Miyaji, 15. They are provided home stay with their foster families of five selected students from All Saints – John S. Tunggolou, 15, Sarah Chong Shuk Ying, 15, Shana Teo Ching Yii, 16, Theepan Sellamuthu, 15, and Nazri Zainal, 16. In turn, these five students and a teacher from SM All Saints will leave for Japan in November. At the welcoming assembly at the school yesterday, the chairman of All Saints School board of management, Joseph Wong, said the GGP, which first began in 2005 and officially endorsed in 2007, had become part of the tradition in fostering international linkage to enhance and create opportunities for its students and teachers to explore diversified fields, in line with the challenges of globalization. The first GGP took place in 2007 whereby five students and two teachers from Arima Senior High School stayed in Sabah for a week from July 31, and five girls from All Saints went to Japan in November of the same year. The programme was postponed in 2009 due to the outbreak of H1N1 and resumed in 2011. The SM All Saints Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) and the board of management have provided some financial sponsorship for the programme. “I personally feel that it is a good programme and the board endeavors to continue the programme in years to come,” he said. PTA president Lifred Wong said the Japanese students not only lived with their foster families, but they would also be brought around to learn more about the culture and heritage of the State. As part of the programme, the Japanese students will learn Malay, English, cooking, and arts and craft at the school, participate in a study programme at UMS, and visit Kinabalu National Park, Lok Kawi Wildlife Park and Mari-Mari Cultural Village. Meanwhile, Minoru Ueno, an English teacher at Arima Senior High School, said the students were interested in learning the differences between Japanese and Malaysian life and culture, as well as to make Malaysian friends. In terms of the school’s education system, Minoru said Arima Senior High School was different from the average high schools in Japan in the sense that students could choose to study their interests in their second and third year of senior high. “Many high schools in Japan mainly target to get students into good universities, so they cram information into their heads. “Our students enjoy school life much more than other schools,” he said, adding that it was because students were given the liberty to think about what they wanted to do in the universities, and pursue their interest starting from senior high, such as agriculture, nursing or language classes. Also present at the press conference were SM All Saints principal Tiong Ai Ping and Arima Senior High School principal Manabe Yoshitsugu. Source: Borneo Post

Kota Kinabalu: Newly formed NGO, the Empowering Through Community History (Etch) Society in collaboration with Sparks, Heritage Sabah and 51DC Dance Studio will be organising the second Bonding with Gaya Street on Sept 6 and 7 in conjunction with the 50th Malaysia Day. In a press conference held on Thursday, Etch President Datin Fazar Arif said the society, which was successfully registered with the Registrar of Societies (RoS) in June this year, is taking over the organising of the event from the North Borneo History Enthusiasts group who organised it last year. "We feel the necessity to organise it this year because of the 50th anniversary of the Malaysia formation. So it is quite significant for the event to be held here because a lot of things happened here before the formation of Malaysia. "That's why our theme is 'A Milestone in History' because we are going to feature some things along the street," said Fazar. The exhibitions will be set up in front of the gate coming into the street and will feature among others, a replica of the war memorial that used to occupy the spot near Hotel Sixty3. "We hope one day the memorial will go back there, where it used to be because it is a very important monument," said Heritage Sabah President Richard Nelson Sokial, adding that an old Rolls Royce Generator Set donated by HSBC will also be featured in the exhibition. "They (HSBC) are going to decommission it after Sept 16 and donate it to the State Museum. So they want us to assist them to hand it over to the museum while at the same time, they also want that to be exhibited during the event," he said. Richard said that they hope the exhibition of the generator set would get the public to be more interested in what is going on along Gaya Street. "Not many people know the significance of this street Do you know that the world's most recognised boxer, Muhammad Ali, used to walk through this street when he came here in the 70s?" said Richard. Organising chairman Dominic Chung said that the event will feature local artistes and celebrities like Hong Yi, Louis Pang, Roger Wang, the 51DC Dance Studio and DJ Fine China, among others. The public can also participate in games such as treasure hunt and some old, fun and popular games of yesteryears to enhance the fun and celebratory atmosphere at the event. "For the funding, we have already sent out letters to get sponsorship, even to corporate groups in Kuala Lumpur, not just in Sabah. This is the time I think for them to get closer to Sabah. "We have also received tremendous support from the Mayor, City Hall and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment to organise this event," said Fazar. The event is estimated to cost around RM220,000. The organisers are targeting 3,000 visitors for the whole event. Meanwhile, Fazar explained that Etch is eager to make a difference by creating awareness and educating the general public, especially the youths, on the importance of communities and places with historical value. "We hope that Etch will be one of the most successful NGOs because a lot of our youth do not know Sabah's history, what is the significance of certain places, certain buildings, landmarks they have no idea. "I remember meeting a little boy in front of a school before and I asked him what he knew about Sabah's history and he doesn't know much. So this is part of our service to the community," she said. Further information regarding the event and the society can be obtained by contacting the society's secretariat Masleyaton Yahya at 016-8803336 or email masley.yahya@yahoo.co.uk. Source: Daily Express