Day 3

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Dear Parents,

The boys were given a morning call at 6:50 am in the morning. They quickly washed up and got ready for breakfast. They were shocked when were told to make their beds, and sweep/mop the floor. Apparently, some boys do not do house chores back home. They didn’t know how to fold their blankets. The caregiver ‘auntie’ came in and award points for the cleanliness/tidiness of their room. She simply shook her head and asked me if she needed to grade them. “Give them 3 days, before grading them”, I said. Hopefully, by the end of the third day, they’d know to how to do simple house chores.

The boys finished their chores and waited until 7:30 am for their breakfast. However, the girls arrived far behind the scheduled time (around 7:50 am). They probably took a very long time to pack their stuff. As a result, the group didn’t have enough time to consume their breakfast. At 8 am, the school assembly started. They were rushed to the assembly ground, where 2300 students were waiting for them. Punctuality was still a big issue with the group.

Our Principal, Mrs. Oh delivered a speech in English and presented a gift of appreciation to the school. The students were then given another 5-10 minutes to finish their breakfast. This was followed by an orientation tour around the school. We were treated with a glimpse of the school’s extensive facilities like the music rooms, dance studio, science labs and so forth.

After lunch, the students had their first taste of classroom life; attending classes with their respective buddies. Most of the students gave the teachers positive feedback about their experience although many non-Chinese speaking students complained about the language barrier. This however, didn’t affect one of our students. Farhana for example, was bestowed the opportunity to help out one of the teachers in conducting a simple English Language lesson.

It certainly looks like our students are integrating into the culture quite well. Wei Qing and Khairul pounced on the opportunity to play basketball with some of the local students.

On a more serious note, four of the students have succumbed to the cold weather and are starting to fall ill. Ao Shun had a mild breathing problem due to the cold weather, while Haikal and Afnan are down with sore eyes. Nadhirah has some muscle aches. All of the students mentioned have been taken to the school’s in-house doctor and have been prescribed medicine. Their conditions are being closely monitored by the teachers. Of 6 p.m. today, the students have shown vast improvement in terms of their health. They were joking and giggling over dinner. However, we will continue to monitor all of the students’ progress very closely. Parents who are concerned about their children can call the number [phone] next morning (around 9 pm) to talk to their children.

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Comments

[anonymous]

are u ok? wei qing kor kor