Season 2, Episode 5: TEKAD 09

" Innocent until proven guilty? Or guilty until proven innocent? " - The Innocent Man, John Grisham

After a night fun-filled with English activities, i had to force myself up from bed early to attend the briefing and the opening ceremony of the TEKAD '09 program. 188 Year 6 students from SK Seri Iskandar participated and my job was to facilitate them in the various modules that would be carried out for two days. The modules arranged are for the development and betterment of students in their academic field, their mastery of the English language, soft skills, and other vital attributes. Somehow, i'm glad i can do my part to assist.


The students assembled in the Lecture Hall while the facilitators were briefed by the head. After the Headmaster of the school gave his speech and officiated the program, the students and the facilitators were divided into 5 large groups consisting of 5 smaller groups in it. Mine was Group 17, and i was paired up with Aishah to facilitate the 8-member group. Platoon is Max 5. Name is SkyNet.

Ice-breaking activity for us to get to know the members, and for the members to get to know us. Honestly, i do remember their names but i'm not sure who is who. I tried my best but i still couldn't match the names to the owners. So, i just called them generally 'adik'. Unfortunately, i could not attend the first module, and breakfast, as i had a Chemistry tutorial replacement. The next hour and a half is left blank, and only to be filled after my tutorial by my partner.

I returned just in time for module 2, the sketch- i like drama/sketch/plays! We had an interesting script and an amazing time practising. We were suppose to guide them to correct pronunciation of words- my group has minimal problems regarding this, inject creativity in the performance, instill confidence in front of the crowd and the usage of English. Cooperation among members were also highlighted, as said by one of my member at the recap of this module. I salute my group for putting up a great show given only 30 minutes to prepare- never underestimate Year 6 kids. Well done!

'Which shoes do you choose?' was our title. Could see potential and enthusiasm in themselves.

Lunch time and prayer break. Muslims went to the mosque while we stayed back and entertained among ourselves. Module 3 started when they returned, and it's called 'Pronounce Me'. We were given 2 poems and a song. The song was simple, the Do Re Mi song from the Sound of Music, but the difficult part was the verses not the chorus. We know the chorus, and i bet you do, but often we seldom listen to the beginning and the ending. Improvised, we changed the tune here and there and it turned out all not that bad! The two poems assigned to us were ones i had never heard before. However, that was not the point. Some words in the poems were bold and assumed the higher level of English vocabulary. As facilitator, we were needed to explain the definition of these words to them. Unfortunately, for the second poem, the bold words were also of higher level of vocabulary than mine. Without a dictionary, my partner and i were lost and decided to just read along the poem!

Phone MMS was the next module. It's similar to the Broken Telephone, just that instead of sending words through a series of people, a picture message is sent. But no words can be spoken or mouth movements can be made. Just actions, something like charade, of the picture.

My group drew 50 % of the original picture sent. Not bad. The purpose of this module is to show the students that rumours may not be entirely true. It can evolve along the way, when it is spread from one person to another. Always seek for the truth before believing.

Following that was the 'Think Out Of The Box' module. Given an item, students must be creative and innovative to what other purposes can it be used for apart from the main purpose. For this module, they were given a fire extinguisher to be thought out of the box. Creatively, they came up with some mind-provoking ideas like pillow, jet pack, toilet flush, flower pots and piggy-bank. Some common ideas were using the fire extinguisher as a self-defense weapon and a weight for lifting.

My group presenting their ideas in front of the crowd.

Groups were later reunited with each other of the same platoon and we started playing 'Goreng Pisang' and ' Bom, ke bom'- entertaining yet common games. I could see how the leader of the platoons lead their team to victory. Future leaders?

Who are we?
We are SkyNet.
SkyNet who?
Skynet cool.
Go, SkyNet!

Dinner was inclusive for the facilitator and i left immediately after doing so. This program is actually a two day program and it continues the next day. Having said that though, i only facilitated for the Saturday- it was a wonderful time with the cuties.

They somehow reminded me of my school times and my brothers. I could see them teasing others- like seeing a fat boy being called 'bulat'. Innocence, this is the time they will have to choose. And hopefully they choose the right choice. With UPSR coming underway, i wish them all the best!

wc09 is happy to be part of the ELC and the TEKAD '09 program.