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MICHAEL HEART - We Will Not Go Down (A Song for Gaza)

A blinding flash of white light
Lit up the sky over Gaza tonight
People running for cover
Not knowing whether they’re dead or alive

They came with their tanks and their planes
With ravaging fiery flames
And nothing remains
Just a voice rising up in the smoky haze

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight

Women and children alike
Murdered and massacred night after night
While the so-called leaders of countries afar
Debated on who’s wrong or right

But their powerless words were in vain
And the bombs fell down like acid rain
But through the tears and the blood and the pain
You can still hear that voice through the smoky haze

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight

On 15 November 2008, the CA Income department of HDPM ventured onto Pulau Besar for team building activities.

Our team works night shift and we finish after 1 a.m. Most of us took the company transport home due to the distance to home and the odd hours. Travelling from work to home vice versa takes approximately 1 hour or more for most of us.

With a few of hours of sleep, a wake up call was essential. Few colleagues were assigned to activate and practise the call tree. It’s not an easy job to wake your colleagues and self up at 5am in the morning.

Miraculously.....it worked!

The group of about 36 staffs traveled early on Saturday morning first by bus to Anjung Batu Jetty, then culminating in a 20-minute ferry ride to the island. The group activity started right away with everyone having to unload the stock of foods, fruits and drinks for the lunch picnic planned for later in the day.

On the island, we gathered for a picnic. That was when the group of gluttons (us) had our feast. The variety of food was superb! We had appetizer, main course and dessert! Thanks to everyone contribution for every little taste that we had.

After the good meal, the group was broken up into 4 smaller teams of 8 members each. Our first challenge was to come up with a name, logo and slogan for their respective teams within an allocated time frame. The teams had to draw their logos as well as present their team slogan with a performance to the rest. It encouraged the teams to work together as well as be creative and interactive.

The four team names that emerged were Purple Light, Hands Off, Paragon and Sexy Blue.

Next, each team was given an unboiled egg which we were to keep in our possession and keep from breaking throughout the activities of the day, with a penalty for any team whose egg broke. We also had to carry the egg throughout the events and pass it from member to member by tagging the next "holder".

This was followed by a series of physical team challenges. The games included a balloon hop and sack race where the participants had to run with a balloon between their legs and proceed with a gunny sack to the finish line.

The next game we played was ‘the stick on the belly’. It is a balancing act where two participants had to balance a stick between their bodies while collecting "treasure" along the way.

Last but not least, the teams were competing for ping pong toss and balloon popper game. The participants had to toss ping pong balls into a basket and proceed to blow up a balloon and pop it.

Next, this was followed by the activity called three legged army where two participants had one of their legs tied to the other one's and had to race to the finish line.

Finally, the entire team was divided into three groups that competed in a "league" format of Tug of War, with the top two teams competing in the final round for first placing. This turned out to be the highlight of the day with lots of fun and participants falling into the sand.

In this event, we showed the true team spirit! We hardly believe that all the ladies and gentlemen from our team are actually so strong!

The outdoor activities have finally ended and the champion goes to Team Paragon. The grand prize has gone to them. Nevertheless, the other teams were not left out empty handed. They were still given their consolation prizes.

We then were given some time to rest and to clean up ourselves in the rented chalet. We packed our belongings and clean the area that we have occupied.

We got on the last ferry back to mainland. Before heading for home, we treated ourselves to a dinner at Anjung Batu, famous for its seafood in Malacca.

Hema had pre-ordered so the food was ready when we arrived, which was a good thing because we were all starving after a long day.

Towards the end of the dinner, souvenirs were given out to all for their great effort, support and commitment shown in the team bonding. Communication was also a value that needed to be instilled among ourselves. And apart from having a fun filled day in the sun and surf, it seems like these objectives had also been achieved.

To conclude, we had not only earned rewards and awards but also values and a better understanding of ourselves and each other. The objectives of the day were to highlight the importance of positive behavior, conflict resolution, listening, team culture, trust and respect, creativity and teamwork in achieving our shared goals.

Salam...

Dah berbulan rasanya saya menyembunyikan diri, pergi 'bertapa' kononnya...mencari masa yang sesuai dan mood yang molek untuk meneruskan minat yg mendalam dalam bidang blogging nih.

Banyak yang nak di-update tapi rasanya dah tak fresh lagi. Makanya, saya putuskan untuk summarise-kan kesemuanya sekaligus.

November 2008

To be post in the next entry...panjang cerita...=)

Disember 2008

'Bulan sakit'. 2 minggu pertama bulan Disember, saya asyik sakit je. Varial fever kata doktor, demam on and off sejak seminggu mendorong saya untuk ke Hospital Ampang Puteri. 1st time buat blood test. Mula-mula doktor suspect denggi, alhamdulillah hanya virus biasa. Entah ubat apa la yang doktor tu bagi. Asal makan je, mesti keluar balik semua makanan. Dekat 5 hari berlarutan sampai ada 1 malam tu, saya drive pun melelong dek kerana keletihan yang amat. Nasib baik tak terbabas. Peritnya rasa, bila lapar...makan...tapi terkeluar balik. Saya terpaksalah minum air je untuk elakkan dehydration. 3 Disember, mak, abah dengan adik ke KL. Asalnya, nak bersama-sama saya menyambut Hari Raya AidilAdha memandangkan saya tak dapat cuti. Alih-alih, sakit camni pulak...Saya tetap rasa bertuah, sekurang-kurangnya dalam kesakitan nih, saya boleh lagi beraya dengan mak dan abah, boleh lagi sembahyang raya bersama-sama mereka. Sehari sebelum raya, kami ke kubur 'Nani', nenek sebelah mak.

Disebabkan demam, berat saya turun lagi 2 kg, dah macam Skeleton bergerak je... =D... Apa lagi eh, Owh... ada surprise untuk saya sempena birthday yang ke-22 pada 12hb. Malam tu saya balik agak lewat dek kerana kerja yang berlambak, dengan demamnya lagi... lebih kurang kul 2 am baru sampai umah. Sampai je, gelap gelita rumah. Pelik gak sebab selalunya abah tunggu saya balik sesambil layan TV. Memang terkena, kejutan sungguh sampai terloncat saya dek disergah abang. Dengan terkejut, letih, dan otak yang ingat nak tidur je...sempat gak potong kek dan suap-menyuap dengan mak. Birth-date saya dengan mak berjiran... Birthday mak, 11hb dan saya 12hb. Lewat 5 minit je, kalau tak mesti birth-date saya sama dengan mak. Thanks Mak, Abah, Abang, Kak Sha dan Nana for the wonderful surprise. Biarpun simple je, namun tetap bermakna buat saya! Thanks mak, untuk hadiah yang sungguh bernilai...hadiah apa? hmm...biarlah rahsia.... heheheh ;P

29 Disember 2008

Entah mimpi apa la Manager saya tu, tiba-tiba je murah hati nak anugerahkan saya 'core-leave' selama seminggu. Apa lagi, terus beli tiket balik ke Penang la. Esoknya, saya, mak, abah dan adik ke Cameron Highlands. Dah macam KL jadinya, traffic jam teruk sangat, yelah pergi pun time cuti sekolah. Kami bermalam di Hotel Rosa Pasadena. Malam tu, dinner @ KFC, shopping di Tanah Rata, dan minum kopi di Restoran Kopitiam kegemaran abah sambil borak-borak menantikan hujan berhenti. Esoknya, kami breakfast di hotel...hujan lagi. Ikutkan, plan nak ke Sungai Palas. Dek kerana hujan lebat, terpaksalah kami tukar plan, jalan-jalan dengan kereta di Tanah Rata, singgah ke Strawberry Park dan beberapa tempat lagi untuk mencari Strawberry Chocolate. Hampanya, sampai ke sudah tak ditemui. Agaknya, time Siti kahwin dulu je kot Famous. Murahnya fresh flowers kat sana, 1 bouquet =RM5/RM3 sahaja. Kami borong ubi, jagung, strawberry, jambu kristal, oranges, cendawan goreng dan sayuran. Sempat juga singgah di Bharat House untuk bergambar di Ladang Teh, menikmati kehangatan Teh Bharat dan Chocolate Moise Cake with Strawberry Ice Cream.

Pulang ke Penang. Esoknya, saya sibuk ke pejabat Imigresen untuk menyiapkan passport. InsyaAllah, bulan March nih...saya akan bercuti ke Puncak Bandung, Jakarta selama seminggu bersama keluarga. 31 Disember, macam biasa...saya lebih suka duduk di rumah daripada bersesak-sesak dengan lautan manusia yang sanggup menantikan detik 12 malam. Tahun nih best sikit sebab saya,adik, abah dan mak lepak-lepak di balkoni sambil menyaksikan bunga api. Bukan saja bunga api di Padang Kota, Queensbay, Esplanade malah di Butterworth pun dapat dilihat kerana lokasi 'rumah baru' kami strategic di tengah-tengah bandar Pulau Pinang.

Selamat menyambut Maal Hijrah 1430 dan Selamat Tahun Baru 2009 !!! =)