Flying Without Wings

'Flying without wings'. That was the theme of the charity event held by the MuMeds.

This fund raising event was also held to raise the awareness of the public about disabled people. Though disabled, they are able to achieve a lot of things too, and should not be discriminated againts and unfairly dismissed.

The event T-shirt goes something like this:

'A dragonfly can fly with 4 wings.

An aeroplane can fly with 2 wings.

We can fly without wings.'

Nice right? I know. =)

Anyway, back to the event.

The event was held from 10am to 5pm. We, the first year meddies actually came up with a sketch for the event too. And guess what, I actually skipped my first lecture of the year to watch the sketch. I don't even know if I should feel guilty or proud @.@ It was a great sketch, (not bad considering that we only came up with the script in such a short time), and it ended with the cast using sign language to convey the message that disabled people are people too. A great take home message if you ask me. =)

The video can be viewed here. Enjoy~!

Needless to say, I got myself one of the meaningful event T-shirts, and also 2 badges. Hehe.. And together with J, actually got myself my first hennas ever. It was super cool~ XD

Grab a look at my hennas, one on my neck, and another on my hand. Ah.. these were taken immediately when it was done, before it could get twisted and as J puts it, 'retarded'.

Cool eh? I'm super happy with it. =D

I think everyone was super high today because of the event. Only a handful of the 138 of us turned up for Dr S's lecture. Poor Dr S. Haha..

Anyway, I think most of us weren't in the mood for PBL at all, and if not for PBL, I'm guessing that most of us would just skip whatever lecture there is just to be at the event. Lolss..

With the great convincing job JW and the few others manning the games booth did, J and I decided to give a try at the Ice Box. We were supposed to put our hands into a dustbin full of ice water and grab out 8 out of only 12 red marbles among a few tens of other coloured marbles. All within 20 seconds. And we could only use one hand, and no changing of hands were allowed. So freaking scary. To add to that, some kind senior decided to add in more ice before we started the game. =.=

I had my turn after J, and after giving myself some mental preparation on what to expect, I dipped my hand into the ice cold water. I didn't bother trying to put the marbles nicely on the table, and instead just threw everything around, until the senior had to tell me to be more gentle, as I think they got sprayed with water. =P Conclusion was, I actually managed to get out 8 red marbles, before the 20 seconds was even up. Just my lucky day I guess. I got a KitKat and a packet of Ribena, and my hand wasn't even really really numb. Fun indeed~!

The most popular booth would be the dunking booth. Where someone would sit on a platform above a tub of yes, you guessed it, ice water. Participants would then buy shots at the lever and try to hit it, and hit it hard so that the person would go 'Splash' into the water. Many people were lining up to get their turn at a shot at whoever was sitting up there, and many more surrounded to watch the splashing. I did my share of watching and staring after PBL. *Grins*

One thing I can comment about the dunking is that it is a super fast way of fund-raising. Rm3 for 3 shots, and the only cost was for the rental of the equipment. At the end of it, they were just dragging everyone up there, and dunking them, with much pleasure. Some of them were dunked only after multiple shots, whereas some, with the first shot itself. One thing they all had in common was this - the epic moment when they realised they were falling into the tub just before they hit the water. Their expression, I tell you, it was worth watching them being dunked. Epic man~

Well... I guess that just about concludes my account of the event. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, though I wasn't even involved in it. I guess next year when it's us year one's turn to man the event, it'll be even more fun. Till then~

And for now, do remember that 'We can FLY without wings' ~!!! =)

I Regret

I regret ever wanting to dive.

I regret ever signing up for diving as my selective.

One wrong move, and I think I might just be screwed for a very long loooong time.

Sad indeed. Yeah, I know.

Well, lemme just start from the very beginning.

I wanted to do diving as my selective. I signed up for diving. I got diving as my selective, along with another 5 others.

All those joining the diving selective received no news whatsoever about the diving course, we did not know when we were going, for how long, and what exactly we would be doing there. We did not even know when we were supposed to pay for the whole course, or when we start.

On the day where all other selectives were starting, we received a text message from admin telling us where to meet for the briefing (which I wasn't aware of until much later). I did not know about that, and I approached one of my coursemate who was also doing diving. He then asked if I was really keen on going diving, as it was so near to the exam. He also mentioned that he and the rest were thinking of dropping the selective, and asked if I would like to do so too. I asked him where the rest were. I was told that it was only the 4 of us left. The other 2 dropped out earlier. I was like, WTH????

And so, I agreed. And we went to see Ms C, who was in charge of the selectives. She told us that we were not able to drop at this last minute, and said that we would have to talk to Mr P, who was in charge. Only with his permission, would we be able to drop diving and change to another selective.

We were unable to find Mr P in his office, and so we met Dr C, who was in charge, together with Mr P. She didn't seem too pleased or friendly towards us, and said that Mr P has put in a lot of effort in preparing this event for us. Apparently, he even went to Tioman to check out the place and make bookings. It wasn't going to be so easy as to just cancel the trip. She also mentioned that the diving instructor would be meeting us later together with Mr P for the briefing.

We were standing outside the doorway leading to the offices, when Dr Sv and Dr J passed by. After talking to Dr J, we found out that Dr Sh was also in charge of the selectives. Of course we went and see her. And she being the nice person that she was, understood our concerns 101%. When we requested her to talk to Mr P for us, she agreed immediately. Such a nice person, always ready to help the students. She told us not to feel bad about our decision, as she understood the situation. She mentioned that there was a minimum requirement of 5 participants for each selective to be carried out, and that when they suggested Mr P to drop it, he insisted on carrying it on just because he said we wanted to dive. I thought nothing much about it, until very much later.

Anyway, Dr Sh could not contact Mr P, and only managed to send him a text message and an email, saying that we would like to drop out of the selectivc. Anxiously, we waited for him at the staff lounge. He arrived half an hour late, and as expected, he brought along the diving instructor.

His first words were, 'So, you all want to drop diving?', and then he proceeded to talk at length about how he thought 4 of us were going to drop, so at least there was still one person who wanted to dive etc etc etc... I won't bore you with all those details, well, I won't even bore myself going through it all again.

Main point: he looked angry, and sounded damn angry.

He was going on about how we should be prepared 2 weeks before the exam, that exam is no excuse not to go for it. When we kinda mentioned that we were coming back on the 4th and exam was on the 5th, he retorted that No, no.. we're coming back on the 31st. Then continued on preaching about how he took the trouble to do this, do that, book this, book that. Limo is RM700 per trip, and he didn't trust buses, especially since it was the festive season, the place we would be staying, he even said that the instructor had to take time off work, and that would mean a loss of income of 18k, or 9k or something like that, which didn't manage to get into my brain.

With all that said, he gave us the green light to drop diving as a selective. But it was not as easy as that. Oh no... We had to pay compensation, of course. He was cursing that his mistake was not collecting a deposit from us. Okay, we can quit. But we would have to come up with RM1000 the following day - for compensation.

Thinking that, why the bloody hell would I pay for nothing, I asked A if she was ok with diving, She agreed, and the other 2 guys reluctantly agreed too. I said that we would go, but then Mr P said, 'OH no no.. I'm not forcing you guys to go. Now since you already cancelled, how would you want to go again? If you want to go, ask Mr J if he would teach you.'

The money-minded fella obviously agreed to teach us, but not without some acting. Needless to say, Mr P's mood improved dramatically after we said we were going. He even double and tripled confirmed we were indeed going before he left us with Mr J. After which, he questioned us. 'Did you guys think I was angry just now?' To which we just stared at each other. Knowing very well that we wouldn't be giving him an answer, he continued on, 'I wasn't angry you know, I was just disappointed. Oh, don't you guys worry, this won't affect anything at all. It's not as if I would treat you or mark your exam papers differently. I'm just disappointed in you all, that's all.'

After everything was over, we sat down and had a chat. And we came to a mutual agreement on a few things:

1. He was blardy blackmailing us with the RM1000 deposit.
2. He threatened us with our exam papers.
3. He mind-raped us.
4. He was lying through his nose when he said everything was booked. He actually told us we could take a flight there if we wanted to be faster, and he only booked our accommodation when we asked him about it.
5. Mr J wanted money, that's all.

Anyway, I thought we have decided on going for the course. But then... J called, and he said it was cancelled.

Yeah, he went and saw Mr P after we all went back, and told him that we would like to go diving but maybe at the end of the semester, not before our exam, etc etc etc..

And, you guessed it~! He said he was mind-raped. Again. Alone. Well...what else could you expect from a psychologist? And a psycho psychologist at that. Mr P tried to play the good guy game, while trying to twist J's mind. Poor thing. Fortunately for J, he said that he knew some mind techniques as well. So it's not too bad. But it must have been real scary, to be in the same room, and looking a mind twister in the eye. Even more scary is that this is your lecturer, who you would be dealing with for another 1.5 years.

My conclusion: Money can do things to people that you would otherwise have never expected. For money, and money alone, there is nothing too low. Even the most respectable person (or whom you may think is respectable) could lose all dignity in your eyes for it.

Though Mr P said that all's settled and it's all in the past, and that it's his fault, not ours, I find it hard to believe that he would let go so easily.

For the next 1.5 years that we would be under him, I can only pray and hope for the best.

God bless us all.