Day 9 - Time to say Goodbye.

Waking up slightly earlier than normal, we started on our reflections for the day. After grabbing a quick breakfast, we started preparing the sandwiches and balloons we intended to pass to the kids later. We were preparing for the handing over ceremony!

We had no idea that it would be this emotional for many of us.

We reached the school and were greeted by the students who were arranged in orderly rows. They were already waiting for us! Numerous Guests-of-honour were present for this event. The village chief, school principal, and various leaders of the village graced the occasion.

The event started off with national anthems of both Cambodia and Singapore. We heard the Cambodians sang their national anthem with great pride, followed by our own anthem. Speeches were made by both the Principal of Ta Touk Primary school and Mr Tan Teck Hock with our guide, Mr Khorn acting as a translator. After the speeches, group leaders and teachers from both schools went to the newly built kitchen to have the handover ceremony. After the solemn segment of the ceremony, we started serving the sandwiches that we had prepared in the morning, along with a cup of Milo. It broke our hearts to know that most of them have never seen a cup of Milo before, much less eaten a sandwich.

Their smiles left us good memories as we performed. We sang ‘Count On Me’ as a final act of appreciation and did our best to leave them a lasting memory of us. Thereafter, we went to fetch our handmade gifts and passed them to our favourite buddies. The smiles they give us were pricless. It brought tears to our eyes. After handing out the gifts, we started giving out goodie bags containing mosquito nets, some donated clothes and stationery items, that we had prepared the night before. All of them acknowledged the goodie bags with a short ‘aw kon’ which is ‘Thank You” in Cambodian.

After our final water parade at Ta Touk Primary, we held back our tears as we said our final goodbyes before boarding the bus. The farewell was unbearable. Memories from the past 8 days flooded our minds as said our last goodbyes, and gave our last hugs.

We went back to the homestay for lunch as usual and started packing our luggage. We were given a room for two to share as we checked into Ree hotel. We were greeted with the familiar amenities that we are used to back in Singapore. Perhaps it was a reward for the hard work, we were treated to a buffet dinner coupled with a nice performance.

Our final reflection session got us thinking about our roles to create awareness for social causes. What can we do when we get back to school? How can we create awareness of the situation in Cambodia?

P.S.: Are you proud of us, Ms Baizura?- Jun N Hethir

Credits: Rfiqi Andy Larry Hethir Justin Dilraj Suzi Emma for Ideas

Day 8 – Temple run

We woke up in the wee hours of the morning! At 430am, we were already on our way to the AngKor Wat. Our goal for the day was to catch the sunrise over the magnificent temple!

Upon arrival, we were hyped to see the panoramic and scenic view of the famous Angkor Wat. Ready to see the sunrise, we quickly queued to get our tickets. Alas, we were at the Angkor Wat. It was nothing short of legendary! We climbed up steep flights of stairs and saw many intricate designs on the stone-carved walls and pillars. As we got higher up the structure, we experienced wind blowing on our faces, and felt as if we were on top of the world with the mesmerising bird’s eye view of the land surrounding Angkor Wat.

We also visited the other temples nearby the Angkor Wat. By now, the sun was blazing upon us, but that didn’t deter us from our quest to witness the magnificence of the Hindu statues of Vishnu and other gods. The awe-inspiring statues and monuments reminded us of the recently famous application game “Temple Run”. This visit shows us how much time and effort were put into these ancient sculptures. This temple was dedicated to the wife and parents of the King in the 7^th dynasty of Cambodia.

After the visits, we were rewarded to lunch at a restaurant in Siem Reap! Though the place was not air-conditioned, the delicious food (free flow too!) made up for it! We had a taste of our favourite soft drinks again!

Next, we went shopping at a nearby city market where everyone almost went broke. Some of us burned a hole in our pockets purchasing some apparels and accessories. We even ate scrumptious Italian Gelato ice cream! Everyone went crazy! (Thanks Mum and DadJ)

Everyone was so tired after a day’s tour around Siem Reap, visiting heritage sites and tourist attractions. Even though we were tired, we knew that we still had many things to do. Because of what Mr Lim emphasised about the importance of character, we pushed ourselves to get work done even when we’re tired. We pushed ourselves to greater heights! We packed about 150 packets of clothes, rice, stationary and basic necessities for the handing-over ceremony held tomorrow at Ta Tauk Primary School.

We had a jolly good time shopping, bonding and even cracking jokes with our teachers, especially Miss Han and Mr Lim (he was so bad at it). We really enjoyed ourselves and look forward to tomorrow. To our friends, we hope you are having much fun without us. Happy holidays, people! See you soon!

BY Group 2 – Jolene, Danish, Valerie, Faith, Samuel, Fahmi, Aziz and Leroy

(Credits for editing: Danish & Theo)

Ps. Dear Mr Neelan, where are Joy, Celest and Jolene’s Starbucks?)

Day 7 – A Taste of Heaven

We started our day slightly differently. Instead of our daily exercise routines, we started the day by reflecting on the topic of poverty and education. Through it, we learnt more about the Cambodians and their life. We began to sense the great difference between the opportunities of being a Singaporean student and a Cambodian student. Shortly after that, we had our breakfast and set off to the project site!

To keep our spirits up, some of us beatbox and sang our hearts out in the bus. Our fun times ended quickly. We reached the project site and got down to work. We had to decorate the walls of the kitchen that we had built. A group of us formed a group called “The Painters”. We used chalks to draw out the outline of the mural. After which, the rest of the students helped to paint the wall, while others interacted with the kids by playing mass group games. (We learnt that the kids were surprisingly good at Netball.)

Soon after, we travelled back to our homestay for lunch. It was heavenly! Having it later than usual made it much tastier J Then, we headed to the orphanage called Countryside Children Organisation (CCO). Many of the children had clothes and slippers to wear. Our local guide, Mr Soo-thik, gave us a quick tour around the orphanage. There, we interacted with the kids in the orphanage by playing ball games, such as volleyball, basketball and soccer. A couple of girls had their hair braided by the kids. Although our time there was short, we learnt much about the kids there. Free English and Chinese classes were provided to those staying there. The orphanage thrives solely on donations and has only four staff to handle 36 kids. Donations to the home are irregular. These staff hardly received any salary, thus, many of them take on part-time jobs to get by with life.

A pleasant surprise awaited us back in the homestay. We were lucky that Mr Khorn (our local guide) had prepared his signature homemade chicken rice for all of us! This brought back the memories (and cravings) of Singapore local food!!!!!!

BY Group 3 – Giddy, Leticia, Fel, Joyman, Aldrian, Ariq, Aswin, Ashley

P.S We need facial, supper!! Starbucks and Prickly Heat (applies to Ryan Tan as well) Please do have fun without us…….We will be back with tan lines!