Live, Learn, and Love Malaysia :) : Merbok and Metang :)

While on a weekend trip to Merbok and Metang, I had one of the best experiences thus far. We started out our trip by heading by boat to a few mangrove forests nearby. We departed from the docks around 9:00am and arrived at our first Mangrove around 10:00am. During our boat ride, we came across a plethora of species I had never heard of. We came across Mangrove Crab, Horseshoe Crab, White Bellied Eagles, Tiger Prawn, Catfish, Grouper and so much more!

At our first Mangrove, we descended into a valley of sluggish mud. It was dark, wet and dirty. As we began to analyze the various species that made their home in the depths of the Mangrove, I attempted to take it all in. There was so much dark, but amongst it all, there was life. Life that survived off a food chain of species that which depended on one another. In a matter of a few hours, I learned about the biological classifications of Mangrove species such as crab, clam, knee roots, and buttress roots.

We ended our day by heading to local kompang's material arts performance. At this ceremony we saw a traditional martial arts performance - it was so cool! Each performance began with two people. The two people would synchronize a choreographed piece and then would break into an all out spar. We watched what seemed like five distinct duo performances before a group performance followed. There was jumps and kicks and twists - it was basically a live Jackie Chan movie! In the end, they invited our group to join them in closing the performance with their classical routine. As we attempted to mask their steps/moves, you could tell that we were struggling. All in all, it was so much fun!

The next day was by far the BEST DAY EVER!! We woke up bright and early to headed to a local kompang in order to teach english to underprivileged children and learn some more Bahasa Melayu at the same time! I can wholeheartedly say that It was one of the best experiences I have had in Malaysia thus far! Upon arrival, the village children were lined up as a welcome party waiting for our arrival. As we walked through the crowd of beautiful children aged 8 to 18, we were bathed in flowers! We were taken to the front of the classroom where we were introduced to the man behind it all: Tok Su.

He is a retired USM professor who moved back to his childhood kompang to educate underprivileged youth. He explained how most of the children's parents are fisherman or handy man and thus, are considerably economically disadvantaged. As he described his desires to educate these youth he brought me to tears - both tears of joy and tears of sorrow. Furthermore, he asked us to ponder the quote, "We are delivered into tis world full of bees, trees, and rivers through which we received our sustenance. The actual lesson is not just the gleaning of information but rather the ability to live in harmony with all creations" - Unknown. A very thought provoking quotes, this acted as a segway to the fact that we are all connected by our humanism. Thus, we must learn to live in harmony for it may be the only commonality among us all. He followed by presented our group with a beautiful painting of a river with a sunrise on the horizon. On the left there are two golden eagles which represent us Gusties (Americans). On the right is a tiger of which represents the children of Malaysia. They held a ceremony and our professors signed the middle of the sea to signify them being a witness, while a select few students (Malaysian and Gusties) signed each others sides to signify that they wanted to see past our differences to be our friends in harmony. After, Tok Su began to fill my heart with joy when he explained the results of his free school. Many of his pupils go on to be chemical engineers, physics majors, etc. Additionally, four of them are graduate programs and another two are getting their PhD's.

Ultimately, this was by my best time spent in Malaysia because I was able to actually meet some of the cutest children ever. Many of them stricken by poor, but still linger onto the hope of an education. This past weekend has only solidified my notions of educating our youth, especially the poor. Education is a powerful tool that can uplift just about anyone. Thanks for reading this whirlwind of a post!

Sending so much love from Malaysia,

Hales