Monday, August 3, 2009

Australian Sister School Visit to SMK Gunung Rapat Gavel Club

Contribution by : Members of SMK Gunung Rapat Gavel club ( Junior Toastmasters club)



SMK Gunung Rapat was proud to host a group of 8 students from its Australian sister school that came on a study tour to Malaysia. The study tour compromising a total of 8 students and 3 of their teachers were exposed to the Malaysia Education system from 24th to 26th of June 2009. On the day of their arrival, they were briefed by our head boy and then taken for a tour of the school. The Australians were lucky enough as they had a chance to participate in various activities that were carried out in conjunction with the PPSMI week. They also attended the Gavel Club meeting. It was a very good opportunity for the Australians to share their experience in Malaysia in this public speaking oriented club meeting. They had a great time during the meeting.

On the second day, the Australians were placed in few upper form classes. As such, they had the chance to get familiar with the students. They were also exposed to Malaysian customs and traditions. They enjoyed meeting new people and making new friends. A special trip to Gua Tempurung and the introduction to Malaysian traditional games such as congkak, teng-teng, batu seremban and sepak raga fascinated them. The school boarders entertained and guided the Australians about these games. They especially enjoyed learning sepak takraw and even promised to promote the game to their friends and family back in Australia.

On Friday, SMKGR’s Arts and Visual Club organized a batik workshop, a very famous local art. The Australians enjoyed themselves immensely during this activity and got to take their creations back home. They even shared their ideas on arts with our students. It was indeed a great and splendid experience for the Australians. The school threw a farewell party for the Australians on the last night of their visit.

The Australians joined boarders for dinner and the performances. The Australians even performed and sang a few local songs such as “Rasa Sayang” and many other wonderful rhymes and so on. It was indeed a special experience for them as they can practise their Bahasa Indonesia with us Malaysians. Before the party ended, all of them took pictures of each other to be kept as remembrance. On Saturday, the final day of the study tour as well as a school day for SMKGR, representatives from the Rosebud Secondary College went on stage during our assembly and bid us farewell before leaving for Penang.


It was a very memorable event for all SMKGRians. On the whole, the study tour from Rosebud Secondary College was a total success. Because of the H1N1 virus scare the school management requested the Australians to abide to some safety measures in order to prevent infections. SMKGRians had a great time interacting with the Australians. The very “friendly” nature of Malaysians made the Australians felt comfortable and were like home during their stay here. To ensure a more sustained relationship with our sister school, SMKGR is making plans to visit our sister school in March next year. We hope that we will be able to achieve our plans………..Go SMKGR !!!!

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