2nd ASEAN School Games 2010

Closing Cermeony photograph courtesy of Mr. Samuel Sim
 

A group of students from Damai Secondary School, namely Ngan Xue Kai, Chew Jie Quan Kirk, Cheong How Min, Nor Syazwan Bin Abdul Majid and Natasha Nur Binte Salman Al-Farisi together with two teachers, Mr Johnny Ho Seng Lum and Miss Nur Hidahny Binte Mustaffa had been given an opportunity to be away from curriculum hours by their very own principal.

 

The students who did the school proud by achieving 2^nd runner-up in the Samsung Sports Media Challenge, and has also be rewarded a Samsung Monte S5260 together with $1,000 Samsung voucher, were further rewarded by a media trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

 

The media trip was used to encourage appreciation of sports by holistic exposure to all aspects of sports journalism, motivate and enhance interest in the learning of journalism and interviewing skills and to gain experiences to build self-esteem, boost students’ confidence and motivation level.

 

Throughout the whole trip, the five students accompanied by two teachers, had in fact done a media coverage on the 2^nd ASEAN Schools Game which was held in various destinations in the heart of the capitol of the Malaysian nation.

 

Upon reaching their destination in the country, the students were given an opportunity to settle down in a different environment by visiting shopping malls to let them feel stress-free and comfortable with the Malaysians.

 

Upon entering the second day, the students were finally exposed to the media coverage as they were in the action by filming and interviewing sports athletes who had done the nation proud by achieving medals.

 

Throughout the trip, the students continued to gain more of their knowledge towards the media skills such as increasing quality of photographs and also enhancing their videography skills.

 

Students, Syazwan and Kirk, had been on the move by increasing their confidence after having experience by interviewing players of various sports and important chef-de-missions.

 

Mr. Goh Ek Piang, chairman for ASEAN Schools Sports Council mentioned that it was a very rare for secondary school students to have experienced what journalism and media coverage was all about.

 

Some students too were very hardworking by sacrificing precious sleeping time in helping out the teachers in uploading photographs and writing down articles only to be published to their own social network website, Facebook.

 

 

 

Although the media coverage only began during the second out of the fifth day of the media trip, students were already busy preparing for the coverage by the time they had reached the border of Singapore last Thursday. The students were wished all the best by their very own principal and vice principal before sent off to Lavender for the departure by a bus.

 

As the second day entered, the students were enjoying their first lunch in the Crystal Oriental Hotel, Kajang, which they were accommodated for the whole trip.

 

The first venue they visited was the National Sports Council Stadium, Kuala Lumpur. The students were introduced to the media coverage upon entrance to the stadium, feeling anxious to meet new people and most definitely Alan Teh Qun You, who had won a gold medal for Singapore for the discus event.

 

But through each event, the students had in fact gained confidence and grew even more confident to interview and be around athletes who had done Singapore proud by achieving more and more medals for the nation.

 

The students were in fact proud to have been there to witness the events and the steps the Singaporean players took in approaching the championships of the 2^nd ASEAN Schools Games.

 

One thing the students would have definitely enjoyed was most likely being near the supporters as they claimed that they could even sense a strong sense of faith and belonging for each of their nations.

 

Throughout all the exposed matches the team managed to cover, most of them were about Singapore against Malaysia, which we believe was a really competitive one as both Malaysia and Singapore did have similar strength, flexibility, speed and skills.

 

The teachers have in fact enjoyed the cheers displayed by the supporters of the Singaporean team and had also influenced the students to feel supportive.

 

The boys of the team was really enthusiastic when the Singaporean players of any match in the event scored a goal as they suddenly shouted cheers, enhancing the lively spirits made by the spectators whose cheers were constantly echoing through the respective venues.

 

The team can all agree that the most thrilling event was Basketball. The Singaporeans were up against the Filipinos and it was surely the most unforgettable event for them.

The two teams were the fastest and aggressive any spectator would have ever witnessed, increasing their expectations of either nation.

 

The team was also expected to do more advanced media coverage when covering up the finals such as the Netball and Hockey team that was a few of the final tasks before the team managed to enjoy the reward which was enjoying the shopping spree at the Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall in which students were allowed ample time to have lunch and also shop for souvenirs and basic necessities for their own needs.

 

As the trip comes to the end, the team can conclude that experience is the key point towards a successful journey and also with the presence of supporters continuously shouting cheers of motivation, honour, pride and sense of belonging to their own nations, can they truly understand the true meaning of good sportsmanship.

 

The students surely were glad to have done this coverage as the team felt that they had done something to serve and represent Singapore too. The students are eagerly waiting for the chance of once again doing their coverage for the 3^rd ASEAN Schools Games that will be held right here in Singapore, next year, 2011.

 

Singapore is in 5^th place in the scoreboard during time of issue, only a few medals away from catching up with the others and will eventually be able to make it to the top 3 if the supporters would continue to roar and that the players are showing their best ability to the ASEAN countries.