CIMP Trekking Club

When's next?

2008-09-22T23:45:00.000-07:00

Time flies really fast; seems like it was just yesterday that Mr. TMC announced to us the idea of the trek to Mt. Kinabalu. It was exhilarating and very appealing, but at the same time I buried some of my hopes of going for the trip. My parents have never been very supporting on me going on treks. I have always been a rambunctious kid, and being typical Chinese and conservative parents they are, they always expect me to grow up to be ladylike. Trekking and other extreme sports were never on their agenda in bringing me up.

Time flies really fast; seems like it was just yesterday that I was begging my mum to let me go to Kinabalu. And also begging her to give me the RM500 for the down payment. And the feeling of contentment when she finally gave me the permission to go, and the joy when I finally handed Mr. TMC the cash.

Time flies really fast; seems like it was just yesterday that I had to sacrifice my beauty sleep and wake up in the morning to go and promote one of our fund-raising activities, Car Wash. It was my first time helping out in a Car Wash. I was actually so impressed by the enthusiasm of the fellow CIMP-ians that even those that who were not going up Mt. Kinabalu helped us out as well. Some of my close friends, Andrew Tong and Jeng Shiun, voluntarily helped us; they sacrificed not only their energy, but also their precious time. Which they could probably have used it to do something else.

Time flies really fast; seems like it was just yesterday that Mr. TMC called me at 10am, asking me to go to college and try on the prototype of the popular "I'm Addicted" T-shirt. I remember how I hated that picture of mine (still looking sleepy and I hadn't bathed at that time) and how I repeatedly feel embarrassed that the picture had to be shown up practically everywhere; in college, Mr. TMC's blog, Punan Bah's Blog, etc.

Ah. That brings me to Punan Bah. It was so unfortunate that the longhouses in Punan Bah, Sarawak, was caught on fire and made a numerous people homeless. That's when TMC's brilliant idea came; for every RM 2 we collected from each of the T-shirt sales will be donated to Punan Bah Longhouse Charity Initiative. I thought to myself, 'At least that ugly picture of mine modelling the T-Shirt are now doing not only CIMP Trek Club good, but also Punan Bah'. Not only we helped out from donating some portion of the T-Shirt sales, we helped to collect stuffs to be donated to them. This taught us a lot during the process, and I regret for not being able to participate much in this because i had to go back to Indonesia.

It was not only us students who sacrificed, the lecturers did too. I can't imagine how the lecturers had to squeeze a lot more planning for this event into their brains. I'm sure they already have a lot of other stuffs to be stressed about.

Time flies really fast; seems like it was just yesterday that I was busy multitasking between finishing my assignment and shopping for the stuffs to bring for the trip, and also packing them. And soon after we were already on the plane to Kinabalu. I remember how the people in our van on the way to Mesilau were complaining on how they can't sleep because Leon, Shamini, and I couldn't stop singing during the entire journey. We were simply too excited. I call it the joyride.

Time flies really fast; seems like it was just yesterday that me and Shamini were being such a pain in the a** to the guides because we were super slow. And how I thought of not going up to the Low's Peak after such a long ascend. How I was contemplating that I've come a long way for the trip, not being on the peak was such a waste, on the other hand that I might have pushed myself to the limits, and that it was not necessary for me to be up there, I've learned a lot along the way anyways. But in the end, I made it. Even though it took me such a long time to get up there. And it was such a satisfaction to tell those people that were going up as we were descending the mountain that 'It's not that far more' or 'Good Luck, we've made it to the peak'.

Time flies really fast; seems like it was just yesterday that I was happily doing white water raffting on Sungai Padas. And how we spent the evening and the next day exploring Kota Kinabalu, savouring the orgasmic seafood and Sabah noodles and roaming around the traditional markets and views.

Time flies really fast; I can't believe the trip ended exactly 3 weeks ago, and I still can't get over it. We all thought everything that we paid for this trip was worth it. Not to mention the energy, time, the class I had to miss in Monash (Was supposed to have a test that day!) and everything else that we sacrificed for this trip. And it was super nice to get to know some new people : Justin, Darwin, V, Faril. It was not just about climbing up Mount Kinabalu. It was about the whole package : the effort in making this happen, car wash, Punan Bah, pre-treks, meetings, etc. And of course the anticipation.

Time flies really fast; so before we run out of it, when's the next trekking trip?

toodles - G

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

2008-09-13T09:56:00.001-07:00

Merdeka Day on top of Mount Kinabalu

LOW'S PEAK
4095.2m

CIMP Trekking Club
:::Kinabalu members:::

Jennifer Collins, Mei Fong, Chui May, Suyin, Marc-Andre Plouffe, Shamini, Darwin, Tet Leon, Vairavan, Tan Meng Chwen, Justin, Jessin, Gabriella, Nadia, Qi Kit, Faril

The end

2008-06-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

>On Tuesday, 17^th June the CIMP Trekking Club has finally succeeded in shipped off the donations to the Punan Bah Tribe in Bintulu, Sarawak. Hurrah!!! Now we can all breath in relief and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.

A huge warm hug and thanks to everyone that was involved in this charity drive of hope.

Congratulations are in order too, for today we all made a difference in the world. =D

To Mr. Tan, the mastermind with a big heart behind it all and Ms. Janie, our beloved school mommy that keeps Mr. Tan in check while doing probably the biggest portions of the work (with sanity intact! Omg!) – Thank you guys for teaching us such valuable lessons along the way with all the hard work and fun filled times. Not forgetting the constant flood of emails containing orders, directions and plenty of mindless arguments that keeps us entertained.

To the Trek Club students that helped out all along, you guys know who you are. You guys are the best! From the t-shirt selling to the poster productions to the rounding up of the donated items, to clearing and packing the mountain pile of clothing and insane amount of shoes, and being so willing in helping out at any given time, man you guys are my hero!

(I rather not type your names out just in case I miss someone out and people get mad at me hehehehehe.)

I learnt many beautiful things throughout this charity drive. A pessimist at heart, I have always held my doubts against the kindness and humanity of humans. Little wonder I guess, when one has too much of horrifying news from all around the world. Especially when we live in such a kiasu world today... I always felt that for every action one takes, there has to be a reason of self gain behind it.

Now

I had a drastic change of opinion. Promoting T-shirt sales instead of last minute studies during the finals? Marking papers late into the night because day was spent leading the students with the charity drive? Coming back to college early in the morning during the holidays to pack clothes? No way... I thought. Hence I threw my theory of selfish self gratification out the window. =)

This recent event was a very big eye opener. What touched me most was the help and support provided by a certain Mr. Joseph Goh from the Freight Forwarding Company. Not only did he offer a discount for the 7 boxes we wanted to ship over to Sarawak, Mr. Goh then appeared in college with a truck ready to pick up our boxes so that we could save ourselves a long trip to LCCT. I was awed at the generosity of his heart.

What Mr. Goh did, what everyone did, to help the Punan Bah Tribe was such a beautiful thing. I dunno, I’m actually quite lost for words here. It makes me smile every time I think about it.

Kindness does exist.

This world is made a better place because people like you exist. May God bless each and everyone of you, for always.

Up in the punan.info/blog

2008-05-28T09:33:00.001-07:00

Relating to our previous posts, our Charity Initiative made it on to the Blog of the community that we are helping. The following is the article on the blog.

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Meng Chwen selling T-shirt to help Punan Bah fire victims

May 27, 2008 · General news

Wish Tan Meng Chwen and friends told Punan National Association much earlier, perhaps we can highlight their efforts in the press.

Tan, a Senior Lecturer at Sunway University College when contacted earlier today, told me he had collected clothes, and cash from donors who are mostly staff and students of Sunway University College. He hopes to get enough donations by middle of June before sending them over to Sarawak.

I just found out about their efforts today - when I did backlink check of Punan.Info - and found one of the link when to Meng Chwen blog.

The T-Shirt

Gabby modelling t-shirt. For each t-shirt sold RM2.00 will go to the fund to rebuild Punan Bah longhouse which recently destroyed by fire.

According to Meng Chwen(via his blog):

The first design “I’m addicted… Take me high up the mountains” comes in two variations—Grey and Purple (Magenta) for the front design—with a total production run of only 250 pieces. The shirts will hit the shelves beginning May 20, 2008. Each shirt is priced of at RM30.00. Overseas shipping charges will be extra…
For every shirt sold, RM2.00 would be donated to the Punan Bah Longhouse Charity Initiative that we’ve started. Initially the plan was to run a clothes, toys and stationery donation drive only. But here was an opportunity to give back to the community, too. So here’s our bit to raise awareness about the Orang Asli’s plight and to raise some money for them to rebuild their longhouses and lives.

“I’m Addicted…” motto on the t-shirt is nothing to do with drug abuse or drug addicts. It’s design for outdoor activities (trekking/mountaineering) - hence the “I’m Addicted..Take Me High” moto clarified Meng Chwen in his email to Punan.Info.

Punan National Assocation appreciated and deeply touched by the kindness that Meng Chwen shown towards the plight of the recent fire victims in Punan Bah, Belaga.

Latest development from Punan Bah

For Meng Chwen and all kindhearted Malaysians who have sincerely response to the plight of Punan Bah fire victims. They are currently negotiating a loan from “Sarawak government”. Today (Wednesday) the longhouse committee and PNA hope to meet Minister of Housing Dato’ Seri Abang Johari to discuss the loan.

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We hope that more will come to the aid of these poor souls we are trying to help.

If you have any clothes, bags, toys and stationary that you do not need to use ever again and still are in good condition, please do put them in the boxes in the following places ;

3rd Floor in front of the library

Sun-U Condo

Hostel-Apartment

Cafeteria

or Bring them to the Trekking Club Lecturers - Mr.Tan Meng Chwen, Mr.M-A

Plouffe, Ms.Janie, Ms.Collins

Also, do support the sales of the Trekking Club T-Shirt "I'm addicted, take me high... up the mountains"

The wordings are available in Purple & Grey

RM30 per shirt

RM2 of every shirt would be donated to Punan Bah Longhouse Charity Initiative

If you would like to make monetary donations, you can donate any amount of money to people who selling T-shirt (with Punan Bah stickers on them) or lecturers (Mr.Tan Meng Chwen, Mr.M-A Plouffe, Ms.Janie, Ms.Collins)

We thank you all who have supported this charity and we hope that you spread this charity initiative to your friends so that they could help too!

Punan Bah Longhouse Charity Intiative

2008-05-20T22:36:00.001-07:00

Punan Bah needed help and we believe CIMP-ians can help!!!

show everyone out there our CIMP spirit - PEACE & LOVE

The tragedy was on Monday (5th May 2008) at 11am. The terrifying fire burnt down 4 longhouses and made more than 300 people homeless. The oldest "Keliriengs" or burial poles in whole Sarawak that believed standing for over 200 years in Punan Bah were destroyed. The victims are currently in need of food and clothing. Here, CIMP Trekking Club wants to help and hope that every CIMP students and lecturers can help us too!!!

CIMP Trekking Club activities :

Booth collection of cloths, toys and stationary starting 26 May at

3rd floor
Sun-U condo
Hostle appartment
cafeteria
bring to the trekking club lecturers...

T-shirt - "I'm addicted, take me high... up the mountains"

Purple & grey version
RM30 per shirt
RM2 of every shirt would be donated to Punan Bah Longhouse Charity Initiative
Punan.info

Money Donations - you can donate any amount of money to people who selling T-shirt (with Punan Bah stickers on them) or lecturers (Mr.Tan Meng Chwen, Mr.M-A Plouffe, Ms.Janie, Ms.Collins)

Hey, CIMP-ians!! Don't wait any longer, take action to show them our spirit...

PEACE & LOVE

News about Punan Bah Tragedy :

Video - Punan Bah Longhouse in Fire
New Straits Time
Borneo Post
The Star

Car Wash, Car wash!!!

2008-05-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

On the 15th and 16th of May, we the CIMP treking club had organize a two days car wash fund raiser in order to fund our trip to Mt. KK.

With the help of our lecturers, we managed to successfully wash 60 cars in just two days.

It was a really fun fund raiser (or as I would call it: fun raiser) as we got to play with water, splash each other with soap, manage the car wash etc.

Here are some proof of our efforts

Group A (main car park)

"trusty transporter"

Soaping it!

Group B, lecturer's car park

Squeeky Clean!

We Climb For Clean Peaks

2008-05-18T01:53:00.000-07:00

T-SHIRTS

2008-05-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

We are selling T-shirts to fund our trip

There will be a few T-shirts design coming up in June and July

These T-shirts are specially design by US for YOU

There will be a Limited Stock and sizes

so get yours ASAP

The T-shirt for this month!

(still printing, will update once it is out)

[Click to enlarge]

Price: Only 30 (not including shipping fee)

Color: Black

Size: ( to be updated)

Method of sale: Cash On Delivery (COD), Maybank, paypal

Places that we provide COD : Sunway area, Sunway pyramid, Sunway university, Monash etc

Contact: By chatbox or mail

Please join the Facebook event as well. Here's the link

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=15874660825&ref=nf

intro

2008-05-02T22:14:00.000-07:00

We are bunch of Sunway University College students curently enrolled in the
Canadian Inernational Matriculation Programme (CIMP)

We love going up mountains, camping, taking pictures, etc...

Around 15 of us are going up to Mount Kinabalu which is also the mountain behind our RM1 notes, in late august.The trip and the stay there is pretty expensive and that is why this blog is made so that it will help us to get some money/donations to go up to Mount Kinabalu

We are not just going up for fun, but we are also helping to clean up the mountain on the way up and also help the orang asli around the area by providing them some food and clothes

so, please help us!!!