WITH the introduction of more uniformed units in schools, the scout movement needs to work harder to ensure that it continues to develop, said Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
“There are too many uniformed units in schools. And lately, it seems that students are losing interest in becoming scouts,” he said when opening the state level Scouts Association of Malaysia's bi-annual general meeting.
“Now, the scouts have to compete.” he said.
Mohamad also said that the movement needed to look at its own organisation and suggested that district education offices be included in the scouts association in order to increase the effectiveness of the movement.
He added that membership of the scouts should be increased to 23,000 compared to the current 15,000.“Out of this figure, only 10% of them are active,” he said.
He also said a site, located in the Rembau district of Miku, had been set aside to become an International Scouts Camp for courses and camps to be held for scouts from other countries.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Strive to develop, MB tells scouts
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Re-empower Scout movement
SCOUTING should be made more attractive to youths as one way to counter the Mat Rempit social problem.
Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said scouting was a good movement for instilling discipline in youths.
Dr Koh, who is also State Scouts president, said young people were ‘interested’ in speeding, if not on their scooters and motorbikes, then it would be in their cars.
“Scouting instils discipline so it is a good way to counter this social problem of Mat Rempits,” he told newsmen after launching the Scouts Association of Malaysia, Penang’s 49th Jamboree on the Air (Jota) and 10th Jamboree On the Internet (Joti) recently.
Also present were the Scouts International Com-missioner Jauhar Mohd Yassim, acting State Scouts Commissioner Zulkafli Kama-ruddin and State Scouts Council working committee chairman Teng Chang Yeow.
Dr Koh said participation in the scouting movement had suffered a decline in the past decade nationwide due to competition from other uniformed associations in schools.
“Scouting was the only uniformed movement sanctioned by parliament 30 to 40 years ago.
“Now, with stiff competition from many other uniformed societies in schools, the scouting movement must rise to the challenge to attract more youths,” he said.
Dr Koh called for the scout movement to be ‘re-empowered’ in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Jota, 100th anniversary of the scout movement, Visit Malaysia Year 2007 and the 50th national day celebrations next year.
He called on the council working committee and the commissioners to meet and get the views of veteran scouts on how to re-empower the movement and organise more activities to attract youths.
Later when asked by reporters on his anticipated meeting with Penang Umno Youth to hear out the latter’s grouses, Dr Koh declined to reveal when the meeting would be held.
“We have met during buka puasa events and had chatted. Let bygones be by-gones and let’s move on to the future.
“What is more important is that this is now the time to celebrate Deepavali and Hari Raya together,” he added.
Source : TheStar.com.my
Friday, September 8, 2006
Men to boys
Interviewing four of the eight actors of Goodbye Boys was a riot. Anyone walking past the editing suite at Red Communications, where we met, would think some raucous party was going on.
When told they look older on camera, Razif Hashim jokingly cried: “Oh no, I’ve failed!”
Playing at being 17 again was not easy.
“The most difficult thing was to have that immaturity going on,” said Razif, who can be seen in the new Rexona ads on TV, which are a sort of prequel to the film. “It was very different for me when I was 17. Experiences were what I held on to, not the psyche. To be rigid and follow rules was not what I was when I was a kid. For me, that was a good challenge.”
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Jin (Jay Eng) fighting over a girl with Ivan (Razif Hashim). |
“We were separated into two dorms, with four in each,” said Razif, a college student. “We ended up six or seven in one dorm, all sleeping on the floor or playing cards! It was a brotherly experience and it was good.”
The boys, said director Bernard Chauly, even drove their van driver crazy, who kept asking them “Why don’t you guys sleep or something?”
Said Farid, also a student: “When we were in our rooms and resting, we would talk about girlfriends and stuff. I was surprised that they were so sensitive! He (points to Nas, who plays the strong, silent leader Glenn) doesn’t look like a sensitive guy, but he is!”
Someone asked: “Who cried?”
To which someone else replied: “Er ... no one!”
To which the whole room exploded into laughter.
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Leonard (David Eng, left) looks on as silent leader Glenn (Nas-T) watches the boys swim in a disused mining pool. |
Added Eng, the youngest of the group, and who is doing his A Levels: “We all have so many similarities.”
“And some of us are really vain ... no, all of us are vain!” Farid said with a laugh.
Not all of them have Scouts experience though. Nas’s grandfather was a scoutmaster and Nas learned a lot from him.
“So when I got the role, the silent leader, I based my character a lot on Arnold Schwarzenegger, all this macho leader stuff,” said Nas. To which everyone broke into laughter again.
But the experience on location was so real, it gave them more than they expected in terms of acting.
“It was like ‘I’m going to pretend to be in the jungle, and I’m going to get lost. No, wait, I am in the jungle!’” said Razif.
And all the stress and sweat you see on screen were real.
“The sweat especially!” said Razif. “At first, we started by spraying the actors with water. But after a while, we didn’t need that anymore! When people went like this (sniffs armpits), it is real!”
Some of them found similarities with the characters they played, while some did not.
Said Farid: “Aris and I have a lot in common. I used to have this best friend, who is like Jin (played by Eng). I used to follow him around until Form Five, when I ‘found my spine’. It is so spot-on that it was kind of scary at first.”
Said Eng: “My character is the only one who smokes, but in real life, it’s the exact opposite.”
But is he a “player” like his character Jin?
“No!” he laughed. “Not intentionally. A few years back, I was like Jin. I thought I had everything under control but actually, I did not. I did go through that stage in my life.”
For Nas, he had a best friend who was like Glenn, someone he always looked up to, and it was easy for him to find the nuances of the character.
So, is he a man of few words in real life?
Someone shouted: “It gets worse at night!”
Nas recounted a funny incident in Penang: “A guy who had read about the movie in a magazine walked up to me and said, ‘You know, I was a scout too.’ I told him, ‘And I was only acting.’”
Said Razif: “I think a lot of us forgot about school. Once you step out of school, you want to forget school. But later you realise, hey, I miss school.”
