YOUTH ALERT!!!

My internet darling, ( hehehe...you know who I am talking about, baby) shared his childhood story getting (mis) educated in Gombak. Now, all Gombak residents including The Switters, The Union Guy, Indie King etc, don't ambik hati. Our discussion did not amount to breach of Minang security nor, had it explicitly slander any of you in whatsoever way. He was telling me about how the school in that area does not create any kind of hope in the students to become better people. How the teachers had (or still have) preconceived notions, judgemental and not very supportive of the kids. "Apa nak jadi dengan korang" is the official hymm for these teachers and a display of mischief is a S.O.S for moral and discipline. Frankly, the whole education system is in a mess, not only Gombak. Thank god some of us escape the mess by becoming deviants, "kultus" leaders/followers, started rock bands, myspaces etc...( could be messier but happier, yes?) What will happen to our new generation in this country... *sigh*

(Sound of Wawasan 2020 anthem fading replaced by Fugazi `s KYEO )..Ceh...

Its not that bad, actually. Look at the end of the tunnel at Karak Highway and you will see a tiny flickering light. A collective of young and not-so-young people had in 2004 started a youth program in Gombak called "Youth Alert!". Due to boredom, unemployment and lack of sanity, this group sat down to brainstorm at one of the warung mamak and decided that " Hei, maybe we can kill time by screwing the kids `s head...They look like some boring hip hop wannabes (whereas we look untypically like some ruined secret society)". So, everyone agree to that idea and start...err...ordering teh tarek. It took some time for them to take off coz some of them have to bagi anak makan, dating, buat course work and organize peace rallies.

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NEWS FLASH

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BBC strong man, Shahrir resigned from Parliament due to an incident where he didn't get support for Kit Siang `s motion (of which he supported) on a suspected foul play in a timbre consignment case in N. Sembilan. Read about it, here. So, to you guys who are out of job, there is vacancy apparently in the Parliament, a very ad-hoc-on-second-thought kinda position actually. Your job essentially is to make noise in the Parliamnet. But better check your connections to see if you can make it. The "maverick" will be sorely missed but oh, well, life goes on for us common people...

Back to the main report..

When they promo the program, a lot of teenagers warmed up to the idea and agreed to join. The idea of doing something over the weekend which has nothing to do with homework, aweks and parents seemed fresh to them. The collective ( will be known as ISREC, hereinafter) conduct the "floating school" ( a term student activists in some European countries used for informal classes) for 2 1/2 months with the great help from other youth groups doing similar stuff in other area. They have The Art Guy ( a guy with self-learned art skill), The Theater Maniac ( another guy who writes and produce theaters endowed with heavy social critique ) and some other arty people. The core group on the other hand are like 5 people with 5 different taste for food, ideology and sexual orientation. ( I made up the last bit), so when it comes to the BIG question : what are we going to do with these kids, anyway? All agreed to 2 simple reasons - to make the kids feel good about themselves and to create a safe and creative outlet for them to vent their anger, frustration whatsoever. The ideology-PEACE & JUSTICE.

The first few weeks are focused on discussions and activities which help the kids develop their own opinion about themselves, their peers and community. This was done through simple photography exercise, comic drawing sessions, role plays and abit of right-based activities. The next part was to expose them to various artistic skills to sort of offer them alternatives to explain themselves (if they want to explain themselves) or to channel their creativity- stencilling, t-shirt making, storyboard etc. According to the collective, the kids really enjoy the classes and cases of drop out or absents are pretty rare.

But how do u know they are comfortable with themselves or if they think the classes are their safe space?

One of them explained an incident. When the first class started, there is this boy who actually wears ear ring but he took off the ear ring so as not to let the trainers saw him wearing it. After the third class, he came to the next class with the ear ring on confidently. " We want them to be comfortable with who they are or choose to be, free from any sort of fear.To build that confidence, the trainers avoid judgemental attitudes. We treat them as friends and respect their choice of appearances or orientation of life, so we earned their respect through respect". Another admitted that "yeah, we can get this on our own in K.L etc, but nothing beats having it here, these cool classes in our own backyard!"

Other young people from other community was brought in to discuss youth issues together. Rather than looking like some boring suffocating classroom ordeal, the floating classes seemed to be lively, fun and cool. Not the kind of classes we get in schools nowadays.

So there is hope after all. (Bob Dylan `s The Times They are a-changing heard at the back). I heard they are coming up soon with another one this year with a music band in the plan. Here`s hoping for more rebels with a cause in our country!

Youth Alert will be putting up a blog in the near future. So, be alert !