And a door opens

And so I open a new chapter.

To those in the dark, SSEAYP stands for Ship for South East Asian Youth Programme, or as we Bruneians call it, Program Kapal Belia Asia Tenggara. Basically it is a annual youth programme that involves selected youth volunteers from all ASEAN countries and Japan, on board the iconic ship, M.S. Nippon Maru. It is funded and carried out by the Japanese Government.

Officially, it seeks:

“to promote friendship and mutual understanding among the youths of Japan and Southeast Asian countries to broaden their perspective on the world, as well as to strengthen their motivation and abilities in international cooperation by participating in discussions, introductions of each country, and various exchange activities both on board and in the countries to be visited”

When I told people of this SMS, most couldn’t figure out what the hell I’d be doing on board. So here it is laid out for all of you to read.

The programme lasts for about 51-52 days, where youths on board will be taking part in activities such as, discussion programs, solidarity group activities, club activities, give introductions about home countries, giving and listening to lectures, and partay. 😛

In short, we’d be acting as mini ambasaddors of our home countries as we stop by every SEA nation to give courtesy calls, attend receptions and participate in institutional visits. Some would get immersed into other cultures through homestays and interaction with local youths.

SO YES. That’s what I’ll be up to from 21st October to 11th December. Expect fun blog posts then! For now, there’s major training and preparation to be done.

I’m very excited and at the same time quite concerned of my social life. Hahaha. Work in the morning and afternoon and training at night till 10.30pm. When will I ever have the time to *gasp* blog and have my long leisurely lunches! No wonder they don’t let students participate anymore.

29 thoughts on “And a door opens”

  1. Hey u…
    Congrats on being selected for this year’s program..
    be sure to have loads of fun… coz i definitely DID last year together with all the PYs on boards… especially with the bruneians!!

    just spent the weekend with 2 of them in KL. *winks*

    congrats again!

    Naz
    SPY07

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  2. yes i kmow what it is all about!! n i envy u!!!!! hahaha.. u kno i jez knew bout this programme when i started officially working in mycurrent industry.. n asked many people about it [even i asked d previous Ketua Kapal Belia whom i know].. its payah kn kna lapas for teachers to join this programme due to antah.. but sure because of ‘long-holiday’ and even if we asked for non-paid leave… (maybe the reason also nothing to do with the academic professional edvelopment whatsoever!) BORING EH!!!

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  4. Thanks NAZ!!! I’m definitely excited and your comment had made me even more excited. LOL. I’m so looking forward!

    She, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA siuk niiiiiiii aku naik kapal and cuti and swimming and yabedabeduuuuuuu *rubbing it in*. i knew dulu sal i bumped into their blogs randomly when i was still in MD. i was like waaahhhhhhh siuknyaaaaaaaaaa belayar ani. i think thats where my love for travelling started. eh tapinya, yatah ijap ku jua! wish me luck!

    btw, masa ku interview, the interviewers were like hesitant jua cause of my degree atu TESL kan, takut2 jua drg kan melapas pasal takut i got drafted to become a teacher before aku graduate and masa aku in the middle of kapal belia sal teachers actuallynya nda kana suruh. i was actually asked,

    “if kana suruh pilih kapal belia sama teaching, yang mana kau pilih?”

    emosi!

    Tina: awu see u guys next sunday jadi ah! :D:D:D i missss u guys already!!!!!!!!!!! mcm becinta, tapi banar!

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  6. hey dang,

    tahniah. I actually tried it out last year. Actually ‘dipaksa’. My heart wasnt into it coz i just got bck frm Ozzie after soooo long. Shipping me off for 3 mths of foreign country didnt appeal to me. Hehehe. But anyways, enjoy the training and interviews etc. Bnyk org ckp siuk. I ended up only round two.

    \./

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  8. wahhhh funnnn i’ve always wanted to go, since i was like little!! ‘lucky youuu 😀 i dont think i’d be eligible.. given my workplace and all. ahhhh congrats mau!!! i’ll be keeping an eye on the the new blog for you 😛

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  9. yatah kan kan kan… ishhhhh atupun skadar kn d censored! sasak ku eyhh.. it was last yr n last 2yrs.. ive been very EAGER 2join n go!! haha siun kali ah ke jipunnnn hahah..u will take bath naked in d pool wit d japanese family.. woahahaha

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  10. Congrats Mau! Meriah niiii SPY tahun ani!!! 😀

    And that’s too bad.. Cikgu inda kana suruh ah.. 😦 Oh well.

    Tina, ko tau.. Inda ku terclick wah masak-masak ah. Batah kan terclick.. I mean I was already thinking about what will we be cooking. HAHAHA.

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  15. Hey u again…
    well.. enjoy the ride while it last…
    some tips tho… the training gonna be tough, it aint a smooth sailing. lots of things to be done. but once the program starts, everything else dont matter.

    do check out the SPY07 site..
    http://sseayp2007spy.blogspot.com

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  16. Congrats!!!

    Itll be a crazy few months.. ull live thru it and totally enjoy yourself! Feel free to hit us up for any advice.. alwez here to help our juniorz… welcome to the SSEAYP Family once again!

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  17. Naz, woooooo! sooo excited! thanks for the tip.

    Thanks Chris, oh I’M A HUGE FAN OF YOU! Haha, fangirl. Anyway, used to watch you debate on TV when I was a wee girl. Thanks for the heads up, will definitely do so!

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  20. Chris, I cant wait to see how your fan would react in meeting you *LOL* see you guys during one of the training nights

    I’m also here to help our juniors *ahaks*

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  21. Oh congrats. I also know someone who’s been waiting for the letter of acceptance. Not sure whether he got in or not heh. Anyway, good luck in advance! 🙂 You’re like the perfect candidate me thinks hehe. 😉

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  23. Haha.. shy ku eh.. the debating thing was so ageees ago haha.. but thanks anyway.. its nice to be appreciated 😀 malu ku pulang hehe…

    Naz: Wrong ah.. i will send the Amahnya after you 😛

    Shasha: Bah bila lagi? Next year? 😛

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  24. Chris, honestly your success in Debate continued to reverberate throughout the debating teams that followed. School debating teams still watch videos where they pick out techniques of How To Be a Debater, and there’s always a video of you debating included. At the time u and was it Joanna?, set a new standard for debating in Brunei. Now and then someone who used to watch you debate will pop up here and there. 🙂

    I have never used the word “debate” so much in one paragraph before.

    Amal, will see u as well! 😀

    War186, siapa war???? heheheheheh. eseh perfect candidate lagitu, thanks and wish me luck!

    Shasha, awu sha, u should try next year! Seriously!

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  26. greetings from SPY 2008! here in singapore we are training hard too!

    guess i’ll see you on board the nippon maru! 🙂 🙂

    rezal
    SPY08

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  28. Can I ask though – how did you get this picked up and into google news?

    Very impressive that this blog is syndicated through Google and is it something that is just up to Google or you actively created?

    Obviously this is a popular blog with great data so well done on your seo success..

    The swimming greats you should write about next, my ex was an olympic swimmer!

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  29. Pingback: Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes. « Turquoise and Roses

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