Time flies. The past six weeks were like a dream, so intensive yet memorable. Six-week time wasn’t terribly long, but surely wasn’t short either. It was enough for you to find your true self, explore your abilities and build life-long friendship.
Throughout the project, I was working at Sarawak Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) to prepare for an international conference about animal welfare. The conference is going to be held in October and we had to start sending cold emails and draw as many delegates as possible. I had the chance to sit down with the chairperson and the president of SSPCA to discuss about strategies and details. I just started picking up Photoshop before heading off to Sarawak and I never thought the skill would come so handy. I helped to design conference materials, newsletter pages, promotional emails and posters. The more I practiced it, the better I became. That was the time when I realise design might be the right thing for me.
Besides, I helped at the animal shelter twice a week. I cleaned the cages, fed the cats, washed the dogs and updated the animals record. It might sound like a paradise for anyone who likes animals but we also got to face the reality, seeing how unwanted pets being dumped by irresponsible owners, suffer from sickness and being poisoned by cynical neighbours. Protecting animals is never easy, but still there are millions of people and organisations around the world protecting what they think is worthy everyday.
On weekends, I spent time travelling around and exploring new things. Within Kuching, I went to Bako National Park for hiking and camping and Pulau Satang for snorkelling and watching green turtles. Outside Kuching, I went to Bali in Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur and Penang in West Malaysia. I experienced so many first-time-in-life in those six weeks, first time diving, snorkelling, parasailing, climbing mountain, seeing fireflies, seeing turtles on the beach, travelling alone, bowling, playing pools, playing GoCar and so much more. The world is actually so much larger and so much more fun. There are so many things that we could not experience in Hong Kong. I was totally wonderstruck by everything I came across.
Of course, the best part of the project is the people, people who filled my experience with laughter and tears. People are so different from Central Asia to Western Europe and from Eastern Europe to the Middle East. Believe me, they are different from the mono-styled factory-made Hong Kong students you used to meet. I experienced the true variety of humanity, nasty yet genuine, destructive yet friendly, wild yet serious. I took time to get to know, accept and understand. There were people you started awkwardly with but ended up crying and hugging at the airport. There were people you never could understand until we started copying each other’s little quirks and pet phrases. There were people who started off as acquaintances and ended up as long-distant couples. Things became so different from where we started. Although separated, we keep our memory and friendship alive.
It feels complicated coming back to Hong Kong. Not having air-conditioning was one of the my biggest worries before I headed to Malaysia, but now I started feeling a bit cold under all the unnecessary air-conditioning everywhere in Hong Kong. My other EP friends from environmental projects used to preach me on food waste and plastic bag usage all day and now I found myself feeling guilty wasting food and using plastics in Hong Kong. Surely impacts are there, but it’s entirely up to me whether to incorporate my new habits or to go back to my old way of living.
A total of seven weeks in Malaysia, I got out of the Hong-Kong-way of thinking. Less about utilitarianism and competition, more about passion and dreams. Walking away from the designated path drawn by the society, I discover what I truly love and where my passion really lies. And most importantly, I was simply genuinely happy with who I am and what I do.
A preview of my most precious photos! Gonna write about them one by one later. More stunning photos coming up! :)
On weekends, I spent time travelling around and exploring new things. Within Kuching, I went to Bako National Park for hiking and camping and Pulau Satang for snorkelling and watching green turtles. Outside Kuching, I went to Bali in Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur and Penang in West Malaysia. I experienced so many first-time-in-life in those six weeks, first time diving, snorkelling, parasailing, climbing mountain, seeing fireflies, seeing turtles on the beach, travelling alone, bowling, playing pools, playing GoCar and so much more. The world is actually so much larger and so much more fun. There are so many things that we could not experience in Hong Kong. I was totally wonderstruck by everything I came across.
Of course, the best part of the project is the people, people who filled my experience with laughter and tears. People are so different from Central Asia to Western Europe and from Eastern Europe to the Middle East. Believe me, they are different from the mono-styled factory-made Hong Kong students you used to meet. I experienced the true variety of humanity, nasty yet genuine, destructive yet friendly, wild yet serious. I took time to get to know, accept and understand. There were people you started awkwardly with but ended up crying and hugging at the airport. There were people you never could understand until we started copying each other’s little quirks and pet phrases. There were people who started off as acquaintances and ended up as long-distant couples. Things became so different from where we started. Although separated, we keep our memory and friendship alive.
It feels complicated coming back to Hong Kong. Not having air-conditioning was one of the my biggest worries before I headed to Malaysia, but now I started feeling a bit cold under all the unnecessary air-conditioning everywhere in Hong Kong. My other EP friends from environmental projects used to preach me on food waste and plastic bag usage all day and now I found myself feeling guilty wasting food and using plastics in Hong Kong. Surely impacts are there, but it’s entirely up to me whether to incorporate my new habits or to go back to my old way of living.
A total of seven weeks in Malaysia, I got out of the Hong-Kong-way of thinking. Less about utilitarianism and competition, more about passion and dreams. Walking away from the designated path drawn by the society, I discover what I truly love and where my passion really lies. And most importantly, I was simply genuinely happy with who I am and what I do.
A preview of my most precious photos! Gonna write about them one by one later. More stunning photos coming up! :)
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