post-BTN

i keep writing here halfway and never post any entry since i got back from BTN.

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remember i told you about going to BTN? i came back yesterday after spending the past 5 days at Kem Sg. Semilang, Kuala S'gor. like I told you, I wasn't really looking forward for it, but thinking back I realized that of the 3 BTNs I’ve gone, that was the best I would say in terms of the knowledge that I got.

there were 165 participants who are the students from Ireland, United Kingdom and USA. most are medicine students, followed by engineerings, few actuarial sciences and one advance mathematic student. like expected, they're all very good people, knowledgable and talented
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i wrote that one a day after i got back and lost my concentration when my brother played the movie pontianak harum sundal malam that night. haha (what a terrible movie, i couldn't find the flow and i was lost halfway thru watching it. this is reason why i'm not into malay movies. they're dissappointing)

so BTN was OK, i'm not grading it as great as it was not like i was expecting it to be. i went there half-heartedly and i think He really knew how i was feeling at that time. the first nite arriving there, i was sitting at the very rear end of the hall during the first meeting, and surprisingly i was called to sit at the front most as there was an empty seat there. next, i caused a massive havoc when the person who was giving the speech asked me " Tahun berapa (he meant tahun berapa i went to my last BTN)" and naive me answered "Tahun 83 (the year i was born)"...Ya Ampun Tuhan aje yg tahu betapa malunya time tu...the hall was blasted with laughter, even my Dublin friends who were seating by my side were in tears of laughter. and then it just got more interesting as i was picked to be the AJK Dewan by the jurulatih there, i repeat PICKED without my consent. and again the whole hall laughed when he chosed me, that-83-girl!! at that moment i knew i have to straighten my niat of going to BTN, tell my whole self to really BE there and gain the benefits of the 5 days course. and i did, i supposed.

so the whole ceramah on the first day weren't that beneficial to me, my mind was wondering for the whole lot of them. the topics were the same as any BTN i supposed, about negara bangsa, rakyat, pendidikan, how more lame can they be? the second day was the starting of the LDK (latihan dalam kumpulan) and i think i had a great bunch of people in my group. there were 17 of us, and most are medical students. i had a reunion with a friend of mine who went sailing with me on the KLD Tunas Samudera when i was in high-school. most of the guys were very outspoken and broad-minded, and some girls too. the first day was the icebreaking session, and i learnt to accept the fact that there are great divergence in people's ideologies and principles, and they are bound to be respected. these people are seriously very talented ones, we almost had a fight between ourselves when we were debating on a topic in the evening.

so the topics that were discussed for the whole sessions were more to an eye-opener for me, i realized that there are more than text-book materials in this world that i should know about. taking politic as an example, though it sucks and how much i hate it, i think i have to really start searching and looking for the real idea about it (or i can continue being an ignorant, migrate to another country and marry a foreigner with real green eyes. haha u wish). we discussed on the topic i'd say might sounds boring initially but brought on to be more interesting by the different ways looking at it. i was startled by how well-informed the students are and tried not to look that stupid and ignorant by throwing some ideas and left the floor to evaluate my opinions. basically we talked on globalization, patriotism, politics (the one which i was fairly being silent all the time) and few other more, i couldn't recall them. like i once said, i like to analyze people by observation, and meeting these bunch of interesting people made my brain worked for most of the time.

other than the LDK, i coudn't find any other reason to give a plus to the course. there were no kembara on the last day, and the place where we stayed weren't that satisfying, but i can sure you that the food was awesome! yes that would be the other reason i think. haha. but yeah, it's the knowledge that i got that counts.

quote from the BTN

"jgn sampai semangat patriotism yg kita pupuk dlm diri menjadi semangat nasionalism yg mana ditegah dalam Islam"

at least there are people that put religion as their priority. my salut to them.