30-Hour Famine: Part IV = Day 2 "We Did It!"

As I am writing this about the last segment of the 30-Hour Famine in West Malaysia, the East Malaysia Famine will be starting soon in Miri Stadium. Here is to my fellow campers of the East – “Jia You!” (Keep It Up!) – You can do it!


A large part of the success of the 30-Hour Famine is due to the great support by the media. In addition to Sin Chew Jit Poh, 988 station and Red FM gave their full-hearted support sending a number of their deejays to support the camp. Deejays, Nick, Jeff, Sam, May and Luke from 988 together with deejays Will, Alvin and Terry were all there to lend support. In fact, deejay Alvin had a 30 hour marathon broadcast from the stadium itself fasting together with the campers.


At 9.00 am, each group was given a large piece of paper with 20 pictures and description on it. Some are ‘wants’ like computer, own bedroom, vacation and other are ‘needs’ like clean water, clean air, education, protection for a happy life. We are asked to eliminate some of the wants and stick with the needs. Out of 20, it was easy to eliminate the first 4. Then, we are asked to imagine a desperate state of deprivation and eliminate another 8 of the balance. It was not as easy as we thought. Is education more important than protection from discrimination? Is nutritious food more important than protection from abuse? Is shelter more important medical treatment? Is clean air, water more important than freedom? And we are asked to eliminate further… for that is the ‘choice’ some children have.


We were given another large piece of paper with blanks square representing breakfast/lunch/dinner/supper of 3 days for our next exercise. We were asked to list down all the delicious food we would like to eat. With hunger now gnawing at our stomach, this was a torture with shouts of noodles, burgers, nasi lemak, curry mee, roti chanai filling the air. Then, we took out small pieces of paper to paste on the squares. More often we drew a blank paper representing nothing to eat or some spoiled food scavenged from the dustbin. This represents a typical day in the life of the some of the children living in poverty.


Then, a brutal documentary was shown of the situation in Ethopia drawing gasps and mourns from the audience. Though, we are all aware how difficult life is in some country, the film still managed to shock us. These last three events all served to hit us when our resistance is lowered and made us more aware of the world’s suffering by comparing our little hunger with the real hunger of the world. It was a humbling experience. At 11.00 am, Professor Wang Zhao again took the stage with more tales of his experience in China. During the free period from 12.00 noon to 1.30 pm, some of us decided to go for the private session with the professor to learn more about his volunteer work in details. The session was very attended with many of those who went, wanted to find way to serve. Professor Wang stressed on the difficulty and dedication needed from a volunteer. He also said there are many ways to serve and sponsoring a child is also a good way.


At 1.30 pm, we went back to the hall for a very special performance. It was a lovely choreographed piece combining dancers on their feet with dancers on wheelchairs from the Shuang Fu Performing Arts Troupe. There was a certain poignancy in the whole scene though all the dancers are celebrating life. What many of us saw are bravery in the face of obstacles and when Madam Shen, the founder of Shuang Fu gave a stirring rendition of the inner struggle that each of them face and try to overcome, there is not a singer camper who did feel a tug at the heart.


Then, someone was being led on stage by the shoulder of his companion. He was blind. I apologized that I neglected my duty for I was distracted when his name was announced. I will appreciate it if any of my readers can correct me. He stood at the center of the stage with dignity and announced he will sing for us. With just the first syllable, the whole stadium erupted in cheers and wild applause. For what a rich, booming, melodious voice he had. The audience was absolutely thrilled and they demanded more. And he complied with English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien songs – all in that rich inimitable voice that resounded and reverberated through the stadium. He sang away our hunger.


I pitied the group – Couple that came up next. Though they gamely tried, they just could not top the last act which is nothing short of amazing. The time is now 3.00 pm. After the emotions expanded in the last sessions, hunger never far away crept back to visit us. We had another 3 long hours to go. It is best to keep busy to keep the mind off food so everyone joined in to help clean up the hall. At 4.00 pm, it was a time for reflection and sharing of the experiences of the campers. What this 30 hours meant for each of us and how we had been affected by it. Many of the campers declared that they will do it again and going by that, this 30 Hour Famine can only grow bigger.


At 5.30 pm the closing ceremony began. Food and drinks were distributed consisting of a packet of powdered mix, a bottle of soymilk and a piece of cake. The countdown began and – “WE DID IT!’ We have survived the 30 Hour Famine. We are proud we did it. We are proud to have made it. We are proud to have made a little difference – to better someone’s world by our act. 5,400 campers, 600 volunteers, 1.2 million Ringgits collected. We are proud to be part of this event.


For those readers who have not joined one of the camp, we hope to see you there next year.


Epilogue: After we left the stadium, we went looking for food. We started with a big meal before and we ended with a big meal after. No, we have forgotten the lesson of hunger. To love food is natural. We don’t have to apologize for that. To be hungry is unnatural. And we should try to help to eliminate the hunger of others. This is not a guilt trip. It would have failed if taken as such for no guilt trip is sustainable. This is a trip where we get in touch with our compassionate side, to remind ourselves that in the good life we live, let us not forget those less fortunate than us and let us do something about it. “Jia You!”

30-Hour Famine: Part III – The First Night & The Morning After.

At 7.30 pm we again gathered in the main hall. The younger campers were especially excited to see their favorite performing artistes which included Fish Leong, Nicholas Teo, Daniel Lee, Yang Wei Han, Francissca Peter, Juwita Suwito, and Sarimah Ibrahim. Before the concert started in earnest, some of these performers paired with selected campers to compete in a game quiz with questions relating to the Famine. The quiz also involved trying to decipher the meaning of 30 seconds silent cartoons by UNICEF that illustrate the rights of children.

The concert started immediately after that. Francissca Peter took the stage with her powerful voice and boundless energy. That got all those who wanted to dance down to the open area in front of stage where they grooved to the music. I smiled as I witnessed the scene. At this stage, I was beginning to feel a bit hungry. I was trying to conserve my energy to last the distance. That is the difference between the young and the old, I thought. The old having less energy left is better at conserving and pacing themselves.

She was followed by the other singers who gave a few songs each. After watching for about an hour, I decided to go back to our allotted place in level 3 to watch the event from above. I could have some quiet time by myself and yet be in a position to watch what is going on without missing anything. It was a different feeling sitting alone up there looking at the orange masses moving to loud music. It ended with all the artistes getting up on stage and once again, launched the huge balloons which the crowd smashed to one another till they all burst.

It was 11.00 pm by this time and the crowd drifted back to their respective places to prepare for the night. Most of the campers chose to sleep by the outer corridors that framed the stadium and the stadium floor. A group of experienced campers even pitched their own tent. Preferring privacy, I looked for a quiet corner at the highest level and made my bed on the concrete floor in-between seats. I brought along a sleeping bag and not liking the cold much (the whole stadium is air-conditioned), brought plenty of warm clothing. The lights were dimmed and the noise took a long time but gradually faded away. I remained awake for sometime reflecting on the events of the day. Though I have not slept on a concrete floor for as long as I have not gone hungry, I was happy to be there at that time and place. Slowly, I too drifted off to sleep.

I woke up just before just before the music came on to announce the new day. My first conscious thought was – we had traveled 2/3 of the way. The next thought was to check my stomach. I was hungry but not unduly so. At 7.00 am, there will religious activities for all the main religions – Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. We went to wash our face and have to contend with a very long queue. This called for patience.

There was a yoga class at 8.00 am. I was reluctant to join in, worried that I will work up an appetite. But my young friends wanted to see if I can still bend those old joints. So I ended up in the floor forcing my stubborn body and limps into submission. Did I hear something crack? As I feared, the longer the exercise stretched on, the hungrier I got. “Mind over matter”, my mind said. Only to be met with an angry growl. I was glad the exercise was finally over. Before we even get to our seat, the next activity was starting…

30 Hour Famine: Part II - Day One.

The big day is here and all I can think of is what to eat before I began the famine. Something to last 30 hours. Given the choices between “Bak Kut Teh” (pork stewed in herbal soup) which Klang is famous for, or “Bak Kut Rice” (Chinese pork chop) which has a famous stall opposite the Klang bus station, I chose the later.

At 9.30 a.m. we ordered pork chops, curry mutton in clay pot, fried meat balls and stir fried vegetable. I polished these off with two bowls of rice and drowned them with thick homemade soy milk. One of us remarked that we should not have ordered soy milk as we will be given some for the famine little did we know that the rules had been changed this year and water will be our only subsistence for the 30 hours.

When we reached Stadium Putra in Bukit Jalil, we knew this will be a well organized event when we saw volunteers welcoming and pointing out direction to participants approaching from the car parks and LRT (light rail transit) station. There were four in our group and we were joined by another friend who took a long bus journey from Kota Tinggi, Johore to Bukit Tinggi, Klang the night before.

After registration at the entrance, we entered to see some volunteers hurriedly eating their box lunches at a corner. I threw a nod their direction as respect for their dedication and sacrifice - no Bak Kut Rice. We were asked whether we would like to join the English or Mandarin speaking group. There were no hesitation among my companions and not wanting to be separated, I joined them with my barely passable Mandarin.

17 participants were grouped together under a volunteer leader who had been trained to take charge. Our leader is a pleasant face girl with a sweet smile. In addition to the 5 of us, there were a group of 4 upper six students, 2 colleagues who brought along 2 young relative, a determined young girl is her third famine who brought along 2 younger charges and one lone ranger from Penang. A significant number in our group had done this before. It is interesting and encouraging to note the big number of repeats and participants bringing along their younger charge after experiencing the famine. This alone convinced me that this experience is meaningful enough for past campers to want to share it with those close to them.

Ours were the oldest in the group. And I was by far the oldest of any of them. It took us more than half an hour of looking around before we saw someone older. The median age is very young, way below 20. I was impressed. And I could not help thinking – this is encouraging for the future of our society when the young have such positive response to social responsibility. Later, we learned that the oldest participant is 72 (and a repeat) and the youngest is only 2! So while the age group is overwhelmingly concentrated in the late teens to early twenties, the range is as big as you can get. Maybe something I can use to convince my hesitant friends (yes, you who are reading too!:-)) that this famine is for all.

We changed to our bright orange T-shirt. The volunteers wore lemon yellow. On the way back to the hall, I bumped into a group of Miss Astro finalists with their ‘poise’ and almost burst into song “I’m too sexy for my clothes, too sexy for my clothes”. We settled down in our assigned seating and waited for the program to start at 12.00 noon.

At exactly the stroke of twelve, emcees William Lee and Yap Cam Yew burst upon stage with their rapid exchanges of dual languages and individual brand of humor. They were effective in getting the campers to loosen up. Much of the success of this camp can be attributed to this dynamic duo who if nothing else kept the audience from falling asleep.

To engage the campers, a series of games and events followed. The first game started with aping those on stage performing the antics of Superman, the Incredible Hulk and Ultraman. Soon, giggling and laughter echoed through the stadium. Gigantic balloons were rolled down from the upper floors threatening to crush those below. But they were enthusiastically flicked away for the group left holding them when the music stopped, had to do the funny banana dance to accompaniment of “…peel banana, peel banana, shake banana, shake banana…” The ice-breaker melted away any inhibitions and restraints.

1.00 p.m. - Time to slow down the tempo slightly. Each camper was given a piece of white paper to draw himself. After this was done we were to match the drawn picture with the actual person. That was not an easy task given our ‘talent’ at drawing. It was fun and we came to the unsurprising conclusion – there was no artist among our group of 18 for we were all equally good. To get blood flowing again, waves after waves of Mexican waves rippled through the stadium from one end to the other and back again.

1.30 p.m. – Now came the time to show campers what to expect of the 30 hours famine. Stages and highlights of the last camp were shown. Campers were advised on how to handle and brace themselves for the duration. As no events can be successfully held without rules of conduct, this was explained in detail to campers on what are expected of them.

2.00 p.m. – The official ceremony started with the arrival of the guests of honor - the Minister of Transport, the MD of World Vision International, the chief editor of Sing Chew Jit Poh (SCJP) newspaper and the chairman of Help University. SCJP had been supporting the famine since its inception 10 years ago and Help U for the last 7 years. These 2 bodies were instrumental in its success. In unison, all campers stood up, raised their right hands to make the Famine Pledge.

We pledge to willingly and passionately participate in this 30-Hour Famine to help children living in poverty.

We are fasting to ensure that no child has to grow up losing the basic rights that he or she is entitled to.

We are fasting because nothing will change if we do not take action together.

I understand that I am pledging to drink only water during the 30 hours and will also try my best to refrain from negative thoughts and speech.

Instead, I will do my utmost to help each member to complete and experience this camp to its fullness.

This official opening began with these 4 dignitaries pounding on Chinese drums to the roar of approval from the campers. As the dignitaries left, the Hands Percussion Team took over with an amazing display of exploding sounds that reverberate through the stadium moving hearts to its beats. Lighting movements produced galloping sounds to thunderous boom. The sound dropped down to cascading water, metallic taps before rising in volume and urgency of an approaching tsunami. We loved their performance.

4.00 p.m. – We went outside to the corridors to do two activities. We were each given a wet string which we stringed through our T-shirt over the shoulder and out the other end. The cold wet string gave an unpleasant sensation as it ran under our neck. We sat in a circle and tied the end of the string to that of our neighbor.

To make it more fun, we challenged our neighboring group to see who can do it faster at the shout of “Go!” It was explained how water shortage is so critical in some country that they will drink water infected with Guinea worms. These grew in their bodies and later bit its way out through the swollen leg in excruciating pain. We tied the strings to our wrist for the duration of the camp to remind ourselves of the suffering of some of the world’s children.

The next exercise consisted of trying to make a house with whatever materials at hand – bottles, strings, masking tapes and newspaper. No only are we not artists, we were hopeless architects and constructors too. While we were having healthy laughs at our own incompetency, at the back of our mind we must also be thinking how ill-equipped we are if we were to face the world without our trappings.

5.00 p.m. – We went back to the hall to watch a documentary on the suffering of the forgotten people of Ethiopia. It was a brutal movie not of war but of the slow punishing ordeal of starvation that drew gasps and mourns from the audience. Next, Dr. Wang Chao of World Vision China shared his unique experience with us. Through his eyes, we see the many projects carried out in China. The challenges they faced and their fortitudes in overcoming them. This segment concluded with our deep respects and love even, for these noble volunteers who are willing to sacrifice everything for strangers. I am quite sure it inspired a number of the audience to be volunteers themselves.

6.00 p.m. – We adjourned to the upper level 3 to allow the level below to be prepared for the concert that night. We had some time to do whatever we desired. We went round to visit some of the booths set up and we chatted. Till now, I was holding up admirably well and hunger had not visited me yet but I have only

completed 20% of my journey. As I sat on the upper floor surveying the activities below, I had mixed feelings. I had enjoyed myself. So much so that a little guilt had crept in. In the face of all the suffering all over the world, I felt a little underserved to be living the good life. If I had felt a bit hungrier, maybe that will assuage this feeling somewhat.

But then, I remembered there is a role for everyone in this world. Not all can be volunteers but ALL can play a part. I will work in the office, I will earn my money and I will contribute a portion of it to help those more in need than me. I will not be nobler than the selfless volunteers but I can still be a noble person. As these thoughts flitted across my mind, I remembered the wise words of Mother Teresa –

“If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one.”

To be continued...

Going "Hungry For Hope"!

I am going hungry. I had not gone hungry for a whole day in my entire adult life. But this time I’m going hungry for 30 hours. But I am not doing it alone. I am doing it with others to celebrate Hunger – as a key to unlock more windows in our hearts.

Am I concerned? What do you think? Always find hunger pangs difficult to tolerate. That growling in the stomach, the growing emptiness, the sapping of energy from the limbs. I never wait for it to develop that far, I filled it with food or snacks as temporary measure. I love food too much to go hungry. When I tried to recruit more friends to join us, the typical responds are “You crazy? Paying to suffer?!” or for the more generous ones “Take my money but please don’t asked me to go”. Look like hunger drives fear into a lot of people. That is only natural, I guess.

From 12 noon of September 15 (this Saturday) to 6.00 p.m. of September 16, eight thousand kind souls will converge onto Stadium Putra in Bukit Jalil Kuala Lumpur. They are there to participate in World Vision’s 30-Hour Famine 2007. This is the 10th year “Famine” will be held in Malaysia and coincides with the 10th Anniversary of World Vision Malaysia. It will be a bilingual event held simultaneously in English and Mandarin.

Each of the participants will donate a minimum of RM150.00 (RM100.00 for students and senior citizens). The beneficiaries of this fund-raising are the World Vision Vietnam Ba Thuoc Area Development Project, World Vision Hope Fund, World Vision Malaysia Development Fund, Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled and Persatuan Kristian Shuangfu. Malaysia is not the only country organizing such event. It was first started by World Vision Canada as far back as 1971 and has spread to World Vision offices all over the world. Malaysia will held 2 such events this year with the East Malaysia event to be held in Miri on the 6 and 7 October. To learn more, please visit World Vision for more details. And to get some personal insights into behind the screen work done by volunteers, please check out http://30hourfaminemalaysia.wordpress.com/

During the 30-Hour Famine Camp, participants will be acquainted with the world-wide humanitarian work of World Vision. The program conducted will include mini-talks, video presentation, simulation games as well as concerts. All sounds interesting but the predominant thing in my mind is still – how will I cope with hunger?

Tune in next week to find out how this cowardly blogger cope with one of his greatest phobia.

p.s. If there are any readers going for the camp and would like to meet up, please send me an email with your name and phone number through my email listed at the top of my blog and we shall try to establish contact. See ya there!

(All photos are from World Vision )

Please check out "Ghostwise" for quotations on Hunger.