2nd Chung Ling International Camp

Taking that flight to Penang, I had mixed feelings of what I would expect when I reached Chung Ling High School. I never participated in an exchange programme before and thus didn't know what to expect. However, throughout the course of 7 days, I enjoyed every single moment of the camp and never regretted spending an entire week in Penang.

On the first few days, we went for sight seeing around Penang, going to beautiful places like Kek Lok Si Temple, one of the grandest temples in Malaysia as well as in South East Asia as a whole. This was also where the gigantic statue of Buddha reclines in, on the 3rd level. It was one of the biggest statues of Buddha in the world. The scenery here was stunning. Although it was slight hazy, it gave us a birds eye view of Penang and its mountains. Besides Kek Lok Si Temple, we also visited George Town, the UNSECO heritage town which is home to various historic places, such as Fort Cornwallis and the Peranakan Mansion. It was certainly something different for me, besides going to Malacca all the time every single year. And guess what, there were many other places in George Town which I didn't visit, such as Chew Jetty and others. I hope to visit them when I return to Penang in the future!

Of course other than just sight seeing and other fun activities, we also engaged in talks and discussions to solve global issues. Such as that of  global peace. It was certainly an eye-opener experience as I never expected others to be so much more unfortunate than I was. At the end, the participants were yearning to make a difference and to change what we could. "Yes, I can!" was one of the talks which I attended and it was really inspirational, convincing us Youth that yes, we could make a difference.

2nd Chung Ling International Camp has indeed been a wonderful experience. Being the first exchange programme which I have ever participated in, I have also gained a whole new circle of friends, including friends from Malaysia, Vietnam, China and even Nigeria! We still keep in touch via social media platforms like Facebook. I would never forget all the friendships forged during that camp, and I look forward to similar opportunities in the future!