Article contributed by June Low
This post is reproduced from here
9 April 2010
11.30am
Dear diary,
Edmund, Maha, Syah, Ka Ea, Aniza, Ai Peng, Grace, Nadia, and I are in an airplane on our way to Kuching for the state launch of the My Constitution Campaign! This is being organised by the Advocates’ Association of Sarawak (AAS) whom I hear have put in a lot of effort into making it a very grand affair. Judging from the fact that they have invited the Chief Minister as well as the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, and the amount of Rakyat Guides they’ve requested, I’m sure it will be and am very excited!
The trip so far has already been eventful (even though we are only about four hours into it) – some of us had the good fortune of meeting Ning Baizura during boarding. I gave her some of our Rakyat Guides and she looked really pleased and asked a bit about our campaign!
This post is reproduced from here
9 April 2010
11.30am
Dear diary,
Edmund, Maha, Syah, Ka Ea, Aniza, Ai Peng, Grace, Nadia, and I are in an airplane on our way to Kuching for the state launch of the My Constitution Campaign! This is being organised by the Advocates’ Association of Sarawak (AAS) whom I hear have put in a lot of effort into making it a very grand affair. Judging from the fact that they have invited the Chief Minister as well as the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, and the amount of Rakyat Guides they’ve requested, I’m sure it will be and am very excited!
The trip so far has already been eventful (even though we are only about four hours into it) – some of us had the good fortune of meeting Ning Baizura during boarding. I gave her some of our Rakyat Guides and she looked really pleased and asked a bit about our campaign!
Other than that, nothing much to write about for now apart from funny
incident with man sitting next to me who’s just had some water spilt
all over him – he said “it’s okay” but it was obvious he didn’t mean it
because he looked as if he was ready to give the steward a knuckle
sandwich. Don’t know why he bothered– I can understand not wanting to
annoy the cabin crew on a 16 hour flight, but one should be able to get
away with violence with only 10 minutes left till landing time. Maybe
he is Sarawakian – I hear they’re really nice.
7.45pm
When we arrived, the AAS had an entourage of cars waiting to pick us up and take us to our hotel! What great hospitality, something for lawyers in the Peninsular to take note of. Ka Ea, Nadia and I got into a car driven by Wejok who joked that he thought the Bar Council was minted and was putting us up at the Pullman where the launch was being held. We soon cleared that up but maybe something else to take note of, for the purposes of keeping up appearances and what not…
Kuching is incredibly clean and very green. We also saw some gorgeous buildings on the drive to the hotel. Wejok told us that lawyers in East Malaysia are very relaxed, go home at 5pm and have a higher quality of life. The cleaner air might have something to do with it. Maybe if lawyers in KL took a greener approach to life they would go home at 5 too. Maybe.
Anyway, I must go now, we are having dinner at this food place on top of a car park. It’s got a palindrome for a name – Top Spot! Apparently, it’s been around for a long time and offers great variety.
10th April 2010
9.15am
Dear diary,
It’s the day of the launch! We’re having breakfast at The Pullman Hotel, which looks very grand. Felt like Julia Roberts walking into the Regent Beverly Wilshire. The room where the launch will be held also looks fantastic – apparently members of the AAS were up till very late taking care of the finer details. Such champs!
There is a woman playing the Sape in an interesting outfit outside the conference room (on the first floor). In KL, the only way the guests of honour know where the event is being held is by being led there by the designated ushers (well–dressed, fond of/good at small talk). I was surprised to hear the music as soon as I walked into the hotel – I expect this is so that the Chief Minister and Chief Judge (in case they arrive earlier and want to pop to the loo first) will know where the launch is being held by simply following the sounds of the Sape. How very thoughtful of the organising committee.
11.33pm
The Chief Minister and the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak were both punctual – how refreshing. After our Co–Deputy Chairperson Syahredzan Johan gave a brief introduction on the campaign, an inspiring speech was delivered by Mr Frank Tang, the chairman of the AAS, followed by a speech by the Chief Minister.
When we arrived, the AAS had an entourage of cars waiting to pick us up and take us to our hotel! What great hospitality, something for lawyers in the Peninsular to take note of. Ka Ea, Nadia and I got into a car driven by Wejok who joked that he thought the Bar Council was minted and was putting us up at the Pullman where the launch was being held. We soon cleared that up but maybe something else to take note of, for the purposes of keeping up appearances and what not…
Kuching is incredibly clean and very green. We also saw some gorgeous buildings on the drive to the hotel. Wejok told us that lawyers in East Malaysia are very relaxed, go home at 5pm and have a higher quality of life. The cleaner air might have something to do with it. Maybe if lawyers in KL took a greener approach to life they would go home at 5 too. Maybe.
Anyway, I must go now, we are having dinner at this food place on top of a car park. It’s got a palindrome for a name – Top Spot! Apparently, it’s been around for a long time and offers great variety.
10th April 2010
9.15am
Dear diary,
It’s the day of the launch! We’re having breakfast at The Pullman Hotel, which looks very grand. Felt like Julia Roberts walking into the Regent Beverly Wilshire. The room where the launch will be held also looks fantastic – apparently members of the AAS were up till very late taking care of the finer details. Such champs!
There is a woman playing the Sape in an interesting outfit outside the conference room (on the first floor). In KL, the only way the guests of honour know where the event is being held is by being led there by the designated ushers (well–dressed, fond of/good at small talk). I was surprised to hear the music as soon as I walked into the hotel – I expect this is so that the Chief Minister and Chief Judge (in case they arrive earlier and want to pop to the loo first) will know where the launch is being held by simply following the sounds of the Sape. How very thoughtful of the organising committee.
11.33pm
The Chief Minister and the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak were both punctual – how refreshing. After our Co–Deputy Chairperson Syahredzan Johan gave a brief introduction on the campaign, an inspiring speech was delivered by Mr Frank Tang, the chairman of the AAS, followed by a speech by the Chief Minister.
(Our Syahredzan Johan delivering a nice introduction to our Campaign)
(The Chief Minister giving his speech)
(Mr Frank Tang of the AAS and his great speech)
(The AAS presented the Chief Minister with a nifty souvenir in the form of a framed bunch of Rakyat Guides)
(Mr Frank Tang of the AAS and his great speech)
(The AAS presented the Chief Minister with a nifty souvenir in the form of a framed bunch of Rakyat Guides)
I suppose that’s a thoughtful idea, because it means he’ll never lose his RG’s but it also means he won’t be able to carry them around as easily.
5ish
We’re almost at the end of the workshop now and we’ve had a very encouraging bunch of participants. Everybody was interested in the exercise and keen on contributing, which is exactly the sort of attitude we need for our workshops. We had the chance to hear very different views to those expressed at our workshops in Kuala Lumpur, which gave everyone a lot to think about. I’d say we achieved our objectives while also having a great time! On the whole, the Sarawak Launch has been a great success. I think we definitely have the AAS to thank for making it happen. Now all we have to do is convince the AAS to buy our banners so we don’t have to carry them all the way back to KL….
5ish
We’re almost at the end of the workshop now and we’ve had a very encouraging bunch of participants. Everybody was interested in the exercise and keen on contributing, which is exactly the sort of attitude we need for our workshops. We had the chance to hear very different views to those expressed at our workshops in Kuala Lumpur, which gave everyone a lot to think about. I’d say we achieved our objectives while also having a great time! On the whole, the Sarawak Launch has been a great success. I think we definitely have the AAS to thank for making it happen. Now all we have to do is convince the AAS to buy our banners so we don’t have to carry them all the way back to KL….