Reported by:
Robert Boxwell 15100 Sr3A
All three Senior Three Arts classes took a trip to Pandamaran on Saturday, 22 February 2020. The trip was organized as an outdoor learning exercise by the History, Geography, and Computer Departments of Kuen Cheng High School.
Pandamaran was one of the numerous New Villages established by the British during the Malayan Emergency, when Chinese settlements around rainforest areas were forcefully relocated in an effort to cut off support for the insurgent communist forces which were active during that special period of time. Situated near Klang, Pandamaran is an interesting community, with plenty of aspects worth exploring.
Members of each class had split themselves into groups of around ten people each prior to the expedition. These groups were split further into three subgroups: one tasked with interviewing Pandamaran residents in their homes in the outskirts of the village; another with interviewing one of the VIPs; and the third with interviewing the proprietors of local businesses near the main street of the village.
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The students reached SJKC Pandamaran A at about 8:30 a.m. Following a briefing by members of the organisation named Jalan-Jalan Klang and a photo session with VIPs (the village head, general manager of the residents’ association, and the head of the Board of Directors of SJKC Pandamaran A), the students set off on their respective routes, each group of students accompanied by a teacher.
The main objective of the students involved was simple: to collect and analyse information regarding the historical and geographical aspects of Pandamaran in order to tell a coherent story regarding the place. This was mainly accomplished through interviews, both pre-arranged as well as impromptu ones. The students were also given relative freedom during the trip to sample Malaysian local delights sold by the various food stalls operating on both sides of the main street.
This trip, and the projects the students will have to complete with the information they have collected, besides constituting a not insignificant portion of their school results, will also record for posterity the stories of the people that make up the village that is Pandamaran — an activity whose importance is sadly overlooked by many in Malaysia.
It was a meaningful day. This trip benefitted the students greatly by letting them truly understand the oft-repeated maxim “learning is not confined to the classroom”. We definitely look forward to having more of such outdoor learning activities to be organised by the school that diversify the ways students learn.
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