Centennial RYLA Report (Part 1)

Contributed by Rtr Harnniann

During last club meeting, I promised to publish the report prepared by me 2 years ago about the Centennial RYLA I participated for members' reference. Here it is.

Good evening, Rotary Club of Port Klang! I really appreciate the opportunity extended to me in allowing me to take part in RYLA 2005 held at Permata, Kajang. Now, it’s pay back time. As a sign of my appreciation, allow me to share with all of you briefly my experience, observation and everything else in RYLA 2005.


The Beginning

At first, President Michael (as he then was) really did give me the expectation/impression that he will hold my hand and bring me to attend RYLA so I had nothing to worry about. Hey, obviously I was wrong.

I did not know the exact location of Permata, Kajang though I downloaded the map from the RYLA website. One day before RYLA, a Rotarian (the name I could not remember) called me and asked whether I need transport. I thought this could save me all the hassles so I said yes, I need transport. But her reaction was rather surprising, “har? You need transport ar?... you cannot drive there meh?” I said I can drive if necessary then she happily asked me to drive over there just following the map. I thanked her anyway for the hospitality.

I started my journey at 8.25am and without much problem I reached Permata at about 9.15am. After getting clearance from the guards, I observed that there was no sign at all to tell me where I should go! I didn’t even know where to park my car. So I guess I’d have to use some common sense. I parked my car under one big tree, took my luggage and walked to the auditorium. I tried the auditorium first as I thought the open ceremony would take place over there. I was wrong. There was no one there. Then, I tried the sport centre as I thought they would need a big space for registration, gathering and also briefing. I walked all the way under the hot sun only to find out I was wrong again. No one was there.

I got lucky the third time, it was the hostel. I guess I was one of the early birds to be there. I saw a few young (and not so young) people wearing the same shirt hanging around at the foyer. I approached one young man and informed him that I was there for RYLA. Without a smile he said nonchalantly, “tell them your name and register yourself.” Wow! President, can I go home now?

Fortunately the young Indian lady at the registration counter was very friendly. She asked for my name and gave me a file, a bag of goodies and a RYLA t-shirt. She also handed over my room key to me. My room was D35. I headed straight to my room to check it out.

My Roommates

I was the earliest to get into the room so I had the privilege of choosing my bed. It has 4 single beds but I think for economical purposes they put two mattress on the floor so that it could accommodate six persons. I chose the one next to the window. After a while, my roommates started to check in one by one.

Now, let me introduce my roommates:-

First, we have Chandra (Now DRR Chandra). He is a friendly man from Bayu Perdana Klang but he is from Rotaract Club of Bangsar. He owns his own business in Bayu Perdana dealing with computer software. Next is Thaya. His business card suggested that he is a negotiator. What’s that? He explained, “I do real property”. Oh, a real estate agent who calls himself a negotiator.

Then we have Wah. I could easily tell that he was not very happy to be there. He spent half his time in RYLA talking on his handphone, can’t wait to get out I guess. Later I found out that he was there because he was chosen by his company for training as part of the ISO requirements. Ok, now we have two late comers. One is Imran and another is Scott Lee. Imran has a wonderful athlete body and he plays professional hockey. Scott Lee on the other hand is a man of few words. You know, the silence is golden type.

The Hotel and Facilities

When I first reached Permata I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had this impression that I was going to some place like the national service camp. But I was dead wrong. Permata is something like a resort or villa with swimming pool, nice greeneries, sport centres, tennis court and great view. Once I settled down, I called Eric Yap, my boss to tell him how excited I was. Now that the Rotary Club of Port Klang had sent me here for vacation! I told him I am going to enjoy myself here and he told me that I had no idea what I’ve gotten myself into. Well, he was right (or at least partially right).

To be continued...