You-Want's Life

Did you know, even when sea turtle eggs are successfully incubated, it is estimated that only 1 out of 1000 babies would survive till adulthood?  My recent site visit to Rimbun Dahan Turtle Hatchery, Terengganu has opened my eyes to the fragility of sea turtles' survival. Sea turtle eggs are exposed to dangers of being poached by humans, hunted by monitor lizards, infested by fungi and maggots; when they hatch, babies might be attacked by predators such as foxes, crabs and sea birds on their way to the sea. Even when they reach the ocean, carnivorous fish and sea birds remain huge threats.  When my group was handed baby sea turtles to release, we got to let them race. I named mine 'Gomenasai', the Japanese word for 'Sorry', as an apology on behalf of humans to their kind. It's been way too long since humans started poaching sea turtle eggs and destroying their habitats and nesting grounds with pollution as well as coastal development. We were told that the best ...

Read previous episode:  WCP by CM Day 2 Part 1: Seeing Sea Turtles For The First Time   It was our second day on the East Coast of Malaysia! We spent our morning in Cherating, Pahang, learning much about sea turtles- a graceful yet highly endangered marine creature. The representatives of Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia (TCS) , who had collaborated with Charisma Movement in facilitating our Wildlife Conservation Project, brought us to Rimbun Dahan Turtle Sanctuary after a scrumptious local lunch. Throughout our trip, our meals were arranged by TCS- we got to try some special delicacies from the East Coast including Terengganu's special  Nasi Dagang  (steamed glutinous rice served with fish curry),  keropok lekor  (fried fish cakes), fermented fish sauce and many more.     Rimbun Dahan Turtle Hatchery is popular locally for its long-term commitment in turtle conservation work. Siblings Along and Alang now manage the centre with the h...

The story started with Mr. David Thaw's recital of a letter he received from one of his students studying in the US. It was about mental well-being. I remember nodding my head, agreeing to the content-- the emotional health of others around us, and ourselves of course,  is extremely important especially in this era where social media has a huge influences in our lives.  Mental health deterioration is an invisible killer and has caused the global suicide rate to accelerate over the past few years. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates a global mortality rate of 16 people per 100000, equivalent to one death every 40 seconds. People facing mental or emotional struggles turn to ending their lives as they give up the fight against mental illnesses. I wrote Mr. Thaw an email to thank him for his sharing with the whole school that day. I also shared with him my views on the importance of mental health awareness and kindness towards others. Here's the email...

I went to a park this afternoon, where I spent more than an hour reflecting all the ups and downs that have happened in my life for the past year. Yeap, I do contemplate a lot, for I am a highly sensitive and sentimental person. So much have happened. Be it something good, be it bad. All little details of my history have contributed in molding how I feel today, and what I aim to achieve next.   I think, it's been a lot to take in: exams, events, friendships etc. Two months before this, I was holding on to many somewhat hard issues which undeniably corrode my mental well-being. Well, this is starting to sound depressing. Let's not do it this way. I was thinking so much that time that the echoes of my own voices were extremely loud in my head. I couldn't sleep; I could hardly concentrate in class; I faked being happy. Stress level was for real. Finally ending my semester at school in July was a cure.   I have been spending a lot of personal time ever since, been back t...

Ivan. What a simple name. I-V-A-N, just that simple. But behind this ubiquitous name, there live thousands of stories. The headboy in school is called Ivan and he has the best grades; the gardener of Nong Chik Garden is an Ivan, he lost a leg in an accident last month; even the rising engineer of Soft Lab Malaysia is also named Ivan. See? That is just how common the name is.   Yet, even though it seems common to most, I have to confess that each time I hear it, a tsunami of emotions strikes me. It triggers a feeling of grief from the back of my mind, shoving up an old patch of memory, reminding me of the death of a lovely boy.   He was Ivan Ronan, young and adorable with that heart-melting little smile and bright blue eyes. He used to be one of the students in the kindergarten I worked in. Born into a loving family, life was simple but perfect for him. He had warm milk to drink every day, plastic toys his father bought for him and enthralling bedtime stories whi...

I reached out, for the seven hundred and sixteenth time. The little girl strode forward towards the park. The lingering confusion clouded my face again, but this time it came along with a deep sense of depression. No one seemed to be able to see me, or hear me. They did not even respond to my touch. No Way, it couldn't be! A sense of panic overwhelmed my mind. I waved my hands aloft, seeking another man's attention as he jogged past me. But as I had feared -- he did not see me.   Nothing actually made sense. It was six o'clock sharp in the evening, I remembered, I was at the square gazing at the town clock. Out of the blue, a blinding light blasted onto me. Its temperature was blazing, which hurt me for a second. Blood spilled everywhere from where I stood, staining my white satin dress a dark scarlet design from the bottom up, just like an April rose, but much darker. Snapped out of my daze, I looked around. A blue car was a few metres away, its driver frantically st...

Be enriched with creative art ideas no one could ever think of at www.artforkidshub.com , where arts come alive in miscellaneous forms including drawing, painting and origami. The Editors went through a few provided step-by-step video tutorials and decided to share some really eccentric ones using crayons . Create your own ones now and share them online! A Dripping Effect Things that you’ll need: Canvas, crayons, hot glue gun and hair dryer Method: Line up the crayons vertically on a piece of canvas (on the top part) with a preferred order, stabilize them with hot glue. Lean the canvas against a wall, with newspaper underneath to prevent making a mess. Use a hairdryer to melt the crayons; point it downwards so that the wax drips. Remove the crayon remnants and leave it to dry. The Sacred Rebirth (Best choice for Easter!!) Things that you’ll need: Hard-boiled eggs, bowl, crayons, cheese grater, hot water, spoon, egg tray Method: Peel off any lab...

From reminiscing the memories in the woods to holding a paper-plane necklace, to hoping you would actually stay and continue passing by the windows. These are not the cure for a heartbreak but instead a yell to have it back. It's not by dividing emotions into tiny fragments that can aid you to forget about the bad memories ; it's not wandering around, looking back into the past when both of us (them) could have smiled like the sun that can bring you out of the woods. With Style, that endless urge to travel back in time upon reminiscing about the happy moments screams so loud, but in fact it will never help much in relieving the pain as it only makes you wanna run. By, Euan Thum.

There are words that cannot be said, nor be heard, not be understood. The crows had streaks of rainbow on their wings, simply surpassing the golden phoenix. The red roses in the garden had the moon for accompany, yet the sole tulip beneath the prickers was in a shade of blue. It's like i dont get a hint. They could be off to Singapore, or disappeared when their aunts came here. They would leave at the moment they wanted, didnt care about you. I assumed they had forgotten about the details, because they played me out. They could have excuses, which I wouldnt believe at all. Shame, all shame, a valley of broken dreams, surrounded by steep slope. When did he move into a crystal snow globe? ----they have the smiles that melt icebergs down. Annabelle has a better smile....... They acted like it was the end of everything, but in fact it was just the beginning. Since most polar bears have already migrated into tiny snow globes The archer headshot the wr...

Well, Taylor has always been in my life since young (P.S I am 16 now :P). I have always admired her music, her lyrics, her STYLE..oh I have just mentioned it again, didnt I? I really cant get this song out of my head since I have bought the album-- plus she is promoting it as a single now! Can you ever imagine my craze for it??!   Well speaking of incredible things, even though I do not have any direct connection with the song Blank Space, I have to confess that I look at it as the great little things in life which other people might eventually miss out. Well just name it- the 65 polaroids, the secret codes of every Taylor's song, the sound of her heartbeat in Wildest Dreams or even every single pair of classical red lips Taylor has shown us, especially in the Red era. These are beautiful corners in our memories that must be kept and cherished.   Taylor has inspired me in ways of thousands of millions. I am a Blogger and you may see her lyrics or the message she w...

The seven-time Grammy Awards winner, Taylor Swift, with that bewitching and fascinating combination of strength and vulnerability, has undeniably transformed herself into one of the most inspirational singer-writer of this generation. The American blonde, who turned 25 last December, had struck yet another massive success with 1.287 million copies of her fifth studio album, 1989 , sold out in its first week of release. The album broke numerous records as the 19 th album in music history to achieve more than 1 million first-week sales, and even succeeded in surpassing the Frozen: Soundtrack to be the best-selling record in the year of 2014.   Inspired by the remarkable music produced in the 1980s, Swift blends her very personal and daring song-writing prowess into the genre of Pop, making an album louder and poppier than anything she had ever released before. Her act has been noted as a dare shift, for it is a verily risky decision to make, to put her reputation on an unp...

Water, water was everywhere! It choked me, salty. It was the sea. I blinked hard, but the more I did so, the more intensely my eyes ached. I was poised between life and death. My memories flooded in my mind like a kaleidoscope… my family, my friends, my job, my life… I thought I was to lose them all. Now that I realized that life could be so fragile and short, my heart beat in a chaotic rhythm. I seemed to have lost everything I had in a blink of an eye.   The sun was setting down faster than ever and the water turned cool. I tried to keep myself afloat as smoke and hazardous debris surrounded me. I prayed that none of them would explode. I had cheated death once, and I would not dare hope for a second miracle. I grabbed a large brown piece of floating debris which looked like a wooden board. With the last bit of strength left in me, I climbed onto it. My eyes, still blazing with pain, slowly closed as I blacked out.   I did not know how long ...