24th - 26th August 2007
As English is becoming an essential language, the Leos had decided to organize a unique camp aimed to spread and share the beauty of the language with budding youngsters. That notion gave birth to the Mind Your Language Camp (MYLC), a camp that had managed to foster the interest in English amongst its participants. For the fifth year of the camp, the baton of the organizing committee was passed to the members of the Omega Leo Club of KL Central, Omega Leo Club of Bukit Kiara and Omega Leo Club of Southern Cross, all of whom were inspired and fired up for the camp.

A centre in Triang, Pahang which was conducive to the objective of the camp was chosen as the venue, with students from the high schools in the vicinity which include SMK Kemayan, SMK Triang, SMK Bandar Kerayong and SMK Chung Ching Raub, signing up for the camp. With the location all set up, the camp was officially launched on the 24th of August. In line with the camp, English was the official medium of communication. As the theme of the camp put it, participants were encouraged to speak up and stand out among others. The first step was to create goodwill and strong bonds amongst the participants. They were randomly separated into groups led by well prepared Leos who were the facilitators of the camp. Encouraged by the facilitators, the participants had an easy time mixing up and befriending each other, slowly overcoming the barrier of shyness during the ice breaking session and they were soon chattering away after the session, obviously happy to have made new friends within the session.

Various brain-teasing and teambuilding activities were prepared for the excited participants, such as the challenging night trekking, overcoming obstacles, blindfolded games and others. Throughout the camp, the participants had a great time going through the activities. They listened to instructions and each other attentively, showing good teamwork and discipline. Also, they participated in the activities enthusiastically, often with smiles and jokes flying around, supporting and cheering for each other all along. Even the Leos had fun conducting the activities as they were influenced by the cheerfulness of the participants. All in all, the activities further strengthened the bonds among the participants and at the same time boosted their confidence in the usage of English.

The camp was held successfully and ended on a high note, all thanks to the zealous and cooperative participants and hardworking Leos.

People out there
SPEAK UP AND STAND OUT!!

September 2007
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family members to gather together for a reunion and celebrate this historical and meaningful festival. In a time for joy and happiness as such, it must not be forgotten that there are less fortunate individuals out there who need our attention, care and understanding. The cheerful festive mood should be shared with these individuals. Hence, in conjunction with this festive season, the Omega Leo Club of Southern Cross visited the Association of Disabled Children Centre (Persatuan Pusat Kanak-kanak Cacat) to spread the cheerful festive mood to the children of the centre.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is equivalent to lanterns and moon cakes for many. Bearing that in mind, obviously paper lanterns are a must for the visit! The Leos prepared the “must” for the children of the centre and off they went for the visit. The visit was an eye opener for the Leos as they were briefed with the anecdotes of the children’s lives. Having a handicapped or physically disabled child is a strenuous experience for the parents as they have to cater to the child’s special needs and attention. It was learnt that some parents perceive their special children as burdensome, or a shameful reflection of themselves in others’ eyes. Less fortunate children out there were sometimes left abandoned by their frustrated parents, helpless and desolate, for the fear of embarrassment, ridicule and social rejection. Evidently, the parents and society play major roles in shaping the children’s future lives, either a bright and hope-filled path or another sad and dejected story. A mentally disabled baby in centre had a sad life story of being abandoned by his young and irresponsible parents. Sadly, the baby also suffered from having bone cancer at such young age which brought the Leos to some deep thinking of their own about the future of the baby.

The briefing was followed by some amazing and enjoyable performances performed by the children. Hip-hop dances and some talent shows were performed by the energetic bunch of kids, each strutting off their talents excitedly. The Leos were awed by the break-dancing skills of the kids as they executed difficult moves with ease. Eventually, the Leos joined in the fun and had a dance with the cheerful kids, bringing everyone to laughter with the comical dance. Also, the kids had a go at playing with the colorful paper lanterns which are the common toys for kids during the festival. The lanterns were the icings on the cake for the Mid-Autumn Festival themed visit and everyone had a wonderful time with the lanterns, especially the vernal kids.

It is sincerely hoped that through this visit, the awareness of the public and the Leos themselves towards these children can be increased so as to show more tolerance and understanding to their needs.

Children are the future of the country. Embrace the future of the country.
We serve!

28th October 2007
Deepavali, or known as Diwali, is the “Festival of Light”. In conjunction with this unique festival, the Omega Leo Club of Southern Cross, together with its sponsoring club, the Lions Club of KL City, jointly organized a visit to University of Malaya Hospital (Hospital Universiti Malaya), Petaling Jaya, to pervade the festive joy to the children being treated for leukemia at the hospital.

Leukemia can be defined as the cancer of the blood in which the proliferation of the white blood cells is out of the normal range. Patients suffering from this disease have to undergo various treatments which will further weaken them. Thus, in order to perk up the children at Hospital Malaya, the Lions and Leos planned and prepared various performances to entertain the children, hoping to lend some support and encouragement to them in a small way.

To start the fun, some hilariously-dressed clowns stole the children’s hearts with their silly antics and magic tricks. With silly looking wigs on their heads, the clowns were surrounded by the attracted children, all focused on the bewildering magic tricks performed. The children’s eyes followed the clowns attentively, not wanting to miss a single action. Throughout the clowns’ performance, the kids laughed and played happily along with the clowns, obviously highly entertained by the comical clowns. Besides that, interesting songs and lively dances were performed to the liking of the children. The children, evidently having lots of fun, wore cheerful smiles on their faces. Some of them even sang along with the songs, enjoying the performances prepared specially for them.

Other than entertainments, goodies bags and gifts were given out to the kids by the Lions, who also offered words of encouragement to motivate them. The children smiled gratefully when they received the gifts, smiles that touched the hearts of the Lions and Leos who were more inspired to help the children. As described by Leo Jian Jie, the smiles of gratefulness of the children were deeply imprinted in his mind, totally an unforgettable and invaluable experience. Heart-warming experience as such will always serve as a reminder to the Leos, to show care and concern to others, even if the act of kindness is small and insignificant.

From the visit, the Leos learnt that the hospital staff and parents worked tirelessly to ensure the children had the best of care without a grunt. Indeed, our parents are the ones who shower us with unconditional love and care, even in times of suffering. In short, the sharing of the joy of Deepavali with the children was indeed a great experience as fun and joy were brought to the children whilst the Leos came to understand a lesson in life from the children.

To the patients and parents,
BE STRONG AND NEVER GIVE UP!

Aquaria, the newly launched centre of attraction located in KLCC offers visitors an opportunity to have a close-up observation and deeper understanding of the marine creatures with its fantastic arrays of facilities. With such a great chance for some learning about the underwater ecosystem, the Omega Leo Club of Southern Cross organized a trip for the children of Kepong Home to the centre which houses a variety of marine creatures on a Sunday morning.

All hyped up and excited for the trip, the group of Lions, Leos and children were greeted by a gallery upon entry into Aquaria, filling them up with information regarding the evolution of fishes. This unconventional way of presenting new information attracted the amused children as they observed the exhibited items with interest, knowledge unavailable in old, hard textbooks. As they proceeded along the way, the Leos and children were further enthralled by marine creatures of eccentric and unique shapes and sizes. The amazed children even almost had their faces glued to the aquarium that contains the fishes, fingers pointing and eyes rolling, carefully observing the unique fishes’ movements. Some Leos were so mesmerized by the sizes of the huge stingrays that they stood idly, only to realize they were left behind when they noticed the group was far ahead, quickly running to catch up with the group.

Many underwater creatures and plants were exhibited, but the stars of the day were the live sharks swimming in the tank, baring their razor-sharp teeth randomly. With slight fear and excitement, the children and Leos gathered in front of the tank to observe the big jaws of the deep blue sea. Some were utterly awed by the sheer size of the sharks, which as described by a Leo, “It was about the size of my room!!!” The children, having the great opportunity to observe the sharks up close, took their time looking at the swimming big sharks, seemingly unafraid of the big jaws. Some brave kids! The children were even more excited when they had the permission to touch some species of the underwater creatures. Starfishes lying in the shallow tank were touched by the curious children, allowing them to observe the creatures closely. In short, the whole journey through the Aquaria had given them the perfect opportunity to learn beyond the limitations of the textbooks and normal classroom works.

Smiles of happiness and excitement were all over the children’s tired faces. Although the trip was rather tiring, yet the incredible display of various marine creatures awed the whole group enough for them to forget the tiredness. All in all, this trip to Aquaria had broadened the knowledge of the Leos and children with the stream of new information. Seeing the satisfied smiles of the children was evidence of a job well done by the Leos. The motivated Leos looked forward to organizing more similar trips and activities in the future to benefit the children as well as the Leos. Bravo Leos!

The world of science has always been a fascination to curious human minds. Real experiments and interesting facts are more children-friendly than illustrations in textbooks. Hence, the Leos organized a trip to Petrosains at KLCC for the children of Kepong Home to expose them to the various experiments and scientific gadgets there, allowing them to experience the wonders of science up close.

Having arrived at Petrosains early in the morning, Leo Wei Jian, the organizer of this project, gathered everyone in front of the entrance for a short briefing, to ensure that each pair of the excited children was being taken care of by one or two Leos. The employees of Petrosains, smiling at the chattering children, patiently explained the procedures to be followed before the group was transported inside by small spherical pods. Welcoming the children in the centre was a place with colorful decorations, tools and gadgets all over the place, quickly attracting the interest of the children. Young children are indeed energetic and curious, as shown by the kids being all over the place, playing and experimenting with the equipments provided. Various scientific theories were tested out through the simple tools provided, leaving some of the kids and Leos captivated by the theories behind the tools. Leo Calvin even experimented with the concept of pressure and heat with the kids under his care as they managed to pop a coin on top of a bottle with ease! The kids, who were amazed, eagerly had a few more tries before finally leaving the counter with satisfied smiles.

Besides the simple yet effective tools, the group also had the experience of journeying through heavy storms in a helicopter via a virtual reality ride. The slightly surprised kids were afraid for a few moments before starting to enjoy the rough ride, moving left and right according to the orientation of the helicopter, even shouting out of excitement a few times. Seeing the thrilled children’s reactions urged some of the Leos to join the shouting too! The excitement was kept going by a short show, with all the children gathered around the stage watching the show eagerly. Vapor of nitrogen gas was dispensed by the person in charge around the stage to the amazement of the children, carefully observing the vapor vanishing right before their own eyes. Even though the children were constantly surprised and astonished at the scientific experiments carried out, they showed great interest in the explanation given with their attentive looks as evidence. Seeing is indeed believing!

The children visited the remaining sections enthusiastically, from prehistoric dinosaurs to modern oil platform, each giving the children the chance to observe and learn more about science. Their excitement could hardly be concealed throughout the trip, pointing and discussing happily about what they saw and experimented with. At the end of the trip, some of them had their cheerful faces photographed to call it a day for the trip, making it a very enjoyable and memorable day. In a nutshell, the trip had benefited both the children and Leos a lot as the children gained new knowledge along the way while the Leos had their classroom studying revised again, real-life! With the children chattering away happily on the way out, it is evident that the objective of this project has been achieved successfully. Well done, Leos.

December 2007 - February 2008
Everyone wants a nice and comfortable place to live in. With the popping up of this notion, the Omega Leo Club of Southern Cross coordinated with the Omega Leo Club of KL Central to organize a house painting project at the Kepong Home. It was a project to refurbish the rather old-looking home, providing a better and more comfortable living environment for the occupants of the home. It was also a great chance for the Leos to serve the community effectively as the Kepong Home lacked of the resources to paint the house themselves.

Dressed up like part time amateur painters, the Leos started the project with the necessary equipment brought along. A lot of work had to be done as furniture, debris and old layer of paint needed to be removed before the painting job actually began. To quicken the pace of the job, some non-Leos were invited to help out. The willingness of these volunteers of all ages was truly commendable as they worked without a grunt, only with the thoughts of providing a better living environment for the occupants of the home strong in their mind. Bravo!

Along with the painting job, some extra work was done to clean up the rooms that were being worked on as to enliven the atmosphere of the home and provide a safer and cleaner living place for the occupants, especially the aged and weak occupants and also the young and growing children. Fans and windows were cleaned while the floor was also constantly swept and wiped to remove dirt and stains from the painting job. While the Leos were busy working in the rooms, the curious hearts of the young occupants led them to have a peek or two at the Leos’ working progress. Some of the elder ones even helped out in removing the furniture and taking care of the younger occupants, much to the relief of the Leos who were worried about accidentally dirtying the children with the paint stains!

During the painting job, it was noticed that some of the aged occupants had health problems, such as bad vision and weak-legged, often needing care and attention to move around. An elderly occupant with slight disabilities was helped by the Leos during one of the painting jobs, catering to his little needs of having drinking water and moving around. The children of the home showed their mature and responsible side by assisting the elderly occupant immediately when he needed a hand, carrying him carefully and asking about his conditions. Their little acts of kindness touched the Leos as it showed that their education and values were not compromised by the person in charge of the home.

In short, the new layer of paint and cleaned up rooms gave the home a facelift and provided better living conditions to the occupants. Although the work is still in progress, the Leos will continue working hard to ensure that the occupant have a safe and better-conditioned house to live in. The contribution of the Leos will not cease until the job is successfully done.

“A home is a place with warmth, comfort and a feeling of safeness. We will work hard to provide that warm feeling to the occupants of the home.”

2nd February 2008
Another year with projects to be done, all backed up by passionate and vernal Leos, supported by the enthusiastic Leo Advisor. Amongst the projects to be done included the first fund raising project of the fiscal year 2007/2008. With that in mind, the Omega Leo Club of Southern Cross organized a fund raising project at the Lions World Business Centre at Keck Seng Tower (Menara Keck Seng), an office located in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. The project was to clean up the office of Lions World Business Centre, aimed to raise project fund for the club and also to channel partial of the fund to welfare centre.

As the saying goes, the sunny morning is the best time in a day. The Leos arrived at the location early in the morning, all geared up with the necessary cleaning paraphernalia. After a short briefing session by the Lion Stella and the employees, the Leos set out to work immediately in groups to increase efficiency as there were two levels to be cleaned up. Vacuum cleaners, cloths, pails and cleaning solutions were put into action and the Leos had the perfect opportunity to showcase their housekeeping skills. Sofas and chairs were moved to ease the cleaning process whilst newspaper and books were rearranged for the book racks to be wiped. With the Leos “attacking” each office cubicle with the cleaning equipments, the revving sound of the vacuum cleaner could be heard intermittently, sandwiched by the cleaning troop members’ occasional laughter and jokes. Sounds of cleaning solution being dispensed were also heard on and off, filling the air with a fresh scent of the cleaning solution, leaving the wiped furniture gleaming without dust. The results from the “attack” by the Leos on the cubicles were bags of plastic bags and pails of murky water outside the rooms, showing that they had done their job well!

Other than the room-to-room cleaning, the guest area was also worked on by the Leos. Carpets were run over by the vacuum cleaners, windows were wiped sparkling clear and desks were dust-free. Some of them even had to stand on the wooden counter, acting like professional cleaners to work on the windows, with the others worried about the counter being spoilt due to the weight of the “professionals”. A ladder was put into use in the end as they had to wipe fluorescent lights on the ceiling, which were a tad too far from their reach. Even though the Leos were hard at work, they had a fun time cleaning up with jokes flying around, some taking a swipe at each other’s housekeeping skills, bringing laughs from everyone. This cleaning troop showed that cleaning can be fun and enjoyable at times!

The big turnout of the Leos quickened the job pace and the project was successfully done within a few hours. With the persons-in-charge looking satisfied, the Leos managed to raise RM800 in total through this project. Kudos to the Leos for a job well done!

3rd February 2008
Saving the lessening greenery of Mother Nature is the current main issue globally. In line with the issue, an environmental project was organized by the Omega Leo Club of Southern Cross to clean up a nearby recreational park and to increase the awareness of the public of the roles they play in protecting the environment. Every action matters, whether it is something significant like a recycling campaign or a small act such as picking up the rubbish.

The Leos gathered at the park early in the morning, all spirited for the project that was laid ahead of them. A brief explanation was done by Leo Dino, delegating the tasks to be carried out to avoid confusion. With the briefing done, they set out to “hunt down” the trashes that were eyesores to the park’s lush greenery, equipped with the proper cleaning tools and gloves. Throughout the cleaning process, the Leos discovered certain areas of the park were strewn with rubbish from the visitors of the park, namely the playground and the garden. The unsightly appearance of the trashes certainly did nothing to promote the image of the park and support the current global issue. Soft drink cans and food packaging could be found which showed that the public’s awareness towards protecting the environment needed some urgent wake-up call to prevent further damage to Mother Nature. Also, rubbish at the playground area would be the perfect breeding site for pests such as mosquitoes and flies if left unattended. This would endanger the carefree children whose wishes were only to have some fun and excitement at the playground.

After a couple of hours of cleaning up, bags of rubbish bags were piled together at the rubbish bin, containing rubbish left behind by park visitors. A few curious onlookers had their questions answered by the Leos, who tried to explain the objectives of the project and increase the awareness of the onlookers towards protecting the environment. Having done a good bit of explanation, it is hoped that the public will heed to the advocacy of the green experts to take preventive and precautionary steps in helping to protect the nature.

Cleaning up the park was a good experience to the Leos even though it was a little tiring. They learnt to understand the importance of environment-based campaigns as the negative implications from the small yet damaging acts such as littering, are against the campaigns’ main objectives. More appreciation should be showed to the nature than before as irresponsible human actions are causing unexpected damage to the earth, the only human habitat. All in all, the Leos successfully cleaned up the park and gained a little insight on the importance of Mother Nature. Bravo!

12th April 2008
In the most recent meeting with the Lions Club of KL City, an induction ceremony was held to officially induct 15 new Leos as the members of the Omega Leo Club of Southern Cross. A warm welcome and greetings to these new Leos! Along with the joining of these new members, an orientation was organized to expose them to the fun-filled world of Leos, as to allow them to further understand the incredible 51-year history of Leo Clubs.

The Leos and 3 guests gathered at Keck Seng Tower (Menara Keck Seng) for the orientation, all looking excited and cheerful. As the clock struck one in the afternoon, Leo Lawrence, acting as the emcee for the day, started the orientation by welcoming the anticipating attendees. After addressing the attendees and having them sitting comfortably in the sofas, Lion Tan Gaik Im of Lions Club of Bukit Kiara, an experienced and friendly lady, was invited to speak for the event. With her eloquent speaking style, the Leos and guests were soon brought into the incredible history of the Leo Clubs. The attentive looks of the attendees throughout the talk showed that they were engrossed in the historical facts and interesting bits about Leo Clubs. Through the talk, the members came to know of the benefits of joining the Leo Club and the little things as a Leo that differ Leo Clubs from other clubs and societies out there.

Leadership, Experience and Opportunity, the definition of the word LEO, are the essential values Leo members will, over time, learn and develop, apply and enjoy. With Lion Tan’s interactive and informative talk inspiring the new members and guests, the participants were all fired up and motivated to serve the community with enthusiasm and passion. To the cheers of the other Leos, the 3 guests were, as former Alpha Leos of the Leo Club of St. Gabriel Secondary School (SMK St. Gabriel), recruited as new Leos of the club after the inspirational orientation, receiving warm welcome from the Leos. Besides learning more about the history of Leo Clubs, some personal experiences of the Lions and Leos were also shared in the two-hour program. Unforgettable and touching moments as a part of the club were recounted, especially projects involving the children of Kepong Home, prompting the Leos to work harder in serving the community in the future.

The Leo orientation came to an end at 3 o’clock in the afternoon and Lion Tan’s kind effort was appreciated by the Leos with the presentation of a souvenir by the club’s president, Leo Lawrence. As the new members were officially orientated and welcomed, the objective of the orientation was met successfully. To the new members of Omega Leo Club of Southern Cross,

Welcome to the family!!