July 22nd to 26th saw 20 GAC students from Sarasas Ektra attend a leadership conference in Singapore under the supervision of two teachers. The conference included students from many other countries such as Brunei, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Hong-Kong, Thailand and Singapore itself. There were approximately 320 students. We stayed in the MDIS student accommodation as organized by the Youth Ambassadors of Singapore.

The main focus of the conference was team building and learning how to help those less fortunate than ourselves. On our arrival in Singapore, the staff organized the schools staying in the same accommodation into three groups and commenced the “ice – breaking” activities such as “Blow – Blow – Blow – what?”, “Ping Pong ball on a spoon”, “Straw and rubber band game”, and “Untie the human knot game”. Then the organizers provided all of the participants with dinner and this was followed by leisure time.

During the leisure time we travelled by MRT on a tour to Bugis Junction. This place is comparable to MBK in Bangkok. The students walked around for an hour, had something to eat and did some souvenir shopping before returning to the accommodation.

After breakfast on the second day, we prepared ourselves for the opening ceremony in the auditorium of MDIS. There we heard motivating speeches from some CEO’s and other guests of honor on how they reached their status in life.

Dr. Tan Chi Chui – Consultant Gastroenterologist Chairman, Lien Centre for Social Innovation. He talked about his work as a he is involved in helping worldwide in natural disasters, and he specifically talked about the earthquake in Nepal.

Mr. Glenn Lim , Founder – CEO of GLC Pte Ltd. He told the story of his life from being the black sheep of his family to being a prisoner and finally being a CEO. His story was very impressive and entertaining to listen to as he told it in such a way that the students were surprised about his history, and the turning point that inspired him to become what he is today.

Mr. Chia Luck Yang – Co-founder of EduSnap, an application that allows both students and parents to seek free academic help from anywhere and at any time. He showed how his application was created and what it does.

Following the opening ceremony and lunch we were transferred to the Singapore Discovery Centre (SDC). Here the students were divided into two groups after the ice breaking activities. One group went “Treasure Hunting” and the second group did the base activities as prepared by the SDC staff – they later switched. After dinner the students had a mock campfire, at which each team had to prepare a performance and present it to the others. Finally, at the end of a very tiring day we transferred back to our accommodation.

On the third day, we were taken to do community service work at Singapore’s Food Bank. When we reached the venue we were given a presentation by the personnel and then divided into groups to make decorative art work out of food products that had already past their use-by date. Then the students worked in groups to separate the donated food into different categories and pack it into different boxes. These foods products are regularly donated to the needy by the food bank.

In the afternoon the students had another session of inspirational speeches under the title of “Career Talk – professions that make a difference in society”. The first speaker was Mr. Josephus Tan – Associate Director in Fortis Law Corporation. He told the students his life journey from being a criminal to becoming an associate director and very successful lawyer. Also gives most of his time to volunteer consultation for the society.

The next speaker was a well-known person to Sarasas Ektra – Ms. Christine Hoe – ACT Education Solutions. She gave an inspirational talk that involved participation from the students and gave away USB drives and pens as rewards. The students participated and asked her questions which gave them more ideas on what needed to be done in their presentations.

Mr. Marc Goh – Founder of Clinic Buddy Pte Ltd – Project Bidadari. His agency focuses on the provision of health care to the people in the remote areas.

Last but not the least Ms. Crystal Goh – Founder of Diamonds on the Street. She is a singer and a song writer who lost her voice. She wrote empowering songs of hope and shared them with youths at risk (ages 13 – 21) and eventually she got her voice back. She supports children living in shelters and prison inmates to write inspiring songs and their album sales support them financially.

After all the inspirational speeches the students were divided into groups to prepare to do a leadership workshop. This was followed by dinner and all returned to their accommodation. During the late evening, the groups discussed their business model for the presentation on the final day.

The fourth day brought a more physical challenge. We were driven to do a High/Low ropes course at Camp Challenge. Here the students were divided into two major groups and taken to do the High/Low rope activities, which was fun and tiring. That afternoon we were moved to the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the students were given time after lunch to prepare their business models. During the preparation time the judges/consultants walked around to help the students in preparation by giving them advice on what could be improved.

Late afternoon the groups presented their business plans to the judges in four different rooms and waited eagerly to see whose business plan was chosen to be the best. After dinner, came the time of the announcements. There were three groups chosen from each room. Therefore, there were four groups of students who received bronze medals, four groups who received silver medals and four groups who received gold medals. One group from our school received silver medals (5 students per group). The judges also asked the students to actually implement their projects and said there would be a follow-up in six months.

After the presentations there was a farewell party where the students enjoyed dancing and singing with each other. Since it was our last night in Singapore the students requested to go shopping so, we went to Mustafa the 24 hour shopping mall and the students shopped there and we later returned to rest at MDIS.

On the Final day – the fifth day, we had our breakfast, said our farewells to our new friends, checked out of MDIS and were taken to Changi Airport. After we had checked in we had one hour before boarding, therefore, we went shopping and eating before meeting at the boarding gate. Finally, at 4 p.m. we arrived safely back in Thailand and our successful journey to Singapore came to an end.

The following week, our school Director, Mr. Pisut Yongkamol, met the students and teachers. Mr. Phil Langley gave a musical Power-Point presentation with lots of photographs, and some students related their experiences of the conference. There was the official presentation of certificates to all the participants, and a re-presentation of the silver medals to the winning students - for our school records.