Wednesday January 27, 2010

Gotong-royong to clean up school

By SARBAN SINGH

WHILE their peers were either settling into the new school term
or a new environment, students at SMK Puteri near Seremban
sacrificed their Saturday rest day to took part in a gotong-royong at
their school recently.
Led by the schools principal, Jamiah Bashar, and ParentTeacher Association head Mohamad Alias, the students turned up as
early as 7 oclock and swung into action within minutes.
They were divided into groups and briefed on what to do by
their teachers. They were then sent to different locations within the
school premises with one aim to rid their school compound of
rubbish.
Armed with brooms, dustpans and garbage bags, they went all
over the place the schools Seri
Kandi Hall, the toilets, reflexology
garden, the field and classrooms.
A lorry from the Seremban
Municipal Council was also brought
in to remove the garbage.
Mohamad said the event
was held to inculcate a sense of
belonging in the students.
Figure 1 Enhancing friendship: The
gotong-royong also helped enhance
respect and teamwork among students
of different races.

Datuk Hasim Rusdi, who

launched the event, commended
the students and their parents for
sacrificing their day off for the clean-up.

It is good to see the parents, teachers and students taking part

in the activity. This effort should truly be praised, he said.
He also said such activities also helped strengthen the spirit of
camaraderie among the students and their sense of belonging to the
school.
You must love your school because it is here that you learn
most things in life. You owe this much to your school, he said.
He also advised parents to inculcate the importance of
gotong-royong in their children to ensure they knew the importance of
such activities.
Your children will automatically take the initiative to clean up
their surroundings if they participate in such activities often. When this
happens, we will surely see a decline in diseases such as dengue, he
said.
Adapted from:
Surban Singh. (2010). Gotong-royong to clean up school.

Vocabulary problems?
day off = a day when you do not work
camaraderie = a feeling of friendliness towards people that you work
or share an experience with
inculcate = to put a feeling, idea or principle slowly into someone's
mind, so that it has a strong influence on the way they think or behave
initiative = a new action, often intended to solve a problem

Questions:
1. What is the text mainly about?
a. A gotong-royong event at SMK Puteri
b. The new school term has started
c. The importance of gotong-royong
d. The SMK Puteri students sacrifices
2. At what time did the students arrive at school?
a.

7.15 a.m.

5. Which word can best replace the phrase the spirit of

camaraderie?
a. relationship
b. friendship
c. association
d. partnership
6. Once a child understands the importance of gotong-royong,
she/he will immediately clean up her/his surroundings. This will
help to ____________ diseases such as dengue.

b. 7.35 p.m.

a. increase

c. 7.00 a.m.

b. decrease

d. 7.05 p.m.

c. add

3. What was the students aim?

d. drop

a. to prevent diseases such as dengue

b. to rid their school compound of rubbish

Lets write!

a. brooms, garbage bags and dustpans

Many people around your school area have

been reported with dengue, including some
of your classmates! So, last weekend, your
school organised a 'gotong-royong'. Write about what
happened that day.

b. brooms, shovel and watering can

Your essay must be more than 250 words.

c. to enhance friendship
d. to show their love for the school
4. What were the tools they use for gotong-royong?

c. brooms, trowel and rake

d. brooms, gloves and paintbrush

Use your imagination, create something from your past

experience and bring in something new!