Living by the book
By IRENE KIEW
ADULTS sometimes sneer at the idealism of the young and shoot down their dreams. Experienced enough to be cynical and disillusioned, many older people lose hope in the idea of making a difference or living life in a significant way. Not only have they lost hope themselves – they also try to discourage youths from dreaming or expecting too much.
But what’s wrong with being idealistic and wanting to live a life of significance? Doesn’t everybody want their lives to have purpose and a goal? Of course, one has to be practical and realistic, but that isn’t necessarily incompatible with idealism.
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Lim Ven Gee wants to help students have new experiences and to meet other students in his university. |
Realising this, three friends – Lindy Ong, Margaret Loy and Cathryn Loh – decided to find a way to encourage youths to “live life purposefully”. The trio met while working for separate organisations. Their jobs had required them to spend a lot of time with youths, and as they did this, a bigger dream emerged.
“We wanted to go to the youth outside our organisations rather than simply wait for them to come to us. Basically, we wanted to go into their world and help them to live a life that’s passionate and full of purpose, to develop a vision in life,” says Cathryn.
Having worked together informally for about a year, the three friends formed a company called Campus Friends Bhd in June 2004. The company organises programmes and activities for youths and also tries to establish affiliated clubs for students in various schools, colleges and universities.
Campus Friends embraces four values summed up by the acronym LIVE: Living loud – living beyond the norm; Intoxicating influence – living beyond mere acquaintance; Visualising velocity – living beyond the moment; and Expanding experience – living beyond limitations. These values are present in every activity and programme organised by Campus Friends.
So far, Campus Friends has been successful in establishing an affiliated
club in the
“As medical students, a lot of us tend to just think about our studies and it doesn’t cross our minds to do something that counts. I want my life to count, I want to be remembered by my peers and juniors,” says the club’s committee member Chik Ian, 21.
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Cathryn Loh: ‘Youths want to help others but often don’t know how. Through Campus Friends, they’re given avenues and are able to spur one another to make a difference.’ |
One of the ways Ian and his fellow club members made a difference – they became part of the orientation committee and persuaded the other committee members to conduct the freshmen’s orientation in a different manner.
Instead of ragging new students and making them perform humiliating tasks, the committee designed a more purposeful orientation designed to help the new intake get to know the seniors and familiarise themselves with their new environment.
For example, instead of being asked to do something silly or embarrassing, the junior would be asked to find out something about the university, and if they could get their facts correct, they’d obtain the signatures they needed from the senior they were dealing with.
The Campus Friends club is run by its own student committee with the company directors and a coordinator acting as advisors, providing resources where needed.
In an upcoming team-building adventure camp in Semenyih this month, participants will have the chance to relax and take part in activities like an obstacle course and a raft-building race.
Lim Ven Gee, 20, who attended the previous camp, enjoyed it so much that he offered to help organise it this time round. It gave him an opportunity to try out new experiences and meet people from other intakes in his university and now he wants to do the same for the new group of participants.
“Youths want to do something significant and to help others but often don’t know how. Through Campus Friends, they’re given avenues and are able to spur one another to make a difference,” says Cathryn, who will take a short session during the camp to encourage participants to think about their dreams and plans for the future.
“We hope youths will be inspired to plan their lives instead of just drifting through life,” she adds.
With this in mind, Cathryn and her friends designed and produced a personal organiser called the L.I.V.E Book 2005. A message inside the book cover says, “Make 2005 count!”
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Chik Ian: ‘A lot of us tend to just think about our studies and it doesn’t cross our minds to do something that counts. I want my life to count, I want to be remembered by my peers and juniors.’ |
The organiser includes a two-page planner with boxes for ages one to 78, so that youths can map out life goals and see the direction in which they hope their lives will move.
Besides the usual yearly calendar, public holidays and lists of useful phone numbers (hospitals, police stations, radio taxi services, customer help lines, etc.), every month’s pages are prefaced with an activity or some questions to make you think and deal with various issues that affect your life.
January’s pages encourage the user to think about various areas of his life and to make New Year’s resolutions in each of these areas. February, with Valentine’s Day on the 14th, talks about relationships and provides a riddle to help you “unscramble your way to be Mr or Ms Right”.
Other issues are also discussed, including living with roommates, throwing birthday parties on a budget, study tips and learning styles, developing friendships, travel tips during semester holidays, and sexual abuse.
“When my friends and I set up this company, we realised that it wasn’t enough to merely say that we wanted to help youths. And it’s not easy to set up clubs in every university and college in the country. So we hit upon the idea of producing this organiser to reach even more people,” Cathryn explains.
The company also plans to develop modules consisting of leadership courses and sex and relationship talks. It is their hope that universities and colleges will invite Campus Friends Bhd to run these modules for the benefit of the student population in the various institutions.
It’s all about making wise choices, instilling positive values and helping youths to think beyond simply scoring straight A’s and graduating with a good degree. Cathryn and her friends hope that by helping youths to think about their lives and encouraging them to live life with purpose, youths will find that much-needed sense of fulfilment.
“This generation has a lot to live with but too little to live for. They’re looking for a sense of belonging and fulfilment,” she says.
n The L.I.V.E. Book 2005 is available for
RM25 at selected MPH outlets within the