Event: IPA Main Committee Holiday 2009
Date / Time: Saturday, 28 February, 2009 – Sunday, 1 March 2009
Venue: Batam, Indonesia
Photos: Click HERE!
Video: Click HERE!
A Batam to Remember
IPA goes places! This time Main Committee members took a little break from working their hides off for the association, and had fun to hanging out on Batam island to recharge, renew and refresh. Irena Josoeb gives the highlights of the short but impressionable trip.
In life, they say the best things are always made simple.
This could not be held more true for the IPA Main Committee trip to Batam for the first ever Main Committee Holiday as organized by its President Johannes Wijaya, as a reward for the hard work put in so far by these volunteers, who have purposed to help link fellow Indonesian professionals in Singapore through activities and events and through the sharing of useful and relevant news and information among Indonesian professionals, such as through the Indonesian Thinking column.
The day started early on Saturday Feb 28 with the tripsters meeting at Harbourfront (Singapore) by 9am for their one-hour ferry ride back to motherland, in the form of Batam this time. Arriving at the Batam View Beach Resort with enough time to check in at leisure and explore the private beach, the first itinerary of the day was the Team Building games.
TEAM – Together We Achieve More
Frankly to this rather jaded ‘camper’ – who had been enough rather pointless orientation (read: torture) camps and other type of community camps you can think in her student days – this was not the most exciting prospect. But it turned out to be one of the highlight of the trip as main committee member bonded through intelligent and challenging outdoor games that allowed participants to exercise their leadership skills, strategic thinking and of course, communication and stress-management techniques.
After a round of warm-up games – such as ‘Squirrel in the Tree’, giving each other massages to warm up the muscles, creating Indo-style group cheers, and doing game forfeits such as singing Potong Bebek Angsa to the tune of Balonku Ada Lima – the real challenge started.
Among the more memorable games were having to guess the words that team members had to wiggle out with their rears, shouting directions to blindfolded team members who had to collect items place randomly on the floor, and making blindfolded members to wade into the swimming pool to collect the victory token, yet without the use of voice commands.
What struck me most through the games was that the fate of a group is very much determined by the strength of the leader AND his followers. However the leader's input is most critical in that he had to strategise at a blink of an eye. And good followers who can improve or implement the strategy cohesively and quickly usually also help to improve the chances of success dramatically.
After the games: IPA Main Committee with the games MC, Mr Black
Whitney Houston in the House?
Dinner at seafood restaurant Golden Prawn ensued after the games, with committee members venturing to sing karaoke on stage to oldies from Teresa Teng and newer Indonesian songs such as Kenangan Terindah.
Upon return to the hotel (where on the way back trippers innovatively continued their self-styled Karaoke using their mobile phone’s music collection and using the tour leader’s mic!), advisor to IPA, Ibu Ani, then surprised the whole group at the lobby lounge by celebrating two committee members’ birthdays with a cake and song.
The lounge entertainer that night happened to be a fabulous Filipina singer who could nearly contend with the likes of Whitney Houston. Her singing prowess impressed all with her rendition of “I Will Always Love You”. Sporting committee members also did a little chahcha number with her while she sang the dance-worthy “Sway” (a song made popular in recent years by jazz singer Michael Buble).
The first day ended with trippers having a sound sleep that night, having laughed, sang, danced to their heart’s content that day.
Makan, Shopping, the Life!
The next day saw visits to the Benkong Dry Market, a Polo shirt outlet, and Nagoya Shopping Mall where we thronged the likes of hypermarket and Matahari department store to stock a little on our favourite Indo tidbits, skin care and add a little something to our hopelessly full wardrobe. Committee member also enjoyed a lovely Sundanese lunch spread at Sunda Sawargi Restaurant, traditional style, and drooled over jagung bakar as the final course.
The highlight of the second day was when most trippers went for their must-have massage or lulur at Hotel 89 – where the lulur / massage ‘factory’ really surprised us with its considerably large operations – and returned back to Singapore totally relaxed and scrubbed out. Despite the big heavy downpourr where we were nearly trapped by the good ole banjir (floods) in Batam, we made it in time to the ferry back to Singapore.
Personally, while the trip was only for two days, it was a good holiday as we immersed ourselves in a different environment and felt totally at home back in Indonesia and be surrounded by the Indo-speaking once again. It was especially meaningful that that it was our first trip together as a team back to our motherland, and among Indonesian friends I had made in Singapore, and who came from all parts of Indonesia.
Indeed if not for us being here in Singapore to work, live and play, we would certainly not have met so many good soul friends from across the different regions of our own country!
The trip certainly bonded us better and helped us get to know each other more, weakness, strengths, quirks and cuteness. For me, I even miss having my team members around to just yak at ease about anything, and to sing at whim, and to just relax among likeminded Indonesians who had given time and energy voluntarily so as to bring together the community of Indonesian professionals together.
We went on this trip expecting nothing, and went away with memories that are even too difficult to describe on paper.
There is only one thing left to say: if only every holiday could be so simply good.
Now, IPA Main Committee Holiday 2009 Part II, anybody??
IPA Main Committee is expanding! Interested to be part of our dynamic and enthusiastic cohesive main committee? Whether you are keen to try your hand in extending your leadership, management, or organisational skills, or improve yourself in any way by taking on a functional role that will challenge yourself and expand your career / visionary horizons, simply e-mail to johannnes.wijaya@indoprof.com and be infected with the IPA zest for life today!