Directed Writing: Report - Account

SMK Kayu Jati’s Fund-Raising Carnival

                The 30^th June, which happened to be warm and sunny Sunday morning, saw the field of SMK Kayu Jati as a hive of activities. On a day when everyone else was resting at home, glued to their television sets, the students of this school and their parents had sacrificed their beauty sleep to be in school by six-thirty. Reason? They were there to help out with the one-day carnival jointly organized by the school authorities and the Parent-Teacher Association.

                The idea for the carnival was mooted by our beloved Principal, Puan Hajah Sri Asmida Saadon , to raise funds for several projects. The school hopes to use the money collected to help needy students pay their tuition fees. The money will also be used to help sponsor twenty students who come from single parent homes. Other than that, the money will also be used to buy new books for the school library as the existing books are torn and tattered. Some reference books are outdated while the fiction books are from our parents’ era.

                The parents and teachers had set up stalls offering a variety of mouth-watering dishes. Pn. Ruzi Liyana, the senior assistant, could be seeing slaving over a barbeque pit, fanning sticks of chicken satay and frankfurters. Not to be outdone was the chairman of the PTA, Tuan Haji Nasoha. Together with a few teachers and parents, he could be seen serving his endless streams of customers a variety of ice-blended drinks. Other popular stalls included Pn. Hidayah’s ‘Nyonya Fare’ and Mr. Wee’s ‘Bollywood Cuisine’. I found out that the teachers and parents had slaved hard from three a.m. to prepare the food at home. Judging from the crowd, I can safely say that many of our teachers are good cooks. Moreover, all the food was sold out by 1 p.m. Many visitors who came later were disgruntled but Puan Hajah Sri Asmida saved the day. She had earlier made arrangements with the restaurants nearby to supply food to the school should such situation occur.

                The games’ stall were handled by the students themselves. The Ghost House was all-time favourite, with tickets for the day sold out by 12 noon. Many children could be seen trying their hand on mini golf, ‘ride a pony’ and the numerous dart games which offered attractive prizes to winners.

                The prefectorial Board members had turned music deejays for the event. For a mere 50 sen, they spun popular English, Malay, Chinese and Hindi songs. Requests for dedications k\ept them busy the whole day.

                The carnival was over by 4 p.m. More than three thousand people had turned up to support our carnival. A whooping RM 50 000 was raised. Some parents have suggested that the carnival be made an annual fare as it not only helps the school raise funds for useful projects but also encourages co-operation among all parties involved. Let’s hope that next year’s carnival is even more successful and we can have a much-needed school hall.

Reported by,

Thalathiyah Nawawi