Corporate Teambuilding Programme

Last week, my company sent me to a resort in Janda Baik for a corporate teambuilding programme, compulsory for all staffs. This programme started right after Raya where each session, the participants are required to spend 3 days and 2 night at the resort. There is about 10 sessions altogether, and mine is the 3rd session. Yeah, the sooner the better.

I guess the word 'teambuilding' itself is self-explanatory. Work-in-a-team-to-achieve-one-objective kinda thing. Despite the negative impression over this teambuilding programme (yelah, company dah sakit tapi masih ada hati nak buat expensive course), if you accept it with an open heart, you will enjoy every minute of it. Plus, the 2 nights away from the family is like escapism for me (evil, evil..). Having a jolly good time with other mothers who also shared the same feeling...bestnya!

The 3 days 2 nights was a hectic schedule. Not a time to take a short nap. 80% of the course is done indoor, while the rest are done outdoor. This is unlike what I had in mind when you talk about teambuilding, but for me who the only time I exercise is going up and down the stairs doing housechores, the course outline suits me perfectly.

Well, as expected, in most teambuilding (or similar courses), there is a group performance to be done. Somehow or rather, one week before the course, I have envisioned myself performing dikir barat for group performance. I thought "kalau diaorang suruh each group perform, then one good performance will be dikir barat." So I have recalled most of the dikir barat songs (and bunga) I've performed before. Cuma lagu opening je tak ingat...and lupanya nak tanya Sheila (my mentor in dikir barat) at that time.

Pucuk dicita ulam mendatang. Yup, we were asked to perform dikir barat in two groups. Each group consists of 50 individuals. We were given 1 1/2 hours to prepare, starting from 4 p.m. By 5.30 p.m. everything must be up and ready.

Initially I planned to keep quiet and let the experts i.e. the Kelantanese to do the job. They want to do it the pure Kelantan version, while mine is more of a commercial dikir with a mixture of Kelate and Nogori songs.

But by 4.45 pm, nothing seems to be done. Not even the lyrics. The only thing done is the rambu-ramba for our hands. So with the permission of my group leader, I decided to take charge. We decided to dikir with 'Ewa bulan'. Easier. Everybody knows that song.

And who is the Tukang Karut? Hmmm...siapa lagi kalau bukan moi. Actually we have 3 Tukang Karuts. One for the opening, one for the 'Ewa Bulan' song, and mine was the lenggok2 part for the closing.

It has been years since I perform on stage be it singing, acting or dancing. Seriously, it was one hell of a stage fright and I can feel my voice trembles when I sang. Whateva...janji perform as asked to.

But the best part, after the performance, people came and asked me "Rafiqah orang Kelantan ke?". Excuse me..tak dengar ke bunyi macam orang Siam tadi...hehe..

Well, I'm going to make sure that that is my last time performing in the Bank. And please do not ever show me the video of us performing. Malu banget!

Photos? I didn't bring my camera along, so I am waiting for the courtesy of our Training Dept for some photos taken during the programme. Nanti dah dapat, akan diupload di sini dan Facebook, insyaAllah.

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Updated at 6.45 pm (sementara menunggu Hubby yang tak kunjung tiba)...

Different story altogether, but I have to at least note it somewhere...

Ashraff managed to puasa penuh selama 16 hari last Ramadhan. Not bad, considering the fact that he (and his friend) are the only one not fasting at school the first few days of Ramadhan.

When I got to know that he asked his teacher for his lunch when other students are all busy fasting, i refused to talk to him the whole day. Buat malu je!

And another no-talking-to-Ashraff day, when I received a call from the teacher asking my permission to give Ashraff his lunch coz he was screaming for food. I could hear him screaming at the back. Bengangnya ibu!

But he gradually improved then on...from breaking fast at 12 pm, extended to 2 pm, then 4 pm...then the whole day!

I guess incentive in the form of money does work. And also the thought of Ibu transforming into a tiger if he doesn't do it...hehe..