Forget tuition centres; EDUKATE your children online

Forget tuition centres; EDUKATE your children online

by | Jan 27, 2016 | learn

Say goodbye to Malaysian traffic, waiting lists and other inconveniences that plague you when sending your child to the tuition centre.

The future of education is e-learning, and CEO of Learning Orchard, Murali Mano, wants you to know that newest e-learning portal EDUKATE is every bit viable as an alternative to the teaching of EMS (English, Math, Science) supplementing the standard Malaysian curriculum.

The E-Learning Edge

Traditional education methods incorporate little more than listening, reading and rote memorization, which can make subject matter appear dry, unappealing and inconducive to actual learning. The difference with EDUKATE is that it incorporates a whole host of interactive and visually-engaging elements such as brightly-coloured pictures, videos and quiz-like games. Furthermore, unlike other e-learning portals, it allows the student to ‘share’ things they have learnt to social media like Facebook or Twitter, allowing it to make use of social media as a learning tool as well.

EDUKATE thyself

Launched earlier in January at Connexion@Nexus in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, the EDUKATE e-learning portal is a collaboration between Learning Orchard, a local business that deals with online learning, testing, and assessments, and Excelsoft Technologies Pvt Ltd, an India-based company that is a global E-Learning company with more than 25 million users worldwide.

With the needs of primary-level students from Standard 4 to 6 in mind, EDUKATE offers students the choice to learn in English or Bahasa Malaysia, with English, Maths and Science topics covered in their database. All the contents are based on the current Malaysian curriculum.

Ten Points to Gryffindor!

A strong proponent of incentivised learning, EDUKATE uses a ‘point’ system to reward students for learning. Points are typically awarded during the child’s interactions with the learning portal, such as reviewing course materials or answering questions correctly. EDUKATE partners with local companies such as fast food chains, mobile and travel companies who sponsor products, which are then periodically offered as prizes and rewards to students based on their performance in the learning matter.

Progress growth and personalised reports

EDUKATE strives to provide a child more than just a learning method, but rather a learning ecosystem. Children are sponges of information, and learn best when education is made fun and interactive.

Parents will also be able to monitor the progress of their child through report cards, which will show a record of the child’s test scores, as well as how much time they have spent on the system with which subject, with a monthly report along with a summary of the child’s weekly lessons emailed.
A monthly report will also be emailed to parents, along with a summary of the child’s weekly lessons, so that parents can stay up-to-date with the learning of their child at a glance!

Find out more!

Enrich your child’s education today starting at only RM 20/month.

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Minerva Schools: Revolutionising Learning

Minerva Schools: Revolutionising Learning

by | Nov 11, 2015 | learn

Parents,

if you have yet to hear of Minerva Schools at KGI, then listen, and listen well.

Minerva is reinventing learning in a revolutionary way, giving the elite, established universities of the world a run for their money.

Forget the dated ads of yesteryear promising a “global” education overseas for your children – Minerva promises a literally ‘global’ learning experience where their students start at homebase San Francisco for their first year of University and travel to a different cosmopolitan city around the world every semester.

The institution’s apt namesake, Minerva, is the Roman Goddess of Wisdom, War, Arts and Commerce – and it isn’t a name to be taken lightly.

Speaking to one of only two Malaysian first-year students, Arvvin Maniam from Petaling Jaya, Vox.Mk learnt that at Minerva’s inception in early 2014, it received over 2,400 applications, but only accepted 69, making its 2.8% acceptance rate the lowest in the world.

Celebrating brilliance

To call its entrance method rigorous is an understatement.

Aside from submitting their SPM, STPM or A Level results, the applicant is required to undergo a battery of cognitive and aptitude tests in addition to a video evaluation and a timed and monitored [E] writing test.

Yet, this is not a barrier – in fact, quite the opposite. In lieu of typical entrance tests that students can cram for, such as the SATs, Minerva selects the cream of the crop by using proprietary cognitive, aptitude and personality tests that cannot be prepared for.

“The Princeton Review… can help you prepare for your SATs.”, cites Arvvin.

“They will even write the [E]s for you and submit it to the universities in the US for you.

“Thus Minerva doesn’t accept any SATs, ACTs, etc.”, he affirms.

 

Grades aren’t everything

Minerva wants to get to know you – and know you well, thus they do not just consider your academics and co-curricular activities and instead, seek to test your learning aptitude, knowledge, and even your personality.

This is where the most hardworking, passionate and brilliant individuals come together in a gathering of intellect and innovation, and the team at Minerva have a spectacular plan to bring their vision of world-ready leaders and innovators to fruition by meritoriously selecting only the best in the world to undergo their radical, experimental but accredited learning process.

In fact, Founding Students are treated more as partners in this endeavour instead of mere students – breaching the church and state divide that persists in much of academia. Aside from their studently responsibilities, they also provide feedback, mould the Minerva culture, create processes and continually evolve the Minerva curriculi.

The low acceptance rate reflects Minerva’s commitment to accepting applicants based purely on merit. Such highly-selective admissions rates are balanced by low tuition costs. The negation of admissions through affirmative action, favouritism or preferential admissions such as legacy preferences or athlete recruitment also ensures the quality of students attending.

Still relatively unheard of

While applying for Harvard in the middle of his A Levels in 2014, a friend informed Arvvin about an article he had read about an ex-Harvard Dean who went to Stanford and ended up starting his own university.

Intrigued, Arvvin read up extensively on Minerva and decided to apply.

His parents, however, were not too pleased with his decision, citing concerns about the institution’s lack of reputation. Minerva was, simply, bereft of the prestige associated with Oxbridge or Ivy League universities, which was a great appeal for discerning parents around the world.

For Arvvin, the decision to apply was relatively easy. The entire learning concept was, in his words, light years ahead of many institutions – if he got accepted, he would take it without hesitation. If not, he would continue applying to Harvard anyway.

Comparatively, Harvard’s acceptance rate is 5.9% (as of 2014).

Arvvin shared that he would be the first to attend an American university; his older sister read Economics and Philosophy at the London School of Economics, whilst the rest of his family traditionally went to universities in the UK, making his desire to attend far less appealing to his parents.

Affordable Global education

The upside of this, though, is that tuition fees at Minerva are relatively low.

While premier institutions such as Harvard or Princeton would see tuition costs of over USD 40 – 50K per annum, Minerva’s comes in at a relatively affordable USD 10K.

In addition, Minerva is needs-blind and tuition grants are available for those who really need it.

Literally a global campus, Minerva’s students enjoy access to shared/leased facilities such as gyms or libraries in the cities they are in.

“The best way to live life is to live in it.” – Minerva Schools

Typical varsity life at other universities is relegated to sheltered campuses and immediate experiences, with token overseas experiences thrown in every year or so for ‘selected’ students who have shown their academic (and often, financial) ‘mettle’ to qualify for exchange programmes.

Minerva is strictly not an exchange programme – students have to change city campuses every semester. This challenges them to engage and interact with a diversity of individuals, customs, views, communities and societies. From San Francisco and London to Buenos Aires and Seoul, Minerva takes students to many of the world’s most prominent technological, economic, political, and cultural centers.

Learn more about Student Life at Minerva.

Life in the cloud

Classes at Minerva are not normal; at least, not in the traditional sense.

Minerva believes in imparting to students, the skills and knowledge essential to become leaders, innovators, broad thinkers and global citizens. The entire academic ecosystem revolves around strong intellectual and social development instead of typical rote-learning.

There are therefore no lectures, and students are graded in a continuous manner via active-participation in online ‘classrooms’, with all assignments within the cloud.

Additionally, they are given real-world problems which they are expected to navigate and solve.

Take for example, in San Francisco lies the famous Silicon Valley, yet students are not tasked to intern or work with SV companies.

Instead, they are given real-world issues to deal with, such as the growing homelessness of individuals in San Francisco, where they have to conduct research and speak to the homeless, for example, in order to gain a better understanding of the problem to come up with applicable, creative solutions.

 

The Application Process

All you need is an internet connection to apply.

After filling up a short application form, you will be required to take their assessment tests online, which should take around 45 minutes, at most.

Some time later, you will be asked to share your accomplishments, both in school and outside, together with the relevant supporting documents.

You then upload your academic transcripts and undergo a video assessment and then take a 10-minute written [E] test.

Learn more about applying to Minerva

Malaysian Founding Student Haziq shares his thoughts about Minerva:

Jamilah Lim

Jamilah Lim

Writer

Jamilah cares deeply about the human condition. A humanist, skeptic and feminist, she is a proponent of both human and animal rights. An avid gamer, she lives somewhere in PJ with her two cats and plays Dota 2 in her free time.

The Gamer’s Survival Guide To Cyberfusion 2015

The Gamer’s Survival Guide To Cyberfusion 2015

by | Nov 2, 2015 | Gaming

It’s that time of the year again, when gamers of all creeds gather in the hundreds in the hallowed halls of MMU (Multimedia University Cyberjaya) … to play games!

Yes, the biggest LAN (Local Area Network) party in Malaysia is back, and it will see scores of gamers, young and old, who will travel from all over Malaysia to meet up with friends and have a smashing good time playing games non-stop.

What is Cyberfusion?

Organised by gamers for gamers in Malaysia, Cyberfusion started in 2009 and got into the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest LAN party in the world.

LAN (short for Local Area Network) Parties are gatherings where people connect to each other via a Local Area Network, typically through cables, in order to play multi-player video games.

Cyberfusion is a place to run away from everything just to play any games for 3 days 2 night with free food and high speed internet. You can play any games you want, even minesweeper. Just play games!
- Excerpt from the Cyberfusion FAQ page

The inaugural Cyberfusion (2009)

We’ve compiled a list of survival tips for the intrepid gamer to have the safest, most comfortable and enjoyable 51-hour LAN party ever!

Survival Tip #1: Snack Up

Gaming REALLY takes up energy. Hence, gamers get hungry very quickly. Ensure you have stocked up enough healthful snacks such as seaweed, muesli, mixed nuts and dried fruits so you have something nice to munch on in between meals that will slowly release the complex carbs and provide you with a good balance of protein and fats at the same time.

Survival Protip!

As much as you can, try to avoid carbohydrate-rich, salty, fatty foods such as sweet snacks, potatoes, rice, or crackers due to their high caloric content, which would result in weight gain if they are not worked off!

Survival Tip #2 – BYOB: Bring Your Own Bags

Your trash is yours and no one else’s.

So let’s all be responsible and clean participants and throw our rubbish into our own bags and dispose of them outside.

I mean, you wouldn’t want your first blood to be coming from a cockroach, now, would you?

Survival Protip!

There’s no need to purchase plastic bin liners or bags for the event. If you do grocery shopping, you can reuse the plastic bags that came with your grocery runs. Always try to reuse plastic when you can – you will be helping save the Earth too!

Survival Tip #3 – Hydration, Hydration, Hydration!

We cannot further stress the importance of this point. With the terrible weather these days and a drying, air-conditioned hall, it is imperative that you hydrate yourself well enough. As a general guide and from past experience, 2 litres of water for every 24 hours suffices. You can’t refill them there, however, so do bring enough to last your stay there.

Survival Tip #4 – Bring wet wipes

Contrary to popular belief, wet wipes are not just for babies and old people.

They’re *incredibly* handy for cleaning up all sorts of gunk like oil, spills and sweaty palms after hours of gaming. Trust me, I go nowhere without a pack of anti-bacterial wet wipes. They’re also reasonably priced at about RM 2 – 3 for two packs of 15 or so at a Guardian, Watsons or Caring Pharmacy. In fact, you can even go to a hypermarket like Tesco or Aeon to get a tube roll of about 100 sheets or so.

They’re really convenient to have around when you’re otherwise too indisposed (read: busy rampaging your server) to go to the washroom to wash your hand or clean up messes.

Survival Protip!

Bring along a small, personal square box of dry tissues as a complement to your wet wipes!

They’re useful for bigger and wetter messes (such as spilled soup) – Use them for soaking up the mess first, and then clean up the area with wet wipes. Let dry.

Survival Tip #5 – Take breaks

Designate rest and relaxation times well. One of the unhealthiest things gamers tend to do is not take breaks from their machines.

It is important that you give your eyes a break every 20 – 30 minutes or so by staring at a faraway object. It won’t take more than 2 minutes to leave your seat to exit the hall to look into the distance – MMU sits on a pretty huge plot of land, so it has really picturesque views all around.

Every hour or so, get up from your seat to stretch and flex those muscles!

Take a Vape Break, go for a walk, jog, or do Yoga.

Heck, you can even organise a morning Yoga or Tai Chi session!

(no, seriously, you can. Just let the organisers know so they can help you round up others)

Survival Tip #6 – Go with friends

Friends make the experience way more fun and everyone can help to keep a look out for each other’s stuff!

Establish a ‘guard duty’ roster so there will always be an eye or two on the lookout.

Have you invited your friend to Cyberfusion yet?

Puppey and Dendi: A better love story than Twilight

Survival Tip #7: Padlock your bags

Purchase a couple of those small travel padlocks and keep all your peripherals such as your expensive Razer mice, Mechanical Keyboards, Steelseries mouse pads or laptops in a small bag. Lock them when you need to go to sleep or move away from your station for long periods of time.

Survival Tip #8: Bring foldable mattresses

They are worth the investment as this means you won’t be uncomfortably lying on the hard floor or dirty chairs. The fact that they’re foldable means you save a lot of space too!

They retail for about RM 70+ at most hypermarkets like Tesco or Aeon and come in their own plastic zipper bag. Don’t forget to bring a nice pillow (or two) and a blanket along!

Bantal busuk optional.

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The Alternative

Foldable mattresses are pretty thin and might not be too comfortable. In that case, bring an inflatable mattress along instead.

Tesco is currently selling them cheap at RM 39.90 for a double bed.

Survival Tip #9: Go one step further – Bring a tent!

Tents these days are also inexpensive and can be set up in mere minutes.

Place mattresses in your tents and it becomes a completely comfortable, cozy and private space for you to recharge away from the eyes of the rest.

Survival Tip #10: Practice good hygiene

There aren’t shower facilities per se, but toilets are available, so do shower and have a change of clothes at least once a day.

Like any other normal holiday, bring your toothbrush, toiletries, clean clothes (and underwear) and towels! Don’t forget the towels.

And please, deodorant too – everyone else will thank you for it.

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Do you have any other suggestions and protips and tricks on making your Cyberfusion experience awesome?

Share them in the comments!

The Fulbright Focus: Cecila Louis, Educator, Change-seeker and Inspirer

The Fulbright Focus: Cecila Louis, Educator, Change-seeker and Inspirer

by | Oct 16, 2015 | learn, people

Having almost 3 decades of teaching under her belt, Cecilia Zamira Louis recently returned from her eye-opening experience in the US as a fellow of the Fulbright ILEP (International Leaders in Education Program).

The ILEP is a cross-cultural exchange opportunity for Malaysian educators to be posted to universities in the US in a semester-long cultural, professional and educational exchange program.

I had the pleasure of meeting Cecilia and a few others recently at a debriefing event for recipients of various Fulbright programs in Malaysia hosted by the Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (MACEE), a bi-national Fulbright Commission established by the the US and Malaysian governments in 1963 to promote inter-cultural understanding through education and educational exchange between the two countries.

Humble Beginnings

Cecilia is an educator and GKMP Bahasa (Guru Kanan Mata Pelajaran, or, Head of Language Department) at a school in Gelang Patah, Johor.

She started in the 1980s teaching music at the primary level, and, after a decade of moving around schools, she eventually picked up English from the headmasters of each of the 3-4 schools, and which saw her studying TESL to improve her proficiency in the language.

After her graduation, she was posted to a Secondary School in Skudai, Johor Bahru, which she recounts was a ‘huge cultural shock’. She felt a great emotional burden as she attempted to counsel students who were suffering a lot in their journey of self-discovery as they transitioned from primary to secondary school.

Through her ex-classmate, she learnt of the Fulbright program and was encouraged to try and apply as she was greatly concerned for the welfare of her students and sought to improve the quality of education she could provide.

Her successful application thus saw her move to the states for four and a half months as she was posted to St Rose College in Albany, New York. Her program comprised lessons and audit classes with a middle school in Albany.

I learnt that when planning your lesson, teachers must have a clear instructional routine that will help students practice the skills needed in future. Also, students need different routines, as different children learn in different ways.

As teachers we need to understand what is going on in the mind of a child, especially teenagers.

Cecila Louis

At the Neero Conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

She was also exposed to different perspectives on education during her exchanges with academics and fellow educators such as through conferences and meetings.

Cecilia at an audit class on ‘strategies and middle school education’

 

Linked Learning

One of the things Cecilia was excited to share about was the method of learning employed in the classes she was at. Teachers of different subject matters frequently collaborated to approach the education of their students in a thematic manner.

Unlike in Malaysia, where students are ‘spoonfed’ information from textbooks and are forced to memorise and regurgitate them during exams, students in her classes in Albany were given a specific theme each month.

From Mathematics, to History, to Geography to even Science, their teachers would prepare teaching and homework material that revolves around a certain theme, say, the Civil War, and this theme would pervade most of their classes in creative ways.

Mathematics, for example, would have Civil War-themed problem questions, while English reading and comprehension passages would be about the Civil War. Literature would touch on Poetry during the Civil War, and so on and so forth.

This linked approach thus helps students to remember facts, concepts and theories more easily as they can relate more easily from the exposure. This makes learning and understanding less reliant on rote memorisation. Furthermore, classes are also more fun as teachers apply interactive elements such as energizers and refreshers during lesson time.

Cross-cultural Learning

Cecilia’s school experience saw her being partnered with Mrs Mickey Young from Farnsworth Middle School, Albany.

Mrs Young (right) is an excellent educator. She welcomed me into her class, and shared her knowledge, time and about herself.

A sweet welcome greeted Cecilia at Farnsworth Middle School

A sweet welcome greeted Cecilia at Farnsworth Middle School

One thing that I can boast about is that I actually taught in an American class. I taught all the four classes for a week. It was so exciting and the kids were lovely.

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Farnsworth Middle School, Albany

I used a strategy learnt during my Audit Class – Anticipation Guide, to teach about Batik.

The American Experience

Cecilia felt that she assimilated well into the campus and American culture in Albany. She had the opportunity to visit the Niagara Falls, dine at a posh Italian restaurant and even catch the Broadway musical, The Lion King!

Cecilia at the Broadway Musical, The Lion King.

Cecilia at the Broadway Musical, The Lion King.

 

“I felt at home, and did not feel homesick or lost. This can only be because of the way the American people behave.”, said Cecilia.

Cecilia at one of her Sponsor-a-scholar meetups at Albany High, NY

She was also free to join any society in college and she chose to volunteer her time with parents of autistic children (The Friday Knights program) and the ‘Sponsor-a-scholar’ program (an outreach program by St Rose students to interact and connect with High School students).

I guess when you are a first world nation, there are certain things that you do that set you apart from the rest. You can walk up to anyone if you need anything and they will try their very best to help. No matter who you are, anyone and everyone will greet each other.

Cecilia Louis

There was no shortage of things to do and places to go and sights to see in the US!

 

Cecilia did not just stay in Albany in her 4 months, though. The stipend provided to her for her time there was more than sufficient for her to travel around the country.

Back in Malaysia

Since coming back to Malaysia, she has only done one course, with a primary school in Kluang on Teaching Strategies. The generous stipend given was also enough to allow Cecilia to purchase much-needed electronic teaching aids and equipment such as a laptop, an LCD projector and a printer, which she has put to good use in her classes, making her lessons far more interesting.

As a determined and dedicated educator, Cecilia is always giving her 100% to her school and her students.

She has made attempts to reach out to offer her services to several primary schools and the PPD (Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah, or, Local Education Offices) to share what she has learnt, but sadly, none of them have actually expressed any interest in it, much to her frustration.

In Malaysia, they look not for qualification but “kulitfication”…

… so what I do is to share everything that I know, the teaching practices that I have learnt and tried out in my own classroom, on my Facebook.

I have quite a few junior and senior teachers who are my FB friends, and so that is how I am spreading my knowledge.

Cecilia Louis

The Fulbright-MACEE Program

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

It has accepted approximately 294,000 participants, chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential, with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

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Jamilah Lim

Jamilah Lim

Writer

Jamilah cares deeply about the human condition. A humanist, skeptic and feminist, she is a proponent of both human and animal rights. An avid gamer, she lives somewhere in PJ with her two cats and plays Dota 2 in her free time.

A New Lease of Life – Furry Friends Farm

A New Lease of Life – Furry Friends Farm

by | Oct 12, 2015 | Animal, Culture, Lifestyle

A New Lease of Life

500 animals almost lost their home. This is their story.

Unbeknownst to many, in the small little town of Kundang lies a place where the abandoned, unwanted and rejected live.

Here, 150 cats and 350 dogs (and a goat who thinks he’s a dog) of all ages and from all around the country call the Furry Friends Farm (or, FFF) their home.

Situated in between Rawang and KL, it is about a 35 minute drive from Bangsar, and accessible via the LATAR highway.

Who lives here?

From diabetic cats to three-legged dogs, this is a sanctuary for the downtrodden; who are mobility, visually and even mentally,impaired. But of course, not all animals are sick or unwell. In fact, the whole lot of them look as fine as ever, thanks to the loving and caring commitment and dedication of the sanctuary’s management.

They have even rescued perfectly fine – and some even remarkably beautiful cats and dogs who were heartbreakingly disposed of at random places.

Every furkid has a name. Each life here is unique, with their own personalities, histories and of course, a future.

As much as the sanctuary management can guarantee, the inhabitants of FFF are provided a permanent place here, living as dignified beings with their needs seen to, until the end of their days on Earth.

The Sanctuary

These lucky ones, once sneered at by society, get a second chance at life as they receive tender, loving care under the watchful and experienced eye of the Sanctuary Manager, Georgie Gisborne. Georgie, a British citizen, is no stranger to animal care and rescue, being a serial volunteer and moving around countries. She first came to Malaysia in 2011, and came across some abandoned kittens.

She searched online  to try to rehome them, and was connected to Sabrina Yeap, the founder of Furry Friends Farm (who has since passed away in 2012 from leukemia).

However, she saw that Sabrina had a full house, so she found another place to re-home them. Furthermore, Sabrina was running a one-man show, so Georgie volunteered to help her for 3 months until her visa expired.

So in 2011, suddenly I had to leave (Malaysia), but my heart remained here…

And then when she died 3 years ago, I was in Thailand, working with street dogs there, and someone informed me of Sabrina’s death.

I wanted to come back straight away; I knew they would need someone to look after them here, because my heart is here.

Georgie Gisborne

Building a new home from scratch

At that time, however, Georgie was not aware that there was a team of part-time volunteers. So she came back in September 2012 to a bunch of less-than healthy looking animals, with an RM 70,000 debt and not a piece of kibble left in their bowls.

It was an incredibly tough time then, but thankfully, Myza Nordin (Sanctuary President) and Dawn (Treasurer) were ready to work together with the invaluable assistance of volunteers from around Selangor and KL to build FFF into a registered non-profit NGO to care for its inhabitants.

Together, the three of them defined their own roles and worked hard to accomplish the best they could. Myza even left a very cushy job as a high ranking PR person in the Hospitality industry in order to devote more of her time to these animals, whom she has come to regard as her own furkids.

Together with their volunteers, the team at Furry Friends Farm slowly toiled and troubled; they worked to source long term donations, and painstakingly built the farm into what it is today – a bustling, thriving sanctuary filled with happy, healthy animals.

This is really a lot to speak about, considering that it takes an immense amount of energy and importantly, money, to ensure the day to day operations are smooth. On top of that, Myza works hard to try to find new ways of bringing more money to the farm to support their operational costs, from coming up with donation drives, to running farm programmes for school children.

Meet FFF Ambassadors Kuning and Rajoo!

Thankfully, they have their uber cute and furry ambassadors, Kuning and Rajoo to follow them around in their appearances in malls and schools. Kuning is one of the coolest, most composed, quiet and watchful dog you will ever find.

kuning

 

Rajoo – The goat who thinks he’s a dog

He lives in a medium sized enclosure with his dog-wife, Daisy.  They travel around everywhere together, and even groom each other!

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Kuning and the 2009 Pulau Ketam Incident

In 2009, residents of Pulau Ketam, a small island off the coast of Port Klang, Selangor, saw an increase in the stray dog population. This was brought about not by imports of dogs, but by the irresponsibility of the residents in keeping the stray population in check.

Eventually, they dealt with the problem by ferrying these dogs to a nearby island called Pulau Selat Kering with no food, water or escape route, leaving them all to fend for themselves in some twisted, cruel version of the hunger games.

Kuning, alongside another hero-dog called Hitam, were rescued by Sabrina. What makes Kuning special is that, despite his fear of the water, he bravely swam across the boat towards the island to persuade his friends to join him on the boat. Most of these dogs, who were abused and ill-treated by the people on Pulau Ketam, were afraid of humans, but responded well to Kuning and Hitam’s calls and efforts to bring them to safety.

Most of these dogs have since been re-homed or have passed away.

Read more

Georgie, drawing on her years of experience travelling around the world and working with rescued strays and shelters, had vision of how she wanted the farm to look and to be run.

In the beginning, she did face some opposition to that, but that is all put behind as the farm looks and moves forward with the dedication of their staff and volunteers.

 

Together with the regular volunteers and paid workers at the farm, FFF took in and tended to strays, the abused and the abandoned.

They still do take in cases now, but with the high volume of animals under their care and their strict no-kill policy, they are far more selective about their intake.

How is Furry Friends Farm different from other shelters?

No-Kill Policy

FFF lives by the promise that no living, breathing animal will ever be killed within the walls of the sanctuary – Yes, even rats, mice and crows! 

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No cages or chains

Nobody lives in cages, or tight, confined spaces. All of the inhabitants get plenty of fresh air, sunshine and exercise in the vast compound, cat, dog or human.

Everyone has a routine

Dogs and cats are creatures of habit, and having a strict and dependable environment keeps them mentally and physically happy and healthy.

The farm

They run a tight ship at FFF, and a strict routine is necessary as animals love routines – changes in environment are very often, stressful.

Their morning shifts usually start at 8 am and last all the way til 1 pm. In the mornings, all medications are given, and the main jobs such as cleaning, feeding, gardening and bathing, even vet runs, would be done in the mornings.

The humans then go for lunch at 1 pm and any other work that’s not completed yet would be done. Furry Friends Farm hires 4 general workers, and they do the bulk of cleaning, maintenance and gardening.

For them, the main priority is quality of life for their charges.

The farm is about 2 – acres big, and most of the 350 canines housed there live in large enclosures separated by packs. Each enclosure has 1 – 3 Alpha males and females, whilst some enclosures are more solitary in nature, housing those with psychological issues or a cannibalistic streak.

The packs are separated mainly because of personality differences. It is impractical to expect that all animals can get along swimmingly – the truth is that these dogs all have a history, and their own personalities. Some simply do not get along with each other, hence they have been kept apart to prevent fighting and casualties.

 

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Over here, you won’t see shiny and pristine tiled floors – or much floor, for that matter. The dogs here love digging and the areas they run around are deliberately kept grassy with lots of sandy/dirty areas for playing and hiding.

 

 

The cattery houses approximately 150 cats, and is divided into two main areas – one for FiV pawsitive and the other for uninfected felines.

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These are further divided into smaller rooms for the felines with renal issues such as kidney disease and diabetes as they need to receive daily medical treatment such as IV fluids and insulin jabs.

Over here, they observe a strict no-kill policy. As the farm is situated in a very undeveloped plot of land in Kundang nearby forestry and lakes, they are prone to wildlife visitors such as cobras, pythons, crows, and even monitor lizards.

In the long run, Georgie and friends believe in educating the public about basic, proper and ethical treatment and care of animals, and the farm is a perfect hands-on way that children, teenagers and even adults can learn to better understand the needs of animals and to respect them as fellow inhabitants on Earth.

Aside from large enclosures, and the cattery, the farm also has a little Buddhist temple in the shed behind where Sabrina’s memorial is at.

Flanking the temple is a little plot of land where the bodies of their old friends, dogs, cats, chicken and rabbits, are buried.

It is also where Georgie wants to be buried too, when she passes.

The Hard Truths

All these don’t come for free, of course. The non-profit, non-governmental organisation’s monthly costs to upkeep the sanctuary for these 500 lives can come up to RM 40,000, inclusive of staff wages, food and other overheads.

As if it was not difficult enough to maintain donations for the upkeep of the area, the place these animals call home was recently under siege by unfortunate circumstances- the landlord needed to sell the land they were on.

The Price Tag?

RM 2.7 Million.

Thankfully, miracles DO happen

A very generous and undisclosed donor, the one in a million miracle maker (well, a family, actually), has approached Furry Friends Farm to alleviate their financial distress.

Whew!

But they still need your help

Running costs are RM 40,000 per month. Every Ringgit counts!

Visit their Facebook page

How you can help

Adopt a furkid!

If the time has come for you to raise your own furkid, look no further than FFF.

Most of the inhabitants here are in need of a loving, warm home and a parent to shower their care and love on.

Adoption rates start at RM 200, and includes all the necessary medical and surgical procedures your adoptive furkid needs.

Sponsor a furkid!

If you’ve always wanted to have a pet, but cannot, for various reasons (e.g. not enough space, allergic, family does not allow), then sponsoring a furkid is a fantastic way for you to have a pet! Drop by the farm to say hi to your furkid, and play, feed, bathe and spend time with your furkid as all other furkid parents do!

Sponsorship starts at RM 60/month and covers the essentials your furkid needs.

 

Contribute to the Foodbank Programme

Food is an essential of life.

The same goes for all the 500 furkids here at FFF. Almost 80% of the monthly running costs goes into food alone.

Feed a furkid today by pledging some money monthly for a bag of kibble.

Each bag costs RM 120 and they need 120 sponsors!

Donate

Don’t really want to adopt or sponsor? Then donate! Any amount, any time, any place. Every little sen counts.

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To donate:

Direct bank transfer (local bank)
Bank: Public Bank
Account No: 317 884 2626
Account Name: Furry Friends Farm

Visits by appointment ONLY.

Please call Sanctuary President Myza Nordin to schedule a visit at 016 371 7692.

You may be denied entry without prior appointment.

Furry Friends Farm

Jamilah Lim

Jamilah Lim

Writer

Jamilah cares deeply about the human condition. A humanist, skeptic and feminist, she is a proponent of both human and animal rights. An avid gamer, she lives somewhere in PJ with her two cats and plays Dota 2 in her free time.