Learning Journey to Malaysia

14-17 March 2009

Selangor on the map

13 states

Pulau PinangKelantanPerlisKedahSarawakSabah

• Johor

•Melaka

•Negeri Sembilan

•*Selangor

•Perak

•Pahang

•Terengganu

The federal head of state of Malaysia is the Yang di- Pertuan Agong, commonly referred to as the King of Malaysia.

Selangor’s history dates to the 16th century.

The area’s natural wealth, along its relative freedom from the presence of the Dutch, attracted miners, immigrants and colonizers.

Over the course of the 18th century, Selangor extended its sphere of influence to became a regional political power.

In 1957 the Federation became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations.

Today, Selangor is Malaysia’s richest and most development state.

Putrajaya •Putra Mosque

•Perdana Putra•Putra Lake

The Blue Mosque

a new planned city and a federal territory that acts as an federal government administration centre of Malaysia

However,Kuala Lumpur still serves as Malaysia’s national and legislative capital

About 40% of Putrajaya is naturalLush greenery, botanical gardens are

spread across the landscape enhanced by large bodies of water and wetlands

named after Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra. “Putra” also means prince in Malay “Jaya” means excellent or success

It is located next to the Putra MosqueIt is a building complex in Putrajaya

which houses the Malaysian Prime Minister office complex

Located on the main hill in Putrajaya, it has become synonym with the Malaysian executive arm

The Perdana Putra Building at 50 metres above sea-level overlooks the Putrajaya Lake

The natural stone clad building with its green pitched roof and onion-shaped main dome, surrounded by four smaller domes forms the distinctive land mark of Putrajaya

It is a manmade lakeFor the water in the lake to be clean

enough for body contact, water sports and recreational activities, a wetland was constructed to remove pollutants and to clean the water before it enters the lake

The 650-hectare Putrajaya Lake is designed to act as a natural cooling system for the city and for recreation, fishing, water sports and water transport.

The Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque is the state mosque of Selangor, Malaysia

It is located in Shah AlamIt is the country's biggest mosque

and also the second biggest mosque in Southeast Asia

It was commissioned by the late Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz, when he declared Shah Alam as the new capital of Selangor on February 14, 1974

Construction began in 1982 and finished on March 11, 1988. During the reign of Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz, Shah Alam Mosque was built between 1982 and 1988

The Mosque is also known as the Blue Mosque owing to its blue dome which is one of the largest in the whole world

The structure of the mosque incorporates Malay and Islamic architecture

Kampong Dorani

-

We drank fresh coconut juice

Ate homemade “kuih”.

Learnt how to make oil from coconut milk.

- Learnt how to paint in the colours.

- How to make it look more vibrant and realistic.

We saw how they made the chips and the woks and pots used to fry them.

We bought “kerepek” and “kuih baulu” from them.

We had a chance to pound the grains.

The pounder was very heavy that it needed two of us to lift it.

We also carried on with step two which was to “menampi” the grains by shaking the grains in a rattan tray.

We went to a paddy field to fish for eels.

The farmer gave us a stick with a piece of chicken meat that was hooked onto it.

We had to put the chicken meat into the holes because that was where…

the eel was!

We had a scrumptious steamboat dinner at a restaurant in MINES Wonderland.

We cooked the seafood ourselves and ate it with hot and spicy tom yam soup and fried rice.

Orphanage Istana Budaya

• Arriving there, they welcomed us with a kompang performance

• The nenek (the lady who takes care of them) told us about how the orphanage life is like.

• We spoke to them, gave them gifts and read some books with them.

• Some of them were from different states in Malaysia like e.g Selangor, Melaka, Johor Bahru etc.

• The visit made us more appreciative of our homes and family in Singapore.

It is a popular Malay Theatre Performing Centre

Istana Budaya means “The National Theatre”

It is responsible for the development of all theatrical art in Malaysia

It is a world class theatre.

•Cocoa Boutique•Istana Negara•Muzium Negara (National Museum)•Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC)

Do you know that cocoa and chocolate can…

improve blood flow?reduce blood

pressure?have positive effects

on brain memory?can increase

appetite?

This was one of our favourite stop.

We bought a lot of chocolates for our families back home and of course…for ourselves!

It houses four main galleries specializing in ethnology and natural history

There are displays showing traditional cultural events like weddings, festivals and beautiful costumes;

to the rich variety of weapons, musical instruments, arts and crafts, precious ceramics, and flora & fauna

the palace grounds are not opened to members of the public or tourists, the Main Palace Entrance is a favourite picture spot for tourists

We got off our bus and took a picture against the backdrop of the Petronas Twin Towers.

It was indeed a very tall and impressive building.

We went to new places, ate different types of food, experienced a different kind of lifestyle…

And the best part of it all, we experienced all that with our friends of 5 and 6 years.

Staying in the hotel for 3 nights, gelled us even more and made us understand each other better.