Cheng Ho Expo 2010, an expo that starts on the 21st Nov and ends on the 26th Nov, brings a lot of bittersweet memories to me and of course, precious experience and friends that I will never forget.
Before the official date, which was the 21st, we, the volunteers, regardless of races, have had training courses and briefings. Non of all those were really pleasant. We argued and argued and argued, especially among Chinese and Malay volunteers. All those rubbish stuffs about unfair treatments, etc came out. Truth be told, I don't really like the way those organizers (especially Malays) organize this program. They kept on giving false promises that makes us jubilant and full of hopes yet later crushed it by postponing and postponing their promises. They even gave reasons that big events like this will always have delays. My goodness, this is a big event! A reason like that certainly should not be accepted, unless it is of special case. Many times we have wanted to leave, be done with working as a volunteer, yet we persevered at the words of our Chinese volunteers' leaders. For that, I am grateful.
There were three types of pavilion, or rather, huge tents set up at the Stadium Muhammad IV, namely China Pavilion, Kelantan Pavilion and International Pavilion. Also, there were small tents for the Kelantan Local Traders and an International Food Court. Among those, China Pavilion is the largest and from what I've heard, the busiest. Part of it was because China traders were the main focus in this expo and part of it was because a lot of Chinese volunteers were needed to be translators. Kai Li, Qian Wen, Rhu Hui and I were stationed at the China Pavilion and In Sin at the International Pavilion. Actually, QW wasn't really grouped into China Pavilion, but somehow she was transferred to there later. There was one thing I still can't get it through my mind. The organizers kept on saying that Chinese volunteers were very important in getting the translating job done in China Pavilion, as China traders can't speak Malay, but somehow a quarter or half of us were stationed at other places that were not quite necessary. The results? China Pavilion was short of translators and we were hell busy running from a booth to another, especially the last two days, where those stupid organizers wanted each and everyone of us to take only a shift, either morning or noon. Imagine 30++ volunteers tending 80++ booths. Some even got complained by the China traders for disappearing and reappearing in a booth. I even got pulled to selling mirrors and wooden puppets! Translators becoming salesmen? Not to mention poor IS was bored to death at her International Pavilion, with nothing to do but just stand. Aren't they "brilliant"? =_=
Brushing all those unpleasant stuffs aside, the bright side is still there. I worked as a translator in a Chinese Arabic calligraphy booth, along with Josephine and Qian Wen. The master, Mr. Baddrudin (毛占明), his brother-in-law, Suleiman (马维) and Mr. Qin (秦广德) were very very nice to us. The first day we met them,
they looked quite serious, yet in no time at all, we got along very well. You know, I rather stayed at the booth helping them than to become a salesman (Haha~). Mr. Baddrudin's artwork is really fascinating, with every sweep of his brush so elegant, so graceful. (He even wrote QW, Jo and me our Chinese names in Arabic, free of charge =D). I also met a lot of friends there, namely my group members, volunteers from my pavilion, other pavilions, some Malay volunteers that were so sweet, a guy named Harry, a friend from my primary school, etc. Not to mention food! During lunch break, my friends and I would be willing to walk a long way to try out all sorts of delicious foods. The Xinjiang smoked lamb meat, the Mat Salai burger, the roti cotek... Ah~ I ate till my heart's content.
Well, there are still much to say, yet time is slipping by. Even if I wanted to write everything out, I doubt the space here will be enough. All in all, I am glad for not giving up at the first place. Through this expo, God has taught me to persevere, to give and take, to learn the art of dealing with people and stuffs. Mmmm...those were the memories that I will cherished for the rest of my life. Gracias, my Lord, my friends, my family.
