Rakan IJN's 10th Anniversary Celebration & Jom Makan! Hi-Tea @ Hilton Hotel, Petaling Jaya, Selangor (Sunday, 13th December 2009)

Salam,

Previously before I left for my bridal make-up jobs in Segamat, Johor, Ummi and I agreed to attend the 10th anniversary of Persatuan Rakan IJN (IJN Friend Society). For those who do not know, IJN stands for Institut Jantung Negara or the National Heart Institute, which is located at Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur.

As for Rakan IJN, it is a volunteer-based society, where originally Ummi and I planned to join as part of our social awareness. However both Ummi and I are very busy (actually everybody is busy it's just the matter you are making the effort enough or not), we are yet to register as members. However my sis Deena, since she has completed her A-Levels Programme, as a person who loves social work as well, apart of being a volunteer at Petrosains, the Science Centre in KLCC, she also signed up as Rakan IJN where she goes about 1-2 days per week.

FYI, for you to join Rakan IJN, although you volunteer yourself to do the work, there's an annual fee of RM 30.00 that one has to pay. This is because many youngsters especially students who signed up merely for the certificate but eventually never showed up to do the volunteer work. So by paying, it's merely more or less an indication of your true commitment.

Nana was lead by a senior volunteer, a zesty, young at heart man named Mr. Balakrishnan (Mr. Bala). It was adorable when Ummi said Nana is just like Russell (Nana was a Scout member as well.. tepuk Pengakap!) who followed the old Mr. Frederickson in the Disney's movie Up! Only Mr. Bala is very cheerful and friendly most of the time, nourishing Nana with free Nasi Lemak Bungkus everytime Nana reports to her. He even calls Nana her sweetheart, darling or dear whenever both of them bump into other Rakan IJN. He is so fond of Nana because he is very proud of her willingness to be a volunteer among the older folks, he even offered Nana to pay her lifetime membership fee of RM 100.00 plus, which most of the members chose.

So most of the time when Nana goes for her volunteering work, she would help Mr. Bala with some office work but most of the time she conducts the Playland at the Children's Ward as well as push the cart of magazines which they call the Mobile Library from ward to ward for patients and their visitors to read. IJN really has a great collection of latest imported magazines, which is really cool because Nana loves to read magazines so when she borrows some of them, of course I enjoy the free reading as well :p

Alright so today, IJN held its 10th Anniversary to show appreciation for its volunteers. The Hi-Tea at Hilton Hotel, Petaling Jaya was free for every Rakan IJN, but as outsiders Ummi & I had to pay RM 50.00 each. When Nana told me the other Rakans addressed her the Baby of Rakan IJN because she is the youngest, I just feel OK she is 20 of course she might be the youngest. However when I met the other Rakan IJN, she is really the baby because the rest of them are at least 50 years old haha. No wonder she would gloat whenever she tells me that she is the baby. Yes by the way, I know this is not related but if you know there's the Sheep and heart-shaped logo of IJN, it's name is Heart-throb Biri (Sheep)..haha how just how cute is that? =D

The crowd was not full house though many turned up, which was quite a waste since not all turned up and the event was sponsored by their fund.

Nurdeena Anuar, the Baby of Rakan IJN.

Check out the itinerary, yup the shows are basically meant for the older majority here.

Our table members. One of the women here is a nurse at IJN and she invited a friend to come along. As for the man, actually we were surprised when he joined us at our table and first and foremost informed us that he is deaf and could not hear anything at all since he was involved in a car accident. At fist we were stunned, did not know how to react but then a few of us started to get food for him at the buffet table since he was the eldest among us. It was really nice to see the ladies sitting next to him tried to create conversations with him, by writing on a notepad. He told us usually he communicates by typing using the SMS mode on his handphone. It really touched my heart and opened my eyes, that although sitting at the same table with me was an OKU (Orang Kurang Upaya/ Disabled) guy but still he did not find his disability as an impediment for him to help others. He told us he usually pushes the Mobile Library around from one ward to another. That is still volunteering work, and he is happy with what he could contribute just like the rest of the volunteers.

Ummi & Yong.

The very simple and humble President of Rakan IJN, Datin Seri Raja Zuraida Raja Mansur.

Yes of course the event was iniated by the speech of the President. As the wife of the head surgeon of IJN, I really salute her active involvement at the institute as well. Each volunteer when they wanted to join, would be briefly interviewed by her, basically to confirm the new volunteer's commitment I guess. When I met her that day, I observed that although she is a Datin Seri, she dressed up in a simple yet elegant way, but one thing which made me respected her the most was her obvious humility, when she did not expect VIP treatment at the Hi-Tea. Although she was the President, she queued with the rest of us to get her food and drinks, and did not expect anyone to serve her exclusively though no one would question that, since that is supposed to be one of the perks as a President. For me that is the true spirit of a President, especially when her post is related to a social work society.

I also saw a teenage girl who was busy being the photographer of the event, that resembled a lot like her, also dressed up simply, we assumed that the girl is Datin Seri's daughter. She also kept smiling to others sincerely especially when she made eye contact with us, which I truly like. I hate it when I make eye-contact to anyone but then that person just snobbishly looked away. Urghh how that ticks me off.

Oh yes of course since the event was meant to honour the volunteers, all the volunteers received some nice gifts each of them. Name by name was called out, and Nana well her butt was literally feeling too warm to be seated properly, since she cannot wait to be called up to the stage. Finally all the names were announced but her name was not included. When I questioned her "Hey what about you?" that was when I heard Mr. Bala's voice telling the MC Lady that Nurdeena's name was not mentioned. Immediately the MC announced Nurdeena Anuar proudly, and Mr. Bala even interrupted her on the mic saying "She is our youngest member, the Baby!" Hahaha of course that made Nana gloat even more, just check out the photo below:

Cheerful Nana being the centre of attention =)

It was funny but true when on the way back to our table, a lady patted her hand while smiling and said "Take care of your heart." =)

Eleh...show off...

I cannot get this when Nana said she smiled like Nubhan in this pic.

An Alain Delon ballpen.

Best of all when it's a gift to reward your kindness.

Sibling jealousy?

Riak-riak hasad dengki yang nyata bila Nana jadi the IT-GIRL of the event :p

Ok..actually..honestly.. I felt the proudest being the sister of the girl with the heart of gold. Seriously I am very proud of her. VERY PROUD OF HER! There I said it. :D

Of course she must pose cheekily with her mentor Mr. Bala.

Ironically the Baby of Rakan IJN must be the first at the buffet table.

Now, it's time to eat! Those sitting at our table were excited because our table was located the closest to the buffet table. The food selection was very tempting, and ironically not very heart-healthy haha. Most of them guiltily said "Aiyah, mostly all are not good for the heart but all look so good!" As the youngsters in the event, we did not think much about the cholestrol level and what not, just irresponsibly enjoying the great food before our eyes.

Let's check out what we had:

Roti Jala & Chicken Curry, Fried Chicken Boxing, Currypuff, Fried Samosa, Sheesh Kebab, Lamb Curry and incredibly tasty Mushroom Quiche. Just tell me how these are heart-friendly? =D

Yes, here is the buffet table with the spread which is more heart-friendly which offers sandwiches, a variety of salad, pai-tee etc. I saw that the President directly headed to this table first, definitely showing a good example to others :D

Vietnamese Spring Rolls & delicious Pai-Tee.

Asam Laksa which is filled with generous amount of fish in its gravy.

Yummmmyyyyy dessert!! Kuih Ketayap, Kek Lapis & Bread & Butter Pudding yang teramat sedap! (crazy delicious!)

While enjoying the buffet, we were invited to dance on the dance floor and as crazy-headed sisters the two of us did not hesitate to join the fun dancing cha-cha, phocho-pocho, a few Hindi songs played by Bora Asmara and just had a great laugh. Two guys even gave Nana and I a flower each for dancing together which was nice of them. We danced with a few of the uncles and aunts as well and they too knew how to have a good time.

Of course our senses were also delighted from several performances by the volunteers. They did 2 amusing yet informative sketches. Most of these Rakan IJN are ex-patients, which triggered their hearts (pun not intended :p) to actually encourage other patients to be strong and courageous surviving this great ordeal. Oh yes, many of these volunteers live far from KL such as in Klang, Nilai and a few other places but I really admire the fact that they still take the time to come for volunteer work. They also had great fun making new friends in the society.

An amusing sketch of how Rakan IJN actually helps a patient by continuous pep-talk.

Below is another sketch illustrating the service of Mobile Library. These uncles below, well no wonder they refused to dance with us before since they were busy memorizing their script to perform the best for their sketch! Haha! Nana told me it was hillarious when she did her volunteering, these uncles would argue among themselves and their director Mr. Bala on how to perform the best. They argued on the best script, on the best ways to deliver the lines, haha basically they really took the sketch thing seriously well done!

Mobile Library sketch directed by Mr. Bala.

Oh yes finally, when the event almost ended, all Rakans went up on the stage and of course sang the infamous Rasa Sayang! song.

Singing Rasa Sayang! Check out Nana, she is the youngest obviously.

After the event, we took some photos with the important people in Rakan IJN.

I was delighted after taking this photo, Datin Seri Raja Zuraida solemnly praised Nana that she is very proud and impressed with Nana for willing to be so dedicated in her volunteering work. Indeed I personally think most kids at her age would just give up the volunteering work when they discovered that all members are much older folks so Nana to stick on what you have started, kudos to you!

Mr. Bala & I.

Not to be missed, we took some really poor quality photos at the Christmas Tree at the hotel lobby.

Yes, we laughed when some kids saw Nana on our way to the parking lot, and they shouted "Kakak Cantiiikkkk!" (Beautiful elder sister) which was dedicated to Nana of course. So that wrapped up our great day, especially Nana's.