Fight CANCER together with Relay for Life!

Celebrate, Remember, FIGHT BACK!

Yes, that was basically what Relay for Life is about at the first glance. Organised by the National Cancer Society Malaysia, this charitable activity was held as a means to support the cancer survivors who triumphed cancer victoriously, commemorate the victims who lost their battle in cancer, and also to raise the awareness against cancer among the public.

I was indeed privileged to be a part of the Relay this year, since this was my first Relay in my life and I enjoy charity activities. It did not matter even if I had to sacrifice an extra day of holidays or raise funds from my parents' friends (Thanks to my parents)-most importantly, I could learn, explore and socialise.

For your information, Relay For Life 2013 was held in Youth Park, Penang. The park was huge and wide, with a children's playground separated from the lush field by a road. Before I proceed, let me show you around first!  

The Relay track

  I was unsure why PURPLE was used extensively in this event. Anyhow, purple is beautiful and evokes a feel of mystery. 

Hearts and flowers... we wish all cancer survivors to stay optimistic and win the battle against cancer.

I took part in the aerobics which was held before the Relay. Initially I was a little shy to get on the groove because there were many people around and neither my course mates nor seniors joined. I was hesitating when my seniors asked me to join the aerobics with them. 

Some performers before the relay.

I must say, when I began mirroring the aerobics (while perspiring GALLONS of saline solution as well), THERE IS NO STOPPING ME until the booming music ceased to silence. Aerobics was such a fun workout, especially when it was done with a group of friends, because it helped me to actually release my stress and embrace music through movements while working myself out without pushing myself. 

Apart from that, I think that performing aerobics with the triumphant cancer survivors is a simple gesture of supporting them and dancing to the melodious rhythm of life with them. They must have had incredulously strong determination and optimism to battle with cancer cells.

The crowded food court.

Hungry? Head towards the food stalls to satiate your hunger! There were a myriad of stalls selling various food to tailor all appetites. 

I was overjoyed as there were two stalls selling VEGAN food man! My dinner of the day was vegetarian fried rice at RM5. While RM5 may be a little pricey, it was sold for a good cause. Besides, the fried rice was CHOCK FULL OF LONG BEANS AND MIXED VEGETABLES! I was so hungry that I actually gobbled the entire plate without taking a picture of it LOL.

However, the place was so crowded that I did not actually manage to capture the pictures. Le sigh.

   Fancy some fun and games? The game stalls might cater for the fun-loving youngsters around. I was particularly amused with the game stall by Advance Tertiary College (ATC). They offered fun hair-highlighting and braiding. Besides, at RM2, we could even sponge our friends or the students there. (Naughty, Naughty!)  Nevertheless, my coupons were quite limited and I thought those stuffs were pretty impractical, so yeah, I just ignored them although I was tempted to have my hair coloured at first. Teachers are NOT supposed to wear rainbow-coloured hair, anyway. As the clock stroke 6pm, the Relay for Life begun. Us teacher trainees stand with solidarity to combat cancer and give cancer patients HOPE. The Relay kick-started with a grandeur.  

*Drum rolls* 

What followed the drum rolls was a grand procession featuring the societies for cancer survivors, who marched in pride to tell the world that cancer is not a death sentence; rather, it is an opportunity for us homo sapiens to rethink our deeds and be more concerned about our health for the days to come-in a hard way.  

The Candy Girls, a dance society for cancer patients came all the way from the Capital.
I particularly admire this group as they danced in the rain despite the torrents faced while battling cancer.

   

Here is the Line Dance Troupe.

 

The ultimate PURPLE army! Notice the Mohawk sported by some men there?

   

I4P-ians showed their UNDYING support to cancer patients and survivors.

 We relayed by walking behind the societies and cheering behind them. Well, since it was a relay, we exchanged people who held the banners while walking. Holding the banner up high was so damn tiring that my hands felt weak after holding them. It required strong strength of the arms. Come nightfall, there is a marathon of feasts-performances meant to be carried out for a staggering SIXTEEN hours of the relay.

A singing performance

 People with their loved ones struggling with cancer or lost to the battle bought some light-bags (well, that was how I called these paper lamps) from the Luminaria to pray for them. The paper lamps lighted up the field like a beautiful lighted wreath in the dark.   Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the performance as the stage was really crowded. I did not want my pictures to have many human heads instead of the highlights on the stage. (Perfectionist, much?) I actually walked in the relay from 8pm to 10:15pm with only three 5-minute breaks to pass the information to my course mates and, of course, buying at the Candy Girls' stall. Here are what I bought at relatively budget-friendly prices. Sometimes, you can hunt for bargains at charity sales too, if you are lucky. I should count my blessings then... Tee hee.

ABOVE: faux leather bracelets, RM3 per piece, RM5 for two. The designs are pretty ethnic-based.
BELOW: Twilight Breaking Dawn soundtrack. I got this for RM6 by the "Bursting the Balloons" game, where I could find a number in each balloon, hence I got this album.
I do not really like the soundtracks from Twilight though. Nevertheless, I am still grateful. At least I have an album of beautiful lullabies!

Come Day Two (16 June 2013), we performed aerobics to begin the second and final day of the Relay. What followed was the shaving ceremony, where some volunteers went bald as a token of support to the fighting cancer patients who had to lose their hair due to the various therapies underwent.  SIDE-BY-SIDE: Pre and while shaving.

Before going back to IPG, I bagged myself another bargain...

FREE LUNCH!!!

I was like, seriously, a free lunch? I wish to thank my course mate, Ng Jia Ying for informing me that the vegetarian stall, having its donation box given to the organizers, were clearing their food by  giving them out for free. Otherwise, I would have to pay RM5 for this yummy, veggie-laden spaghetti. 

Thank God I had a yummy free lunch for that day. Om nom nom...

Of course, I added the cherry tomatoes myself!

EPILOGUE: 

Being part of the event was indeed a blessing for me. Besides being able to hunt for bargains (surprise, surprise!) I realised that we are indeed blessed to be in a clean bill of health. Thus, we should always look after our health from a young age. I always believe that we cannot blame anyone when we fell ill. God gave us the responsibility to look after our bodies. Remember that "You are what you eat".

Apart from that, I learnt to be optimistic when walking through the path of life. Life is short, thus we should celebrate the days with optimism and treasure every single second. I saluted the cancer survivors for braving through that perceived "death sentence" in stride. This "Relay for Life" event reminded me of my tuition teacher who triumphed nose cancer and my mother's friends who won the battle against certain cancers but can no longer consume chicken and durians. They are indeed brave and determined. As the saying goes, "God helps those who help themselves".

Thank you Buddha and my lecturer, Miss Loke Khoon Ee who provided us the golden ticket to participate in this life-enriching event. Given the opportunity, I will like to participate in the Relays in the future.

Relay for Life, please COME TO TAIPING!!!