Sports Day

They say sport is good for you, physical exercise, healthy body equals healthy mind and all that. Well, another example to vindicate this old adage came yesterday at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bandar Uda 2’s Annual Sports Day here in Johor Bahru, with nearly 1600 students participating, 100 staff in attendance, and many parents present, cheering on their sons and daughters and lapping up the atmosphere at the local Larkin Stadium.

Typical Malaysian daily temperatures saw the heat rise, and people retreat to shadier spots as the morning went on. They key experience for me was seeing children and staff smiling, enjoying the sense of occasion, and the liberation afforded by being outside in a large venue space, seemingly millions of miles away from oppressive classrooms.. Very few tears, just an atmosphere of good competition, cheering on of the different ‘houses” and individual efforts in the sprint races.  Teachers, students and parents all seemed quite relaxed. Having been working as an Adviser in the school for nearly two months now, I had forgotten how much fun it can be just to be in the company of the school children, simply enjoying being with them, and seeing teachers in different roles – an experience good for one and all.

The event was typically Malaysian in that food was in plentiful supply. At one point, a friendly young boy presented me with a polystyrene food container – my ‘lunch’ for the day - rice, noodles, chicken, apple and water. He then returned to his, noshing away greedily on the contents of his lunch box, oblivious to the funny side of seeing an ‘athletics competitor’ eating by the side of the track.

I took it upon myself to take photographs, the amateur shooter that I am, preferring to take those pictures of teachers and students in informal settings away from races, stretching themselves before the event, playing with balloons and the tomfoolery of kids killing time before competition. My own body, although not exerted by any races or strenuous physical activity, felt wonderfully relaxed for having been outside in the open air for several hours, the moderate exposure to UV radiation from natural sun light good for my Vitamin D production, no doubt!