Lighthouse by UWA Student Guild

LIGHTHOUSE 2014 VOLUME 1

Save big on uni essentials

Save time buy online at

www.coop.com.au The Co-op The Guild Village, Hackett Drive (Hackett Entry 2) University of Western Australia, CRAWLEY WA 6009) Ph: 08 6144 5700 Email: uwa@coop.com.au

Become a Co-op Member and enjoy a lifetime of savings.

Scan and join today!

Summer Street Chic - Page 8 A Coffee a Day Keeps Me Sane - Page 11 Milan, Here I Come - Page 14 Getting Strong: An Underground Movement - Page 17

CONTENTS 2014, VOLUME 1

An Unexpected Article - Page 20 Imagine UWA - A Community Service Initiative - Page 24 A Peek Into the World of Paper Modeling - Page 29 Multicultural Week Committee - Page 32

Editor In Chief – Sharmini Thiagarajan Design and Layout – Kate Hoolahan and Evelyn Froend Advertising – Karrie McClelland Writers – Audrey Kim, Jess Shirui Tan, Veng Fei Ong, Darren Chua, Alvin Laiman, Joash Foo, Franciscus Frederick & George Bowen Uy III International Students Services 2014 Committee Director: Kenneth Woo Executive Secretary: Celine Tham Executive Treasurer: Soh Yi Jing Welfare Director: Sharmini Thiagarajan Welfare and Education Officer: Seow Sin Nee Lighthouse Editor: Sharmini Thiagarajan Social Directors: Jess Tan & Carey Lee Social Secretary: Yvonne Low Design and Marketing Officer: Nicholas Poh & Toh Hsin Fang Liaison Officer: Loke Yan Chao MCW Managing Director: Justine Wong MCW Operations Director: William Wong MCW Finance Director: Daryl See MCW Events Director: George Bowen Uy III MCW Marketing Director: Patrick Ong MCW Logistics Director: Nicholas Yap MCW Media Directors: Fiona Lie & Jacqueline Adenan Any inquires concerning the International Students Services can be directed to iss@guild.uwa.edu.au For more information on the ISS, please go to www.iss.guild.uwa.edu.au or search International Students Services on Facebook. If you’re interested in advertising in Lighthouse or have any questions regarding this publication, please contact membership@guild.uwa.edu.au Have an interesting or innovative idea you would like to share with us? Keen in seeing your writing being featured in Lighthouse? For more details please contact the editor at sharminithia@gmail.com Disclaimer The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, International Student Services or the UWA Student Guild. Copyright 2014 UWA STUDENT GUILD

· E S TA B L I S H E D 1 9 1 3 ·

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to the Lighthouse Magazine! Greetings everyone! Firstly, to all returning international students, welcome back and hope you had an amazing break. I sure had a great one catching up with friends and family and of course eating to my heart’s content. And to our new friends, congratulations on making it to UWA! You’ve certainly chosen to embark on a new adventure and hopefully Lighthouse can keep you company throughout your journey.

not have been possible without my legendary writers who have put in a great deal of time and effort in making this publication possible. A very big thank you to you guys! I would also like to thank my friends and the UWA Guild design team for their contributions. Hopefully you would enjoy the articles just as much or even more than I did. Once again welcome back and all the best for the upcoming semester! Sharmini Thiagarajan Lighthouse Editor (2014)

In this first issue of Lighthouse 2014, I’m proud to announce to you that we have an interesting line up of articles exploring topics such as fashion, food and travel adventures. All these would

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR seek to look after your interests and well being in Perth. Throughout the year, we will organize events and activities that are catered to International students, so be on the lookout for information on these events on our Facebook page. Like us there and check your email to get the latest updates on ISS and the Guild.

Hello everyone! First thing first, a warm welcome back to all returning international students, I hope you guys had an awesome summer break back home. I spent my break questioning the choices I made in life and sitting in a corner crying. (cough cough) Now…Welcome all incoming International students, I hope you guys would make use of the time given to you here in Perth and UWA well. Hopefully by the time you read this, you would have seen the words International Students Service (ISS) mentioned or thrown around. ISS is a department of the UWA Student Guild that represents all International students in the University of Western Australia; we

Its important to note that the Guild and ISS exist to help you guys, so feel free to approach us if you have any issues or problems (seriously, any problem, we can try to help you) or you just need to talk to someone, swing by the Guild and the ISS office (Guild Village Second Floor) or drop me a message on Facebook or at iss@guild.uwa.edu.au. Have an awesome semester!!!! Kenneth Woo ISS Director 2014

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Let the 101st year of the University of Western Australia begin! Welcome to all the new international students gracing our beautiful campus for the first time in 2014 and ‘Welcome Back’ to all of those returning students coming back for another year. My name is Tom Henderson and I am fortunate enough to be your Guild President as we move into the second century of this wonderful institution. It is my utmost pleasure to be working with Kenneth Woo and the amazing International Student Service team to better represent the interests of ALL international students. Kenneth and I look to providing some fantastic new initiatives to help make the student experience more inclusive and enjoyable. The International Student Council also looks to be bigger, better and more active this year with some fantastic collaboration expected between a broad spectrum of groups from colleges, international clubs and faculty societies. If I can impart one message to you this year it is that I urge each and every one of you to get involved in and around campus this year. There are so many opportunities to not only give back to this university but also make new friends, develop your own skills and really make a difference. Only half of your experiences here at UWA will be in the classroom, go out and make the most of the other half there is to offer.

A point to remember as you start or continue your journey here at UWA is that the guild provides so many important services that can improve your experience while studying. We fund clubs and societies, represent you in any academic issues and even provide interest free loans when times get tough. For more information about the Guild and the services that you can take advantage of you can check out our website as www. guild.uwa.edu.au. And if you would ever like to raise an issue or concern about anything or you would just like to come and have a chat, don’t hesitate to come and find me. My office is on the First floor of the Guild and you can always catch me on my email at president@guild.uwa.edu. au. Catch you on Oak Lawn or around the Guild village! Tom Henderson 101st Guild President

SUMMER STREET CHIC

SUMMER STREET CHIC by Audrey Kim blogger at www.fashionspoon.wordpress.com Summer is the perfect time to be able to wear whatever style or silhouette we like. Gone are the winter days of layering and bundling up! To usher in summer, let’s take a look at some of the biggest trends of Fashion Week from the Spring/ Summer 2014 collection to serve as some of your street style inspirations. #1 Art Clashes Who said wearing head-to-toe prints was a “no no” trend? These designers made a body full of prints more fashionable than ever. Pair a printed top with matching printed-pants or skirt for the full suit effect. #2 Sleek & Smart Collar shirts with a twist. The sleek top balances out the heavier and flowy bottoms. Structured silhouettes are currently on-trend. For a classy day out, throw on a fitted collar-shirt and pair it with a mini or mid-length skirt. To add to the polish look, make sure your hair is sleek off your face, i.e. no loose strands here and there. #3 Metallic pop Satin, metallic and heavy embellishments are the perfect outfit transition from day to night. They add that hint of glamour to the everyday casual outfit. To up your outfit’s glam factor, throw on a tailored metallic or sequin jacket over a plain light-coloured top. A fully-embellished dress for a night out borders the line of being tacky and cheap. To avoid crossing

the line, opt for an embellished dress with ¾ sleeves or full length sleeves or those with clean and structured cuts. #4 Pastel icing Pastel shades were seen all over the Spring/ Summer’14 runways. Light fabrics like chiffon and organza add to the flow of the entire look. Wear head-to-toe pastel for the total take on girly, perfect for a summer dayout or that cute date. Achieving the on-trend street style look is no rocket science. All it takes is a little homework on knowing the current trends and incorporating those into your everyday look. When it comes to accessorizing, some might say “more is more”, but personally I would go with “less is more”. It is true that being stylish takes a little effort and don’t forget to always do a final “quality check” before stepping out of your door. Stay beautiful x Audrey is a 3rd year UWA student who is in the assured pathway for medicine. She is currently majoring in anatomy & human biology and physiology. Her interests include fashion designing, photography and fashion blogging.

#1 Art Clashes L-R: CĂŠline, Chanel, Jil Sander, Andrew Gn

#2 Sleek & Smart L-R: Alexander Wang, Bottega Veneta, Nina Ricci, Prabal Gurung, Victoria Beckham

#3 Metallic pop L-R: Balmain, Dolce & Gabbana, Proenza Schouler, Isabel Marant, Suno

#4 Pastel icing L-R: Christopher Kane, DKNY, Jonathan Saunders, Prabal Gurung, Lacoste

A COFFEE A DAY KEEPS ME SANE

A COFFEE A DAY KEEPS ME SANE! by Jess Shirui Tan One important thing that university has taught me is that I can never survive an entire semester without coffee (or energy drinks)! Being labeled as the friend who is inseparable with coffee (with just a slight addiction), continue reading this article for recommendations for coffee to satisfy that caffeine addiction of yours around UWA. Remember to grab hold of a coffee card wherever you go as you can collect stamps and redeem free drinks! Most coffee places are more than willing to give you stamps with every purchase. Having a free coffee every now and then is definitely a bonus and your wallet would also love you for it. P.s. it also makes you seem like a real coffee addict! 1) The Tenth State (TTS) TTS is a concept store located opposite Caltex selling both coffee and little goodies that you are unlikely to find elsewhere. Coffee is made from 5 senses beans (a local coffee roasting company and one of the more popular coffee beans in Perth) and topped off with a mini Oreo! In summer, their iced coffee is highly recommended! It is served with vanilla ice-cream, a cute paper straw and of course their signature mini Oreo balanced precariously on the lid. 2) Café One Two Five Known previously as La Galette de France, this recently revamped café also serves 5 senses coffee. If time permits, choose to have your coffee in store as it comes served with a mini palmier which is unfortunately often not given for coffee

to go. They are also not likely to give you stamps unless you present your coffee card explicitly during payment. However, this café is definitely one of the better choices if you are nearby and do not fancy a walk to other places. 3) Santi’s Café Run by a mother-daughter pair, this café is located at the corner of Hampden Road and Monash Ave and is popular among people working or studying at the QEII medical centre. Their coffee blend is organic and rainforest alliance, which is a good change from the usual 5 senses coffee. Moreover, service here is excellent even during peak hours! 4) Felix & Co. This is a new coffee place along Hampden Road that serves Proud Mary coffee from Melbourne. Coffee here is different from what you would usually find around UWA (much stronger and more bitter) and is not for everyone. However, do give it a try if you are in the vicinity! These are just some of my picks and there are certainly many more cafes in Perth with amazing coffee that you’ll probably get to try during your stay here. So what are you waiting for, let your coffee adventure begin!

Jess is a 4th year medical student who enjoys exploring new coffee spots and especially taking pictures of food.

MILAN, HERE I COME!

MILAN, HERE I COME! by Veng Fei Ong “Daddy, one day I am going to study fashion design in Milan!” These were the words uttered by a 12 year old me. Unfortunately, the dream sort of went away when I was accepted to study in Australia. Not that there is anything wrong with lovely Australia, I was just really fascinated by the European fashion capital. When I first set foot into the UWA study abroad office, I noticed that one of the options to study Architecture abroad was offered in Politecnico di Milano. Fast forward today and, I am now living a modification of my childhood dream, studying architecture in Italy. Milan is located at the northern part of Italy, the country that is almost at the centre of Europe. Besides being the world’s renowned fashion capital, the city is also the economic, industrial and financial power house of Italy. Compared to the rest of the Italian cities, Milan embraces the modern pace of the world. The life pace here is so much faster than any other city I had previously lived in. Weather wise, cloudy and rainy is the norm, unlike sunny Perth and Malaysia. Culturally, the locals have a habit of wearing designer’s brands and exercising exquisite fashion taste in the way they dress. I must admit that dressing up in the morning is one of my favourite moments of the day. Milan gave me the freedom to wear fashionable clothing to university everyday without feeling out of place and judged. The concept of overdressing doesn’t seem to exist in Milan. During fashion week, you

can see off duty supermodels on the streets. Other than that, it is always very nice to admire the locals’ fashion choices, ladies and gentlemen; boys and girls; old and young know how to dress in the most fashionable way. Life as an exchange student is very different from being a UWA student. I find myself with more time and less academically weighed down with loads of assignments. It is normal for exchange students to jet off to another European city over the weekend. There are numerous Erasmus (European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) student societies that are really active in organising all inclusive, 3 day trips to different city for less than €130. Trains and cheap budget airlines like Easyjet and Ryanair are also readily available to assist you on your adventures in Europe! My personal adventures in Europe included admiring the luxury yachts in Monaco, strolling on the rocky beach of Nice, celebrating my parents’ wedding anniversary in romantic Venice, going back in time in the ancient city of Rome, and seeing snow and learning to ski for the first time in the mountains of Passo Del Tonale. During my travels, I met so many interesting people from all around the world. I am absolutely in love with the different opinions and ideas I get to exchange in conversations as this is the invaluable kind of knowledge that you can’t simply learn within the confines of a classroom. As I am currently writing, I will be back in Perth in less than 3 months time. I am

unsure how I will find the strength to bid farewell to Europe and all the lovely friends that I have made. (And also the heavenly gelati they sell here) I would suggest to anyone that is considering applying for exchange to go for a year instead of one semester if you can afford to. It might sound clichĂŠ to say this, but the experience of exchange is priceless compared to the troubles of bureaucratic paper work. I will end this article here, because I have to plan a trip to Florence now! Ciao Tutti! Fei is a 3rd year student who is pursuing her degree in environmental design. She enjoys cooking, travelling and meeting new people around the globe.

GETTING STRONG: AN UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT

GETTING STRONG: AN UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT by Darren Chua The fitness craze stormed Perth in 2013, which saw record participation in the City to Surf and HBF Run for a Reason events. Tough Mudder, Warrior Dash, The Color Run and Neon Run had their inaugural Perth events in 2013, with remarkable participation rates. I hope this enthusiasm keeps up though, for the sake of the people of Perth. And so after watching a video filmed by someone doing the Tough Mudder, which included a fist bump with the Bear Grylls, I signed up for the Perth 2013 Tough Mudder. Maybe I could fist bump Bear Grylls too. I scoured the interweb for training programs and philosophies and I became particularly drawn to Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. He proposes that strength is the most general of the physical adaptations and therefore the most useful. A quote from him for some insight into his philosophy: “The stronger you are, the better you’re able to produce force in situations where your strength must be used repeatedly, quickly, slowly, irregularly, or differently, in positions of balance or imbalance, while fresh or fatigued, recovered or sore, distracted or focused, for a few seconds or a few hours or days.” The Starting Strength program is simple: Show up at the gym thrice a week, correctly perform the core barbell lifts, and increase the weight on the bar each

session. Crucially, sleep and eat enough for recovery. The core barbell lifts are the squat, deadlift, bench press, shoulder press and power clean, supplemented by pull-ups. I highly recommend the program for anyone who wants to get strong because of its simplicity, and for novices like me, simplicity is gold. Surprisingly, gym-goers who train for strength are a small minority in the UWA gym. But those who I have met are some of the nicest people around. Moreover, they work hard, they persist in their training, and they lift HEAVY. Strength training is uncommon enough that most people assume that I go to the gym for bodybuilding purposes, which is understandable since most gym-goers I know do it primarily for aesthetics. They want to lose fat/gain bulk/get ripped/ get pumped/get lean/get big and the list goes on. Just look at that biceps bro who flexes to himself in the mirror, or listen to all that hype about visible abs. And frankly, that is fine. We all have our own goals and aspirations. However, I want to point out that with strength comes muscle growth, which is extremely useful if the goal is to gain mass; and more importantly, it increases the body’s basal metabolic rate because muscles are energy thirsty. That’s right, more muscle means more calorie-burning ability, even when you are not doing anything. Training for strength builds an excellent foundation to achieve the other goals of losing fat/gaining bulk/getting ripped /getting lean/getting big. Except getting pumped, which is a silly goal since it is largely due to fluid pooling in the

muscles and only lasts briefly after a gym session. At this point, I need to address some oft-heard opposition to weight training. I need to because it is madly rampant. 1. Lifting heavy weights is unnatural and so should not be used to train the human body. False. The pasta you ate sometime last week is unnatural (and loaded with refined carbs). Sitting and staring at a screen for hours is unnatural. However, lifting heavy weights can be progressively trained for, which allows the body to adapt and recover sufficiently between each training session. 2. Bodyweight exercises are enough, no need to go heavy. Dubious, because someday you might fall, or you might have to suddenly bear a heavy weight, and your joints and bones are going to bear the brunt of the force. Stronger muscles help absorb more of the force, protecting your bones and joints. Think of your body as a traffic bridge - would you rather drive a 1.5 tonne car over a bridge rated to carry 1.5 tonnes, or a bridge rated to carry 100 tonnes? 3. Muscles will turn to fat if I stop. False. This is not possible because fat and muscle tissue comprise different types of cells, adipocytes for fat storage, and myocytes for muscle fibres. This misconception comes from observing that a weightlifter who stops lifting, gains fat and loses muscle. Muscle will indeed be lost if training is stopped for an extended period, and so one’s

basal metabolic rate would decrease. Fat gain will not occur if the weightlifter decreases the higher level of caloric intake which was previously necessary for adequate recovery from training. 4. To the ladies who fear that lifting heavy weights will give you lots of muscular bulk and do not want that to happen, fret not. If it were so easy, I would have lots of muscular bulk. Excluding some amazing genetics, women simply do not have the natural testosterone levels to gain muscle mass the way huge bodybuilders do. The women bodybuilders, they have had help. Lastly, whatever you do, do not use steroids. “There lived a fitness paranoid So much so, he took steroids. He got abs to show off But his manhood went soft His girl was far from overjoyed.” Get training. Get strong. Darren is a 4th year medical student who likes milk, squats and fighting for creative freedom.

AN UNEXPECTED ARTICLE

AN UNEXPECTED ARTICLE by Alvin Laiman When I was first approached to write an article for this publication, I must admit I was rather surprised. The original plan was for me to write up instructions to create these amazing origami turtles.

Figure 1 Here’s a picture of two of them, Phineas and Edgar. Say hi! Despite those being ridiculously cute little critters, we found out that the design belonged to someone and I risked being dragged to court and bludgeoned with a judge’s mallet for copyright infringement (Fairly sure that’s how the judicial system here works, I try to stay away from law students at the best of times). So that plan quickly fell through but in case you’re still smitten with the idea of begetting little paper turtle babies of your own, here’s a youtube link to a fairly concise set of instructions: http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=k9lVlK_qhEE

So we continued to discuss what I could write about and I decided that my travels would be an interesting enough subject so as not to put people to sleep. Over the short period of 2 months I have had the immense privilege to be able to travel around 3 different countries, each with very different cultures and for different reasons. INDONESIA First was a humanitarian trip to Kupang, a relatively quiet seaside town in Eastern Indonesia. I went with a group of doctors to provide free medical relief there. Besides having the usual atmosphere of an Indonesian small town there was something I found novel about Kupang. The first thing that struck me as being very different from other parts of Indonesia was the abundance of Christian imagery. There were crosses and churches everywhere and even laminated Jesus painted to the side of buses or vans. The second thing I noticed was how even on close up, Christians and Muslims got along very well together. There were young hooded muslim girls chatting happily to their Christian counterparts, people accepted prayer from one another, lived together and worked together. There was a harmony amongst the people that gave, and still gives Kupang an air of charm. Now I don’t want to sugar-coat it, the average Australian would probably still find the hygiene and health standards of the town less than satisfactory but as it was, that was the

Indonesia that I’ve come to be fond of. We stayed in a hotel that shall remain unnamed, whose beds sometimes had bedbugs and bathrooms were essentially mosquito kindergartens. Some of the rooms had dull-red stains smeared across the walls (For fear of becoming the latest addition to the walls, I refrained from asking how the stains got there). It may sound like I’m whinging about it but I’m really not; I quite enjoyed the company of my bed companion and all six of her legs. The point is, we had a roof over our heads, warm beds and a sure supply of food and fun every day. That was more than can be said for many of the people we met. I had the privilege of chatting with a group of local volunteers who helped us out as translators. They were young adults studying English at a local university. We were all very shy, to say the least, and not much was really said for the first few minutes. When I asked them what they did for fun, there were blank looks being passed around themselves and finally tossed back at me. Finally a young man spoke up. “We mostly just spend time together and that’s enough for us.” I smiled, he continued “We’re fairly poor and what money we do have we are spending on our university fees, so we can’t afford much other recreational activities.” Understandably I got a little awkward, here I am with my first-world luxuries, travelling 3 different countries in two

months but I decided not to let that stop me. I proceeded to ask them what they planned to do with their studies. They looked sheepishly at one another again and after a brief moment of thought the same young man, with a visible determination in his eyes spoke: He wanted to use his degree to become an ambassador for Indonesia to other nations. Quite a big dream for a small Indonesian town, yet no less significant. Throughout my stay in Indonesia, I came across people with all sorts of medical conditions, ranging from the common cold to back pain to widespread fungal infection and other unpleasant conditions. The most heart-breaking cases are those you know you could do nothing about. Our team did our best by helping out with issues which we could handle such as the removal of decomposing teeth and treating infections and abscesses. As part of the comprehensive health care, we also asked if they wanted counselling and/or prayer. It surprised me how many people, of different religions, gladly asked (some even demanding) prayer. One lady commented that medicine and prayer should go hand-in-hand, that the two work best together. It made me think of our separating health care from anything remotely spiritual back here though there are many people even in Australia that have a spiritual inclination of some sort, an interesting thought. On one of the last nights when

we returned from the field, to our great surprise, there was a crowd of immaculately dressed people gathered in front of our hotel and the meagre little open-air dining hall had been converted into an elegant, even modern-looking ballroom. It turned out that a couple was getting married there. Naturally, our party had to move elsewhere for dinner, it just so happened that ‘elsewhere’ was directly outside the main dining hall just looking in. There were no walls or doors separating us, only a few columns. The dinner was awkward, for want of a better word. To make things worse, it started to rain and oh how it rained. The water droplets flew furiously in and around the dining hall. The soon to be newly-weds had uninvited guests at their doorstep, they were in a questionable hotel, they were wet, they were happy. What a party.

to lift them out of poverty instead of say, shovelling food down your overfed mouths. Editor’s note: More of Alvin’s travel adventures will be featured in the 2nd edition of Lighthouse 2014. Don’t forget to keep a look out for it! Alvin Laiman is a 4th year medical student. His interests include travelling, music and tea appreciation.

On a side note, have your parents ever forced you to continue eating even after you’re full and then proceed to offer the persuasion: “There are children in [insert developing country here] who wish they could eat what you could eat!” Now I’m not one to encourage the wasting of food but firstly, eating your way to a heart attack isn’t going to help underprivileged children (it’s a slap in the face if nothing else); secondly, the ones in Indonesia have tried your Weet-Bix and Vegemite. They weren’t impressed. So I would encourage you, my dear reader, to support some form of humanitarian work, especially organizations that live long term amongst these people

IMAGINE UWA A Community Service Initiative

IMAGINE UWA A Community Service Initiative by Joash Foo “The warm feeling you left us with still lingers on. I know we can meet angels in our everyday travels, we were blessed, we met 9 last week.” After reading this message from one of our beneficiaries, we were elated. Just days before, IMAGINE had embarked on our vey first home visit where we helped a man with chronic lung disease tidy up his garden and the message which we had recieved was from his wife. Truly, few things in life compare to the special fulfilment of knowing you have impacted someone’s life! Since then IMAGINE has gone on to help at least 4 other needy homes, carrying out the same service of gardening. Each home we’ve visited has had a different story to tell – from a single refugee mum with 3 kids to a nurse whose husband became paralysed after surgery – it was our privilege to have a peek into their world and to serve them. One of our members commented on our collective experience, saying that “knowing that a small contribution on their part could make such a big difference in someone’s life was indeed overwhelming and yet satisfying.” Indeed IMAGINE is where our volunteers benefit from the experience, and not just serve homes in need! IMAGINE first started in Oct 2012 and since then we have had about 30 active members. A recent landmark was when we became a UWA club in about August 2013. Our aim is to serve the community practically, and also

to serve as a platform for students to collaborate and “imagine” new ideas that the club can embark on, in keeping with our name. Although we have been functioning for some time now, we have only limited our reach to a handful of homes, enabling us to schedule regular visits and build an ongoing relationship with them. These homes have come from various sources, including 2 established organisations, which I will elaborate on: 1. Australian Relief and Mercy Services Ltd (ARMS): The Community Development Programme of this organisation “supports families through in-home assistance and training”. Families and individuals in crisis within the metropolitan areas can be referred to them through social workers, community service providers, hospitals or self-referrals. We have had 3 homes to work with, through the referrals from ARMS. 2. Fremantle Multicultural Centre (FMC) FMC “aims to provide services to migrants and refugees from a diverse range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds”. We have had 2 homes to work on through the referrals of FMC personnel. Other sources include referrals from beneficiaries or members of IMAGINE itself. You might have noticed that our club seems to only be doing gardening for homes. “What else does IMAGINE do?” You might ask. Well I’m glad you asked. IMAGINE is seeking to expand into doing other things, building upon our

experience with home visitation and also ideas from our members. Firstly, the concept of home visitations will be continued and we are looking to allocate students to specific houses to work on throughout the year, and to include services other than gardening such as car-washing, cooking and delivering of meals, as well as grocery shopping. In fact, it is up to students involved to “IMAGINE” other appropriate services, depending on the needs of the beneficiaries and we would work hard as a club to make it happen. Students can enjoy “adopting” their home and building a meaningful bond with beneficiaries there!

Joash is a 5th year medical student who enjoys playing the piano and also has a passion for composing music.

Apart from home visitations, we are also considering various other activities such as serving in elderly care homes and even an overseas humanitarian trip! Fundraising activities will also definitely be in the mix. Come on down to our club activities this year to find out more! All in all, we hope that through the various activities, our beneficiaries will be delighted and that our members will discover the impact they can make through little acts of kindness. As Mother Theresa once said: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” So if you have a gnawing itch to help someone out there in need, have creative ideas to contribute, or just want to have fun and do something meaningful, we want you! Look out for the next IMAGINE event!

A PEEK INTO THE WORLD OF PAPER MODELING

A PEEK INTO THE WORLD OF PAPER MODELING by Franciscus Frederick Paper Modeling, an interest that has inspired me for ages and a simple past time which I have turned into a serious hobby and passion. It is amazing how a plain simple sheet of flimsy and weak paper can be sculpted and turned into something beautiful. No other material has offered the endless boundaries and possibilities that paper does, which makes it a good material to work with when unleashing your imagination or creativity. Besides having fun, building these models can also be educational. No matter what you are building, there is just bound to be something new to be picked up; be it the historical significance or story behind it. Let’s say if you were to build historical buildings for example, there would just be endless opportunities to discover and learn new things about them. Another intriguing characteristic of this hobby is its ability to present new challenges each time you start a piece, which is why I have pursued it for such a long time. You don’t master it within just the first few projects. There are bound to be mistakes made and learned upon, that in turn become useful in mastering the next piece. This gives each piece its individuality and no 2 models are ever the same, which is a great thing if you want something unique and custom made. Confused on what to get as gifts for your family or friends? How about making something instead of buying them a present, which can be an indirect way

of telling that them that they are worth more than just your time and that you are willing to put in effort to show them that you care. Some might choose to label these gifts as cheap but hey, ever heard of the phrase “money can’t buy love”. A little thought and sincerity can certainly go a long way. Last but not least, a valuable lesson that this past time has taught me and one that I would like to share with you guys would be that, whatever you do in life, whether it’s unleashing your inner imagination, achieving your goals or just showing care and concern to the people that matter most to you, anything is possible and when you put enough effort, care and time into it, something beautiful and worth taking pride in will eventually come into form. Franciscus is a 4th year UWA student majoring in Mining Engineering. He enjoys collecting vintage toys and model cars as well as inventing and model making.

MULTICULTURAL WEEK COMMITTEE

MULTICULTURAL WEEK COMMITTEE by George Bowen Uy Ill Life is about beginnings and endings. 2013 is ending and as I look back to its beginning, I was starting my 2nd year at UWA and I felt it was time to become more involved with Uni. I wanted to join something that not only made me â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;give backâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to my school but to also make new friends and have a good time. I found all of that and more by joining the MCW committee. Early in the year a friend of mine invited me to attend the MCW briefing. I entered the lecture theatre with very little knowledge of what MCW was all about. We were introduced to the 2013 board of directors and they explained what the different departments were and the roles they would play and also recapped on the events of the previous year. The only event I remembered was Spring Feast and it was the only event I had previously attended. The first half of the year involved a lot of brainstorming and I began to recognise more faces at school. It was pretty chill. Things started heating up in the second half of the year, as our brainstorming had turned into ideas, which in turn had taken form as plans all ready to be executed. I was in the Media department and we were involved with designing the mascots and posters for the events, as well as a music video to promote MCW. There were many designs but the ones we chose were really great in the end. Our

four mascots Asher, Walter, Claudia and Bertha represented the four elements of fire, water, air and earth and appeared on most of our posters and postcards. The music video was quite a large undertaking and certainly enabled members from different departments to bond. The creation of the music video was separated into two parts. Voice recording for the song and the actual footage we were going to use. A group of people were generous enough to lend their time and voices to creating the sound track. We managed to get the whole committee involved in the filming and it was not easy trying to find a time for everyone to attend. We only had one morning to film and most of us did not know the dance moves until the day itself. We did a couple of takes but in the end we got it done and had loads of fun. The video featured the different events we had organised, such as the haunted treasure hunt, opening ceremony, quiz night and spring feast. It is available on YouTube and you should definitely check it out. I was also part of the MCW magazine team and wrote a piece on street performers in the city. It was interesting to note that many of the performers came from different countries and not from Australia. I met a German percussionist who used home made drums you would see at a STOMP performance and a Japanese man who played a didgeridoo. They were all very friendly and shared amazing stories of where they were from and why they do what they do.

Our first major event we had was the haunted treasure hunt. Participants had to run around the school at night to find riddles and items scattered around the school. Not only were the riddles tough but also ghastly supernatural creatures were prowling the grounds to chase our brave participants. A time penalty would be imposed on them if caught and a number of participants were scared out of their wits by some of our MCW monsters. The scariest monster was the weeping woman and her eerie looking baby she clutched close to her. Both organisers and participants were so enthusiastic it made for such a fun filled night. I co-hosted the quiz night and it was such an amazing experience. It was the perfect excuses to get all dressed up and have a roomful of people pay attention to me. The quiz tested everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s knowledge on food, pop stars, mythology and sports. There were lots of food and refreshments and mini games to keep everyone going. It was especially fun for me, knowing all the answers in advance and presenting the slides to the crowd. Last but not least was the crown jewel of MCW, spring feast. All the glorious food and drink as well as the amazing live performances. The highlight of the night for my spring feast was spiral spuds, bubble tea and the live acoustic performance by a female solo act. This year we had a larger area, which meant even more stalls than previous years! Just before spring feast started, I was assisting the financial assistant in collecting and issuing receipts for

the stallholders. During the festivities I was on bin duty and had to clear the rubbish bins and make sure they were not full. It was indeed great seeing all my friends at Uni having such a good time enjoying themselves at the MCW Springfeast. Nonetheless, all good things must come to an end and when the final stallholder left, the committee still had a job to do; returning the bins from their original areas, collecting all the tables and barriers, packing up all the banners and loose items. But it was all worth it, because at the end of the night I did not just have a group of friends, I had a family. George is a second year Geology student. His interests include Doctor Who, Star Wars, skating and rocks.