Opening the Eyes and Minds of Youth
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
2009 OYEA recipient Mr Muhammad Rezal is the president of the Tchoukball Association of Singapore and a qualified tchoukball coach who trains not only teams in his school but also the national women's team.
"You never know what might hit them, or when - that's why I like to expose young people to as many activities as possible," says Mr Muhammad Rezal bin Ramli, one of the three recipients of the Outstanding Youth in Education Award (OYEA) 2009. What might hit them, he hopes, is a spark of interest or a cause, which would move the individual deeply to pursue it in what Mr Rezal calls "auto mode" - as an integral and natural part of his life.
For Mr Rezal, a geography teacher and Head of Student Leadership (Internal) at Ping Yi Secondary School, he was "hit" twice - first by tchoukball (a sport similar to handball) when he was an undergraduate, then by community service in 2006. In fact, he was so crazy about the former that he borrowed and set up the equipment in his university classroom, hoping to interest his friends in a game. Although no one took up his offer, Mr Rezal made a note of the game for future reference. After all, it would be suitable for schools as it is a non-contact sport, and can be attempted by players of all shape, size and ability.
In 2006, when he was the teacher in charge of the school's floorball CCA, Mr Rezal tried to launch a new tchoukball CCA. It wasn't easy as he had to get members from his floorball team and personally approach students to join the tchoukball team. But the players picked up the sport quickly and within half a year, they were winning medals.
Mr Rezal wants to show youth that they too can aim for and achieve greater heights.
As his students gained experience, several of them were chosen to don Singapore colours. Today, four former Ping Yi Secondary School students are in the national tchoukball team. Mr Rezal himself is an active sportsman, a founding member and president of the Tchoukball Association of Singapore, and coach of the national women's tchoukball teams.
Training, preparing for competitions and exposure to inter-school and national level challenges have had "a positive impact" on the students and the game. "They've learnt that with commitment and hard work, they can succeed," says Mr Rezal. The media exposure that comes from TV appearances and newspaper interviews have also reinforced the importance of teamwork and responsibility to the students.
Sports and community involvement
Mr Rezal is also the chairman of the Youth Executive Committee (YEC) at Tampines East Community Centre. He organises community events, sports competitions and forums on national issues, all of which he encourages his students to participate in.
Tchoukball is a good instrument for character development as it instils discipline, teamwork and commitment through training.
In particular, he is proud to have spearheaded the Youth Olympic Games Open Space Forum, a new-concept forum that has no fixed agenda. Instead, the participants at each forum, which takes place around Singapore, suggest topics and then continue into spontaneous discussion. At the end of each forum, the groups vote on the suggestions that have been made, which are then packaged and presented to the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sport.
"The Open Space Forum is interactive and empowers youth to make decisions. Because they came up with the ideas, they are more committed to seeing them through," Mr Rezal says. This empowerment is also something he encourages in school and during his YEC committee meetings.
Another YEC project he's helmed is the SuperNova Camp, which is one of their "flagship" events. It prepares youth for community service by providing training in leadership skills. For example, they learn to organise an event, manage a budget and identify beneficiaries of assistance funds. "A few of my current YEC committee members attended the SuperNova Camp several years ago, and they've come back to serve the community," he mentions. These courses have also proven useful to the student leaders he oversees in Ping Yi Secondary.
With the national team training in their school hall, many Ping Yi Secondary School students have been attracted to the game.
Cross-border friendships
Beyond Singapore, Mr Rezal has also initiated programmes at an international level. In October 2008 he was inspired by his participation in the annual Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Programme, when 300 youths from Japan and the 10 ASEAN countries went on a 52-day journey together.
Seeing the potential of the deep relations forged during the cruise, Mr Rezal approached the ASEAN Secretariat to obtain support for an annual JASEAN (Japan + ASEAN) summit. Although the first summit had to be postponed because of the political situation in Thailand, where it was scheduled to be held in June, it will be rescheduled.
There's no stopping the energetic Mr Rezal and his zeal to engage youth in meaningful activities. By discussing his projects with his students and the young people he works with, he hopes to open their eyes and minds to the many possibilities around them, and aspire to greater heights.