By Nurul Atikah Md. Shahnon
Communication students had a real good experience in Kampong Ulu Kenderong, Gerik, Perak. There were about 100 of us who participated in a research trip on 15Â until 16Â November recently. The huge number of participants included some international students who do not speak Malay at all or were conversant in the language that it became difficult for them to conduct the study in Malay. The medium of communication between the villagers is absolutely in the mother tongue language which can only be understood by the native speakers. The respondents too do not have the proficiency to communicate in English.
The students who were involved in this research were from two classes: Public Opinion and Persuasion and Communication Theory. Students were accompanied by four lecturers: Prof. Dato’ Seri Dr. Syed Arabi Idid, Assoc. Prof.  Dr.  Che Mahzan Ahmad, Dr. Aini Maznina, and Madam Mazni Buyong.
We were brought there by three IIUM buses. Our journey took around five hours to arrive at the destination. On 15Â November (Saturday), at 8 a.m. early in the morning, all the students gathered at the assembly point in front of Rectory building, IIUM, waiting for the bus. Exactly at 9.15 a.m. we departed. After two hours, the journey took a break for one hour at R&R, Tapah.
The journey from R&R Tapah to Kampung Ulu Kenderong, Gerik, took merely tw0 hours. At 2.30 p.m. we arrived at the destination. We were welcomed with open arms and warm hearts by the villagers. The gathering at the villages public hall (Dewan Orang Ramai), began with a speech by the head of the village (penghulu or ketua kampung) and an introduction about their village.
A few minutes after the introductory session, we were all having nice lunch provided by the villagers. It was like attending a wedding ceremony. The food was served in buffet style. The taste was really good. We were all satisfied and felt the gratitude. Alhamdulillah.
After lunch, we started our task to find people in every house to be interviewed. Every interview session took around 30 minutes to finish all the questions given. We were entertained as guests coming to their house that they prepared with hospitality providing us with light food like kuih and drink.
After it was done, we prayed Jamak Qasar for Asar and Zuhur at the nearest surau. Then, we were brought to the homestay at 6.30 p.m. to have a rest.
The picture below show one of the home-stays provided for around 30 female students from Public Opinion and Persuasion class. The other two home-stays were occupied by female students from Communication Theory class and male students respectively. The home-stays were bungalow-size house, complete with necessary items. They were clean, tidy and comfortable. Our lecturers stayed in another separated house.
The next day, after being served with nice nasi lemak breakfast, we continued to finish our task.
This kind of activity had exposed students to the remote area away from university campus which gave us real good opportunity to interact with local people and build relations with them. It also strengthened relationships among us as students.
We left for IIUM after Zuhur with sweet memories of the Ulu Kenderong experience. ***
