Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

By Chris Bell From the beginning of time, within our academic careers, we have all sought the highly acclaimed "best year of our life." That year is Senior year, and for the class of 2023, the end of that year is halfway there. Throughout this first semester, we have had many adventures and experiences chiseled in stone and placed into our memory banks. From the retreat at Telunas with the grainy white sands of the Indonesian Isles, including the stupendously long journey it took to get there, as well as the late nights spent at senior parties playing glow-in-the-dark tag and board games. These experiences will impact not only our perspective during university but our perspective for the rest of our lives. With seniors leaving in less than half a year, making sure we develop meaningful memories is more important than ever.  To start off by understanding the perspective of the students, here is a quote from Bennet McIver: "The year seems to have flown by fast; it...

By Bennett McIver Dalat hosts a basketball tournament every year called Island Shootout where teams from Penang and the capital KL come up to play a small two day tournament. Our biggest rival, ISKL also attended the tournament and played us in the opening game of the tournament. The result of that game would be a Dalat defeat by two points; however this was not the last time we would face this team in the tournament. We then went on to beat Gardens International School by a decent margin before having the rest of the night to rest.  The next morning, with five of our players taking the SAT, we were scheduled to play two games in their absence. The first game was against POWIIS, another school located in Penang, which we handled, only conceding six points. Unfortunately, a recurring injury of mine flared up after this game and sidelined me for the rest of the tournament. That victory put us in the semi-finals against Garden International. We came into that game with high expectatio...

By Luke Ng  Throughout the two days at the Island Shootout Championship, both Dalat teams fought hard, with the girl's team having a perfect record and sitting at the first seed and the boys having lost only one game to be the 2nd seed. Both Dalat teams were able to win the semis and advance to the finals. Once again, the varsity teams from ISKL and Dalat would face each other to determine who the Island Shootout champion would be. The girls played first and began the game on fire, hitting shot after shot. Midway through the game, Lauren Worten (12) got injured, and a sudden panic fell upon the fans and team: who would be without their primary scorer? However, the girls continued to persevere and showed grit, enabling them to finish the game strong and become the champions of the 2022 Island Shootout. The final game of the entire tournament was the Dalat boy's chance at redemption after a first-game loss to ISKL. Dalat's starting five of Soo Wei Goh (12), Darryl Dwumf...

By Larissa Lee It’s Christmas season, and with the choir concert over, the students of Concert Choir have been busy with a new, exciting project. For the past week, students in Ms. Joyce Goh’s choir class have been recording music videos for any Christmas song of their choosing. Split into groups, each group has until Friday to record vocals, film footage, and edit together a music video filled with Christmas spirit.  Among the groups, the song choices vary. From Sia’s “Snowman” to Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe,” each group is bringing something different to the table. My group, consisting of Hazel Chan (12), Adelina Chee (12), Alyssa Kwok (11), Arielle McIver (11), Sarah Loh (10), and myself, chose to cover a song from the movie Pitch Perfect 2 - “Winter Wonderland/Here Comes Santa Claus.” We quickly learned that recording a video isn’t as easy as it sounds, and that there are many different factors that go into it. Vocals need to be recorded, the video needs to be planned, footage n...

By KyuHwi Han On November 25th, the school campus echoed with the sound of suitcases rattling across the concrete road as the dorm students shuffled themselves toward the bus that would drive them off to their two-day retreat at Ipoh. “The food. I can’t wait to have those buns again,” sighed Joycelyn Fung (12). “With the condensed milk,” chimed in Micah Pickett (10).  After the four-hour bus ride, we clambered into the back of a truck, clutching onto the rusty metal rails, preparing for another bumpy journey ahead. The mountains resounded with whoops and shouts of giddy students standing at the back of the truck. There were a few shrieks and “ow’s” here and there due to some of the leaves having the audacity to smack our faces. By the end of the trip, our hairs were in disarray, but our hearts thumped in excitement: we’d arrived.  But when we got off the truck, our hearts dropped with disappointment. It wasn’t the same Adeline’s we were used to. A simple house had replaced the...

By Joshua Emmanuel On November 23, 2022, Dalat had its first concert of the year, where all the parents, elementary choir, Concert Choir, and Show Choir gathered in Harbor Hall. To start the night, the elementary choir sang "Silent Night," "Go Tell It On The Mountain," and "Feliz Navidad." All three of these songs and the concert choir were all conducted by the choir teacher Ms. Joyce Goh.  The concert choir sang "Rev 19," which is a song based on Revelations chapter 19, the next song was "Sing Your Song," followed by "HUXI," which had a solo by Christal Teoh, and finally, they sang "All I Want For Christmas."  The Greatest Showman was the last piece performed by the show choir. Adam Lim, who portrayed the greatest showman, did an amazing hat flip at the beginning of the performance, followed by a solo. Mr. Hans Kanagaraj (teacher and creator of the magic that was witnessed during the greatest show performance), who ...

 By Jordan Suen With a roaring crowd and people on their backs the Dalat Varsity Basketball team commenced the first official basketball game in two years— a game against the local club team PBA. A highly anticipated event that everyone from around the school came to watch whether you were in 5th grade or 12th grade.  The five players for Dalat stepped onto the court with fire in their eyes and a hunger for a victory. Luke Ng (12) was jumping for the favorites of the game. As the ball was tossed, all spectators had expectancy in their eyes. The game had commenced; however, it did not go as everyone hoped for. Dalat had started the game taking bad shots and all around looking fairly lost. This led to the boys being at a deficit for a greater portion of the first quarter.  However, by the 6th minute of the first quarter, the Dalat Eagles hit their stride and made a two pointer, pulling them in front of PBA. The second quarter was a complete wash. The quarter opened up with ...

By Dominic Cheang  February 6th and 13th, 2020 - The former was the last time the Dalat Varsity Basketball Team had a home game against an outside opponent and the latter was the last time the Dalat varsity basketball team had a game against another team. As we all know, the weeks following came with daily headlines of the then-unfamiliar COVID-19. Eventually culminating in the full lockdown of Malaysia, along with the rest of the world. Basketball has always been a core part of the identity of Dalat, often being the sport that has the largest audience and largest group of players trying out. Fast forward to November 17, 2022, and Dalat is finally hosting a home basketball game for its boys varsity team against the local PBA (Penang Ballers Association) team. The excitement and enthusiasm for the Basketball season was unparalleled throughout the campus.  For a sense of scale of how important of a game this was, the class of 2023, the current seniors, were freshmen the last tim...

By Keilah Pickett  We are three weeks into the basketball season so far, and it’s somehow felt a lot longer. During tryouts, there were a lot of nerves going around, surrounded by the question of who will be on what teams. Chika Tsumagari (12) said she was “a bit anxious because I haven’t been in an official team in so long and none of us really have.”  Now that it has started up a bit more, it has given players a chance to grow personally, despite having played for such a short time so far. Arielle McIver (11) said, “It has helped me to keep persevering and to not give up.” This basketball season continues to grow girls from different grades closer and bond over the common interest in the sport.  Tsumagari (12) also said, “There’s so much chemistry, and I already see progress and our teamwork improving!”  Although tiresome, I think the season has been fun, or as Haylee Douglas said, “It’s been slayful,” and something to look forward to playing in and watching. Along...

By Yoseph Yang On November 10, 2022, a large crowd, mainly Dalat seniors, gathered at the backboard by the playground area for the most anticipated BBA game of all time; David Kilgo (12) vs. Chris Bell (12). BBA, established by Kai Ru Bok (12) and Mark Ho (12), initially began as a minor event during lunchtime.  “To be honest, I did not expect BBA to grow this big because it was meant to be ‘casually competitive,’” explained Ryan Chew (12), another founding member of BBA.  However, it quickly gained popularity throughout high school, and more people began to join the roster. Two new players were added to the lineup: David Kilgo (12) and Chris Bell (12). BBA arranged the game for the new players on the roster, and soon enough, the schedule was released on the official Instagram page. There, they announced the debut match of the new players, and the crowd was surprised when they first saw it. The upcoming game on Thursday, November 10, was between David Kilgo (12) and Chris Bell...

By Owen Lai On November 10, all of Dalat’s high school gathered on the outdoor basketball court during AHOD for a tug-of-war match between the four houses.  For the first time, competition between the four houses or teams: Bolt, Wave, Quake, and Blaze, was extended beyond the traditionally held Eagle Games. This year’s Eagle Games was a tight competitive event in which Quake took the victory. However, PAL proposed that the houses continue to compete with each other throughout the year during AHOD, where they could compete in a myriad of events. This would allow the three other teams that fell short to get revenge and potentially claim victory.  Each house competed twice in tug-of-war, and two students, one boy and one girl, from each grade level, volunteered or were peer pressured into participating. The crowd fell silent, anticipating Mr. Penland’s call for the match to begin.  As the match began, cheers from all teams echoed around the basketball court as each team trie...

By William Johnston Over this first semester, a group of Dalat students went on an Impact Trips to both Perak and Johor. Last week during chapel, Mrs. Ailee Chan decided to bring two groups of students from both trips up on stage to interview them about their experience during the trip.  Each team took their turns to speak and spoke about their experiences. The students had come from many different backgrounds their intentions and opinions on the trip varied greatly. While some had felt that they were prepared and others said they weren’t, but a common theme emerged of them finding that their decisions were the right ones. One student, Lei Tee (12), had a positive attitude towards the trip during a later interview about his trip over fall break. WJ: “What did you do during the trip?” LT : “We planned and organized activities for the children in Perak and spent time with the community. The primary goal was to have fun with the children and expose them to English.” LT : “In addition...

By Michael Hsu As the lunch bell rings, seniors flock off to eat off-campus. But a small group of flamingos foregoes these lunch privileges, for they have a purpose. These are the student-athletes of Bozo Ball Association, the Class of 2023’s very own semi-amateur basketball league. BBA started on October 17th, following an inspirational best-of-3 showdown between Yoseph Yang (‘23) and Owen Lai (‘23). Managers Mark Ho (‘23) and Kai Ru (‘23) expanded the roster to include seven players. Week 3 will see the addition of two new players to the lineup: Chris Bell (‘23) and David Kilgo (‘23). The BBA season started with round robins to eventually seed the league’s player in the playoffs. Games are 1v1 and consist of two five-minute halves at the end of lunch. The jerseys are sweaty pink polo shirts, and each game is presided over by two match officials: Mark Ho (‘23) and Luke Ng (‘23). Statistics are recorded by the official statistician, Ryan Chew (‘23), and posted every week. Photogr...

By Mark Ho   During the week of Oct 16-18, Dalat hosted the boys volleyball ACSC, the biggest event of the season. This year, the varsity volleyball boys had it on our home court. There were six schools, including Dalat, that participated in the tournament. Schools like Grace International School, Faith Academy, ICS Bangkok, Yongsan International School, and SPH. All of them came from different parts of Asia. Throughout the tournament, Dalat fought hard but came short of their own expectations. “Our team’s goal before ACSC was to try to come in either 2nd or 3rd place. We fought as hard as we could and tried our very best in every game we played,” explained Luke Ng (12).  After playing through the round-robin and the playoff bracket, the boys came 5th. Despite this, they could have easily been higher as most of the games were close, only losing by 3 or 4 points. One of these games was against Faith, where the Dalat boys lost a set 27-29.  Outside hitter Benjamin Yeo...

By Ryan Chew October 26, 2022 began the anticipated Spiritual Emphasis Week, also known as SEW. Hannah Williamson and Hannah Smith, two tireless and wonderful speakers, worked diligently to spread the word of God throughout nine different sessions from day to night.  On day one, the high school was introduced to the SEW theme, “Rescue Mission,” by our speakers and learned the barriers that prevented us from reaching God. The speakers discussed three main points during this session which were expectations, religion, and lifestyle. It was a chilling and hooked-worthy experience that the Dalat high school experience that morning. KyuHwi Han (12) described the first session as, “Exciting and a good start for the rest of the week.”  During the evening, Hannah Williamson began sharing her first experiences with God. Her experience with God started with being in the crowd, Jesus entering her space, Jesus talking to her, and following Jesus. It was a heartfelt and warming experience t...

By Sahana Selvaraja Don’t get me wrong– the two Hannahs that spoke for us at MEW were absolutely enlightening, but their accents were the main thing that most of us could focus on. I lost count of how many times I was so immersed in their thick British accents that I would forget to actually focus on what they were preaching.  I did listen! But their accents were my favorite part.   “My mind is blown! I never really thought that I had barriers in my relationships until this,” said Yuna Lee (11) after the first MEW day where the Hannahs talked about how people put barriers in their relationships.  They used an analogy where you take a friend out to eat but you keep putting your baggage on the center of the table. The first bag Hannah (with the glasses) put on the table was labeled “EXPECTATIONS” in bright red, and the second bag she put on the table was labeled “RELIGION.” They weren’t wrong. Sometimes our expectations of people make us overestimate or expect them to ...

By Enson Tang In the 2022-2023 ACSC, Dalat's Men's soccer team successfully established themselves in Dalat's record books. Not only did they come 1st in the tournament, but they did it without losing a game, which has never done before in the history of Dalat. The weeks leading up to ACSC were very intense; Coach van and Coach Ben pushed the boys at every practice to give it our all with ACSC in mind. ACSC (Asia Christian Schools Conference), which happens every year for Soccer, Volleyball, and Basketball, consists of schools from Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea. For the past two years, Covid took away that opportunity, but this year, with restrictions loosened, sports could happen again. Unfortunately for Hong Kong, their government restrictions still prevented them from competing. Soccer and volleyball ACSC happened from October 18-22; Men's varsity soccer in Bangkok, Thailand; men's varsity volleyball in Penang, Malaysia; an...

By Daewon No The Dalat boys varsity soccer team became the champions and succeeded in bringing the trophy back home from the ACSC Boys Soccer Tournament that was held in ICS Bangkok from October 19th to the 22nd. Led by Mr. van, the main coach, and Coach Ben, the boy's soccer team triumphed and claimed the title of being undefeated the whole tournament. The boys played 6 games in total, including the championship match. They played Faith and ICS-BKK on the first day and achieved big wins with a score of 4-1 against Faith and 5-0 against ICS-BKK.  The game against Grace on the second day was a very tough and close game for the boys, but they managed to win by a last-minute goal.  The boys continued to win both games on the third day and kept their winning streak. They won 2-0 against YISS and 3-1 against Morrison.  They ended up in 1st place for Round Robin Play with 15 points. ICS-BKK placed 2nd place, so they were scheduled to play in the championship match the next day....

By Haylee Douglas As the ACSC teams head off to their countries to play in the prestigious tournament, the girl's soccer team is left behind to watch them compete from a distance and support them through live streams and cheers. Being on the girl's soccer team is possibly one of the best things about being involved in Dalat athletics. We get to form bonds with different grades, we get to run and cry together, and we get to have ice cream after training together. But the saddest part of girl's soccer is we have to wait through a whole other sports season until we get to go to ACSC. While watching the other teams go on ACSC through Instagram, we have to attend classes. While the different Season 1 sports are eating out, we eat the same Dalat cafeteria food.  The only upside of being left behind in season 1 is that we get to watch whatever ACSC is going on at Dalat. So like the good team we are, we went to cheer on our volleyball boys. We made posters and screamed as loud as w...

By Hazel Chan On September 29th, some choir kids got to skip most of the school day to catch a plane. The BICF (Bangkok International Choral Festival) was an annual event, but it hadn’t happened for a few years, so it was nice to get to sing with other people again. Most of the students that went on the trip had never been before, so they didn’t really know what to expect. Adelina Chee (12) was one of those and when asked about how she felt, replied, “I feel like this trip will be a good opportunity to learn from a different perspective and I’m really excited to meet new people.”  We ended up having to fly to KL first because our direct flight to Thailand got cancelled about a week prior to our trip. Most of us were quite hungry by the time we reached the KL airport, but there were no restaurants and almost everything was closed besides this one noodle shop. I went to the noodle shop with two other friends, and we all ordered the same thing. The noodles were edible, but very salty ...

By Kai Ru Bok During a quiet Friday morning, nearly half of the high school disappeared from school. Last Friday, September 30th, the varsity boys and girls volleyball teams, varsity boys and girls soccer teams, and junior varsity boys and girls volleyball teams set off to Kuala Lumpur to write the sequel to their battle with ISKL (International School Kuala Lumpur) after the Spike and Strike Tournament. The boys varsity volleyball team proved better after beating the ISKL boys on home ground, but tensions were high during the days leading up to the Twin Towers Tourney as people wondered how the team would fare playing in the home of the panthers. After a shaky first game against Blockbusters, the boys set their sights on showing their local rivals once again who was the superior team.  The varsity boys’ team captain, Isaac Lee (11), recalled not being “intimidated by them at all, unlike [the] first game [in Penang].” He continued, “Sure, they were all half a foot taller, but I kne...

By Adelina Chee As the cabin lights dimmed, the pilot's voice crackled through the speaker: “The time is 8:45 pm, temperature is 28 Celsius. We will be landing soon and would like to give a special welcome to Dalat International School’s choir.” Three hours earlier, our choir class boarded a plane to Thailand to attend the Bangkok International Choir Festival (BICF). Choirs from different schools gathered to perform with a guest conductor.  On the plane ride, the group had another chance to bond. A lack of Wi-fi caused boredom for some of them. Others observed the surroundings while waiting in the flight. A seemingly attractive guy showed everyone demonstrations for emergencies on the plane. Some anonymous individuals discreetly expressed, “That guy is cute!!!” It clearly motivated some of us to listen during in-flight safety. Meanwhile, a stoic man in front of us gripped his device up to watch downloaded YouTube videos. As Hazel Chan described it, “He watched weird cartoons first,...

By Trevor Nichols On September 8, the world changed forever. For the first time in Dalat history, some art students finally got to go on an interstate trip - an event marking the beginning of a rise to compete with the all-revered Bangkok trip of the Music department.  As the long awaited school bell rang at 3:10, the art students scattered across the school - seemingly controlled by a hive mind - began to assemble. As the students gathered at the upper field gate, the fizz of excitement in the air could easily compete with the hot Malaysian sun. As we piled into the bus, Julien Goh (12), an honorary art student, holds up a trash bag to me.  Goh stated, “I believe that Mrs. Nichols did me a disservice by not letting me go on the art trip. Even so, I feel as if I was an integral part of the art trip as I contributed profusely by giving Trevor Nichols (12) a trash bag before he left. By bringing the trash bag, the otherwise boring art trip turned out a success. You are welcome, ...

By Noah Kaney Over the weekend of September 24th, the annual Spike and Strike tournament took place… or at least part of it. Spike and Strike is a tournament that consists of both varsity volleyball and soccer teams participating. Typically, fellow international school ISKL (International School of Kuala Lumpur) makes the journey up to Penang to participate.  However, the soccer tournament never took place. Due to the unavailability of a suitable pitch to play on, the ‘Strike’ part of Spike and Strike never happened.  Upon hearing the sad news that the soccer tournament was cancelled, senior captain Benjamin Wong responded: “The team was disappointed to hear the news. We were looking forward to playing soccer at a high level in front of our fans, [and] showing the results of the hard work and effort we had been putting in during practices.”  Although the Dalat varsity team was unable to face rival school ISKL during the Spike and Strike tournament, they hope to achieve vi...

By Taewoo Song On September 23, on Friday after school at the gym and the newly built Sandycroft, there was a Spike and Strike volleyball tournament where fifteen teams participated in this annual event. There were a total of eight boy teams and seven girl teams.  Every game that happened during this tournament was intense as the teams that participated in this event showed their capabilities under pressure. Senior Bennett Mclver described his experience in the crowd as “electric” with the sparks of both home and away crowds cheered on relentlessly shaking the stadium with thunderous chants, hoping that their team would take home the glory. With every scored point, the crowd roared as the stadium shook, surprising the parents who came to spectate the game.  The tournament ended on Saturday; ultimately Dalat Varsity Boys team got third, winning three out of five games. The Dalat Varsity Girls team got second place, also winning three out of five games. Now this will be a short ...

By David Kim A Dalat school year typically consists of a little less than180 school days. By the time this article gets published, close to a quarter of these days will have passed. As the end of September draws near and with only a week left in quarter one, it is about time that we as seniors recap on what has taken place over the past two months and plan on how to finish the remainder of our first quarter in our final year in high school well. There were many events that took place in the senior class over the span of just the past two months, from the start of the school year: return of sports, Senior Sneak, After-Sneak Dinner, and Eagle Games. When asked what their favorite memory from quarter one was, an overwhelming majority of seniors replied: “Sneak”.  I think Joshua Emmanuel put it perfectly when he said, “It was a break from the busyness of school and a time to bond with classmates.” Indeed, Sneak was an incredibly memorable experience and will likely be one of the bigges...

By Chika Tsumagari  Eagle Games is Dalat’s “sports day” that happens every year in the first quarter. There are four houses: Wave, Quake, Bolt, and Blaze. Each house is divided into smaller teams of about 12 people, two of which are senior leaders. As an underclassman, I remember looking up to them, thinking that it must have taken a lot of time and effort for them to be able to lead a group. I had just assumed that based on their confident attitude to be leaders. However, I found out as a senior that really the leaders are just as clueless as their underclassmen teammates.  I was given the role of being the leader of my Eagle Games group alongside with Soo Wei Goh for a Quake team. I admit I was excited and feeling confident about being given a responsible leading position. Mentally, I was prepared to go to our first x-block meeting and meet my group for the first time. I had already taken the blank quake flag and markers as leaders were instructed to, ready to make a good im...

By Noah Lee On Saturday, the 15th of September, the Dalat Eagle Games took place. Everyone was excited the week before, preparing for the upcoming games. The classes bustled with talk about Eagle Games. There were four teams: Blaze, Bolt, Wave, and Quake. Everyone was raising team spirit before the day even came. Usually, Bolt came in last place, and Blaze came in first. At this point, this was the trend of winning and losing teams, and everyone expected Blaze to win again. Darryl Dwumfour, a senior from team Bolt, said, “This is our year; this year, we win.” The different teams were competing with each other in spirit, saying that they would be the ones to claim the trophy. During the preparation week, the different teams gathered in their own rooms to design their own flags and come up with their own unique cheers for their teams during x-blocks. Loud clapping, cheering, and stomping echoed around the campus that week. Finally, the day was here. All four teams gathered together at th...

By Benjamin Yeoh Last Thursday, 15 September, was the highly anticipated Eagle Games. Everyone excitedly showed up to school in their house-colored clothing, face paint, bandanas, and other accessories. The energy and enthusiasm throughout was palpable, not only because we got to skip classes but because we embraced the team spirit and did our best for our team. It is fair to say that most people had high expectations for Eagle Games, as it is the annual event where the entire high school got together to have fun and let loose.  The first half of the day went smoothly. Each group gathered on the basketball court in their respective groups and showed their unique team cheers. They made sure other groups could hear their loud, booming cheers before heading off to their respective stations for the games.  But not long after, it started raining. Many people enjoyed running around in the rain, especially running around and sliding on the slippery upper-field grass. As Isaac Lee (11...

By Jasmine Hassan Four hours ago, war had commenced. A war between the newly entrenched, four elements of life: Quake, Wave, Bolt, and Blaze. As mealtime had begun to end, Jordan Suen (12), one of Ricequake’s trusty team captains, asked his equally courageous counterpart Saidah Ly (12), “What is our next game?”  To this, she responded eagerly, “Something called Hole Trap!”  As the soldiers of Ricequake and Kraken Wave marched onto their awaiting battlefield, also known as the outdoor basketball court, they were met with two identical blue tarps dotted with five symmetrical holes. There, Ms. Weidemann, known to the soldiers as peaceful Switzerland, gave both teams instructions on what was to come– an assigned ball would have to be balanced on both team’s tarps without falling through the holes– a difficult challenge to pull off, but certainly no match against mighty Ricequake.   Immediately after Ms. Weidemann’s battle countdown, both teams charged at their tarps, str...