The Red Carnival!

The Red Carnival by Pink Triangle Foundation is supported by the United Nations, Ministry of Health (Malaysia) and the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC).

I shall blog base on my experience instead of the details on the activities and programmes held. For further information on what happened, you may click here :)


Baylon and I :) Check out his lovey-dovey bunny ears and the cute little red ribbon i had on my face! It is all about creativity and sincerity.

Many a person that i've met, doubted on becoming a volunteer because they fear that they do not know enough about HIV/AIDS to speak about the issue. I've found that the actual fact however, is to understand the gist.

that's all you need to speak.

because your target is the walking public, who may only have a few minutes, so you begin speaking with all the points.

The day before the event, Chun Ting (also a volunteer for PT and Ikhlas) came to UPM to brief us.


We had shouted "STOP AIDS: Keep the Promise, Break the Silence" at Fiesta Street. Something i wouldn't normally do whenever i shopped at Sg.Wang.
I had fun!

[From my understanding]
The aim of the Red Carnival is to:
1) Spread awareness regarding HIV/AIDS

(if no steps are being taken to curb the widespread of the virus in Malaysia, in the years to come, there will be a higher percentage of sexually active Malaysians in their reproductive ages will be infected. More deaths of the younger group may imply an economic slowdown and social illnesses, a higher pledge for health care to cater for the problem)

2) to have FUN and raise FUND for PT Foundation to run their programmes.

3) the few important messages that i've spoken to young people that i come across are:

The availability of a counselling session for those with questions on HIV/AIDS or issues on Sexuality (Mak Nyah or Transsexuals, MSM (Man who have sex with Man) and so on)

Also the availability to check your HIV STATUS for FREE and on an ANONYMOUS Basis at Pink Triangle Foundation.
I kept saying "Free" dan "tak akan dikenakan bayaran", result will be known in 15 to 20 minutes.


Transverstite performing.

We felt like a great big family...despite not knowing each other. Everyone had a smile on their face, everyone had greeted each other, reminded that we should be careful and take care of yourselves (because we were walking with the donation boxes).


Jeremy was one of the many interesting person i've met.

He taught me about not feeling bad by being turned down or being given harsh comments. He emphasized that it's about being who you are when you face the public. And not be afraid of what others say about you.

"Make full use of your personality when you're out there."

which i felt was true.

because the ONLY thing i had hold on to when i spoke to passer-bys, was my personality and the messages i hoped to get across, especially to young people (of course, apart from asking for donation)


The biggest piece of note Director jason got was an RM50 Note *sheessssh* mine was only a Ten ringgit note :(


a proud DirectorJ with a happie smile =)


There were red and white balloons with ribbons printed on them.
The "Soft Launch for the Red Carnival" was held by having a few VIPs to release the balloons into the sky.


RED.Fm and 98.8Fm DJs were here too :)


Cheerleaders!


Meow and Vincent.

Language IS a barrier.

Meow was very good in many languages, namely Mandarin, Cantonese, English and Malay. She focused more on the chinese crowd whereas vincent being bubbly lovely and all focused on little kiddies who loved the balloons (ahhhh and not to forget, all the lenglui's lah!)

Juliana Banos and Nadia :)

I felt more comfortable speaking bahasa melayu. So being in a team, we all had our individual focus groups *winks*

Bottomline is, it doesn't matter whatever language you speak, u will eventually find yourselves peers and target groups of whom u may make a difference in.

You don't need to speak or write MUET Band 6 english to become a volunteer.
you will just need the interest, enthusiasm, the awareness, care and concern towards those you want to help, to become a volunteer.

There are post cards of 3 languages, namely English, Bahasa Melayu and Chinese to be given out. Also calenders with the Counselling hotline number on it.

it is very easy :)
if you want to...


Team work!

Lets volunteer together next year!
I've had great fun, i'm sure you would too.