The Launch and the Awareness Booth

The RAWK Foundation held its official launching last Wednesday on the 7th of March, 2007, in Lecture Theatre 1, Taylor's College Petaling Jaya.

The launching started promptly at 9.30am, with the arrival of Taylor's College School of Communication Programme Director Ms. Josephine Tan, teachers and autistic children from NASOM, lecturers and students as well as members of the public who came and gave their support. Our project manager, Kelly Ch'ng, kick-started the launch with a brief introduction to RAWK and its mission, followed by a foreword from Ms. Josephine Tan.

RAWK Foundation Project Manager Kelly Ch'ng giving an introductory speech

After both speeches, the teachers and autistic children of NASOM performed a short albeit simple play, portraying the life of autistic children. The play, which was an interesting mixture of prose, sketch, and video illustrated the hardships of autistic children and the rejection they face by society, and some even from parents.

Autistic children performing a play during the launching

A teacher from NASOM then came forward to read a testimonial detailing the challenges faced by a mother having to deal with an autistic child. After that, another impressive speech was given by a 12-year-old boy, Hazim, who presented a personal account of being an autistic child in public schools. His witty, articulate delivery received a tremendous response in the packed theatre.

A testimonial read by one of the teachers from NASOM

Hazim giving an impassioned speech

After the play, Executive Director of NASOM Mrs. Liew enlightened the audience with information on NASOM and the efforts of NASOM in helping both parents and children to deal with autism.

Mrs. Josephine Tan (second from left) presenting Mrs. Liew with a token of appreciation

This was followed by a short video presentation of the RAWK Foundation visit to NASOM, which you can watch below.

The end of the video marked the official launching of the RAWK Foundation and was followed by presenting tokens of appreciation to the honoured guests. Finally, the lecturers and representatives from NASOM adjourned for light refreshments, while the rest of the students and audience proceeded to the Courtyard to check out the RAWK Foundation Awareness Booth.

Awareness Booth

The RAWK Foundation Awareness Booth, situated at the courtyard of Leisure Commerce Square, had several boards up with information to inform the public on autism, the symptoms and effects of autism, information on NASOM, information on RAWK Foundation and the activities we have organised as well as upcoming activities, and most importantly The Talent Showdown!

The information boards at the Awareness Booth

The crowd checking out the information boards

A student counting peanuts for the game, and another checking out the RAWK Talent Showdown flyers.

We had several cool performances to keep the crowd entertained, with the first performance being a very energetic dance by The Music and Dance Society, followed by a rendition of TLC's 'No Scrubs' sung by girl trio Carrie. Melisa Suciati came next, and sang 2 songs - a version of Jason Mraz's 'You and I' accompanied by only maracas and an acapella version of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'. Last but not least was an engaging Jujitsu demonstration.

1st performance by The Music and Dance Society

2nd performance by girl trio, Carrie

A wonderful performance by Melisa Suciati accompanied by the maracas.

The hard-hitting Jujitsu demonstration

There was also a games booth with featuring a Guess the Peanuts! game and a Banana-Eating Competition, with hampers and vouchers to be won.

Giving their best guess at the Guess the Peanuts! game.

The Banana-Eating Competition

The RAWK Foundation T-shirts were also on sale for RM22. They're made from high-quality, dry fit Kappa material. Get yours from your nearest RAWK member (identifiable by the tag around our necks) or drop us an e-mail at rawkfoundation@gmail.com.

The back design of The RAWK Foundation T-shirt.

Barring a few technical problems with the PA system at the courtyard, everything went well, and once again, The RAWK Foundation thanks all who have been giving us your continued support.

On a final note, tickets to the Talent Showdown are now on sale! They're RM 20 each. As with the t-shirts, get them from the first RAWK Foundation member you can lay your hands on, or e-mail us at rawkfoundation@gmail.com. Show off your talent and join the Talent Showdown, or get your friends and family to come and vote for your favourite talents!

RAWK Official Launching / Time to get this Show on the Road

The RAWK Foundation's got exciting things lined up this week. Not only are we officially launching, we'll also be organising roadshows at selected colleges and universities!

The launching for the RAWK Foundation will be held on Wednesday, 7th of March, 2007, 9.30am to 11.00am, at Lecture Theatre 1, Taylor's College Petaling Jaya. The autistic children from NASOM will be staging a play, which will be a rare performance you do not want to miss. We'll also be giving away goodie bags, so be there!

Also on the 7th of March, we will be setting up an awareness booth at the courtyard to promote our main event, The Inter-College University Talent Showdown, as well as for any information you might want about RAWK or autism. The booth will be open from 10.00am onwards. We've got several very talented individuals to perform, as well as a games session and prizes to be given away! We will also be selling our own RAWK Foundation t-shirts and we will have a donation box for anyone to donate to NASOM. So everyone, come to our awareness booth, where you get to be charitable and have fun at the same time!

For the roadshows, members of the RAWK Foundation will be visiting various universities and colleges, where we will be hosting games, giving out Talent Showdown entry forms, selling t-shirts and Talent Showdown tickets, and have more freebies and prizes to give away! The details of the roadshows are as follows:

Tuesday, 6th March 2007
- Taylor's University College Subang Jaya
- Metropolitan College

Thursday, 8th March 2007
- HELP University College

Tuesday, 13th March 2007
- University of Nottingham, Semenyih campus

Wednesday, 14th March 2007
- University College Sedaya International (subject to change)

In a nutshell, please come to our launching if you can make it, and if you can't, don't worry, we'll go to you! We are going to RAWK here, there, and everywhere, so look out for us and continue supporting us!

The Inter-College University Talent Showdown

Everyone’s got talent, and now we’re giving you a stage and an audience to show it. And if it’s real talent, we’ll even give you prizes!

Our event welcomes any kind of talent, be it musical, magical, gymnastical, or simply talking to yourself. Just better be able to entertain the audience, because they are the ones that will ultimately decide who gets to win. Everyone in the audience will be given a chance to vote for their favourite talent.

Details are as follows:

Date: 7th April 2007
Time: 7.30pm – 11.00pm
Venue: Taylor’s University College Subang Jaya, Multi Purpose Hall
Admission: RM 20.00 a ticket

Guest performers include Project Ei8ht, Ghetto Republic, and The ComeBackKings!

Prizes worth up to RM5000 are up for grabs, including an electric guitar, handphones, hampers, vouchers, complimentary tickets, and cash prizes worth up to RM1,000!

Besides material prizes, you'll also win fame, respect and recognition, as the media will be there. Who knows, this competition might be your first step on the path to international super-stardom..

All proceeds from the event, including ticket sales, will be donated to the National Autism Society of Malaysia. So what are you waiting for? Come sign up either solo or as a group. You can also come support your friends or check out the talents and have the opportunity to vote for your choice of talents. Catch us at our roadshows at selected colleges or email your enquiries/entry details at rawkfoundation@gmail.com.

Download the rules and regulations in .pdf format

Download the registration form

If you're having problems downloading or opening the registration form, you can also register simply by sending an email to rawkfoundation@gmail.com with your name, stage name, performance description, required equipment, and contact numbers. Now start practising!

Hope to see you there! =)

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Inter-College University Talent Showdown RULES & REGULATIONS

> ELIGIBILITY
1. This competition is open to all college/university students, except members of The RAWK Foundation and members of their families.

2. Contestants must be enrolled in a local college or university at the time of registration, and will be required to show their student ID cards at the preliminary round. For groups, at least one member must be a college/university student.

3. Contestants must be within the ages of 18 to 25 years old.

4. You can enter as a solo performer or in a group. Groups may not consist of more than 6 members. Group members can come from different institutions.

5. You may enter both as solo and in a group, but you will have to pay the registration fee for both entries. However, you may only enter a maximum of one solo and one group. You may not enter more than one solo performance or more than one group performance.

6. You may either sign up at our road-shows or send an e-mail to rawkfoundation@gmail.com before the 27th of March 2007. Please include your name, name of institution you are currently enrolled in, contact number, and a brief description of your performance. For groups, please include all group members’ names, names of institutions, and at least 2 contact numbers and e-mail addresses.

7. Registration fee is RM 10.00 for solo contestants and for groups it will be RM 5.00 per member. The fees will be collected at the preliminary round.

> COMPETITION GUIDELINES
8. All contestants will be given a maximum of 5 minutes to perform.

9. No indecency, vulgarity, political, religious or racial statements/displays are allowed as part of any contestant’s performance.

10. Contestants will be held liable for all damages and/or loss to provided equipment and property.

11. Contestants must keep good conduct at all times throughout the event. Obscene or revealing attire is not allowed. Offensive behavior, damaging of property or equipment, or encouraging violent behavior will result in instant disqualification.

> PRELIMINARY ROUND REQUIREMENTS
12. All contestants are to attend the preliminary round, which will be held on the 30th of March 2007, from 10:00am to 4:00pm in the Auditorium at Taylor’s College Petaling Jaya. It will be a closed door event, and contestants only have to show up during their appointed time slot. Contestants who miss their appointed time slot may reschedule if there is still time available. Else, you will be forfeited.

13. To schedule their performance for the preliminary round, contestants are required to make an appointment with the Organisers by the 27th of March 2007. Simply contact us with what time you would like to perform. Appointments will be made on a first-come-first-serve basis only, so you are advised to confirm as soon as possible.
Call or SMS:
Sarah: 017-6017656
Kelly: 016-3015566
or E-mail: rawkfoundation@gmail.com

Our official website rawkfoundation.blogspot.com will be constantly updated with the latest schedule, so please refer to it before calling us.

14. Contestants are advised to bring their own equipment/props/music CDs for the preliminary round and the finals. Equipment such as amplifiers and a drum set will be provided for the finals only. For bands that are unable to bring their equipment for the preliminary round, you may perform an acoustic version of the performance.

> FINAL ROUND
15. The top 12 performances will qualify to the finals which will take place on the 7th of April 2007 at the Multi-Purpose Hall at Taylor’s University College, Subang Jaya. All contestants will be notified of the results of the preliminary round via phone and e-mail.

16. Rehearsal and sound checks on the date of the finals is compulsory for all finalists. Finalists will be informed of the time of the rehearsal and sound checks via phone and e-mail.

17. Winners will be determined by the audience through votes. The audience’s decisions are final and non-contestable.

> MISCELLANEOUS
18. All contestants agree to have their names, voices, likenesses, sound materials and photographs used by the Organizers and Sponsors for purpose of publicity, broadcasting, advertising and/or trade without further compensation or notice.

19. The Organizers and Sponsors reserve the right to substitute any of the prizes with that of similar value at any time.

20. The Organizers will not be held responsible for any injuries, deaths or accidents that may occur during the course of the event.

21. The Organizers will not be held responsible should there be any loss or damage of the contestants’ personal equipment.

22. By participating in this contest, all contestants have agreed to abide by the rules & regulations, terms and conditions, and all decisions made by the Organizers.

23. Competition rules and regulations are subject to change at the discretion of the organiser. Contestants will be notified of any changes via phone or e-mail. Please check the official website rawkfoundation.blogspot.com regularly for updates. Also, do not hesitate to contact us at rawkfoundation@gmail.com for further enquiries or clarification on the rules and the event.
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So what is autism and when are we launching?

We are glad you asked.

What is autism?

Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that causes a life-long developmental disability. Statistics show that an estimated 1 in 166 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it one of the most common developmental disorders that affect children. Autism is four times more common in males than females and it typically appears during the first 3 years of life. Children with autism suffer from impairment in their communication skills and social abilities, and also by repetitive behaviours such as obsessively arranging objects or following very specific and rigid routines. They also tend to act and sound like much younger children. Symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe and they include crying tantrums, lack of fear real dangers and insensitivity to pain.

Autism is a lifelong condition of which at this point in time there is no discernible cure. However, early intervention has proved to be the most helpful in treating autistic children. Prompt recognition of the symptoms of autism and special education can significantly improve their lives as they respond well to highly structured, specialised education programmes that are designed to meet their needs. With proper education, many autistic children can learn to communicate, interact with others, form meaningful relationships and overcome behaviours that make it difficult for them to live with their families.

Simply put, those with autism really, really, really need your support. Please, lend them a helping hand (as seen in the following picture).


When is the RAWK Foundation launching their campaign?

We are currently scheduled to launch next week! Barring any unfortunate mishaps that may happen in the official scheduling process, you can look for us to have an opening blast on the 7th of March. Come RAWK with us, and we will RAWK with you!

Cookie Sales!

The previous week, the RAWK Foundation conducted cookie sales on campus in order to raise funds. It was not just cookies though, we also offered some chips and even chocolate. Though the main attraction was, undoubtedly, cookies.

But, pictures could explain what we did better than a write up, so here they are.


The items to be sold...



The beginning of the sales!




Nowhere was safe!



More customers!




More more more!

To put it simply, the RAWK Foundation had a success on their hands with the cookie (and other things besides) sales. Thank you everyone for your wonderful and generous support!

Remember, more good things are coming in the future, and rest assured, it will RAWK.

Cookie sale begins tomorrow! Pictures are here too.

The RAWK Foundation will begin selling cookies next week. Everyone will be selling this time, so it should not be difficult at all to find us if you are craving some delectable delights. This cookie sale is a follow up to the ang pow donations which were done this past week, and that received a positive response. Remember, all proceeds go towards helping NASOM, and we are off to a good start. Please support us, and make our good start become something even better!

Now, there have been requests for pictures. As promised, here are some of them. Sorry for the delay.

The RAWK Foundation.











The RAWK Foundation arrives at the NASOM intervention centre!

















The RAWK Foundation playing with the autistic children.















The arts and crafts session with the autistic children.














Witness the fruits of our labours! The arts and crafts masterpiece.

Thank you for viewing the pictures. Remember everyone, cookie sales begin on 12th February, 2007, which is tomorrow!

Finally, please check back here for more information on the RAWK Foundation and the activities planned. Also, drop by the tagboard if you have something to say or enquire about. Remember, you're a part of this just as much as we are, so say something!

A Visit to the NASOM Intervention Centre

The RAWK Foundation held a visitation today to meet autistic children at the NASOM intervention centre. Do not be fooled by the name, it is basically a school for autistic children, where autistic children are able to spend their time learning, playing, and just being taken care of. The centre itself was comprised of two floors, the bottom being mostly a playroom and the upper floors being more conventional rooms with more desks and less fluffy toys.

The visitation was greeted by a representative of the centre. She explained that there were about 40 children there, between the ages of 4-15 years of age. 30 of the children were part of the morning session, which we were avaible for, and the remaining children were part of the afternoon session, which we missed.

Since we were there for the morning show, we decided to split to two - about half of us, and half of the children, would go downstairs to play games such as musical chairs, while the ones upstairs would all get together for an arts and craft session (also known as a fill up the supplied cloth with copius amounts of paint session). After a few hours, both halves switched roles. The end result was that fun was had by all, and there were two long lengths of painted cloth.

The trip was definitely worth it for us all that went. Hopefully the visit was beneficial to everyone involved, not least of all the people in charge the centre, and the autistic kids themselves.

This was a good day. May any other RAWKing activities proceed smoothly in the future.

PS - Pictures will be displayed when they become available.