If you thought Langkawi was just about sun, sand and surf, you’re dead wrong. As our latest batch of BRATs teen journalists found out, there’s just so much more to the island paradise!

Armed with their notebooks, smartphones, cameras and brand-new journalistic skills (courtesy of the R.AGE team), the 37 participants of the BRATs Langkawi 2014 young journalist camp set out to find some of the best stories Langkawi has to offer. And find them they did.

During the course of the four-day camp, they were given the unforgettable experience of going behind the scenes at Underwater World Langkawi, where they hung out with a whole bunch of penguins, got up close and personal with a couple of seals (one of ‘em even got smooched by a seal!), and cosied up to adorable little common marmosets (a small species of monkey).

More important, they also interviewed the true stars of Underwater World Langkawi – the highly-dedicated animal keepers who are on-call 24 hours a day to ensure the facility runs smoothly and continues inspiring children to protect the environment. The bond they share with their animals is truly amazing.

The BRATs also sailed the Andaman Sea on an educational cruise by Tropical Charters, and hung out with a bunch of crazy cool buskers who entertain tourists on Pantai Cenang every night with reggae-fied Malay tunes – all while soaking in the natural beauty of Langkawi.

On top of that, the workshop was held at the five-star Berjaya Langkawi Resort, which provided the perfect backdrop for our final BRATs camp of 2014.
Bring on BRATs 2015!

Students Loke Elaine (left), 18 and Tan Jo Anne (second from left), 16, were among the BRATS Langkawi participants who went behind the scenes at Underwater World Langkawi, where they delved into the world of zookepers,seals and penguins. Here, zookeeper Tan Gin Lui demonstrates how well trained seal is.

R.A.G.E journalist JC Lam showing the eager teen journalists some tricks of the trade.

The BRATs were treated to a performance by the Langkawi Buskers, a group of buskers from all over the country who have settled in Langkawi to perform at Pantai Cenang every night because, well, why not?

A few BRATs practising their interviewing skills while speaking to the real stars of Underwater World Langkawi, its dedicated animal keepers.

It took a while but the penguins eventually got used to having the BRATs for company in their enclosures. They even allowed the young journalists to pat them on their backs!

Tropical tuition: The BRATs learnt all about Langkawi’s history, geology, ecology and tourism industry from the crew of Tropical Charters, who took them on an education cruise.

Don’t wanna miss out on our BRATs 2015 programme? Go to rage.com.my/bratsrecruitment to pre-register today! All you have to do is write an essay titled “Why I want to be a journalist”, fill up a couple of forms, and email the lot to us at brats@thestar.com.my. 

We’ll be publishing all the BRATs Langkawi 2014 participants’ stories here in R.AGE next Tues, so do grab a copy! And for more info on the BRATs programme, go to rage.com.my/brats.