The BRATs discover there’s way more to Johor Baru than meets the eye. FROM an exciting trip to Legoland to braving the hot sun in a fabrication yard to baking breads, the BRATs Johor Baru 2013 participants sure had lots of fun … and deadlines to meet.
FYI, the BRATs programme is not a writing workshop – it is the place where young people get the opportunity to get a taste of life as journalists … The Star journalists, to be precise.
The participants acquired valuable skills that come with the job; from writing to photography, to videography and social media. They were then sent on some real assignments where they had a chance to practise their new found journalistic skills.
Here we have some of the final product from the four days workshop.
The Lego man
IF you’re talking about dream jobs, Stefan Bentivoglio’s gig at Legoland Malaysia has to be way up there among the best.
Bentivoglio being interviewed by some of the BRATs
Bentivoglio, 34, is a Lego master model builder. Already sounds awesome, right?
At Legoland Malaysia, you’ll find an attraction called Miniland, where there are 1:20 scale models of iconic Asian structures like India’s Taj Mahal, China’s Forbidden City, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and, of course, Malaysia’s Petronas Twin Towers (which is actually a 1:50 model).
Guess what? Bentivoglio built all of that, using the same Lego bricks you and I have at home. Basically, this guy gets paid to play around with toy bricks all day.
Born in the small town of Ulm in Germany, Bentivoglio was himself a fan of Lego.
“Whenever I got Christmas presents, I would shake the box. And if I could hear the Lego bricks clinking inside, I would be overjoyed,” he said.
“I did dream of being a Lego builder, but like so many people, I grew up and got a regular job.” That job was as a telecommunications technician.
One day, while he was chilling out at home after another ordinary day at work, he saw a TV advertisement about a Lego builder job.
Without any experience even remotely relevant to building Lego models, Bentivoglio applied for the three part interview anyway.
The first was your regular job interview, getting to know you and stuff. The second was a bit more complicated – he had to build a cat out of Lego in 45 minutes. The last part was even worse – he had an hour to build a sphere, at least ten centimeters in diameter.
“It wasn’t exactly a perfect sphere, but it was good enough to beat all the others,” he said with a wry smile. He had beaten over 300 applicants to the job.
Bentivoglio posing with his world class invention which is none other than our beautiful Kuala Lumpur City built with legos
Today, Bentivoglio holds several Lego world records. His Twin Towers model is the tallest Lego model in the world. The KLIA model is the largest (complete with a fleet of Lego airplanes), and the cruise ship at the Port Tanjung Pelepas model is the biggest Lego ship ever.
The level of detail that goes into his work is simply astounding. His model of the iconic Kuala Lumpur railway station, for instance, has the same intricate spires on the roof, all made from Lego.
He starts work every day at 8am, spending two hours inspecting and repairing his work.
“What saddens me most is seeing my models damaged. We put a lot of effort and dedication into them,” he said.
“Also, a lot of people like to take ‘souvenirs’ with them. They don’t realise that even a small car takes us hours to build. It’s not something that comes out of a box.”
From an ordinary technician in a small town in Germany to a record-breaking Lego builder in Malaysia, Bentivoglio has sure come a long way.
His secret to success, however, is pretty simple: “Always keep a small part of yourself as a kid. You have to see the world as a child.”
Bread story
James Lim, grandson of the founder of the Hiap Joo bakery, and the wood-fire oven his family has been using since 1911.
THERE really aren’t too many streets in Malaysia where you can have some trendy, hipster-ish fro-yo joints, juice bars, and container cafes (more on that below), right next to a century-old bakery that still runs on a wood-fire oven.
The Hiap Joo Bakery and Biscuit Factory is owned by Lim Meng Chin, 60, who now runs the business together with his son James, 33.
Ever since Lim’s father started the business in 1911, the family has used the same wood-fire oven to bake their cakes, breads and biscuits, which have become something of a hidden treasure among Johoreans.
“People like our buns because of the aroma you get from baking them in a wood-fire oven,” said Lim.
To say people like them is an understatement. The family fires up the oven at around 2am, allowing it to heat up for about five hours, and they start selling at noon. By 3pm, they’re usually sold out.
James is currently in charge of handling the oven, which sees him standing in front of the 280 degree Celsius heat for hours at a time.
For James, the development of trendier food businesses around the heritage trail has been a good thing for the generations-old institutions in the area like his.
“When I was little, all the customers were from the older generation.” James said. “Now, we get a lot of younger people coming in, so everyone has benefited.”
While James speaks passionately about the family craft, calling work at the bakery his “hobby”, he accepts that his children might not feel the same.
“I hope this tradition can be kept alive for many generations, but I won’t blame my children if they don’t want to continue it. I understand if they want to work towards an easier life.”
The organisers
The facilitators of BraTs Johor Baru 2013 were r.aGE journalists Ian yee, Sharmila Nair and Melly Ling; “senior” BraTs Chia Chien Teng, Sarenraj Rajendran and Samuel Francis lee; and The Star photojournalist Sam Tham.
All the articles, pictures and videos were produced by the BRATs Johor Baru 201 participants. They are:
1. Julien Chen
2. Muhammad irsyad
yahi
3. Kimmy Khoo
4. Milaine Thia
5. aina Firzana
6. Ong Ewe Jin
7. Mark lee
8. deborah raj
9. amber Kiew
10. Victoria lim
11. deepa Gavrie
12. lily alyssa
13. Jesryna patel
14. Jonathan dason
15. lam Ka-Jhun
16. lye Ming Han
17. Klarine
18. aina Syahmi
19. Mistika idris
20. Carey Khoo
21. Nazierah Mat amin
22. ryan Foong
23. Nadia afiqah
24. ainggararuban
Ganeshan
25. alya Mohamed
rosli
26. rachel Chua
27. Chiang Kah yee
28. Tan Fong Jian
29. darsyanah
Nadarajan
30. Ng Kuan yew
31. roshinee
Mookaiah
32. phylicia Ng
33. Shemasaunthari
ramanaidoo
34. Chaundaryaa
Chandran
35. rachel Faun
36. Foo Mei Jane
37. Joyce lim
38. lai Chee yuen
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