trip to paddy museum :)

Well... Time and experiences are said to be the most precious things one can obtain in life. I would say that my classmates and I had gained an awesome moment together by organizing a trip to Paddy Museum on 27^th of April 2012. The enjoyment is furthered with the participation of our beloved lecturer, Madam Shirley Goh. The main aim of our trip was to strengthen our bonds with each other besides expanding our general knowledge throughout the trip.

We were informed that the Paddy Museum is situated at Alor Setar, Kedah. The bus ride from Sungai Petani to the museum took about an hour and a half.  Throughout the journey, we had an amazing time looking at the picturesque countryside – small villages surrounded by green paddy fields where young children were happily spending their time playing and running around.  Once we reached the destination, we realized that the museum was located exactly opposite to a hill called Gunung Keriang.

 When the bus stopped at the parking lot of the museum, all of us in the bus were stunned when we saw the design of the building. The architecture was unique. We quickly got off the bus and headed excitedly towards the entrance. We were eager to view the interior beauty of this museum. The entrance fee was RM3.oo per person.

The museum is divided into three levels where the first level was situated at the basement of the museum. The exhibits here consist of a variety of paddy planting tools. The second level was situated at the ground floor. This level allows the visitors to view the history of paddy plantation. There are also six galleries featuring huge mural paintings.  Subsequently, the third level was located at the first floor. Here, visitors can seat comfortably on a revolving platform while enjoying a 360 degrees panoramic view of a giant mural painting of village life, its surrounding paddy fields and even Alor Setar city in the distance.

Although the main feature of the Paddy Museum was its exhibits on paddy cultivation, yet there is one section that I found to be most attractive – that is the art gallery on the second level. There are six mural paintings, each about 25 meters long. The paintings were beautifully painted. Most of the murals were painted to represent the uniqueness of Malaysian culture as well as to show visitors the beautiful environment of the paddy fields. The choices of colours were planned creatively by the painters to give a realistic feel to the paintings, hence making visitors feel like they, too are part of that environment. For example, one of the mural paintings depicted a beautiful sunset scene at the paddy fields. And of course, the beauty of the paintings was supplemented by with our crazy poses during the photo shooting with friends.

Furthermore, there is a television corner at the second level of the Paddy Museum. Here, visitors can sit comfortably and enjoy a documentary on paddy cultivation. The documentary had raised our awareness of the hardships involved in paddy cultivation which in turn heighten our appreciation towards the paddy farmers.  Various processes of paddy cultivation such as seeding and harvesting were shown during the documentary. In addition, the documentary also helped each of us to gain insights about the history as well as development of paddy plantation since the British colonial era up to present time. Besides enjoying mural paintings and documentary on paddy cultivation, my classmates and I also had an opportunity to know more about various types of rice produces in different countries such as in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Arab countries. The three-dimensional (3-D) model of a rice grain also amazed some of us since we realised that a rice grain comprises of many subcomponents with different scientific names.

On the whole, all of us were very grateful as we were able to enjoy our trip as we had gained much insight into paddy cultivation besides spending time with our lovable lecturer, Madam Shirley. It was a good break for us, though the trip was organised two weeks before our exam. In fact, we felt refreshed and more prepared to face the exams. We snapped many pictures. Those photographs will be our best kept memories. The most important thing is that we were able to bond more closely with each other especially with our lecturer. 

love,

komalah