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A very warm welcome to you, and many thanks for taking the time to read our newsletter. I presume you would like to know a little more about us and why we do what we do.

We are the Young Journalists’ Club of Cempaka Schools Damansara, a non-profit organization founded some years ago that has grown to become an integral portion of Cempakan life. The Young Journalists’ Club, as its name suggests, is a society dedicated to being a nurturing ground to develop journalism skills among our members and students. Journalism is not only done through the wonders of creative writing; a story can be conveyed through numerous means, including design, photography and comic art. Thus, this organization is primarily divided into four sections; namely, the Editorial Team, the Design and Layout Team, the Photography Team, and the Comic Illustration Team.

What you are currently reading is the Lumen Studet, our online newsletter. The Lumen Studet was once a print publication; the online version is the brainchild of Nicholas Quah Wenpin (Class of 2006). ‘Lumen Studet’, roughly translated, means ‘light of the student’ in Latin (and no, to the many, many people who have asked; it is not spelt ‘Lumen Student’). We operate on a potent combination of caffeine, e-mail and (occasionally unmet) deadlines, and we endeavor to work as much like a real news outlet as possible. Therefore, while we understand that many of our members are very young, we are quite discerning about the quality of the work published. Our purpose is, as far as possible, to enable our students and the public alike to enjoy high-quality journalism produced by young Malaysians.

In short, we aim to please. Any questions, comments or suggestions can be directed to chengtsiaolin09@cempaka.edu.my. Sit back, relax, and enjoy what we have to offer. We’re all yours.
 
Articulating Views and Experiences

The modern world today promotes independent thinking, which comes hand-in-hand with the freedom of speech. The Editorial Department of the Young Journalists’ Club provides exposure to the world of journalism for young souls who are hungry for their opinions to be heard, thus discovering with early interest their love for creative writing. School life is never dull with the medley of typicality infused with various passions, dreams and aspirations. Accordingly with the columns peppered in the Lumen Studet – be it school events, reviews, fiction, human interest stories, or world news – the array of articles published conveniently keep students updated with the world at large. The Editorial Department, although still fostering a strong command in language skills, is not predominantly just an English class, as so it is popularly perceived. More importantly, however, is the experience garnered by the editors and writers alike who work tirelessly to produce good pieces of writing for all to enjoy, regardless of occasionally defaulting deadlines.
Weaving Story and Art
Very much like the Editorial Department, the Design and Layout team of the Young Journalists’ Club similarly functions on the central focus of imparting a message and telling a story. With colour, typefaces, photographs, graphics, illustrations and a whole surplus of anything the brain can conceive at our disposal – we thrive on the sheer satisfaction of adding depth and beauty to what already is a magnificent story. The Design and Layout Department of the Young Journalists’ Club is, at its essence, base camp to create young brilliant, creative and unique individuals who can see and inspire beauty in almost anything.
With industry-standard leading applications such as Adobe Photoshop® and Illustrator®, everything is literally (not really) a finger-click away. However, words seem to be of no value to any true “designer,” and very much so, we let our work speak for itself. Apart from our own humble newsletter, the Design Department has had the opportunity to ‘work its magic’ on a vast number of projects, the more prominent of which recently include facelifting the Damansara Campus home page, as well as designing the 2008 Box Office Production.
 
 
Painting with Light
As the age-old saying goes, a picture speaks a thousand words. To no dispute, this is verily true, and hence is the preeminent focus of the Photography Department of the Young Journalists’ Club. Despite what one may think, photography is not just about clicking a button, although admittedly, we may make it seem as simple as just that, at times. More so, photography is about composition; lighting; drama – and sometimes a lot of luck – to capture a beautiful moment and freeze it for eternity.
Where words may fail, we believe photographs can convey warmth, or tension, or despair, or even joy. As a photographer, one is exposed to a new creative freedom behind lenses; learning about aperture settings and shutter speeds and everything that would seem greek to anyone else. Ultimately, students under the Photography Department are trained to look at life from a different perspective.
 
 
Speaking in Bubbles
You would be lying if you say you don’t read the comics in the newspaper (most of you, anyway). Realising this huge untapped audience, the Comic Illustrators of the Young Journalists’ Club distinctly operate to deliver humorous, thrilling, and sometimes, though not always, provocative stories through characters and windows and most identifiably, speech boxes. More than just lines and colours, a comic is a light-hearted and different tool. Comic Illustrators learn to draw and colour, but more importantly, they learn how to craft a brilliant story, and make us giggle in the process.