There is more treasure in books
than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island, so says Walt Disney. Hence, when the news of the return of the floating vessel, MV
Logos Hope, dubbed “The World’s Largest Floating Book Fair” was trumpeted, it
was met with so much excitement and enthusiasm. On
24th
July 2013, 70 students from the afternoon session, chaperoned by 9 teachers, went
on board the vessel which berthed at Sim Kheng Hong Port.
Upon our arrival, we were greeted
by crew members from different parts of the world. Smiles were written all over
their faces as they ushered us to the ship's theatre. The highlight of our visit was an hour-long “The
Greatest Treasure” presentation which took the students on an imaginary voyage.
This interactive programme includes games and a puppet show with help, hope and
knowledge as the main themes.
Not only does the vessel offer onboard events, it also
offers an array of books
which cover a range of subjects including religion, science, sports, hobbies
and family life. With children’s titles, academic texts, dictionaries, atlases
and more, it has a bit of everything for everybody. Hence, it is something
which the whole family can enjoy.
The students also had the opportunity to witness MV
Logos Hope’s Life Experience presentation, an interactive display that teaches
the facts about HIV/AIDS in an easy-to-understand way through a fictitious
story about the life choices of a young man.
The rest of the Visitor Experience deck was also
open for us to explore, such as the Welcome Area. There, we were introduced to
the vessel through a short movie and an interactive display. We went through the vessel’s timeline which provided us
with some insight of how the vessel began and how it became the world's largest
floating book fair with the goal of "bringing knowledge, help and
hope" to different countries all over the world. There is also an International
Café on board where scrumptious ice-cream, delicious cookies, refreshing drinks
and other mouth-watering snacks are sold.
For us, this trip was indeed an experience to treasure
and an extraordinary way of book-shopping to behold.