Friday, June 11, 2004
Out of orderHeike is typing this for me right now. Guess why? My computer is down. Sigh. And my dad is refusing to repair it. I shall try to update as often as possible. Sigh. This sucks.
Heike's job is really boring. I'm just typing this because she's really happy about her job. It's even more fun because I'm forcing her to type this right now. If you could only hear her whining right now. Yes, about the job: all she does is stand there wasting balloons by giving them to children who pop them anyway, while she wastes their parent's time trying to get them to join a programme that doesn't even work.
Oh yeah , apparently there's a deaf kid in that little programme that Heike's trying to promote. The programme's trying to teach children to read, so what is this kid doing there?! According to Heike, her poor mom is refusing to accept the fact that her kid is deaf. Can't people accept facts! She's been deaf for all three years of her life and her mom still refuses to accept it! It's really sad because she should be in a special school and her mom's only enrolling her in this programme because she's enjoying herself.
Anyway, I'm not as concerned for the kid than I am for the mother. It's kinda sad. Really.
Monday, June 7, 2004
Tanjung Balai, KarimunHaha, yes, now that my blog's finally done I can talk about the trip... Yeah it was one hell of an experience. We departed for the island on Wednesday, 2nd of June and got back on the 5th. I'll run through most of the events briefly, for more detail you can always go to kimberly or sam see's blog...
Anyway, my group for the trip included marissa(IHM), esti (Risen Christ), joyce(IHM), jude (SFX), carine (IHM), wilfred, james, catherine, daniel and me. So much for introductions. Anyway, the group was pretty cool and all of us more or less were comfortable with each other at the end of the trip.
I don't want to delve into too much detail but one thing that struck me during the trip was how happy the people which we were supposedly helping were. Literally, ignorance is bliss. They knew nothing of computers, big shopping malls... they had no idea about just what money can buy. Yet they were happy. As a Primary One local told me, "Kehidupan di sini senang, saya tidak mahu kehidupan lain, ini boleh sahaja". In other words, he was content and he wanted nothing else.
I was shocked. I had asked him if he wanted to be rich one day. I expected any one who lived life in a village and in a farm would at least have some sort of yearning for a life of comfort and riches. I was already ready to tell him to work hard and go to university and become rich one day. I decided not to poison his mind when he told me that.. he was content.
Ahh well... The trip gave me new insights into life, and also helped me grow spiritually. Of course, I made new friends and now I'm more resolved than ever to do something about my spiritual life. There is so much more to this life than school and a stupid certificate. General Certificate of Education. I don't need a frickin' certificate to show that the past ten years of my life had educated me even a little.
Haha, enough about all that. Meanwhile, I've got a few things to keep me occupied during the holidays. An article for the Catholic News concerning the TJ Balai trip... An essay for a Reader's Digest Competition... Workshop at SPH... among other things.
Whatever.Have fun!