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Friday, November 28, 2008
aT tHe dAwN Of rEaLisAtiOn
12:31 PM Okay so all of us are safely back in Singapore... Now allow me to share some of the things that i have learnt from this trip along with my personal feelings. First and foremost, i have learnt how to adapt to a different living environment. for example in the rural area of china, the living conditions are not as favourable as that in Singapore. this cannot be helped as Singapore is much much more modernised compared to that of china. the extent of cleanliness in the rural area is expected with the toilet playing a huge role in my concern of hygiene. the toilet is basically a horizontal hole with two raised steps by its side for people to step on. Ouh, and the faeces as well as urine will be left there for a long period of time until the supposedly assigned people come to clear them from the hole. at first i do not want to defecate there but when nature calls, i have to submit to it. after the experience with toilet, i very much appreciate the public toilets that are available in Singapore( at least there's the flushing system). it is winter in china throughout the period of our trip, thus it is COLD but as the days passed i manage to bear with the cold. next my mindset about being a better off than the people in the village was crushed slowly as i experience the life there. as we taught the students there and mingle with children and adults alike, i was humbled by the very acceptance of their lives. they live in a very much harsher living environment but they can wake up and smile as well as do their daily chores like how we do it. i then realise as it is evident from my own eyes that the level of wealth is not equivalent to the level of happiness. you can not be well off, but you can be very contented. it is how you perceive your life to be like now and in the future. there are more to life than what just meet the eyes. we can boast that we are richer than them but richer only in terms of money. i m very sure that morally they are very much richer than us. you may question me for stating this. i personally think that the students there show us (not even qualified teachers) more respect and appreciation than what Singapore students would. the sincere love they gave us is overwhelming and it is clearly shown in every single drop of the tears that they shed when we said our goodbyes. not forgetting the warm hospitality that was shown by the host of the house we live in. these sweet memories will not be forgotten by me. cooking...although this is not a new experience for me but cooking with limited ingredients is a challenge even to me. although it was difficult at first to be cooking in a team of 9 people, my team somehow through determination and proper planning manage to cook some delicious dishes. for example my personal favourite is the dumpling noodle. it is one of the big achievements of my group since some members admitted that they do not know how to cook well and i think we did an awesome job. for the other group i like ni'mat's belacan as it is one of the few time that i tasted spice in the entire period of the trip. Being someone who love spicy food, i really appreciate ni'mat's team effort to make the belacan. i also have to admit that cooking with my friends are full of fun and laughter but at the same time we manage to complete our dishes on time, how about that. its an experience that will seldom come and its something that i think everyone will keep in their mind. being the leader of a sub-group(Modulus) of the team, has developed my leadership skills further. this is so as i have to be responsible for the punctuality and participation of the group members in every programmes that have been planned. furthermore as we are in foreign land, the safety of my group members has to be ensured. thus through this trip i have learnt on how to be more responsible, vigilant, serious and authoritative. i may sometimes seem to be to playful and not serious when i need to, and this may lead to work not being completed on time. i have learnt to be more patient and understanding of people around me. this is because sometimes some team members may give comments which may hurt other people feelings. they may do this unintentionally or purposely but for me i rather it just pass by than holding grudges in my heart as i am not the kind of person. helping and supporting one another is also something that i have observed throughout the trip. i dare say that TEAMWORK and CARE/CONCERN are the two biggest attributes and strength of team L.E.G.O. =D. for instance, during the hiking session, everyone was helping one another along with shouting words of encouragement. this clearly shows that we are bonded as a team. Another example was when some of the team members fall sick, almost everyone else will be concern about his/her health. my personal experience was when i had diarrhoea there. everyone asked whether i was already healthy everyday since i fall sick. the cooking team even asked me whether i have any special dish which i want that may ease my sickness. i was so touched by their care and concern. LOVE YOU ALL!! moving on, the scenery there in china was one of the most breathtaking ones that i have encountered so far in my life. as i am a outdoor and nature oriented person, i very much appreciate the hills, rivers, plantations and the sky. seeing animals up close is a good experience which we will not get that often in Singapore. i enjoy the whole experience of getting close to nature, in the rural areas of china. side-tracking a little bit, i think that we Singaporean are not exposed to nature much, since we all live in the city. this make it hard for us to appreciate what the world has to offer to mankind, and pushing it further, it would be more difficult for us to realise the importance of not wasting the resources we have now as it is part of nature we are using actually. this is just a point that come to my mind while typing all this down and i feel that i should share it will all of you. :) as i am a Malay( who have close to zero knowledge on mandarin) i learnt to communicate through the language barrier via sign languages and even some phrases that i picked up throughout the trip. criticism or jokes from team members or teachers alike about my conversational mandarin abilities are just pushed to the back of my mind because i know that it is part of my weakness which i have to overcome sooner or later. it is my fault too for not preparing much before the trip. however bad it is, i still have my group members who very willingly translate anything that i asked them to. the team members are also sensitive towards religious differences between one another. i think that this is a sign of maturity from everyone and it is something that i think that the trip has honed us each individually. i have also learnt some of the Chinese culture such as serving tea for meals and visitors as well as the way to handle the dead ( along with the use of firecrackers). there is so much to learn but so little time. however there are similarities between them and us which are the problems faced either individually or as a family. home visit plays a huge role in my path to understanding the people in china further such that we go into their lives a little more deeper by getting in touch with the family members and asking questions about their lives. i have to admit that through this trip everyone sees each other grow into being a more matured person character wise as well as we get to know each other more, their history as well as current backgrounds. this trip will definitely be one of the milestone in my JC life as i think it bring quite a big impact in my life. there are so many things that i have learnt and maybe not all are noted down in this blog post. however so, some things in life which we have learnt may go unnoticed or forgotten but in a long run it will be shown through our actions and words. if there are other opportunities like this in the future, i will definitely not miss it and will make the most of it. i kindda miss the life there with my friends and especially that of the nature and starry night. thank you to all of those who have make this trip a successful one especially to the three teachers and L.E.G.O team members. tears shed, smiles carved lessons learnt, experience earned memories sealed in fluttering hearts friendships forged never be gone <3 -taufiq L.E.G.O Temasek Overseas Outreach Programme 2008 Sincerely, Taufiq Jaafar |
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