missions trip
Just reflecting on the mission to LJ, China. It was a wonderful, revealing trip. The youths who came along were a wonderful bunch and it was fun to be with them, including the youth I was sleeping (oops, i mean, rooming) with.
Sherry was the revelation of the four. I thought i had to babysit her. Hardly heard her voice during the preparation n first two days of the trip. But slowly her personality ’slipped’. We began to hear her voice more! We teased her to death. she was such an obvious target being reserved and youngest n all. I found that she was quite adventurous -Â she ate deep-fried dragonflies and chou tofu with me Joanne and Barny. ( Sharon who I thought was the type did not perform to par, ha ha). Sherry also climbed the mountain top before us, quite fleet-footed she was! She is a person of few words, but what she says she means. Thats why her words to them.really encouraged them. She said, ” You all sacrifice lor, but we in Singapore enjoy..” It really touched them. Over at school she was quite popular with the secondaries even though her contact with them was limited. Somehow her magic worked on them so that by the time she was about to leave several were in tears.She looked fragile but she is quite strong n direct. during the group discussion she said to me, “uncle Seng, listen more, talk less”. This old man knows when he is beaten, so i stepped aside n she took over the lead and was quite good.Surprise. But nothing compared with what was to come. On the last day the team combined to give some money to S. W. n team. modest amount. But she surprised us by giving her remaining yuan (almost 90% of our total amount!) to them over and above what she contributed as a team member. I hope the Leos are not wondering where the money they gave her went. But if they do find out they should be very proud of her!
Then there was the gentle n kind-hearted, studious, conscientious n nerdy Joanne. After Kinabalu, I realized that she was quite an adventurous, daring and smart cookie. she could have been quite an influential teacher or lecturer but God knows we need somebody in URA. But this round i saw the girlish, fun-loving, impish charmer that she is. Barny was almost smitten! Almost, ha ha. Soon she will be unleashed on cold n dreary Wisconsin.
Sharon was no surprise as all along i thot she would one day be a pap mop
( p.a.p. member of parliament) who will have my history graduate son as her research assistant.ha ha.Sshe showed ease and confidence as a leader ( n Sherry’s babysitter - eat more Sherry, eat  ha ha) and every now and then i thot i caught glimpses of a female Abe Sim except that i noticed she has the calm and collected look of Hwee inn and not the’ worried man’ (Abe’s famous self-description) look of Abe. Unlike Abe, she also enjoyed the leisure, like her mom. so Sharon has gotten the best of qualities from her parent’s gene pool.(Joel, is this the right term to use?)
Then finally the youth I was rooming with…Barny. He is such a gentleman, a real ladies’ man. The kind that most women wish to have as a male friend. Calm and cool and collected and cash-rich. ha ha. He took care of the teams common cash n that was such a help for us. He was caring, considerate, careful and candid. The c’s are not deliberate. He is a Christ-like young single eligible man who has no right being single when there is such a shortage of such marriageable commodities in church. ha ha . ha ha. This is the second time we are like roomates and he revealed more about his family. I really appreciated that. the next time we room together, who knows, i may unearth the mystery of how such an eligible man stayed single for so long. Somebody please tell Denise here is someone better than the wolf!! ha ha.
( the writer takes no responsibility for any error in punctuation, spelling, or factual inaccuracies. the fault lies with the education system of the 60’s n 70’s)
Add comment July 12th, 2005
