National Spring Cleaning?
The past two days were spent lending a hand to the tidal wave relief effort, first with the Singapore Rotary Club and then the Sri Lankaramaya Temple. Did stuff like collecting food, clothes and medical supplies, sorting them out and packing them into boxes, then finally loading them onto vehicles to be driven/shipped to Thailand and Sri Lanka.
I don't know if it is very accurate to say that a large number of Singaporeans are generous and kind, judging from the overwhelming amount of things that poured into the collection centres while I was helping out. Of all the "kind donations" that came in, bedding and old clothes formed the majority.
The moment I began sorting out the first batch of clothing, I immediately knew that the amount of donated stuff was not a true reflection of Singaporeans' generosity and helpfulness. Amongst the hoarde of things piled up like the Swiss Alps at the collection centre, I came across:
1) Syringes which expired in
2002 (presumably from a doctor, or at least someone who has medical knowledge?!?)
2) Canned food with rusty, bloated tops (didn't dare to speculate its expiry date)
3) Already-opened, half-eaten dried food (biscuits, cereal, etc)
4) Winter clothing (obviously not in very good condition) - scarves, wool jackets, etc. (Hello? Winter in Thailand?)
5) Calculators (nope, not Casio or Sharp - instead, poor quality mini calculators with tiny rubber buttons which I presume came in the form of FREE GIFTS to whoever donated them. Yes I am sure the poor kids would need them for math class you bastard)
6) Used ladies' underwear (I don't think I need to elaborate on its condition)
7) Torn, unwashed clothing which obviously cannot be worn anymore (I am sure they have been kept in the closets for years without maintenance - ewwww)
8) Shoes without soles (.....)
X X X
The local media goes on and on about how helpful and kind we Singaporeans are, giving to our neighbours oh-so-generously when they are in need, but is this really the case? Or are we merely jumping at this rare opportunity to dump the things we no longer have a use for? If Singaporeans were truly passionate about giving, they would have
at least made sure that their things (particularly clothing and bedding) were in usable condition and washed before they gave them away. It is really sad that we volunteers have to be called in to sort and sift out the unwanted stuff, so as to save as much cargo space as possible... when we could have perhaps done something more substantial. Moreover, we had to put up with heaps of dusty items which made our hands itch and our noses sniffle. In the words of my wise old mother,
"you all are just like high class karang guni".
Despite the various low points and a last-minute-cancelled appointment (my sincerest apologies to indercove) I thought these two days were indeed well-spent, and on top of making some new friends I realised that I actually enjoyed helping. Since I was a child I have never liked doing housework, have hardly folded my clothes and can barely pack my suitcase... but I worked hard these two days and it was all so worthwhile. Words will never be able to describe the things we did together - you have to experience it yourselves :>
Cheers to ASS, Huey, Flora and Guomin, who were working with me at the temple till 1.15 am earlier. There was no cheery New Year Countdown at midnight, but it was nevertheless the most meaningful and fulfilling 31st December I'd ever had in 21 years.
Happy New Year everyone, I will review the year 2004 soon.
One fine day
You're gonna want me for your girl.
The Chiffons - One Fine Day.
