Let's Rejoice

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Appreciative Community

Bonfire Night

The show is on!

I'll show you how.

I performed a simple magic show for the locals at the closing ceremony. I told them, “I do this for my nieces and nephews during family gatherings. Today you are all my nieces and nephews.”

I could hear grasps from the audience when the translator finished his translation. They were so happy just to hear that we are somehow related and connected.

I continued, “My nieces and nephews usually sit around me when I perform the tricks. But today you are sitting very far from me. This is going to be difficult but I will do my best.”

They cheered loudly at my effort never mind the outcome. This is the general feeling we get when we interact with the community be it overseas or local. This tells me that we are doing the right thing.

Friday, May 16, 2014

One Of My Proudest Moments as a YEP Leader

Painting the staff room

Mural I

Mural II

We do not speak the Khmer language and all our communications with the local are through translators. Based on my understanding, our painting job required us to clean, paint and then draw the murals for 1 staff room and 2 classrooms. The room size is quite standard except that the ceiling is very high, about the height of 2 HDB flats. We started cleaning the staff room which is packed full of stuff. It took a lot of time and effort just to move the things to create space for painting. The PSI in the room probably shot through the sky when we were cleaning the room. I am very grateful that the students persevered the hardship. It took us almost one whole day just to get the staff room ready for painting.
Unlike other YEP that I have been to, our Cambodian host made sure that there were sufficient tools to keep us purposefully occupied. No ‘eye power’ here. It took us just one morning to complete painting the room white. After lunch, we started drawing the mural. In the late afternoon, the school principal dropped by and told us that it is a staff room and there is no need for a mural. My jaw dropped …
I could see the pain and frustration on the students’ face when they came to know about it. I was very glad that they did not kick up a big fuss. They just pressed on. We re-painted the staff room white and proceed to work on a classroom which is much more straightforward in terms of the furniture layout. The local children helped by moving the furniture outside the classroom. We were also getting better at our job; our painting skill improves and we know where the things are.
However, we had yet another unpleasant surprise the next morning. After seeing our yet-to-be complete mural, the principal told us that she had wanted something different. She showed us another classroom with a mural done by another group. That mural illustrates the concepts of regular shapes of square and rectangle. This time round, we had already done quite a fair bit of the mural. I just could not bear the idea of erasing it. This is bad for the team morale. To appease her, we offered to modify our concept by adding regular shapes to our mural. She relented after we showed her our modified draft.
Towards that late afternoon, the principal came by again. As she looked at the mural, she kept smiling and talking excitedly to some local children who happened to be there, I could see that she was very pleased with the mural. The next day, she asked, through the interpreter, that if we could draw a similar mural for her staff room! I have no qualm about it but I needed my team to agree as well. I could not do it alone. Guess what? They also agreed heartily. This got to be one of my proudest moments as a YEP leader.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Pumpkin Plant

1. Male Flower

2. Female Flower

3. Baby Pumpkin

Pumpkin is the second fastest growing plant I have ever planted. It grows by a few centimetres every other day. The champion is the Gar plant from Vietnam. I made the mistake of putting them on the same pot and they end up growing all over each other. Pumpkin leaves are relatively large: bigger than my palm.

You will find a flower bulb for every leave on a mature plant. Take a closer look at picture 1 if you have doubt about I said. Pumpkin flower blooms only for a few hours and most of them are male which means they will not fruit but just wither away.

Pumpkin has poor root system which limits its growth potential and is prone to aphid attacks.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Sea Coconut

Sea Coconut Tree

Sea Coconut Fruit

A sea coconut fruit cut across

1. The Sea Coconut tree is also known as Sugar Palm. A Sea Coconut tree is either a male or female depending on the type of flower it produces. Both male and female will flower but only the female tree will produce the fruit. Palm sugar is derived from the flower juice. Almost all the Palm Sugar that we buy from the market contains 50% flour. When you taste the real thing, you will realize how much you have been cheated all this while.
2. Sea coconut typically has 2 seeds per fruit while coconut is 1 seed per fruit.
3. Fresh Sea Coconut tastes like jelly but softer.

Monday, March 10, 2014

YEP Cambodia 2014: Pre-trip Community Service (7 March 2014)

I am very happy with our Community Service at the Moral Home for the Aged Sick. My special thanks to Qian Ci, Alexis, Sharon and Anna for their leadership and commitment. My only regret is that we did not have a chance to participate in the physiotherapy. It is either Bingo or physiotherapy for their afternoon activity and it is Bingo on Fridays. I can see that the old folks have a good time playing the ‘kampong games’ with the students. They enjoyed the kampong games better than the Bingo game. Well done. So, I am wrong: some of the students could speak decent dialect, for this I salute their parents. This is our first test and we pass it except in the area of punctuality.
Noted that we are not allowed to put pictures of the residents in any social media. The above two pictures are allowed as they show only ourselves.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

My Idol and I

Sim Ann and my family

Thanks to my son, I now have a family photo with my idol, Sim Ann. More correctly, she is my favorite MP. So, how did she become my idol? My first encounter with Sim Ann was when she knocked on my door during the last election campaign in 2011.
After the usual courtesies, I said, “Yesterday, the opposition held a rally at Clementi Ave 6 and I was very impressed by them.”
She replied. “It is my job to convince you.”
(I liked the way she put it – somehow she touched me with her sincerity)
Before she could explain further, I interrupted, “So, when are you going to hold your rally?”
She started to rattle off the various rallies that would take place in the constituency. I played ‘hard-to-get’ and told her that I would very much prefer the same venue that the opposition used. It is nearer to my house. She gave me some possible dates and explained that they also have to book the venue.
A couple of days later, I learnt that the rally was really going to take place. I attended the rally and walked away satisfied that they would do a better job.
My second encounter with Sim Ann was at a resident dialogue at the void deck of my flat. A handsome young man from the audience gave a fury speech that itching ears love to hear and draw loud applause from the audience. I cheered him for his oratory skills and guts. But more interestingly was Sim Ann's response to his twisted argument. All eyes were on her when the microphone went back to her.
In a calm and unhurried manner, she asked the audience how many agreed with the young man. Only a few put up their hands. Then she asked how many disagreed and the vast majority of us put up our hands. I thought it was a clever move on her part, diffusing the tension without really chipping the young man.
When I related these incidents to my wife, she teased me that I am now a fan of Sim Ann and that was how she became my idol.