My Reflections - Alexander
Sometimes I think to myself, am I doing enough for the community? Recently, I was pondering upon this question, and the answer is clearly a “NO”. What does it mean to “do community service”? What does it mean to “give back to the community”? Many people have different viewpoints on this. There is no definite answer, but to me, what matters most is the intention behind doing “community service”, in other words, are we doing community service for the right reason? I feel that learning only comes after this stage.
Living in Singapore, I would say most of us are more fortunate (economically) as compared to the population in Cambodia, where we are heading to. Because of this, some of us (eg. me), are more pampered and spoilt (not that being in a more fortunate country is bad). In short, we take things for granted.
As I was packing my bag for the trip, I realized I was taking very long, in fact, it was longer than usual. I had so many things to pack, so many things to choose to bring. I was thinking whether I should bring a backpack or a luggage. What I am saying is, I was “spoilt for CHOICE”. Thinking about the Cambodian kids, do they generally have this service/privilege called “CHOICE”?
Ever since I came into the polytechnic, I told myself that I would try my best not to be such an introvert, and just be “active”, and participate in whatever activities I can participate in. Ever since, I have joined many things, ranging from teambuilding camps, to leadership roles in the school’s orientation programme for freshmen, roles in my cca, even roles outside school. What have I learnt from these? I have learnt more about Leadership. Is Leadership important? Yes, leadership IS important. However, what good is leadership if you can’t even CARE for people? What good is leadership if you only think about yourself?
On another note, by working as a team, there is bound to be arguments, conflicts, silent wars, negative remarks about/to each other. I guess having these “vitamins” makes the team “healthier”, in the sense that we will be able to learn from each other’s mistakes, and then grow as a leader/follower from there. However, having an over dosage of these “vitamins” will not be too good for us. I guess we should learn to accept each other and forgive all past grievances. By forgiving, I do not mean forgetting, as you might have heard from some people saying “forgive and forget”. How can one forget, unless he is brainwashed? However, by forgiving, I mean to put away all anger, malice, slander, hate, and not bring it up again such that it may cause more hurt. Which is easier? To continue hating, leading to gossips, leading to more division among the group, or just simply forgiving? On the other hand, does asking for forgiveness mean you “lose face”? I do not think so. We should also understand that as humans, we are all different; we have different styles of working, different personalities, etc…
I believe that we are still learning, at least, I am still learning, because I still have a lot to learn, whether it is about leadership, or about caring, or about forgiving, being more understanding, or about Cambodian kids, their culture, their lifestyle.
For this trip, let’s all have fun together while learning; let’s exchange our laughter with them. I believe that this trip will change my view on many things by the time I reach back home. I am glad that I have the chance to go for this service learning trip to Cambodia.
By,
Alexander Tang
Living in Singapore, I would say most of us are more fortunate (economically) as compared to the population in Cambodia, where we are heading to. Because of this, some of us (eg. me), are more pampered and spoilt (not that being in a more fortunate country is bad). In short, we take things for granted.
As I was packing my bag for the trip, I realized I was taking very long, in fact, it was longer than usual. I had so many things to pack, so many things to choose to bring. I was thinking whether I should bring a backpack or a luggage. What I am saying is, I was “spoilt for CHOICE”. Thinking about the Cambodian kids, do they generally have this service/privilege called “CHOICE”?
Ever since I came into the polytechnic, I told myself that I would try my best not to be such an introvert, and just be “active”, and participate in whatever activities I can participate in. Ever since, I have joined many things, ranging from teambuilding camps, to leadership roles in the school’s orientation programme for freshmen, roles in my cca, even roles outside school. What have I learnt from these? I have learnt more about Leadership. Is Leadership important? Yes, leadership IS important. However, what good is leadership if you can’t even CARE for people? What good is leadership if you only think about yourself?
On another note, by working as a team, there is bound to be arguments, conflicts, silent wars, negative remarks about/to each other. I guess having these “vitamins” makes the team “healthier”, in the sense that we will be able to learn from each other’s mistakes, and then grow as a leader/follower from there. However, having an over dosage of these “vitamins” will not be too good for us. I guess we should learn to accept each other and forgive all past grievances. By forgiving, I do not mean forgetting, as you might have heard from some people saying “forgive and forget”. How can one forget, unless he is brainwashed? However, by forgiving, I mean to put away all anger, malice, slander, hate, and not bring it up again such that it may cause more hurt. Which is easier? To continue hating, leading to gossips, leading to more division among the group, or just simply forgiving? On the other hand, does asking for forgiveness mean you “lose face”? I do not think so. We should also understand that as humans, we are all different; we have different styles of working, different personalities, etc…
I believe that we are still learning, at least, I am still learning, because I still have a lot to learn, whether it is about leadership, or about caring, or about forgiving, being more understanding, or about Cambodian kids, their culture, their lifestyle.
For this trip, let’s all have fun together while learning; let’s exchange our laughter with them. I believe that this trip will change my view on many things by the time I reach back home. I am glad that I have the chance to go for this service learning trip to Cambodia.
By,
Alexander Tang
posted by - xander - at 12:59 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home