I came back not too long ago from the National Day Parade Preview. This is my last involvement for this event as I will be away on the eve of National Day to The Netherlands for my personal retreat.
I must confess I will be missing it as I always enjoyed serving the nation in this kind of celebration. I like the interaction with the crowd and also to see the area of my responsibility being accomplished. Glory to God though! :)
I got to know 6 new persons today - two from Canada; one from Germany; one from India; and the other from the United Kingdom. They are all exchange students. I can only remember three of their names though - Johan from Germany, Shanti from India and Richard from the U.K.. The two from Canada I could not recall as they were rushing off for dinner and I did not want to hold them up.
I guess getting to know total strangers kind of take away the mundane of just doing my duty. When I had nothing much to handle, I would just talk to them. :)
The next thing I will be sharing is not meant to sound mean in any way but it was quite funny. Before the firing of the 21-gun salute, I would usually warn parents of young kids to be careful that their children do not get startled. They would thank me for it and then they carried on with their conversations or went on eating the dinner they packed along.
Then came the first BOOM and suddenly there was this symphony of children crying in unison. Hee. :) Then you would see their parents apologising to their kids. :) It is funny but at the same it is not.
Anyway, I had a conversation with an elderly lady who is wheel-chair bound. She is the sixth person I spoke to. Her daughter brought her to the Marina Bay to view the fireworks but what hit my heart-string was that they were there since 1.00pm when the sun was still scorchingly hot. They feared that if they had gone late, they would not get the best spot but they forgot that as the crowd grew larger, the aunty's view would be blocked.
I stooped to the height of the elderly lady and after that I went to those standing in front of her, asking them whether it was okay that they moved slightly to the left or right so that she could have the best view. Everyone cooperated and I was happy for their thoughtfulness.
When everything was over, I asked her whether she enjoyed the fireworks display and what she said hit me - "Kum xia ah, Ah Di. Wa erm jai meh ni eh sai kua kek ji pai bo." In translation, she meant, "Thank you, young man. I do not know whether next year I will have the chance to see this again." I told her she will and she smiled. I sure hope so.
Well, I shall end here. I have some laundry to hang and after that I will go and sleep.
Good night!
I must confess I will be missing it as I always enjoyed serving the nation in this kind of celebration. I like the interaction with the crowd and also to see the area of my responsibility being accomplished. Glory to God though! :)
I got to know 6 new persons today - two from Canada; one from Germany; one from India; and the other from the United Kingdom. They are all exchange students. I can only remember three of their names though - Johan from Germany, Shanti from India and Richard from the U.K.. The two from Canada I could not recall as they were rushing off for dinner and I did not want to hold them up.
I guess getting to know total strangers kind of take away the mundane of just doing my duty. When I had nothing much to handle, I would just talk to them. :)
The next thing I will be sharing is not meant to sound mean in any way but it was quite funny. Before the firing of the 21-gun salute, I would usually warn parents of young kids to be careful that their children do not get startled. They would thank me for it and then they carried on with their conversations or went on eating the dinner they packed along.
Then came the first BOOM and suddenly there was this symphony of children crying in unison. Hee. :) Then you would see their parents apologising to their kids. :) It is funny but at the same it is not.
Anyway, I had a conversation with an elderly lady who is wheel-chair bound. She is the sixth person I spoke to. Her daughter brought her to the Marina Bay to view the fireworks but what hit my heart-string was that they were there since 1.00pm when the sun was still scorchingly hot. They feared that if they had gone late, they would not get the best spot but they forgot that as the crowd grew larger, the aunty's view would be blocked.
I stooped to the height of the elderly lady and after that I went to those standing in front of her, asking them whether it was okay that they moved slightly to the left or right so that she could have the best view. Everyone cooperated and I was happy for their thoughtfulness.
When everything was over, I asked her whether she enjoyed the fireworks display and what she said hit me - "Kum xia ah, Ah Di. Wa erm jai meh ni eh sai kua kek ji pai bo." In translation, she meant, "Thank you, young man. I do not know whether next year I will have the chance to see this again." I told her she will and she smiled. I sure hope so.
Well, I shall end here. I have some laundry to hang and after that I will go and sleep.
Good night!
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