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-Entries'-

Tuesday, March 18, 2008*

weeell. this thursday is community day. a day to commerate 185 years of RI-ness, a day to give back to the community. for 3 measely hours. honestly, even though i've heard all the "even though they may forget what we have done for them, we will at least give them that 3 hours of happinness.", i really think that not much impact will come from this much anticipated day of service. i mean, yes its all good and cool, mobilizing an entire school to go out and serve the community, but only for 3 hours? its just a token act.

Moreover, i have been quite disappointed in BB lately. i have to say for one, that i myself am at fault too. firstly, the sec 4 batch.. well. i wouldn't call it a batch. every commitee is working towards their own goals, not communicating, unsure of what the others are doing. most of us are like, oh i've done my part le don't bug me. and some of us aren't even fulfilling our duties. take this comm day for example. the organization was so screwed, and now it seems only guodong, and linus, who had to step in, are like saikanging everything. CIP ppl leh??? for this reason i have decided to join HML on comm day.. even though the number of participating members are small, and our impact not as large, i feel that we have done a better job at organization, and that the mural we are painting will be a much more lasting impact than the three hours that BB will give to the homes. also, i feel i can do more with HML, and that HML needs me more than BB does.
back to the point on our batch not being a batch, i also realise that our batch is split mainly into two large groups, the enthu, the not so enthu. of course there are middle men like me. but what is disappointing is that no one seems to be making an effort to unite the batch. even during outings and stuff, (e.g. that lunch before march camp), one table with all the enthu ppl, one for the "ponners". no mingling. and i was like wtf. i know i shouldn't say all this if i, myself, am not doing much to address this, but this is something i feel quite strongly about, and i have tried to talk to some people, but nothing seems to have been done.

Another thing about BB i feel rather pissed about, is the boys' attitudes towards service. although i do see a handful of boys who are genuinely interested in
helping others, i realise that a large portion of them are not taking it seriously. take yesterday
for example. when we were supposed to fill in the mahjong paper with our goals, how service is
related to BB and stuff. yes we may seem to have the model answers, but do the boys really feel
that way? i notice that most of them are just throwing in what they deem "politically correct" to get it over and done with. is this the kind of attitude we really want to see when they go out to do CIP? i mean stuff like "we must bring ourselves down to their level" really shows how they view these people, as inferior, lower than us. i must disagree with Ms Tang though. they are not different. they are special, but no less than any one of us. i think from their POV, they would rather us see them as equals. if you were them, would you not feel the same way? i once read a story, about a basketball team who were playing a match against a team from a handicapped school. the opposing team consisted of players whom were all wheelchair-bound. in order not to "bully" them, the coach told the team to play leniently, which they did. but then the opposing team suddenly became very hostile in their gameplay, often mocking the boys, calling them sissies and such. the boys, unable to take it, decided to teach them a lesson, and played hard, disobeying their coach. in the end, the boys beat the opposing team, and at the prize giving ceremony, the captain of the opposing team said this to the boys: thanks for that great game. you were the first team we played
who gave us their best, who treated us as equals, and not like some little kids who can't handle the
game.
i just hope that this experience will change the boys, as well as their mindset towards service. (but i won't be there to see if it
happens. bah D:<)

-monochromatic-6:08 AM