Chapter 46-- Life transformers

Watching the final episode of the channel 8 variety show “Life transformers” really bring a tear or two to my eyes. The determination and resilience shown by some of the “sufferers” in the show really demonstrated what is meant by extreme perseverance and “never give up” attitude. Even I, who normally prides myself as quite a resilient guy doubt if I could have the strength and determination to survive and carry on in such adverse conditions. Although I pity and sympathize with some of the mentally or physically disabled people in the show, it is really the caretakers of each of these “socially handicapped” families that really touched my heart and had tears welling up in my eyes. Such people displayed such an indomitable spirits that I wonder if there is any obstacles in life that they couldn’t face in their future simply because they have already survived and gone through some of the worst case scenarios that most of us could even have ever imagined. I truly believe that these people will go on become some of the greatest achievers in life. Kids and adolescents who have to look after their chronically ill parents and/or siblings are especially a tremendous source of inspiration to me because an 8 year old kid may have experience some of the things that an 80 years old elderly may never have the chance to go through. The only thing that I feel sad and sorry for these children is that they do not and most properly will not have a complete and beautiful childhood unlike most of us and it is really a shame since we could only have one child hood which is totally irreversible. In fact, one of the 10 year old girl in the programme has never in her short lifetime use any thing that is brand new because her family was so poor(she still has to take care of her sick immobilized mother) that everything that she used are hand- me –down. The precious darling look on her face when the production team and volunteers gave her a brand new set of bedding cover was…simply just indescribable…With Christmas around the corner, it does makes me wonder if we have ever stop and think about the numerous “useless” Christmas gift that we have bought and received to date only to throw some of them away(w/o even opening at times) when there are people out there who may have never received a Christmas gift before? I will be attending a Christmas cum JC councilors gathering in a few weeks time and I have been thinking these few years whether the routine gift exchange is becoming meaningless and obsolete. Because we could not predict who would receive our gift from the random “lucky draw”, most of us usually gotten a safe “general” present like chocolate. However, come to think of it, I bet that that most of us did not even spare some time seriously thinking about what else to buy beside the same old boring chocolate and some useless decorating items and therefore is it still necessary to carry on this traditional routine just for the sake of it? I meant, I rather buy chocolates for the poor kids in the show who would definitely appreciate it tons more than my fellow peers who may simply throw it away upon reaching their homes. Is it what Christmas spirits really advocate? I certainly do not hink so. Nevertheless, I do respect my peers and if they feel that it is appropriate to carry on with this routine, then by all means go ahead…
Anyway, back to the topic, beside the brave and courageous pillars of these families who have demonstrated such selfless acts, the other group of people who deserves credit and applause must be the volunteers who are willing to spend time and efforts cleaning the houses of affected families(mind you, some of the homes are really dirty and pest-infested) and volunteering to tutor some of the kids. It is extremely heart –warming and encouraging to know that by trying to bring benefits to someone else, they themselves have also benefited tremendously from this project as well by learning and realizing how fortunate they actually are(I pity those pathetic souls out there who thought about killing themselves after meeting minor set backs in their lives or frequently complaining about how unfair this world is) and how and why they really should treasure the people and things around them instead of taking them for granted. Although I may have repeated such themes in my previous entries, I feel that only after one have really engaged in such meaningful activities will one really seriously acknowledge such feelings and thoughts. I admire the courage, patient and most importantly of all, the initiatives of these volunteers and these group of people has no doubt always provided an inspiration to me to perform good deeds of kindness. It is a shame to me at the same time also that even though I have always said that I wanted to volunteer, I have never materialize this ambition act due to lack of time bah bah bah. Nonetheless, I will definitely offer my services to people in need during my life time because volunteering is one of the 100 things that I strongly believe that one should do before he or she dies. I have always envy people that extend their kindness overseas to build homes and schools for the less privileged people out there and I definitely wanted to follow in their foot steps at some points of my life because I believe that the experience gained from such humanitarian trips are one of the 100 things that money certainly cannot buy. Perhaps it is also one of the pushing factor for me to want to desire to become a medical doctor in future as it is my dream to one day offer medical services to those who cannot afford it in the less developed countries. To achieve this goal however, I know that I must work hard but if even people who are in even more adverse environment or situation are able to hang on, I do not see why I cannot do so. I may not have the level of determination, perseverance and courage of these people but at least I have the dream, the ambition and the inspiration for my goals…

P/S: I think that this show has an excellent chance of grabbing a star award next year!

Regards,
Yongster

Live the life you want! Still many more good years head...