07/08 LB Star Blogger is..

Jie Li~! She will receive a prize from Sin En, our most dedicated chairperson, during our LAST official visit tomorrow~! Jie Li blogged about the Teochew visit on last Dec 15. It was a reflective and inspirational entry & it goes like this..

Have you ever wondered if given a chance to be reborn, will you choose to live on Earth? In fact, I’ve never think of this question until Uncle Wong raised it during our LB visit on 15th dec. Now to think of it, I may still choose to live on Earth(because of limited choices) but Uncle Wong begs to differ. He explained that the Earth is in a critical state now as a result of deforestation and that the Earth’s heath will deteriorate in future considering disastrous effects of global warming and such.

As he continued to mention the Bali Climate Talk, I thought we were having a small Geography discussion on environmental issues! I was really taken aback by his creativity and knowledge, especially since Uncle Wong and Uncle Liu, who was staying with him, were talking about their lack of knowledge due to low academic qualifications or no schooling opportunities just minutes ago. Even so, they did not give up on learning and keep up with current affairs by listening to news on radio. Uncle Liu even clarified his doubt on the usage of a Chinese term with us. Their enthusiasm and passion in learning serve as an inspiration for us to work harder and overcome obstacles when faced with difficulties. Perhaps they knew what it is like to fall behind others and the sufferings ignorance will bring, and that is why they shower us with kind advices and reminders. While the uncles learned some facts from us, I think we have even more to learn from them=P

When our group of four( Victor, Tan Ching, Serena and me) visited Uncle Yeo after that, he welcomed us warmly with his cheerful smile and treated us chrysanthemum tea as usual but this time he had a bandage on his head. Later, we learned from him that he was attacked by an old lady(a cleaner) who quarreled with him over a metal can when he was collecting the cans at the hawker centre. Apparently, his injury is quite severe as the woman hit his head with the sugarcane glass several times. To think he had to meet with this kind of mishap when collecting empty cans is tiring enough and does not pay well at all. However, Uncle Yeo faced the difficulties in his life bravely with an optimistic outlook which is very admirable.

Many a times, we feel defeated by small problems but on a bigger picture, our problems may be insignificant as compared to those who have to put on a bitter struggle to survive. So sometimes we should step back and be happy with we have.

It would be great if we can save some metal cans for Uncle Yeo since we will be drinking more drinks with Christmas coming up! haha=) my long winded entry ends here.. Happy Holiday!