Smile

Last Sunday, I decided to volunteer at Shelter Home in PJ to bring about some Christmas spirit to the kids at the welfare organization. Shelter Home was established in 1981 to help out kids who were abused, neglected or at-risk children.There were five boys that I really got close to and oh god how mischievous they were towards everyone including myself at first. They were around the age of somewhere between 8 to 12 years old.

One of the boys asked me to help him comb his hair  and it was a little nerve-wrecking because the head of department was just beside me so as calmly as I can, I styled his hair. When lunch came in the form of pizza and garlic breads, Tom quickly pulled me to the dining table and asked me to sit beside him. Then, there were squabbles between the boys as to where I would sit. I was silent then because I was in the state of nostalgia for a few seconds, recalling how I was exactly like one of them in terms of how they reacted, how they tried to convince me etc.It is like one of those rarest days whereby someone elderly would come by and immediately becomes the coolest person you probably know and hopefully you will be him/her someday. And once he/she is by your side, that person needs to teach you, just you about everything you need to be as James Dean as possible.

I also taught the five boys a secret handshake my friends and I used to greet each other during high school, which we still practice till today. It was heart-warming just watching them teach their friends at that time. When I was leaving, Jun hugged me a few times and asked me when I was coming back. I told him, ‘Very soon, Jun’ and he responded swiftly ‘How soon?’. Don’t know how to respond so I just played with his hair gently and slowly thought of what I was going to say. I mentioned ‘You gotta be good okay, you’re a very nice person and soon enough, I’ll come by so you have to remember this handshake’.

Their smiles shared with me on that day made me realise how happy I was when I was with the boys. Before I slept that night, I tried to reflect on whether I did a good thing for them and hopefully I did the best for them because I believe that karma takes us somewhere really far in life. For myself to get so close to them on that day without expecting anything in return made perfect sense why people should come here more often. As damaged as they already were from building relationships and trust, people just come and go. 

I really hope the impact the volunteers made on that day had settled down into the kids' head and heart. I want them to know that there are good people still around willing to lend a helping a hand. I want them to know that the world is not as cruel as they might imagine. 

(The names of the boys are made up due to particular reasons.)