Regardless of Faith

Hi All!

This post will be sharing on the community service engagement from the wonderful volunteers of Jurongville Secondary School Boys' Brigade, Sea Angels and Faith Baptist Church (Marine Parade), held last Saturday, October 13th, 2018.

It had been a hectic week of work, so much so that I had to spend my Thursday and Friday at home on medical leave, following how overworked I was the three days before. I was partially upset because on Thursday and Friday, I was supposed to join my friends in the office for a learning journey visit organised by Youth Corp Singapore in conjunction with my division's mental resilience campaign. But it almost slipped my mind that on Saturday, I would be given another opportunity to volunteer and get myself into community service.

I recalled receiving a last-minute text in the midst of my stressful schedule from Phillip that there would be volunteers coming in to Pulau Ubin on October 13th, which was in fact a Saturday but I didn't know why it was etched in my mind as a Sunday. So only when I got on the bus to head down to Pulau Ubin to confirm which of the houses I should head down to inform the residents of their presence on that Saturday morning, that I realised that the whole event was already in motion. I guess that is just one of the many reasons why I disliked last minute work so much, hehe.

Anyway, I arrived on Pulau Ubin at 9 a.m. and met up with Phillip and his team from Sea Angels at one of the many restaurants down at Pekan Ubin, cramped in between the various bicycle rental shops. I was given a short brief by the team before the volunteers arrived at the Pulau Ubin Public Jetty some time later. It was then where I came to meet nearly fifty volunteers from Jurongville Secondary School Boys' Brigade and Faith Baptist Church (Marine Parade), all dressed seemingly in kampong attire such as white singlets and bermuda shorts etc.

Even the dog wanted to know what their mission was for the day

As briefed by one of the section leaders from the Jurongville Secondary School Boys' Brigade, they were all reminded that they were here to serve the residents; where they were highly encouraged to engage in conversation with them, and to help them in any way. I was also introduced to the team as being a young descendant of Pulau Ubin; which no matter how many times, I still felt awkward and shy being right in front of the crowd. But nonetheless, some of the students and teachers were pleasantly surprised to be in the presence of an Ubin descendant, hehe.

The group of volunteers were then split into four different teams; with one team stationed in helping to clean up the beach and bicycle rental shops, another at Ah Kok's house, another at Ah Ma Drink Stall and last but not least Pak Ahmad's house. I brought Team 2 down with me to Pak Ahmad's house and along the journey, many of the volunteers were curious as to how a kampong life was really like, with some drawing out their amazement as they seep in the natural environment that Pulau Ubin had to offer. I was genuinely happy to see that many of them enjoyed being surrounded by the cooling trees and thrilled whenever they passed by a kampong house. Normally, walking all the way down from Pekan Ubin to Pak Ahmad's house seemed almost tedious, but being surrounded by such spontaneous individuals really removed that sense of dread and exhaustion; especially when everyone was having a great time!

By 10.45 am, we arrived at Pak Ahmad's house and I saw that their maid was back manning the stall. Prior to this, Nenek Piah and the maid returned back to mainland Singapore to stay over at Kelana's house for almost a month. When I chatted with her, she informed me that they both just returned back to the island the day before, and also just in time before the raging storm that swept through the eastern part of Singapore. As the team sat around a table and helped themselves with some drinks, I stepped into the house to salam with Nenek Piah and asked her on her wellbeing. I was elated to know that she was doing just right and she joked that she was just very happy to be back in the kampong away from the bustling and claustrophobic city life in Singapore. Shortly after, Pak Ahmad came out of his room and I informed him that there was a crowd of volunteers eager to ask him a few questions. I ushered Pak Ahmad to the table and introduced him to the team.

As a means of engaging with the residents, the volunteers wanted to have a casual conversation with him and since Pak Ahmad could not speak nor understand English, it was up to me to become a translator and intermediary for the volunteers. Not gonna lie, becoming a translator really puts your bilingual skills to the test. And sometimes, that wasn't the only thing of concern - it's when Pak Ahmad decided to share a lot in one answer that it also placed my memory to the test! But of course, it was a very fun and enriching experience for everyone there and I was touched to see them asking so many questions about Pak Ahmad and the kampong life.

The only storm we wanted that day was a brainstorm, and brainstorm they did.

After about maybe half an hour of sharing, the team decided to huddle up and discuss their plan in helping Pak Ahmad for the day. In just a matter of minutes, some of the volunteers approached me and shared with me their idea. After hearing from Pak Ahmad with regards to the condition of his drink stall, they intended to help publicise in the hopes that it might improve his sales; at least for the day. They asked if Pak Ahmad had supplies such as wood, strings, paint and markers as they intended to make a brand new signboard for his stall! As much as Kelana and I were actually in the midst of creating one, I was in no position to decline their act of goodwill. 

Pak Ahmad managed to find a piece of unused wood, together with some paint that were left behind from the previous repainting project held earlier in the year. He handed it over to the team and they got started on the sign right away. Meanwhile, the other half of the team stood along Jalan Ubin right outside Pak Ahmad's house, holding onto some fresh coconuts. They were there to rally passersby into making a detour and buying some drinks or coconuts from the drink stall. I was surprised to see the extent that these volunteers went to; all because they wanted to help Pak Ahmad in any way they could. It was evident at that time that the kampong spirit was in effect and that it transcended all ages, race and faith.

The Signboard Team

The Promoters Team

In the short amount of time that they were given, as they had to go to another station at around noon, the team was able to pull off a brand new sign and a total of nearly ten or more people were drawn to patronise at Pak Ahmad's Drink Stall! These were the stuffs that uniformed groups were trained to do, I guessed. Before we ended off, we took a quick group picture with Pak Ahmad and later on presented their gift to him. Pak Ahmad thanked them from the bottom of his heart for their kind gesture and I too shared the same sentiment having witnessed how their sense of engagement and service had touched and even improved the life of one of our residents on the island.

We initially wanted to nail the sign onto the wooden plank but it was way too difficult, so we eventually improvised.

Our gift to Pak Ahmad. Photo courtesy of Siak Juay

There's a new sign in the kampong!

We bade farewell to Pak Ahmad before we headed down to Teck Seng's Place for the next activity. Along the way, the volunteers took the opportunity to reflect on their act of goodwill that they had done and when they doubted themselves - I reassured them that what they have done was extraordinary and heartwarming. We joined the other three teams who had already gathered there for quite some time and they had roamed around the house to learn more about how life was like for a typical Chinese family growing up on Pulau Ubin. As I finished climbing up the flight of stairs, I met up with Uncle Lim, whom I have last met on August 18th, the day of my accident. He asked on how I was coping with the injuries and I reassured him that I was back to normal as I showed him my scars which have cleared up quite well over the past two months.

Wefie with Uncle Lim

The volunteers ended their trip to Teck Seng's Place with a cool mannequin challenge video where they had to pose in the midst of doing some kampong activities. It was pretty cool seeing the behind-the-scenes; though I wish I got to see the final product; I'm pretty sure it was lit. We thanked Uncle Lim and took a final group photo before we headed back down to the restaurant that I received my briefing earlier on for lunch. 

The boys and girls responsible in touching the lives of our Pulau Ubin residents, even mine.

As the rest feasted in some genuine kampong cuisine, I took the opportunity to sit down and chat with Azman whom I have not had the time to really strike a long conversation with after so long. We talked about Friday's severe thunderstorm where Azman suddenly remembered another particular storm where he got himself stuck in between two fallen trees while driving towards the Outward Bounds Singapore (OBS) area to pick some passengers up. He also expressed his concerns on the welfare of the residents and the island to me and I took it upon myself that his concerns should be addressed. While conversing with him, Azman introduced me to two Malay elderly folks who happened to pass by the taxi stand where we were at. I was introduced to Cik Zainal Suraton, who happened to be the siblings of Bujang and Ramdan Suraton who I have met in my previous trip to Ubin two weeks ago. Another person was by the name of Rahman. I didn't remember his surname but I shall always remember him as Rahman Dangdut as he was the one who would always blast dangdut songs from his kampong house where any passerby would hear when passing by Pak Ahmad's house. Once again, I was called an Ubin boy who had an Ubin face by the two residents; and I still didn't know how to respond to that, haha!

I was chatting with Azman for so long at the taxi stand I might as well be mistaken as a taxi driver too hehehe.

The day ended with the volunteers gathering in front of the jetty for a quick debrief and a number of youths from the Jurongville Secondary School Boys' Brigade were called up for their significant contributions while they were carrying out their community service. I was more than happy to know that a huge number of the youths managed to feel a sense of fulfilment, purpose and service following the day's event. They then huddled up for a quick prayer and I was honestly at ease watching how everyone practised their Christian faith in solidarity for their gratitude on the success of the day given that the weather was overcast throughout. As they headed down to the jetty, I thanked the handful of leaders before making my way down into Pekan Ubin to rent my bicycle from the usual store. I wanted to pay a visit to Ivy down at Ah Ma Drink Stall to see how her day went with the volunteers too.

Regardless of our faith, race and age, we have all come together in the name of serving our community; the kampong spirit transcends it all.

As soon as I reached the turn leading to the stall, Ivy already started shouting at me with full hospitality. She shared with me all the wonderful things that the volunteers had done; which included sweeping the surroundings of her home and stall and also similar to my team, stood by the roadside in an attempt to rally more passersby into patronising her drink stall. I was also touched and shared the same joy for her looking at how happy she was following the volunteers' service. I also realised that there was a new cute puppy in her stall's premises - and it was so adorable! (and that's coming from a  cat-lover) I wanted to take a picture of him but he kept hiding underneath the stilts of the stall or was busy playing in the mangroves. At around 4 pm, it was finally time for Ivy to close down the stall and she would then ride her way uphill back to her kampong home, while I headed back to my urban home in Singapore.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank, from the bottom of my heart, the amazing volunteers from Jurongville Secondary School, Faith Baptist Church (Marine Parade) and Sea Angels for your commitment, contributions and service to the residents of Pulau Ubin. I hope that through more events like this, our youths and our future generations will understand, preserve and celebrate the true value of our kampong spirit and heritage.

Siak Juay from Sea Angels also prepared his own write up for his involvement in the event too! Read up on his experience in his Facebook post here!

Read up on the previous chapter on "My Ubin Journey"

"The Reopening of Ah Ma Drink Stall"