New Life Outreach

Allow me to take a break from the history series *grinz* and blog something different.

Right now, I'm taking a short break from all the meetings and work, to get some rest in the mountain resort of Genting. For many this a city of sin but to me its my hiding place where I can tuck myself away in a little room to spend time reading and reflecting.

It has been more than a year since I've got a chance to spend some quiet, quality moments to myself.

Just yesterday, I visited my favorite unhealthy fast food joint - KFC to get my fix on the REAL KFC chickens. Something which I miss, somehow the Singapore KFC chickens just do not match up to the taste and flavour of the the malaysian versions

Yes. So there I sat savouring my chicken when I saw this old, slightly senile lady walking into the fast food outlet. She was probably 70-80 years of age and wrinkles were showing all over her face. 2 young KFC staff who were off duty smiled at her and gestured to her to sit next to them. The age gap would easily span 60 years but what that transponded between these malay kids and the old lady was heart warming.

To understand each other, they made hand gestures and one boy used his hands to ask her if she was hungry. She nodded. Before I knew it, the other malay boy made his way to the food counter, reappearing with a small plate of leftover wedges.

The old lady savoured the wedges and the boys just sat there quietly watching her eat. One boy seeing her, walked to the next table to bring her some chilli sauce.

I was terribly stirred as I saw how the actions of 2 young malay boys made a difference to this old lady. The old lady's eyes sparkled with acceptance and it was not the food, it was the 2 young malay boys that made a difference to this lady.

This set me thinking about how sometimes Singaporean kids are so absorbed in their own world that we forget about needs out there.

Its sad when I see our younger generation gaining agression & ambition and losing compassion. So much so that the government get CIPs going in schools and having to remind us to be nice through courteousy campaigns.