Tanjung Balai, what’s that? One day, are you sure you will learn and help anything?

These are all the questions that I get when my friends and family know about the change in plans for TOOP. The question I asked some of my friends back was “What makes you think they need our help?” Dumbfounded, they could not give any insight about this matter. Overseas trips have been so frequent in many Singapore schools, I believe that TOOP Balai widen my exposure and taught me that we are all equal after all. Poor they may seem, the villagers are actually contented with what they have and what they are doing every day.

When we reached Tanjung Balai, I kept telling myself that “we are just a sea apart from Balai, but there is a stark contrast between Singapore and Balai already.” Departing Singapore’s Terminal, all was pristine and technologically advanced(with the automatic passport gantry); Reaching Balai, I was reminded of the old photos my mum showed me in the 1970s, somewhat primitive. It dawned on me about how good governance is so important to ensure progress for the country. Curious faces were all around us when we reached, thinking why a group of students coming to a non-tourist attraction like Tanjung Balai.

When we were at the village, interacting with the kids, I finally experience the difficult of language barrier. Before the trip, seniors and teachers were reminding us how language barrier can impede us greatly from the interaction with the villagers. Although there is Selvie in our group, she was not able to handle the active behaviour of the group and translate our words quick. Poor Selvie was called by our members almost every other minute. Although it cannot express totally what we want to say, hand gesture was the most effective communication tool during that period of time.

Intrusion was something I felt during and after the trip. It seems that we were intruding to their lives, their almost perfect lives. Were we actually impeding their lifestyles? Were there emotions that we did not notice? While we were preparing for the photoessay, I was confused about the promotion of the fishing village we have to do. Thinking about the short interviews we had with the people, they all seem contented with what they are doing. Why then, must we actually promote this fishing village to garner more volunteers? At the very least, this question answered the above question “ what makes you think they need our help”.

After all, this trip was an enriching one, there were really a lot of things to ponder about and learn from. I am not saying the one-day trip that we went or the one-room flat clean up that we did, but rather the whole journey which started since TOOP interview 2009. Although there are really times when I want to give up and not attend meetings, what spurred me on was the primary motive I signed the application form.

Sorry all if I did anything wrong and also thank you all for the memories given.:)