RAC SW sister club visit (29/10/06 – 5/11/06)
The building that is situated along the roadside will no longer be “just” a building to me. This is the place where friendships are forged and fond memories originated. This is the place where my sister club from Thailand stayed during their short trip here, to meet up with all of us.
In anticipation of their visit, we had a crash course in Thai language, conducted by Dawn, our Secretary. All of us enjoyed ourselves, laughing and repeating after her. While we know that our sister club do speak basic English, we feel that it might be good to “arm” ourselves with some phrases of Thai.
Tan, Fern, Som, Puii, Amp, Wah & Hope arrived in Singapore on a Sunday. Like a long lost friend, we warmed up to them in no time. We realised that our fears were unfounded as they have a good grasp of English language. Besides that, Hwa & Hope speak Mandarin with ease. Tan, a pettie and quiet lady, impressed us all when she told us that she is learning German language. In a blend of Mandarin and English, all of us mingled with ease.
In order to let us appreciate their rich culture, they prepared a powerpoint presentation- showing us projects they had done as well as a short video clip of their well-respected king. A cultural dance was also performed by them. We, the audience, were simply charmed by their performance. On our part, we filled them in - on Singapore’s multi-cultural society, HDBs, National Service, etc.
For the days that followed, we took them to places like Sentosa, NeWater Plant, Zoo, Bird Park, Clarke Quay, etc. One thing we learnt is that they are “professionals” when come to taking photos. Posing is a piece of cake to them.
Do you know? They actually came “fully equipped”- with laptops and thumbdrives to upload all the shots! Another thing that we learnt was - alertness. Without us knowing, flashes “came our way”, our most candid and vulnerable states were captured, by our Thai friends. Thus, a smile on our faces was a constant must. You never know when a shot of you will be taken.
Once, we got “high” on photo-taking and went on a ‘photo-spree’, taking a series of candid shots at the roof top of Esplanade. After an hour later, we “shifted” base to Merlion Park only to find ourselves dancing and singing in front of the Merlion.
On another occasion, we went to the zoo with some elderly from a home and took them around on wheelchairs. Along the way, we would point to one animal and say, “Hey! That monkey looks like Puii!” or “Hippo! Puii!” Puii would pout her lips and retort back “Monkey! Fern!” while Fern replied in mock anger, “Fern more beautiful than monkey!” => As we walked towards the majestic white tiger, which was taking a slow stroll in the waters and posing with each measured step, I was exclaiming to them, “Look! Cat walk!” They giggled and chorused “Cat walk!”
Time seems to slip through your fingers when you are happy. On the eve of their departure, we continued our “tradition” of photo taking inside one of the hotel rooms. All of us were tired but wanted to squeeze the most out of the remaining time left. No one complained about fatigue. Even though tiredness could be seen through a glance at our eyes, everyone was happily taking photographs. To capture onto film - the happy moments into eternity .....
The next day, we sent them off at the airport with a heavy pang in our hearts. As they were passing through the customs, the ever fun-loving Fern came running towards the glass panel and “plastered” herself” onto it ^.^ It brought laughter from both sides and made us more reluctant to part with them. Yet, strong friendships and fondness had been fostered. I know that whenever I miss them, I could “find” them - deep down in my heart.
All of us continued to contact each other through electronic means. Till to date, I had received several calls where I get little updates on how they are getting on. One call was made specially as one of my sister club members got to know that I fell ill. On the eve of my exam, I received a sms wishing me good luck, another call on my birthday itself. Such is the bond that had been built. All 7 of them charmed us in their unique ways.
We look forward to meeting them again, our beloved sister club- Thammasat University ^.^
[Hereby, on behalf of my club, I would like to express our gratitude to all those who had attended the hosting and helped us in one way or anything. Also, I would like to also appeal to everyone to help us in the collection of soft can rings. The rings are meant for a community service project undertaken by our sister club- where the rings collected will be used to manufacture artificial limbs.]
Reported by:
Rtr Winnie Wong of RAC Singapore West
DHT
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