So sudden

I just received news that one of my MRF platoon mates, Kang, has gotten cancer. It's very shocking to me. We are all so young and getting cancer was never in our minds. I cannot visit him now and can only visit him when I fly back. Meanwhile, I hope his condition recovers and we can all go out together some day again. Get well soon, Kang.

Letters from the States

It's now my fifth day in the United States. The first day was very hectic. We took a 4 hour flight to Hong Kong, followed by a 12 hour flight to Los Angeles and then an hour to San Francisco. It was exhausting taking airplanes for such a long period of time. I did not have the best of experiences in the Los Angeles airport. I thought the staff were a little unfriendly and I was made to go through a security check all over again just because I had a little more water than was allowed. It was quite stupid because they told me to go out of the security checkpoint to finish my water and I had to queue up and go through the checkpoint again.

The first night when we arrived in San Francisco was quite a disaster. The guesthouse we went to did not receive our reservations and so we had to go to another one which was quite a distance away. So, carrying all our luggage, we had to walk more than a dozen streets to reach our place. And we were lost in the process. Fortunately, someone helped us along the way. It's quite heartwarming to find Americans more than willing to lend a helping hand to us. Strangers who see us looking lost will offer directions to us. We had fast food for dinner on our first night and the portion was huge. I thought the fast food in the USA was a lot better than the ones offered in Singapore. There was also a homeless guy who asked us for money in the fast food outlet and it was quite disturbing. There are quite a number of homeless people in San Francisco.

The second day, we visited Golden Gate Park, Golden Gate Bridge, the crookedest street in the world and Chinatown. We did a lot of walking and navigating the streets was quite a challenge. Public transport on that day was free as they were celebrating some Save the Earth day and thus we were quite lucky.

The third day was spent mainly on Fisherman's Wharf and we managed to take the cable cars in San Francisco. The cable cars are icons of San Francisco and so it was quite fulfilling when we managed to get on one, especially as every single tourist will try to get onto the cable car. We had to wait quite a while but it was worth it.

I think we managed to cover quite a lot of attractions in San Francisco. The only significant place we missed out on was Alcatraz as it was fully booked already. We took a train back to Los Angeles and it took 12 hours. The train was huge and it was quite a comfortable ride.

I will be updating more on my trip the next entries. So far, I've just about settled in the States. It's not that awkward especially since there are a lot of Asians in California. I'll try to cover as many places as I can. After all, it's quite been quite difficult getting here and I don't want to miss anything.

Going off again

Pardon the sudden rush of entries but there's many things I want to write about before I leave. I'm leaving in the morning, for the USA. I don't know when I had the thought that I want to visit the USA one day. I just felt it's a place that I have to see. The opportunity came in the form of a summer program this year. The interview was hard but I managed to go through it. I was happy but at the same time, feeling bad that I will be missing out on some important events. The preparation was also tedious, and amidst the countless administrative procedures, I began to question whether it was really going to be worth it. It's expensive as well and I feel extremely guilty about it since most of the money is not earned by me.

Coming back from Cambodia and having only a brief rest in Singapore before I leave for the States, I feel a sense of lethargy. I haven't had the chance to settle down before I have to pack my things again. Throughout all this, my parents have been very supportive of me. I am really grateful to them for their help and I do not know how to thank them. They have just been wonderful.

I only managed one soccer session during this period when I'm back. It's not enough and I will be looking forward to the soccer sessions when I'm finally back for good.

I have only managed to meet up with Zhenyun a few times and I'm going to fly off again. It's not easy being separated and I will miss the fun times we had together. It's difficult not being able to share my experiences with her. It's not easy for her either and I am glad that she's been understanding through all this.

I hope the US will be a great experience and I will come back as a better person. It's going to be a totally different place from Cambodia. I'll try to blog about my experiences while I am there. A few hours more and I'm going to leave this island with all that I'll miss again. Sounds like homesickness and I didn't think I'll be the kind of person to get homesick. But the way I'm feeling right now feels a little like it.

Silver

I retook my IPPT today the same place where I failed. I wanted to g back to the same place so that I can finally banish memories of my failure over there. I cannot stand the thought of me failing my IPPT and I want my 200 dollars and thus, it was with great anxiety that I retook the test. Especially the chin-ups. It's my weakest event and the cause of all my failures. My heart was beating very quickly and my hands went soft as I took to the bar. I just managed to hit 8 pull-ups in the end. I was very happy, however, as that was my target all along. The rest of the stations didn't trouble me much although I vomitted at the end of my 2.4km run. The damn Berocca drink that I took before the run was to blame. I felt relieved that I do not need to retake the test again this window. More importantly, I have gotten the 200 dollars from the government. I can't let the government keep my 200 dollars. I won't let it happen.

Cambodia continued

I guess I better finish blogging about my experiences in Cambodia before I fly off to the States. We visited Angkor Wat first before we started on our project. Angkor Wat was quite magnificient and it's hard to believe that the ancient people had the expertise to construct such great structures. However, after a while, the buildings all look similar and it got a little mundane.

The first village we visited was Kampong Phluk and it was a fishing village. The journey there was horrible and the transportation of logistics was taxing. Kampong Phluk was a great experience in terms of the human interaction there as well as the things that we did. The children were friendly and it was easy to find a kid to play with. The experience of drawing water from the well, bathing in the open and climbing steep stairs everywhere will stay with me forever. I rode a motorbike for the first time there as well. It was a memorable place but our service there was limited. Towards the end, I also felt that the villagers there were becoming more mercenary.

We moved on to another village, Tapang, after a week. It was a land village and the experience there was quite a different one. The villagers were more shy and communication was more of a problem. They were not so exposed to foreigners. there is a lot less interaction and thus as a result most of us do not feel a strong attachment to Tapang. However, I find that the villagers there are more innocent and will go out of their way to assist us. It was quite heartwarming at times. Our service there, in my view, was more meaningful than at Kampong Phluk. We attended to more patients over there and really played a big role in the construction of the classroom. We laid the foundations of the classroom, shovel by shovel and it was hard work, especially with the glaring sun. It gives me immense satisfaction seeing the classroom being constructed step by step. The painting of the classroom was a great effort, and it looks fantastic compared to the bare walls of the Manjusri Sec classrooom. Seing the school kids getting excited over our painting gives me a great sense of pride, especially so since some of the drawings are done by me. We left Tapang in a hurry and never had the chance to say a proper goodbye.

We had our R and R over in Phnom Penh. The journey there was catastrophic. The bus belonged to the 1970s and it broke down on our way there. We were delayed for 2 hours while the bus driver tried to fix the bus. That set the tone for the Phnom Penh trip. The tour guide was a Chinese speaking one and was uninteresting. We visited the torture site and the killing fields. I didn't feel much sadness. Maybe because the exhibits were not moving enough or we were in too huge a group. Phnom Penh is a complicated place and I felt like going back to Singapore when I was there. It just gives me an uneasy feeling. It was the same case with Manila.

I don't think I will be going for another YEP. However , I feel it's a very enriching experience and it would be good, if possible, for Singaporeans to go out and experience a different world. Then, it might be discovered that Singapore is really quite a fine place to live in.

Scenes from Cambodia

Back from Cambodia

I just came back from Cambodia on Tuesday morning. I was quite relieved when the plane touched down and the familiar sight of Changi Airport came into view. There's nothing like a YEP to make one appreciate home more. During this trip, I've learnt to appreciate that simple things like clean drinking water cannot be taken for granted. It has been a unique learning experience, better than my previous project in the Phlippines.

Cambodia is a sad country. The things that I heard, saw and experienced made me feel sorry for this country. It's almost unbelievable how poor and helpless the people in Cambodia are. The healthcare system, in particular, is appalling and most Cambodians don't seek treatment when they are sick. This is because it takes money for them to travel and eat outside and also because they can be made to wait for a few weeks just to see the doctor. I've seen some horrifying injuries that's beyond comprehension.

There's the case of a man who fractured his leg and didn't seek treatment for 3 years and as a result his bones regrew in an abnormal way. We sent him to hospital where he was advised to amputate his leg. He agreed with the assurance that we'll help him but I'm not sure whether our funds will be enough to treat him.

There was also a monk who had rotting flesh on both his legs. It was apparently the result of a leech bite and had been there for 35 years. 35 years! It was a good 10 years before I was born. The injury was gruesome and there were flies swarming around his rotting legs, laying their eggs. Nonetheless, I had to curb my emotions and clean his wound for him. There was nothing much we can do except to send him to the hospital.

There was an old lady who had a wound so deep in her back that the cotton gauze put into her wound by a local doctor seemed to take forever to remove. I think there's no way the wound is going to heal back.

There was a little boy who had an infected wound on his leg and when we attempted to remove the pus on his wound, his cries were so heartwrenching that I felt like crying too.

We have only scratched the surface of Cambodia and I've seen enough to make me feel disturbed and helpless. How many more people are there in Cambodia with horrific injuries like this? Is there anybody who can reach out to them and at least offer them basic medical aid? The villages we went to are the more well-off ones and yet injuries like these seem commonplace. What on earth is the Cambodian government doing? Have they seen how their countrymen are suffering or are they still more concerned with buying more luxury cars?

Cambodia was held up as a model for Singapore to learn from in the 1960s. Our Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew personally said we should learn from them. 40 years on, and we have progressed into a modern metropolis while Cambodia doesn't even have street lighting in their major cities. It's frightening how quickly a country can fall from prosperity.

I'm still trying to adapt back to Singapore and I'm really glad for urbanisation and development. No one should be allowed to live in villages where there is no sanitation and diseases are rampant. Unfortunately, I think it's going to take a miracle for everyone in the world to enjoy a good quality of life.

I will be blogging more on my experiences in Cambodi as well as uploading some of the pictures in the next entry.