Selfless Souls

She couldn't stop the tears from welling up in her eyes. She was choked with the emotions that engulfed her - disbelief, sadness, horror and injustice.

The room was quiet. The sadness was palpable. The anger and injustice was left hanging in the air.

"But the child has put her past behind her and returned to school. She was promoted to Express and just topped her class." Mademoiselle Cheam, in her soft and soothing voice, ended the sharing.

42 teachers. One and half days. Hundreds of cases. A rejuvenating experience.

"What can we do to help this child?"
"What is the best way to help the boy?"
"How can we get the girl to open up?"
"Is there any agencies or help that can be offered to her?"
"Shouldn't the school inform the parents?"

Kind, concerned faces, radiating a lot of warmth and sincerity. All searching for the magic wands to touch the young hearts and relieve the pain. Compared to Mademoiselle, our skills are inexperienced and blunt. But in our own ways, stumbling and falling, everyone is giving it a shot.

It has been horrifying to learn about the tales. But it has been touching to learn that there are so many compassionate people around. The one and a half days have been a good panacea to the tired and disheartened souls. A strong reminder as to why one is in teaching. A good encouragement to know that there are many out there, who are struggling, but trying, just like you.

"By learning you will teach, by teaching you will learn." - Latin Proverb

Final moments

'Qing, J passed away this morning,' W whispered brokenly into the phone.

W's words still reverberated in my mind, shocked with disbelief at what I was hearing. I was planning to visit her again next week, with the flowers that I wanted to get for the room. L had gone to visit her today, equipped with CDs to encourage her in her fight against the Big C.

While many may remember J as the vivacious and attractive girl who liked to talk on-stop, I remembered J as the considerate and kind girl who was encouraging and caring towards all her relatives and friends, sensitive to others' feelings and moods, putting others before herself, even until her final moments. She had strived hard for all that she had achieved, but never put on any airs, and treated everyone around her with the same sincerity and concern.

Though she was in pain during the final stage, she had spent her final moments with her GOD. She had gone willingly and at peace. But her family, who had been with her for the whole six months, was not willing to let her go.

Death. Hardly a coffee table topic. Held by all as a great taboo. But one so pertinent to rest all regrets and longings, especially to those who are still around.

Manners

It had been a long week and it was only the first week of school. I was thankful for the Monday Youth Day break as I had spent the whole Saturday bringing students to Safra Yishun and going to HQ for the NCC Day parade rehearsal.

I decided to pamper myself by taking a cab home so that I can fill my growling stomach and have sufficient rest before I rushed back to school in the evening.

It was an unusual cab. It is one of those new cabs with plenty of rooms at the back for luggage. I told the uncle that I may not have sufficient money to pay for his cab fare and he waived it aside nonchalently that he would give me a free ride instead.

A bump broke our conversation. Someone had bumped into his cab. To our surprise, the driver did not stop but sped away. That angered the taxi driver and I held on as he gave chase. They drove up the flyover and he sounded his horn at the driver. The man was immaculately dressed in a tie and a suit. He pointed to his watch to signal that he was in a hurry. That was like adding fuel to the fire. The taxi-driver got even more angry.

It was a good ten minutes before the driver realised that the taxi-driver was not going to let him off that he finally stopped his car. Two other ladies, who were also very well-dressed came out of the car. They were apparently dressed for a wedding. They hardly look like those who would hit and run, but definitely flustered as they were obviously in a hurry.

Have our lives become so busy that we no longer have time to stop and say we are sorry? Or maybe we have become so presumptious that we like to belittle other people's problems?

The cab was not badly damaged and suffered just a light scratch. If the driver had stopped to apologise the moment he bumped into the cab, the uncle would have excused him. There would have been no need for this injustice anger and wild chase.