CIP - Taman Jurong

Today was the CIP programme. Many people did not turn up for it. All we were supposed to do was to collect newspapers and items from different households. At first, this did not seem hard. Easier said than done.

Xian Da, Bryce, Adriel, Wei Ron and me were split in one group. We agreed on splitting ourselves into two different groups: Xian Da and me, while the other group would be Adriel, Bryce and Wei Ron. At first, we disagreed with each other. Adriel's group said that our group had to Chinese experts. (Which I totally disagree. I am not very good at it, but Xian Da was a pro!)

We finally decided to have a switch of groups every level. On the 15th level, which was the highest level of the building we were in, block 359, we decided to work on neighbouring households. At our first household, Xian Da and me managed to get an amount of newspaper, while the others had no luck. We kept working and finally reached the end of the level. We proceeded down to the next level and suggested that it would be better if different groups did different levels. At that level, Xian Da and me found a lay who donated at least 60cm worth of newspaper to us. After combing that entire level, we called for backup, as we could not manage the amount of paper that we had collected.

We procceeded to the newspaper drop-off point and swapped partners then. I then ended up with Bryce. We did not swap partners any further.

Through this CIP event, I was very surprised to find that many people donated generously to us. One household already had prepared in advance and tied the newspapers up. They also donated their old clothes, some of them from Levis. Another household actually donated tons of books a telephone and even a soft toy. We named the soft toy Mr Many.

Through the stack of old books that we collected, we found one that described thoroughly some animals and their pictures. After asking Mr Krison Tan if we should put it into the pile of donated items, he said no and that we should keep it for class reference.

This CIP activity showed me how caring people can be. After we tell them that we were doing the activity to raise funds for the needies, they donated generously. I truly enjoyed the activity. CHEERS! And have a good holiday.