Yesterday was Flag day and we had to collect donations from passersby in Ang Mo Kio. The beneficiary is YWCA and the funds will be used to help the needy (as expected). I had to sacrifice 2hrs of my beauty sleep and...okok! Its for a GOOD CAUSE. As this is my first ever Flag day, i seriously did not noe what to expect. I mean, i have seen ppl holding tins wif lots of stickers at the side asking ppl to donate some $$, but i have never been the one to ask ppl for donations. Well today i am going to find out how its like.
At 8am , i met up wif my friends outside Ang Mo Kio hub to collect tin cans wif the 'areas of spending' printed on it. As a group of five, we walked around the streets (at the same time collecting some $$). Its really a wonder that we were not caught for illegal gathering (lol). Charmine, Meng Ying and I spilt from the group and found a comfortable spot admist the closed shops. At first, there wasnt much ppl and we could get some donations. (enables me to ask each and every person{cackle}). As the morning progresses, the flow of ppl was heavier. More donations poured in, and im sure my smiling muscles are strained to the max. Ppl who are more likely to donate are as follows:
1. Men in their thirties and forties;
2. Elderly men+friendly face;
3. Families with young children;
4.Women in their fifties and sixties+kindly face;
5. Students and young adults;
6.Young couples.
Even as im beat after three hours of standing under the sun (and absorbing lots of vitamin E), i am quite surprised to find that i actually enjoyed the morning(not that i would volunteer myself again). I used to read about an article talking about Singaporeans lack of (or none at all) smiling. This was proved wrong however. Much as the author thinks that we dun smile much, our smiles are actually quite wonderful. Many ppl gave me a smile in return even when they did not want to donate(or cant to)-(thanks to my big smile! haha).
Many things happened yesterday and i cant really fill up this whole space without telling the whole story. So, it will be in point form:
- i met up with a woman who used to study in the old Nan Chiau girls school
- A man had walked around the streets (i presume he's a little 'wrong' in the head) laughing, with many YWCA stickers on his apparels.
- Some ppl had spoken to me about the fact that you had to ask around for donations and not standing there waiting for ppl to come up to you to donate.(they mentioned the ppl are my 'colleagues') PS. i am NOT standing and waiting ppl. I can assure you that i am quite active in collecting donations.
- Some kindred souls had walked up to me voluntary to give donations,
- and more kindred souls had given more than 1 donations.
- had teased some nan chiau, or other school's ppl, in asking for donations.haha
- Some ppl simply ignore me...
This is definitely a fruitful trip!
kah mun
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