I am not going to go all high and mighty here. I volunteered at CDAC last week and Henderson CC today. Mainly out of curiosity I went to CDAC with my mother last week for their ‘Back to School’ event. The queen mother has been some sort active in volunteering since the Pig’s death and I have been bombarded with stories of how some children bring their stationery in plastic bags as they do not even have a pencil box or do not even have enough money for the bus ride home. I can read my mother inside out. I know that she relates this information to me in order for me to realise how privileged I am. I have a truck load of stationery and pencil cases to match (or at least I used to, even back then, I had to rotate my accessories) in my heyday.

Previously, I had been to the Pig’s office events and been to children homes mainly because I was the kid of the Pig. In the end, I would be reminded again and again about how lucky I am. Except these trips only reinforced the fact how much I do not enjoy being in the presence of under-one-meters and children. Have you seen monkeys at Bukit Timah hill? I like them better. The monkeys.

So I manned the Facebook booth at CDAC last Sunday where the main customers were my ‘favourite’ people, kids. I did learn that every single little person even freaking four year olds had facebook accounts, not many of those mentioned individuals knew much about computer privacy and teenagers ARE more annoying than little people (wow.) The young man (just graduated from poly) next to me remarked at the end of the day: I really do like kids but right now, I feel like strangling them.

The hall girls decided to do something different for Christmas this year and it saw us in Henderson CC with an entire army of children. As I have an not so secret aversion towards the under-one-meters, instead of having one little platoon to myself to lead, Auntie Shufang got stuck with me and her own platoon. We had an all boy group. Well, there were wet games and dry games and etc. Jiaps was her usual patient sweet self. Brenda was sweet and motherly. Huileng tried to blend in but seemed more afraid of the kids. Missy Teo was just fierce, even fiercer than usual. I just stood there and tried not to touch them. (I was sick. And kids are like germy.) But I did bark at them of course.

As they went on stage, to receive their books and presents, I did feel very very blessed. I always had every book that I wanted. (Actually no, because I read like a fiend, the Pig always said that buying books were a waste of money, go and borrow from library. True story.) I always had any toy I wanted. (I guess so, I cannot really remember wanting.) And I had allowance for my stationery fetish. The siren call of paper and pens do me in all the time. And most of all, my parents always had time for me. (Er, except I do not really care for it and relished being home alone.) And yes, the same way I felt every single time my parents did the guilt trip on me, I felt really bad that I had everything and those kids had nothing much. But that does not mean I would still touch them.

Oh well, as long as it does not involve short screaming banshees, feel free to tug at my ‘charity’ strings. And yes, I am that horrible person, I rather give things and money. Heh.