Trip recount. Way from the boat ride to Bintan i was really feeling skeptical about the whole trip. Not so the conditions of the place but rather if i could keep my focus on the objective of the trip. My mind tends to stray at times, in an attention deficient way. For starters, i didnt go Bintan for a chocolate back rub of the sorts. More banana tree than banyan tree. (banana is not a tree actually). Anyways, the place i went is abit rundown. We stayed near to where the locals stay, in this way it is much easier to reach out to them.



The purpose of the trip was to visit the locals whom the local church has reached out too. There is this children daycare centre run by the small church, called Kiddy Care. And it was there that we had a more indepth understanding of the locals. They are mostly malays, some chinese though, but most of them speak teochew. So it made communicating about the simplest matter a tedious task. Pretty much like small on talk, big on gesturing. Comic relief though. =)



Soon we were in our groups. Ricky, Abi, Jon and myself. I never did really converse much to Jon in church but i find him very nice to talk to though the trip. Sometimes talking to people and looking them in the eye does wonders in communication. Abi was really quiet, Ricky had a gd sense of humour.



The entire village is built above water. This makes the water very clogged up as people dump their rubbish into the sea and overtime it gets all sludgy. Not a delicious sight. A floating packet of nasi lemak was spotted dancing around the water surface. The people in the town are very friendly by singapore's standards. They don't slam the door on your noses, but you could detect an air of wary about christian groups visiting them. There was this house which we passed by. Quite a perplexing sight i must say.



You see incense stick holders framed beside the door, a bagua over head, a statue of Jesus in the house, but the people who inhabit the house look like malays. So i couldnt really get where are their religious inclinations. It was kind of all over the place. It seems that dua peh gong is the hot favourite amongst the village community. The houses were built along the aisles of a wooden pathway that stretches towards the sea. The pathways do split at some junctures so that people from a side of the village can cut across to the other side. These connecting paths are also made of wood, but they are a little more shaky. So the possibility of dunking into the water is not a remote one.



I was taken aback by the pace of life at Bintan. It seemed almost too quiet. At its best, serene, or rather at times, static. The mid-day sun was absolutely intense, so i guess it made most people really drowsy at those times. Occasionally there was a paddle pop man who rides around, with this unmistakable paddle pop tune tooting along. Other than that, there was not many activities.



So i must say this is indeed a humbling experience, it shifts some of those self-directed thoughts more towards others. Makes me realise that its pretty pointless to be all wrapped around the nitty-gritties. It is all rather me-centred, and mostly does little to solve any problems. I don't know if this new perspective will stay with me for long, cause usually people are more clear headed after a trip. Somehow, these thoughts fraternise with the daily dosage of flighty thoughts and the essence of the experience dilutes itself to a mere memory. And after long enough, it just remains as a stampmark on your passport. Thats it. Hope this is an exception though.



There was this family that left a deep impression. They have this little boy of 12 yrs who is blind, and deaf. As such, he cant talk, because there is no way he can after two senses shut down on him. He is really tiny, like the size of a 4 yr old. So you can imagine that he is really cooped out in his own world. No way of expressing how he feels and no form of communication. It is really heartwrenching to see the little boy just feeling his way about randomly, and having no concept of the world. I mean these are not issues you come about in everyday living. So, i dunno, i mean there was this barrage of emotions that came. Half of it you can feel tears in your eyes, half of it is frustration directed. I mean just what can you say when you see such. So convenient it is to sigh in empathy and soon forget about it, but others have to live with this disability. It just creates this tension within me i dun quite know how to explain that exact feeling.



There were other visitations too, and a couple more on 21st and 23rd when we go on our carolling rounds in the charity homes here. It is really hard to dispel the tension inside! geee..its just totally perplexing. So you can see this trip is far from a spa treat. Somehow its just really different this time round, totally fulfilling on all levels.