Monday 9 June 2008

Cancer warriors and the gung-ho spirit of St. Mary's girls...

i had two very special groups of guests at yesterday's matinee show for P.Ramlee. one group consisted of 10 teachers and students from my former school, St. Mary's, who have recently approached me to help them out as adviser for the school's staging of Phantom of The Opera. The other group was a special group of cheerful ladies, cancer warriors and survivors, members of a support group called Cancer Care Subang Jaya.

looking at the girls in the group from St.Mary's, i was reminded of my days as a secondary school student, always wanting to make a difference and trying to stand out from the others even from my school days! i stumbled upon one of the girls' blogs one day by accident, as it came through mu google alerts for P.Ramlee. i smiled as i reflected on how i must have come across myself, as this 16year old, too-smart-for-you and overly confident kid who used to annoy the lights out of my teachers who had written me off as a no-hoper. i insisted they come to watch the show before i accepted their invitation to be their president/adviser for the school musical, and insisted they do a special backstage tour so they know what it really takes to put on a decent show. it takes more that mere guts and confidence to put on a show, i learnt that.

i had two very special groups of guests at yesterday's matinee show for P.Ramlee. one group consisted of 10 teachers and students from my former school, St. Mary's, who have recently approached me to help them out as adviser for the school's staging of Phantom of The Opera. The other group was a special group of cheerful ladies, cancer warriors and survivors, members of a support group called Cancer Care Subang Jaya.

looking at the girls in the group from St.Mary's, i was reminded of my days as a secondary school student, always wanting to make a difference and trying to stand out from the others even from my school days! i stumbled upon one of the girls' blogs one day by accident, as it came through mu google alerts for P.Ramlee. i smiled as i reflected on how i must have come across myself, as this 16year old, too-smart-for-you and overly confident kid who used to annoy the lights out of my teachers who had written me off as a no-hoper. i insisted they come to watch the show before i accepted their invitation to be their president/adviser for the school musical, and insisted they do a special backstage tour so they know what it really takes to put on a decent show. it takes more that mere guts and confidence to put on a show, i learnt that.


the ladies from the cancer care group though... Khadijah,Dr Salmah, Eva Arriffin,Jessica Loon,Audrey Tang,Geok Bee,Geok Chu,Habsah,Azizah...what a spirited bunch! meeting them after the show really made my day. i must thank khadijah and her husband Yeong (whom Khadijah says enjoyed the show so much he didn't fall asleep for the first time, yay!) for bringing the group of ladies of all races to the show. some of them said this was their first outing after such a long, long time, and they enjoyed themselves so much. that makes my work so so meaningful, if i can bring smiles to a group of special people like these. i loved how the support group is all about a group of people who get together to give each other hope and strength and cheer each other on,regardless of race and religion. i've attended a few of their get-togethers too myself, and have been inspired by the spirit of comraderie in the group. one of them asked me, when are you bringing Puteri Gunung Ledang back? i hope i will be fully recovered by then, to come watch you again. love that spirit, ladies, keep smiling!





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