I realised I have 2 other posts in the making, waiting to be published but I haven't finished them yet. The first I started, then put it aside to start on a second since I had the inspiration. Then I put that one aside and now I'm starting on this one. Sigh.
Went for a mini hike (err...ok, nature walk) at MacRitchie Reservoir Park this morning. To be more specific, it was the HSBC Treetop Walk - you know, that long (yeah, right!) wooden suspension bridge stretching across a valley at the height of the forest canopy so you can see the flora and fauna from up high? Ok that's immaterial with regard to my point so I won't go into too much detail about the walk itself.
What I did want to highlight was that there were a few younger kids with us, ages ranging from..oh I dunno..4 or 5 to about 12? Anyway..what really amazed me about this bunch was their determination to go on despite the circumstances and the difficulties. One of them had an injured foot and spent pretty much the whole journey limping instead of walking normally. Yet, he was still determined to keep up with the rest of the adults and, in fact, he spent much of the journey ahead of most of us.
Then, towards the later half of the walk, another young boy had difficulty keeping up and wanted to be carried, but for certain reasons (I won't go into details), people generally preferred that he kept going on foot instead of being carried. A few of his friends then surrounded him and gave him constant encouragement, supporting him (morally and physically!), singing with him familiar songs like "You Raise Me Up" and the Hokkien "Hold my hand" to keep his spirits up and sometimes even somewhat dragging him just so he would continue on his own.
Seeing that, I flashed back to some memories I had of the not too distant past, when I was in school. Being a bit..erm...big, I was always the slowest on the track, not to mention the fact that in those days I (usually) couldn't run even a relatively short distance like 2.4km without stopping. It's at those times that I did stop running (i.e. I just gave up and walked on the track) that my friends who were running with (or usually overtaking) me would basically take me by the hand (!) and drag me along, forcing me to keep up with them at least for a brief period of time.
Back to the present: said boy stops again, squats down and refuses to move. Friends again encourage and spur him on.
Flashback again to even more recent past: images of BMT recruits doing a route march or face down on a hot surface doing pushups. It's tough, but each person does his part, carries his load and that of his buddies if necessary, encouraging each other, sticking with each other no matter what happens (well..mostly).
It's hard (or perhaps when it comes to these kids, it's not so hard) to think that in 10-15 years' time, these young kids will be doing the same thing again, this time wearing green, with dirt on their faces and mud on their hands, carrying much heavier loads and with much more responsibility on their shoulders than just a little water bottle and their friend's comfort. They'll have their own lives and the lives of each other, their commanders, their colleagues and their men to take care of. They've gotten a good start, I think. And I think they'll do well later on, if they keep this up.
Uncles and aunties, parents of these children, I applaud and salute you. Perhaps someday when I think the going's getting tough, and I hear "You Raise Me Up", I'll think back to this day and I'll remember the encouragement of your children, and that will be enough to keep me going. Perhaps.
