habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.
Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.
Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.
Als sie die Juden holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Jude.
Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.
then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.
and there was no one left to speak for me.
starting this post with something very powerful. it's in german, so don't worry if you don't understand. the poem is attributed to a speech that Pastor Martin Niemoller made, with regards to the inactivity of German intellectuals during the rise of Nazi power and how Hitler, while purging group after group, was not stopped by these people. and eventually, when everyone else was purged, the silent ones themselves were to be exterminated, but there was no one to speak up for them.
and sometimes i feel that, this is how society works on various levels. no matter how rich and developed a country or society is, there will always be these groups of people who are ignored, forgotten, underprivileged and somewhat "purged" from society. these are the old, the handicapped, the diseased, the poor and the "outsiders" such as migrants and foreign workers. no matter how much "racial and religious harmony" we have in even a country like singapore, there will always be these groups of people who are left under the radar.
and i feel that in PVC, we somehow speak up for them. by raising awareness of our beneficiary's cause and plight, by raising funds for them and by interacting with the beneficiary themselves. we care for other people who are out of our racial group, income group, comfort zone etc etc. and it's really something that i think every society needs. it's not something that just NGOs or welfare/volunteer groups should do, but something that society as a whole should be participating in. just to spread the love and the care for other people. :))
THURDAY'S MEMORY: MINGLES NIGHT WAS A BLAST! met many many new people who were really nice and we clicked quite well. even though mostly people stayed in their little group of friends, the game that we played really made them open up and talk to other people. :) although we didn't meet our target of funds raised, i'm glad that at least we really had some fun. was with qiaoqiao almost the whole night and of course thomas (the train engine/"gay") as well as his buddies, elbert (:D), victor and nicholas. LOLS. really had a blast of a time with them because they're really a bunch of fun people. played connect4 most of the night and was talking crap here and there, drank and sang. whahaha. coolies. then spent the night at qiaoqiao's place because i was wiped out of all my money to be used as change.
FRIDAY'S MEMORY: woke up at qiaoqiao's place, very embarrassing cause her mom and herself was already awake like really early! but i was super tired. qiao媽 said that i was like a 小寶寶，白白胖胖. LOLS. which is quite true when i just wake up cause i'm usually like super bloated. :P went out for "breakfast" with qiaoqiao at KFC around 11plus and then went to plaza singapura to walk walk and talk talk. :) AND SOMEONE MSGED BACK! heees. haven't felt this kind of feeling for a super super long time already. you know, when you get a message from someone and you're damn nervous on how you should reply then you'll think for hours on end. hahas. but i don't think it's going nowhere cause it's really hard to carry a conversation with him. sighs. ohwell. time will tell. then later, went back to hall and my mummy picked me up! she's finally home. but she's leaving on the 1st of may again. ohwell. at least i spent sometime with her today eating lunch and then doing a bit of walking around and kinda "shopping".
signed up for the PAssion Run that's coming up in May and it's going to be my first marathon of the year. 10k. must start doing intensive training after the exams end. and now that i'm going to be moved back home, I CAN FINALLY RUN AT MACRITCHIE!! :D finally finally. like after 360million years! AND MARATHON SEASON IS COMING!! loves!
on another note, there's still some part of me that is very scared, and scarred i guess. after reading that very first email from him, there's this shadow above our friendship that's very dark and it says that if he could do something like that once, he could do it again. in fact, this is the second time he's done it. and my heart really wants to give him a third chance, but the mind is very afraid. sighs. whatever. we'll let time do what it does. maybe, just maybe one day, our friendship will go back to being what we were before.
ciaos. i'm having an early night, i think. :)
