Introducing myself to the visitors and talking to them personally really changed my outlook on life and
in people, in general. I learnt about the backgrounds of weekly visitors and
found out that some were former teachers, engineers, psychologists, and
veterans. I was shocked! I couldn't believe how educated these people were and
I couldn't fathom the thought that they had to resort to soup kitchens to
sustain themselves.
The soup kitchen tore down any biased opinion I had first carried in, since my thoughts were always influenced by my family, my peers, and society. These people were not crazy or lazy, as I have heard them been labelled. I learnt in such unfortunate turns of life, they marched into the wrong direction and all they needed was a helping hand to guide them back on track; and, for the meantime, the soup kitchen would suffice. Speaking to the visitors really changed my life. They've voiced how difficult it was to survive financially, especially because of the bad economic state that our nation is in, but in addition to that, they struggled because of the preconceived notions of laziness people carried about them, just like I once had. It would put them down and make them feel inferior and, as a result, I felt really dumb for having even had the slightest biased thought. Meanwhile, here we are as students, taking what we have for granted; eating all we can because we have the money to spend, and wasting all we don’t finish because it has no immediate effect on us. It made me ashamed of my own habits and made me more self-conscious about wasting my resources.
The soup kitchen tore down any biased opinion I had first carried in, since my thoughts were always influenced by my family, my peers, and society. These people were not crazy or lazy, as I have heard them been labelled. I learnt in such unfortunate turns of life, they marched into the wrong direction and all they needed was a helping hand to guide them back on track; and, for the meantime, the soup kitchen would suffice. Speaking to the visitors really changed my life. They've voiced how difficult it was to survive financially, especially because of the bad economic state that our nation is in, but in addition to that, they struggled because of the preconceived notions of laziness people carried about them, just like I once had. It would put them down and make them feel inferior and, as a result, I felt really dumb for having even had the slightest biased thought. Meanwhile, here we are as students, taking what we have for granted; eating all we can because we have the money to spend, and wasting all we don’t finish because it has no immediate effect on us. It made me ashamed of my own habits and made me more self-conscious about wasting my resources.
Written by,
Lim Kuan Ming
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