28th September was not another boring day like any other day. It was when the whole of the Secondary Ones had a CIP-event at Woodlands Waterfront where we were supposed to go there and pick up litter.
It all started out as a bright day. I assembled at the quadrangle with my fellow classmates, although I was quite certain that the assembly area was supposed to be at the parade square, but oh well, since the organiser, Mrs Lee Ai Hoon was already at the quadrangle so I guessed they could have change the assembly area. Seeing that it was almost time for everyone to gather, she used a loudspeaker to announce to those Secondary Ones who were still in their classrooms to quicken up and assemble. When it was 3pm, attendance was taken. Shockingly, there were still students, even from my class, still streaming in. It was quite obvious from their perspiration that they were playing Basketball at the Basketball Court and forgot all about the time.
Due to the latecomers from my class, my class was not amongst the first to depart for Woodlands Waterfront. Well, looking at the bright side, at least we can follow the class in front, without the need to know the directions to Woodlands Waterfront. We were told to walk in twos and to close up the gaps, so that we can reach the destination faster. Soon, the rule was getting more loose and loose. There were humongous spaces in between each other and no one saw the need to close up the gaps, resulting in the formation in which we walked chaotic. My partner was Wai Weng. To keep boredom at bay, I decided to play a word game with my partner. It was a 20-minutes walk to Woodlands Waterfront.
Upon reaching our destination, the already exhausted us were nonetheless exhilarated. We took a class photograph before we set off to our base camp. I failed to see the point in taking a class photograph, but it did not affect me much anyway. My form teacher, Mr Poh, gave a few students, including me a black plastic bag, to store all those litters that we picked up. We were also given each a pair of gloves to equip due to hygiene practice. We were given a rather big area to scavenge for the litter. Wai Weng was the only guy who was loyally sticking with me to share the bag that I had till he joined some female classmates playing with a plastic container lid which they found on the ground as litter, treating it as a Frisbee.
I knew that the purpose of this event was to pick up litter, not to play around, therefore I did not join those people playing Frisbee but stayed headstrong on the concerning issue of littering. There were some strange-looking objects that I found strewn all over the area, while some of the items are strange to be found in such an area, like a small golf ball. I found it weird that the litter I found most was these cable-wires. They were not even fastened. Like who in the right mind would bother to throw so many of these cable-wires? Nonetheless, I still picked those up and threw into the garbage bag. What was more appealing to me was that some female classmates were having a whale of a time, taking photographs of themselves jumping up and down. So picking litter became playing Frisbee and taking photographs, well, that was certainly a ''marvellous'' job done by some of my classmates.
Time should stop proving that it can fly. In no time, it was already time for us to head back to school. Well, I was certain that the job we were supposed to do here was not really complete, but teachers were rallying us back, I had no choice but to succumb to ''fate''. We were given a five minute break where we were allowed to go toilet to empty our bladder, buy drinks to quench our thirst or we could even play on the equipment at the Woodlands Waterfront. We then headed back to school.
On the way back, I suggested with my partner maybe we could sing some songs to forget about the tiredness of our legs. But this idea was negative, far too negative. Some of my classmates heard my suggestion and started singing those cheers that we sang during Secondary 1 Orientation Camp. You know, once they start, it's hard to ever put an end to it. They threw their hands up and jumped like there was no tomorrow, singing like they had never sung before. Luckily our form teacher was at the back while we were far ahead of them, or else we would have gotten scolded severely. Well, I decided to drop out of the bunch of crazy friends, as I did not want to join them acting like hooligans. We were wearing our PE attire, part of our school uniform. Not really an awesome idea to act like one. Some passer-bys were giving us shocked expressions as they watched my friends act insanely in dismay. I tried to stop my friends, but they ignored me. I was as guilty as sin because I was the one who initiated this scene. They even chased each other and tweaked some of the cheer lyrics, making it sound a little offending.
We reached school after what seemed like an eternity. We headed to our classrooms where Mr Poh accounts for everyone's presence before dismissing us. Many of us were tired, while some still quite active, shouting across the classroom to communicate with each other. Everyone, including the teachers all agreed that the walking was more tiring than picking up litter. After everyone was present, we were dismissed. We dragged our feet, like there was a tonne worth of weight on our legs, moving small steps by small steps.
Although this event has met its purpose of raising awareness of the concerning issue of litter, and also providing the Secondary Ones some CIP hours, I felt that there was still room for improvement for this event. What if it rains halfway when we are picking for litter? Do we run back? Or do we wait till the rain stops under a shelter? I feel that all these details should be included in the briefing for this CIP event, to make it more organized and less chaotic should the unexpected occurs. Maybe, the teachers should also participate in the picking of litter instead of sitting under the sheltered area, to increase the closeness between the teachers and the students and meanwhile keep a closer eye to the students, restricting their area for going astray from purpose, allowing students to stay on task. The school could also charter buses to transport students to and fro, because the event is so short that more time was spent on walking there than doing the actual task. Alternatively, the school can also schedule a date where there would be more time for the event. Nonetheless, this event can be considered a successful one; I hope there would be more of such meaningful events, enriching students of more knowledge.
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