8 years ago, Tzu Chi volunteers connected with the residents of Shun Fu through monthly collection of recyclables, which led to the establishment of a recycling station in the community. The volunteers established a strong rapport with the residents after many years of close interaction. A “Mid-Autumn Thanksgiving Night” was held at Thomson-Shunfu RC in gratitude for the latter’s recognition and support over the years. All the residents were invited to celebrate Mid-Autumn festival and the message of Great Love was shared with them. Picture:Over 200 Shunfu residents came for the celebration. Basking in the moonlight and the warm atmosphere, the residents and Tzu Chi volunteers had a great time together.

Every resident who attended the Thanksgiving Night celebration was warmly welcomed by Tzu Chi volunteers.

In order to add a traditional flavour to the event, lanterns with riddles printed in English and Chinese were hung up. Both the volunteers and residents were invited to solve them. The venue was infused with joyous festivity.

Unity Sign Language Team presented “Great Love Illuminates the World”; the beauty of Tzu Chi sign language warmed the hearts of the audience.

20 children from Shun Fu presented “Little Sunny Smiles” after being trained by Tzu Chi volunteers.

In the group activity “Everybody plays a part in protecting the environment”, the volunteers appealed to the residents to do their part in environmental protection.

In a skit on environmental protection, the volunteers engaged in humorous dialogues which conveyed to the residents that environment protection is not merely about collecting recyclables; it is also important not to be wasteful as many things can be used.

Ms Doris Chan, Vice Chairman of the Residential Committee, commented that the event was a success as even non-Chinese residents had come to join the celebration and learn more about traditional Chinese festivals.

Mr Tan Lay Keat was so touched by the night’s performance that he participated in the recycling activity on 14th Sept and learned how to sort out the recyclables.

8 years ago, Tzu Chi volunteers got connected with the residents of Shun Fu through monthly collection of recyclables. Thus, a recycling station was set up. The volunteers have established a strong rapport with the residents over many years of close interaction with them. In order to express their thanks to the residents, Tzu Chi held a “Mid-Autumn Thanksgiving Night” with the Thomson-Shunfu Residents Committee in gratitude for the latter’s recognition and support over the years. They invited all the residents to celebrate Mid-Autumn festival and took the opportunity to share the message of Great Love with them. Two “Love Spreading” sessions in which the volunteers visited the residents and extended their invitations warmly were also held before the actual event.

After interacting with the residents for nearly 8 years, the volunteers were no longer strangers to them. However, they were pleasantly surprised and touched when the volunteers came to invite them to join the celebration. They had never thought that Tzu Chi people would feel so thankful towards them and treasure their simple acts of sending recyclables to the recycling station so much. The residents were able to feel the genuine sincerity of the volunteers deeply. Having received the invitation twice, they responded enthusiastically. About 270 residents expressed their wish to attend the Mid-Autumn Thanksgiving Night with their families.  

On the evening of 13 Sep, the residents, holding the old by the arm and leading the little ones by the hand, entered the venue as the compere sang: “The moon shines like a golden lemon in the sky. We are one - Tzu-Chi-spirit; Shun-Fu-love” in the background. The volunteers led them to the seats which were filled up quickly. Mid-Autumn Thanksgiving Night commenced in a harmonious and joyous atmosphere under the moonlit sky.

Besides group activities and lantern riddles, a video on the international relief work of Tzu Chi -footprints of Great Love - was also shown. The lantern riddles which were prepared by the volunteers came in 2 languages-English and Chinese. Both the young and old participated actively as they tried to solve them. This activity was an ice-breaker which helped to fill the occasion with festivity.    

Ms Doris Chan, Vice Chairman of the Residents Committee, supported the night’s event greatly. Having come into contact with Tzu Chi in a previous event, she was moved by Tzu Chi’s long-term commitment to the environmental protection mission at Shunfu and the hard work shown by its volunteers. As Ms Chan found the programme very fascinating, she stayed until the event ended even though she had initially planned to leave early.  

She said that it was the first time she worked with Tzu Chi to organize an activity for the residents in Shun Fu and felt that it was a success. It was also heartening to see non-Chinese Singaporeans joining the celebration. She mentioned that she would do her best to support Tzu Chi if they need her assistance in the future. “Tzu Chi does not differentiate people based on race or religion, so I feel that it is a very good organization,” said Ms Chan.    

One of the programme highlights was “Little Sunny Smiles” presented by over 20 children from the neighbourhood. These little bodhisattvas, aged between 3 to 11, had never learned Tzu Chi sign language before. Their trainer, Sister Zhang Xian Ya, said that only about 8 or 9 children were present in the first practice session. Some of them were even forced to come by their mothers and were unwilling to cooperate. However, the volunteers were not discouraged and did their best to train them. Gradually, the little bodhisattvas were able to concentrate better. They enjoyed learning finally and their parents also thought that it was a very meaningful activity. In the second practice session, the volunteers were very surprised and happy to see 15 children in the class.         
 
Their efforts were not in vain. After a few weeks of practice, the children put up a lively performance. Their endearing smiles and gestures delighted the audience, who gave them a rapturous round of applause. After they had performed, the children even said that they would like to have more sign language lessons and wished to have the chance to perform again.     
  
Mdm Zeng, aged 54, had two grandchildren who participated in the performance. She supported the activity strongly and never let her grandchildren miss any of the practices. She felt that we should help children develop the right attitude from young, especially the importance of contributing to the society and hoped that her grandchildren could learn more from Tzu Chi. Her eyes reddened while she was watching the video which gave an introduction to Tzu Chi’s missions as she was deeply moved by Tzu Chi’s spirit of great love. She was very impressed with the night’s programme and even asked her son to rush down to watch it. She hoped that Tzu Chi would organise many more similar events in the neighbourhood in the future.   

The last item on the programme was a skit which conveyed the message: “count your blessings, cherish them and cultivate more blessings”. Sister Zhang Xian Ya and Brother Xiong Fu Xiang played the roles of grandparent and grandchild respectively. Their humorous dialogues explained that protecting the environment does not merely involve collecting rubbish; it is also important not to be wasteful as many things can be reused. Lastly, Tzu Chi volunteers urged the residents to join the recycling activity the next day (14 Sep) and take action to “beautify the environment with their clapping hands”.        

Several new faces turned up for the recycling activity on the following day. Mdm Lau Khueng Huah and her daughter were among them. Having lived in Block 312 along Shun Fu Road for over 10 years, Mdm Lau was not aware of Tzu Chi’s frequent presence nearby. After attending the Mid-Autumn Thanksgiving Night, she specially brought her daughter to the recycling station to help out and learn from the volunteers. The mother and daughter team worked very diligently.  

Tan Lay Keat, who had lived in Shun Fu for more than 20 years, learned that Tzu Chi had done many years of environmental protection work in the neighbourhood at the Mid-Autumn Thanksgiving Night too. He specially went to the recycling station to find out more. After the volunteers had explained how they did recycling work to him, he was very surprised to know that there was such a wide variety of recyclables and even the cardboard tubes of toilet rolls can be recycled. Mr Tan immediately began helping in sorting paper recyclables and said that he would bring his family next time.         

Having done recycling work in Shun Fu for 8 long years, Tzu Chi volunteers are strongly committed to the mission of environmental protection. Over the years, they had made a painstaking effort to promote and carry out the mission. They were full of gratitude and joy as they harvested the fruits of their labours. Now, they need to extend their reach and touch the hearts of more residents in the neighbourhoods. Love knows no boundary. We need to lead more people to the path of love (for Mother Earth and humanity) and let this love continue to blossom from one generation to another.