Jenny Wong and Cyrus
Intergeneration Journey
Jenny Wong:
Early education started in a Methodist School. Whereby every start of the morning was a "torch" to guide me to master grow and serve regardless of Who or Where I am. I was grateful to my mother, who was illiterate, and persistently queued overnight for a space in this school. School days were always fun!
Fast forward - In my early 30s, married with 1st boy, due to my husband's job posting, our family moved to Sydney. While my son was in school, I volunteered my time as a librarian in the school. Going to school together every day was such a joy with my boy.
Back in Singapore, in the year 2000, while my son was in Anderson Primary School, I volunteered in spearheading the "AngEL Reading Program". Subsequently, I was also appointed as the SAC Vice-Chairperson.
Proud to mention, With the team, we were tasked to organize a Fund-Raising Project in the year 2013, in which we managed to raise S$100K. This was the 1st maiden and most memorable achievement.
The year 2016 and 2018 - With the learning experience over the years, I was requested to spearhead 2 inaugural public concerts held @ Victoria Theatre, which we raised about $40K.
Education Tour to Cambodia - Bayon Village School
My volunteering journey and networking widened my window that connected me to Royal Highnesses from Cambodia. It was indeed the most glorified moment when I met them. Till today I am still connected within this Royal connection.
Cyrus:
I developed an interest for animals when my parents brought me to Bukit Timah Hill. We found a rainbow cocoon which emerged into a black-winged butterfly with little white spots. This intrigued a 5-year-old me a lot. I started appreciating the beauty of nature so much more. My dad kept Fishes as pets and from there, I also developed a love for them as well. I became super interested in a fish I saw in a documentary called “snakehead”. After that documentary, I found it in the fish shop and it became my very first pet. I loved watching it grow and it grew at an amazing rate.
I played basketball since I was 9 and it has been quite a big part of my life. It has taught me most of my life’s valuable lessons. I used to play with my brothers and subsequently, with my friends. Like many other sports, basketball is competitive. Being children, and afterward teenagers, our competitive spirit sometimes get out of control and possibly even violent. Thankfully, being competitive also gives you a constant drive to improve and with that, I managed to go from fighting everybody to trying to humble myself to learn from many others instead. It has helped me make many valuable friendships and even helped me to be more social in the sense that I am not afraid to approach strangers just to talk to them. One of my basketball idols whom I look up to, who went through a similar experience, is Giannis Antetokounmpo.
I picked the guitar just to play one song. That song was ‘More Than Words’ by Extreme. In the past, I never wanted to learn the guitar due to the initial pain you have to go through at the tips of your fingers. However, after a youthful heartbreak, it pushed me enough to give it a shot and today, I’m thankful I did. I have had loads of fun playing music with friends, coming up with new patterns and music, and it has become a great way to release stress and chill. Overall, it has really taught me that many adventures, experiences and dreams, are just a push away. Like how they say “No pain, No gain”. Till now, I still think back at this and remind myself whenever I feel like I’m going through any sort of suffering, that there is always a rainbow after a storm. The guitarist I really admire and aspire to be like is Sungha Jung.
Something I have learnt to take into consideration over the years is my mother’s advice. When I was young, I was known to be very accident-prone. There were two similar incidents where I ignored my mother’s word and I had to suffer the consequence… The first incident was when I followed my brother and sister, who were stepping on a circle of rocks. Since I was always accident-prone, my mother instructed me to get down before I slip. I proceeded to say in our Singaporean slang: “I won’t one”, only to immediately slip and land my forehead on one of the rocks. The second was when she told me the toilet was slippery and to be careful. Once again, I told her: “Won’t one”, and the first step in I slipped and fell on the back of my head. Even till today, it still happens quite often; I ignore her advice, and immediately I regret it. Whenever I ask her about it, she would tell me, “Mother’s intuition” or “I lived longer than you”. Now I know, Mother knows Best!
One of my favourite superhero versions is the Black Suit Spider-Man. This hero intrigued me the most as a kid because of his conflict of morals with Venom. Although at a point, he didn’t know Venom was influencing him, he only realised after he noticed he was doing things differently. What caught my attention when I was a kid, was that he gave up this incredible power, just so he could continue living by the words of his Uncle. At that time, I couldn’t understand it. I did not believe that his more violent change was wrong. That developed a huge part of my character as till today, I am still unsure what is really right or wrong/good or bad. I am convinced that there is no formula for this, there is no fixed answer, that everyone has their own perception of good and evil. Even now, I still hope to one day find an answer everyone would agree on. Even if it is impossible, I believe I will learn a lot in the process of chasing an impossible dream.
