They are good kids

They are good kids, these ITE students.

I got to know a boy during a Public Speaking workshop on friday. He's the typical punk kid, funky hairstyle, piercings on lower lip and on tongue. You know... that sort of kid with an attitude about him. Bumped into him at the bus-stop when the workshop ended, and had a small chat with him. He told me that he was going to visit his grandmother at the nursing home. What a filial kid. Visiting his grandma on a friday evening after school.

One of the boys was late for the workshop. When i smsed him to hurry come down, he replied that he was an YCK visiting his friend's tomb, and thus rushing down in a cab.

You know.. i HATE it when people view ITE students are scum or losers or deliquents of society. They are not. Though outwardly, yah, they try to rebel through the way they dress, the way they talk, and perhaps the way they carry themselves, but beneath that facade is a heart. Just another teenager facing the same pressures as every other teenager.. perhaps even more because of society's opinions of them.

I remember once when some students and I were shopping at Batam, this Malay girl (who've always given me this heck-care, bochup attitude) actually held up a t-shirt and asked me if it's nice. i asked her who it was for, and she said that it's meant for her sister. In fact, she was commenting that she hasn't found anything suitable for her parents! How sweet is that?

I love the ITE students i've been in contact with. Of course, maybe i've just been blessed to have gotten to know the good ones..

But i really hope that society will stop viewing these youths in such a negative light.

Cut them some slack. Give them a chance man.