Outing to T3 on 14 June 2008

This week our group of volunteers from Mensa went out with the beneficiaries from the Handicaps Welfare Association (HWA). This time, the experience was different from the last because of the different group of volunteers and beneficiaries.


About the beneficiaries: They were mostly aged, in their late 50's and early 60's, except two young men who were in their 20's. There were 13 of them in total. Three of them had to move dependently in their wheelchairs as they were immobile. Others were mobile to some extent and thus were more independent. Through the whole trip to Changi Airport Terminal 3 (T3), all of them moved around in their wheelchairs despite T3’s keeping with the usual grand scheme of architecture in Singapore. They were all well educated and could communicate what was on their mind.

Two of them who were permanently dependent on their wheelchairs were traders and had their own interesting views on the current price rise. There were a couple of spouses who seemed to be made for each other (no pun intended) and then there was James, who though vocally challenged, enjoyed the trip as much as others and has only one love – bowling.

This time our volunteer group was very diverse, we had Rachel, Isabella , Clarence and Adriel who are school-goers. We had our usual YMCA representative, Valerie. We had Adi, Pearl, Chujia and Adriel’s parents too. Most of them have been members for quite some time but this was their first time volunteering with Mensa.

Once we were introduced at the HWA, we left in the buses for the T3. When we reached there, everyone started chatting with their buddies. We strolled around viewing the new MRT connection and the huge number of shops available – the chocolate shops especially. We took pictures in front of the fountain and spent quite some time idling at the viewing gallery. This is the place where everyone was speaking their hearts out. We were the silent audience listening to their stories; and when we were discussing stories among ourselves, the roles changed.

They were listening to a younger generation to get a feel of how things have changed. Finally, we had our lunch at the MacDonald’s before saying goodbye; how time passed out chit chatting, we never realised it.

By Subhajit Mandal
subhajit.iitkgp@mensa.org.sg