I follow cricket passionately. I am only upholding the family tradition of getting up early to watch the Benson & Hedges championships, the Boxing Day test match, so on and so forth. Nowadays I don’t really watch all matches (too much cricket) but I am always aware if there is a match going on, keep tab on the scores etc.
Given this background I jumped at the opportunity to volunteer at a live cricket match. It was an engagement activity for migrant workers – initiated by Big at Heart and supported by Trekkers@Heart. So, on a Sunday afternoon, we went to Kaki Bukit Recreation Centre, hoping to engage the workers on their weekly off. We were unsure how many workers would turn up. In fact, our Plan B was - If workers don't turn up, we will play 🙂
But we were in for a surprise. We did not meet workers who were looking for some engagement but a group of workers who were ready to compete!!! Though they did not have the full sports gear, they had sports tees with their name printed on it. I was one of the scorers and believe me their competitiveness put me under pressure. After every over, they would come asking ‘Score how much?’ They picked up the revised rules quickly and adapted their game skilfully. What was to be a laid-back engagement activity turned into a full-scale competitive match in no time. Very soon more workers joined in, and we could conduct a match between 2 groups of migrant workers.
The workers were so focussed on the game. A lemonade and snacks stall was arranged for them But they did not want to have anything between innings. They kept saying ‘play, play.’ And yet they were so sweet. They had promised me that they will hit the ball in the direction where I was sitting. In fact, one of the workers sat next to me and said – ‘Ball come here, I catch. You don’t worry😊’
That afternoon showed me one more time what makes me follow sport so zealously – sport made the workers forget about the stressful life, you could see pure joy on their faces, it brought together people from different strata and everyone had a wonderful afternoon, a satisfying afternoon!!!
More photos here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.504168265177146&type=3