Citizen Journalism Blog

It is a Malay sayings. Literally translated, it means ‘Shrimp behind the rock’. It means if someone works very hard on the exterior, there is surely some hidden motives behind it.

Some of my faith mentors, i.e. those people whom I look up to for my faith guidance, often asked me to pray for discernment. At times, when I want to embark on something, I have to ask myself if I am doing it for the people or am I doing it for self-glory. When I was volunteering at Mt. Miriam, I struggled through the seven months asking the question over and over again. Every morning when I was there, I usually start my voluntary work with a morning reflection in the chapel.

Funnily enough, I never really know why I spent seven months, going there obediently three times a week, facing the most depressing situation. At the end of it, I still do not quite know except that no one is doing it, so I may as well take it up. The only rewards I get are the satisfaction that somehow, my path has crossed with the hard journey of others and I take comfort that I did leave something behind for them. It could just be a smile, a gentle touch or an understanding look.

And the weird thing is, I am doing citizen journalism with the same kind of ‘shrimp’. It is purely my enjoyment of doing something for nothing. No one is going to thank me. No one is paying me. Yet, I feel good that I was there to meet those people whom I have met. The ones on the street. Without my camera and my mission, I probably will never dare to find the courage to reach out to them. I probably will feel freaky touching kids covered with lesions and tiny bumps all over their bodies. I probably will not even think of hugging an old lady who is a beggar and an albino.

So, with creative minds and some good compatriots, let’s take this to the next level. Unless one knows what their shrimp is, one cannot get down to remove the rock. My shrimp is to do something for people. The people is my priority. People doesn’t mean only poor, helpless, homeless people but people who deserves justice.