Next Year, You Will Play the Flute

My 74 year old uncle likes to tell people that he is "47" backwards. He has a wonderful sense of humor, and he loves to play music. Every year when my father's side of the family gathers, you can always find him plunking out tunes on the piano.

This year, he brought a Chinese flute to our Chinese New Year Eve dinner. He sat next to me on the piano bench and asked in Chinglish if I knew any Malaysian national songs. I hummed one out and he played along. Amused, I clapped loudly and with gusto, even though his playing had been a bit labored. Smiling, he went on to play me about every song he knew.

Taking a break, he started to tell me how the past year had been a difficult one health-wise, both for his wife and himself. "You never know long God needs you here. Once you've done what He's needed you to do, you go back." Gesturing towards the sky. I quickly replied that it was definitely not his time yet, and that he still had much to do.

The next day, we gathered for Chinese New Year. He was wearing a little Yankees baseball cap and had is flute tucked in his belt. Approaching me, he brought out a second flute. Written in green permanent marker was, "from Uncle 7" along with the date. He said, "practice often. Next year, it will be you playing the flute..."

It was a moment of mixed emotions, but the beauty of the moment far outweighs the sadness. We played together, slowly blowing one note at a time, as the relatives looked on with smiles.

Without You, Futsal For Flood Relief Couldn't Have Happened

Adopted from the HELP Law Society Presidential Blog

Friends of the Law Society,

To date, we have raised RM4,339.45 in the name of flood relief! We have come such a far way since January 1st, when Peter Hii asked what we could do for the flood victims, the day Jia Liang Lee suggested a futsal tournament.

In the beginning it was about our family affected by the flood, our classmates, our department. The circle of care grew wider. Students and staff of HELP were hurting, the city was hurting. When the flooding hit south Malaysia, we were all affected. This tournament is just a microcosm of this widening circle of care. All it took was one idea, and it grew to encompass 9 departments, 30 volunteers, 128 futsal players, 3 generous sponsors and incredible support from the community.

The early days of planning really set my enthusiasm for the tournament on high. We needed RM500 to cover the cost of the location. I told them this, and I left a bucket in each class. The law department students raised the 500 in two days because they believed. They believed in this cause, they believed in the tournament and they believed in me. We have gone on to raise RM 778.45 in total from our small department of just over 300. I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. I hope our tournament has done your generous contributions the justice they deserve.

The more speeches I made, the more community members I met, and the more days I wore that "Ask me about FUTSAL" name tag, the more support we received from outside of the department. To date, we have collected donations amounting to RM1,150 from the community. This does not include the RM150 voucher we received from Chilis. This does not include the RM3,500 worth of merchandise that FIGOS sponsored. This does not include the RM350 worth of parquet court hours Sports Plaza donated. If it was, we would have received RM5,150 worth of support from the community.

The tournament in and of itself welcomed 16 teams to donate RM120 to MERCY Malaysia. 16 teams stepped forward without knowing what the prizes were. They came because they wanted to play futsal and they wanted to do it for charity. These teams came from 9 departments, and their names were Ara United 7, Usi Malai Doko FC, CAPARO, A-Q!, Silent Punishers, PETPETENATORS, TORNADO, Estella, Indomie Telur, Soul Survivor, January, JUMBO, Slayer, Pompeii FC, Youth of Africa, and Joga Helpito. 8 of you walked away with gold around your necks, but 128 of you have gold inside your hearts. You raised RM1,920. With the donut and drink sales you and your spectators also supported, the tournament raised RM2,511.

So far, I have been centering our tournament's achievements in how much money we were able to raise. While this was an explicit purposes of Futsal for Flood Relief, it was not the only one. I have envisioned this tournament as being the magnet that draws us together as one beautiful HELP community. I have imagined it as a place where we can create connections, and strengthen existing ones. We have done it. Now each of you have at least 120 new faces you recognize. 120 new people that you can play futsal with. And many many more than 120 new people you know have amazing hearts of charity.

But we have more to speak about. We could have had an idea, we could have had teams, and we could have had prizes and a location, but that still would not have been enough for a tournament. This tournament could NOT have happened without our volunteers who donated their SKILLS and their TIME which is just as good, if not more valuable, than money.

• REFEREES: Venon Tian, Praevin, Jia Liang Lee, Aaron Chen, Joseph U, Chong Jyn, Richard and honorary Kirsty Lim!
• SCOREKEEPERS: Charlaine, Dolly, Elsa and Alina
• THE DAY OF: Sara, Adrian, Aishah, Reuben, Chiam, Kishore, Noel, Nadia, Shahriz, Archanah, Alfred, Leroy, my four A-levels ladies: Laura Low, Jessie Lim, Kar Ying, and Khai Yaan, my beautiful January donut sellers: Vincent (Shing Wei and Sarah leading), Wilson and Peter Hii.
• THE PRE-TOURNAMENT DAYS: Mr. Amir, Ms. Mala, Mr. Christopher of DSA, Mr. Loh of DSA, Mr. Murali of DSA, Usham, Vishal, Sam, Dad and Mom, Kirsty, Hui-Lynn, Nadia, Shahriz, Ms. Jaspal, Sara, Mr. Azmi of Maintenance and Divan, my first volunteer.
• MY FUTSAL EXPERTS: Danni Rais, Jia Liang Lee, Leon Chan, Venon, Sam, Usham and Rajiv.

To all of the well-wishers, your support has sustained me in the darkest hours when I felt the tournament would not be able to go on. With your encouragement, through words and or actions, I was able to recenter myself time and again - - this is for flood relief, this is for community. We have achieved both. Together.


I love each of you so much.


Futsal Fever,
Michelle

* You can find 196 photos from my camera HERE.