why should we pay for you to enjoy yourself?

thanks to sunshine youth organization,
they help us write a full press release to major press.
hope this will bring us somewhere....
at least, people wont think or assume that
we're gonna go there to have fun.
because........................

First of all, some of us has applied since year 2006,
a long process, involving online application, group examination,
individual interviews, attending activities, and trying our best,
to get that few privilege spots just to be able
to give what we can give, our strength, our spirit,
to an event that we could only dream of.
and its now a dream come true for all of us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i find it a real conflict within myself,
whenever the idea of looking for sponsors
or seeking extra funding seems to stop skeptical me,
from trying to even approach anyone for kind assistance.
because of the negativity that some will bestow upon us
"why should we pay for you to enjoy yourself?"
is a question that i've come across so many times,
i have master the art of just smile and accepting
their misunderstanding, that was because i was alone.
now im not alone, there are 10 of us from malaysia,
and a few thousand more from all over the world,
regardless of age & nationality, we are going to go there,
as unnamed, unknown, volunteer who will try our best,
to ensure the games are as smooth as possible,
and come back feeling like we had the best meal ever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
people cheer for athletes who trained hard,
and dream to break world records,
people respect coaches, trainers, national officers,
delegates who represent their countries,
people....who may or may not notice,
the full bin being emptied by a boy in a uniform,
people...who may or may not notice,
a girl cleaning the toilet wearing the same uniform,
people...who may or may not notice,
a group of teenagers, running around with bottles of water,
people...who may or may not notice,
a group of young adults, assisting the judges
in counting the scores & results & copying it rigorously,
people...who may or may not notice
a group of happy and smiley faces,
who will check the entrance tickets,
and welcome all to the games,
people... who may or may not notice,
the same girl who stood at the souvenir store,
from 8am to 8pm with the same courteous smile & service,
people...who may or may not notice,
a multilingual volunteer trying his best to
guide the spectators to their seat,
people..who may or may not notice....
instances & real existence of volunteers
who will give their all, without knowing what is next,
scolding, appreciation, smiles, anger, anything,
they are the invisible front soldiers, ever prepared
before the games, during the games, after the games,
and most of all, they are part of a bigger operation, so important
...that imagine if there is a day WITHOUT VOLUNTEERS,
and organizers have to PAY every single person who is involved,
let's count, if RenMinBi 1 for 1 volunteer, there are 100,000 volunteers,
multiply by 30 days of games preparation, and factor in,
all their flight tickets, accommodation, meal, transportation cost,
wow, i wanna be that person who holds that money!
my point is, volunteer, we bao sai, we sapu semua, we cover all,
we are what we can give, if we have RM1000, we can go this far,
if we have RM5000 we can go even further, but we have more,
we will be there and give all our skills, knowledge, energy & patience,
it will really only take someone to understand GIVING,
to be able to GIVE to someone who will eventually GIVE.
you pass on your giving, to someone who will pass it on to another.
so when i hear that line now,
"why should we pay for you to enjoy yourself?"
hmmmmm, i say, thank you very much, have a good day.