Why am I taking the kids fishing?
On Monday evening, we have about 70 signed up for fishing at Bedok Jetty. We will leave at 5pm and find a spot for all on the jetty and begin fishing till about 10pm and then return to the parish by about 11pm latest.
Strangely, this idea of planning for a fishing trip came from the children themselves! At the recent parish camp in Bintan, Indonesia, with about 120 of our children, there was one night that they had a first taste of fishing off a jetty.
About 60 of them, and some for the first time of their lives, were dropping a line and a hook to try their hands at fishing. It was an interesting experience where they could be away from the modern gadgets of hand phones, computers and game consoles.
It was like going back to a more basic mode of existence where humans needed to fish to survive. Over the hours, our children were grouped into smaller groups to share a common line. They learned to speak to one another, strengthened their friendship and made new friends.
In a society like Singapore, sometimes, children need to learn and experience the simple joys of doing ordinary thing. We spent all of $70 dollars to get the fishing reels, hooks, line and sinkers! Maybe a few more dollars to buy bait on Sunday morning. But all in, this would be a fraction of what a single game console will cost to keep them occupied.
There is this proverbial saying that goes, “when one gives a man a fish, he eats for a day, but when you teach him to fish, he eats for life.”
Well, on Monday, it will be just that. We hope to be able to teach our children to fish! Not that they can fish all their lives but that they will discover as children that the good things of life need not cost an arm and a leg.
To spend a few hours just appreciating their friends and having a good time will not blow a hole in their pockets. More so, in this season of Christmas where the pull of the shopping malls and the glitz campaign of Orchard road and every entertainment outlet will tempt us to splurge, it is all the more pertinent to teach our young that self-worth, confidence and joy are to be found within.
The superficial façade of glamour and what is “in” will not be swallowed by our young and they will not fall for it hook, line and sinker! A few parents will also be coming along… those who are a bit more enthusiastic about fishing! Well, it will be good and this will also be an opportunity for some parental bonding time.
We will see how this goes and if there is enough interest, we will surely plan more of these fishing nights in the months ahead.
My hope is that our children will not only learn from the parish how to pray but also how to live. Spirituality and living are interconnected. If they do not learn early in life that much of life’s resources are found within oneself, then they will search for this elusive happiness that can lead them down the wrong path.
Our faith reassures the goodness of each and every child.
Our role as adults is merely to affirm this divine reality and support them as they discover new strength in themselves.
Let us pray that we can come back with some great stories of the fish that got away!