TSV is not just a team that does competitive inline skating only. When it comes to doing a part for charity, we are all united for the same cause - to touch lives with our small effort.

This year's Children's Day coincided with Touch Community Services' Flag Day. It is the 3rd year TSV is involved in this charitable event. We are glad to see new faces like Alert and Peiyu volunteering their services for the good cause. Once we got our tins and said our usual prayers, the team set off to roll up and down ECP to "capture" people to "dong" coins into our tins. We even prepared sweets to give out to children.

"Hey, those people on skates selling flags... so creative!" - Onlookers

"Aiya... no need to go down liao lah.. I combed the place already. You too late." - Daryl

Maybe its because it had been a year since I last did the Flag Day or maybe because of the recent NKF saga, I became more wary of approaching strangers. But once this fear was overcome, things were much easier.

"Hi Sir, would you like to donate to charity? Thank you and God bless."

Halfway through, I met Kim and we started pairing up to "ambush" the people. I told him my favourite haunt - the carpark. Reason one - No excuse to say they didn't bring money with them. Reason two - Usually they are with family. Reason three - They will donate to get rid of you so that they can get to the place they want - fast.

Our strategy is simple - I would do the targeting and Kim would do the approaching. As he is more agile, he reached the "target" much faster, instead of me, who might miss the "target" because the person might have gone to other side of the path. We met a very compassionate uncle who did not have money with him, but he insisted that we wait for him to get his family to donate. It was touching to see an elderly man with so much compassion. Probably he could have been touched to see a young boy on skates and doing his bit for charity on a hot Saturday afternoon.

Before we knew it, it was time to gather at the hawker centre for our "time-out". We excitedly compared the heaviness of out tins and hey, we were not too bad. Only need to try harder for the notes contribution. So we decided to work even harder after our desserts.

This time round, we spotted a young lady sitting by the pond. So we "crept" up to her and popped the million-dollar question. She gave us a puzzled look and asked, "How much?" She was referring to the stickers we had and we told her that it's entirely up to her what amount she wanted to give. I saw her 3 young children playing nearby and went over to paste the stickers on them and gave them the sweets. The lady (who turned out to be a Korean) donated $5. Yippee!

At the skating rink, we spotted Marcus and rushed forward to get him to contribute to our tins. Daryl even grabbed his wallet and took out the notes. Haha.. but it was all for the fun of it and Marcus sportingly donated for charity. Later I saw Uncle Fred and skated up to him for donation. He dropped a $10 note into my tin and that made him the biggest contributor for the day. Thank you Uncle Fred!

Soon it was time to gather the tins to be sent back to Touch Community Theatre. We concluded that it was a fruitful day for everyone. Though tired, we were happy to have spent the Saturday for a good cause. The members of the public were all enthusiastic in doing their part for charity as well. To all who have helped in one way or another, TSV just want to say a big Thank You.

Till we speed again, see you at East Coast Park!