The world of Tzu Chi June 2021 (Vol.135)

TZU CHI 135 47 he would hurt himself. So, it had been more than a year since he had a haircut and his nails trimmed. Although the mother and son seemed to have gotten used to life like this, it saddened Saw Tin. She then discussed with Lih Jing about helping to tidy up the house and provide grooming for the mother and son. A celebrity-like haircut On December 12, 2020, Lih Jing, as coordinator of the clean-up mission, distributed the work among volunteers. The volunteers moved all the wire mesh, broken water dispenser, and cardboard boxes filled with paper, newspaper and junk to a corner, to further sort them out. Recyclable items were put aside, while non-recyclables were packed and thrown away. “Wow, that is really fast and efficient of you!” When Saw Yong saw half of the junk outside her door gone, she gave the volunteers a thumbs up and remarked, “Tzu Chi people are really capable! Tzu Chi people, good!” Meanwhile, Saw Tin brought Yee Meng out to the corridor to get his hair cut. The volunteer who specially participated to trim the mother and son’s hair was a professional hairstylist. In less than 30 minutes, Yee Meng got his hair done and moustache shaved; he looked fresh and energetic. Saw Yong was satisfied with her son’s renewed look and kept saying to him, “You look so much younger! You are handsome!” Next, the volunteers persuaded Saw Yong to get her hair cut too, but she shook her head, saying she wanted to keep her hair long. Mun Fei then took out his handphone and started searching for various celebrity short hairstyles to show Saw Yong, and told her that the volunteer would be able to style it the same way. Hearing that, Saw Yong gladly sat down on the chair to allow the volunteer to proceed. When she saw her short hair in the mirror, Saw Yong happily said that she was back to looking 30 years old once again. The volunteers then offered to help the mother and son trim their long nails. They accepted this delightedly. After grooming, they both looked refreshed and felt renewed. When Saw Yong went inside the house, she noticed that the volunteers had cleared away all the rotten food in the fridge, and the living room had become more spacious after broken furniture and junk were removed. She also observed that the volunteers were examining the electrical wires and replacing the faulty light bulbs. She could not help but tell Yee Meng, “Tzu Chi people are very capable, and are willing to help out. They only do good deeds. You have to learn from them.” When she saw Yee Meng assisting the volunteers in moving and carrying things around at their request, she told Saw Tin gratefully, “Look, when the volunteers ask Yee Meng for help, he does it diligently, but when I asked him for help, he never listened. You should ask him to do more work!” Seeing everyone working so hard, Saw Yong joined in and started sweeping the floor. While inspecting the junk, the volunteers found a package wrapped in newspaper. It turned out that it was Yee Meng’s wallet, and their identification cards were inside. Previously, Saw Tin had helped search for the identification cards when Saw Yong told her that they were missing, but she was unable to find them. Now that they had found the cards, Lih Jing put the wallet, medical record cards and some other important documents in a transparent plastic bag and reminded Yee Meng to keep these important things