Reflections on the Visit to Boys' Town (Br Joseph Zhang)

“He ain’t heavy, he is my brother.”

Last Tuesday afternoon, the seminary community visited Boys’ Town Singapore. Entering the compound, one of the first things that caught my attention was the statue of a man carrying a little one. I was wondering what this statues was about. It was when I got closer to the statue and I saw the words inscribed on it, “He ain’t heavy, he is my brother.”



Later on we were led to the conference room by one of the Gabrielite Brothers and a staff member. They gave us a brief introduction and showed us a short video clip on the activities of the Boys’ Town. From their introduction and the short video presentation, I got to know that this Catholic charitable institution was first established in 1948 by the Brothers of St. Gabriel to take care of those orphaned during the Japanese occupation.

Over the past sixty two years, Boys’ Town Singapore has grown into an institution dedicated to providing shelter, guidance, education, vocational training and practical living skills to youths. With social development and the rising of new forms of problems facing the youths, Boys’ Town now not only takes care of boys that are orphaned, financially needy but also boys who are troubled, who have behavioral or family-linked problems.

After hearing these, it dawned upon me that even in the present time we still need such charitable institutions; we still need people like the Brothers who dedicate their lives for the service of the underprivileged. However, the sad fact I got from them is that there are not many people in Singapore willing to respond to this vocation.

Boys’ Town forms a part of the National Council of Social Service but it is not funded by the Community Chest. It raises the majority of its fund. It is not easy. When I reflect why the Brothers take such great efforts to do so, I realize that it is because of their love for the underprivileged, because they see the poor and troubled as their brothers.

The motto of Boys’ Town “He ain’t heavy, he is my brother” reminds me Jesus’ love for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). Jesus loved us so much that he did not run away from the arrest, the passion, and the cross. Jesus loved us so much that he did not throw away the cross but carried it for us. He bore the cross for us because he calls us as his friend and as his brothers.



Are you willing to respond to God’s call to reach out and touch the lives of the troubled young people and to be the next one to say, “He ain’t heavy, he is my brother”?

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Samuel Lim on 30th Sep 2010.