As ordinary as he may seems to be, he is definitely not that kind of almighty superhero that saves the poor, struggling victims from the hands of evil ones in time. In fact, being widely known as Bamboo among our friends, Desmond has a thin yet disproportioned tall build, so much so that one would not find him very attractive at the first sight. However, despite his ordinary appearance, his existence is extraordinary to many of us who has worked and interacted with him. For not only he is an all rounder, able to assume and juggle his roles well, his sincerity and genuine concern for his friends touch many deeply. And of course, I am one of them.
I could still recall the very first time when I actually interacted with him was sometime back when we were working on a community project that was related to the theme of Christmas. Being a relative newbie in the committee, I was unfamiliar with many of the people there, with the exception of my friends. Nevertheless, being the eldest in the committee, he has guided us meticulously throughout the whole planning process and would spend more time doing extra preparation work when everyone left. Therefore, under his leadership our preparation before the event was smooth-sailing. No doubt that on the day of the event we encountered some problems, his composure and the way he assures us that everything will be fine really left an impact on me as I know that I was panicking at that moment. Through this interaction, the presumption of leaders being bossy was removed and for the very first time, I felt comfortable working with someone that is not of my age.
Other than being a charismatic leader, Desmond is an extremely wonderful friend that anyone could ask for. He is one of the rare ones that will always be there for his friends when they needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to pour their troubles to. I was initially someone who was troubled by problems and therefore, often filled with depression. Sometimes, the stress and pressure I felt from school and even from my family overwhelms me until the point where I would break down when no one is around.
I never imagined that there is a friend like Desmond who will always be the first to “detect” when I am feeling troubled or the first to lend support in anything I do. Because of him, I was able to pour out my troubles almost always and I felt comforted when he does extra miles to make me feel happy and optimistic regardless the situation that I was in. Of course, being a hero, other admirable qualities of him are his perseverance and his determination to commit. These can be actually seen in his involvement in community service.
Being a committee member of a community centre, I know that Desmond has full blast of passion to serve the community. The smile and satisfaction that you see from him whenever he interacts with the elderly or children really spurs me and encourages me to continue in community service, and I guess that was the primary reason why I continued to involve myself in community service despite heavy workload from school.
To me, Desmond is not only my hero, but a friend that will always be in my mind and a leader that I will always look up to.