I had the usual BUSY BUSY BUSY wkends (and wkdays as well) but for this week, i hosted a couple of birthday parties for the older children, some turning 9 years old. Sometimes parents call and ask if their children about 9 years old will like to watch the show. Well, yes! I of course, treat the 9 year olds very differently when talking to them – no talking down of course!

In fact the last show was hosted at a pretty special place. It was called ‘Firestation’ and was located at the former Bukit Timah Firestation. Unlike the other usual places, this party was held at an uber cool Gastrobar!

I hosted the party for Vera and her friends who were extremely sporting! They really enjoyed the whole set of games and had great fun – High School Musical music and Hannah Montana were great hits as usual! The only thing more surprising was when everyone ran off just before we got to the grand finale – ‘Balloon Bomb’! Usually i only have kids running towards me, not the other way round! In any case, they soon found that it was fun and not scary, so everyone enjoyed themselves.

That’s Vera there on the right – HAPPY BIRTHDAY Vera! I do so hope that i can see you again next year too!

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While the week was good, i read disturbing news on the newspaper which i alerted my boss and close friend Ning to immediately:

The NewPaper - Magician, 68, molests 12-year-old apprentice

This was more than just disturbing but also, horrifying news to me. Being in the industry, i know that cases like these have actually happened in other parts of the countries before, but never in Singapore. I never dreamt that it would happen right here! Children trust us simply because they like us but scumbags (i apologise for the strong language, but this is warranted, in this case) like these had to exist. The boy is only 12 years old and it must have had been so totally awful. I really hope that he can put this behind him after accepting counselling help.

In fact, immediately after the report was out, on the very same day, i had parents asking me about this, and actually telling me that they felt safer going with me for their chosen entertainer simply because i am a female and they felt more confortable and reassured after talking to me. I’m really glad that is so, and i’d urge parents to choose your entertainers wisely too. You can never be more careful for this!