Have not been updating my blog for a while. This is because I have been busy with relocating my residence. Yes I am shifting to a new flat and it’s a smaller one. I am still in the midst of the relocation but I am finding time to share what I have observed over the last couple of days.
Firstly, last Friday when I was taking a lift down from my new flat (I went to check out the surroundings again), an old man (let’s call him senior) came into the lift with me. He looks like he is about seventy years old and when we reached the ground level, the lift opened and the senior gestured me to exit the lift first.
Now, this is a little strange as normally, Singaporeans like to do things ’first’. That’s why we are called kia-su (meaning afraid to lose in dialect) people.
Anyway, I realized later that the senior probably gestured me to exit first because I was holding on to a portable trolley and perhaps he was afraid that I will attack him from behind.
And as I walked home with this thought in my mind, I asked myself why was the senior afraid? Singapore is a safe city with low crime. But low crime does not mean no crime. And he is simply taking precautions not to be a victim. And it is absolutely alright for him to behave this way for his own safety.
But as I think about it, I also asked myself “When I grow old, do I want to live with such doubt? How can I prevent such fear that one day, someone may attack me because I am old and unable to retaliate?”
The answer is obvious. If I can afford, I will choose not stay in a public housing estate. Now don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against staying in public housing. Our government had done an incredibly good job upgrading the livelihood of residence in public housing over the years and I have also lived in public flats since I was born.
My concern is if I continue to stay here, I will one day be afraid just like the senior. And I do not wish for that to happen.
So what’s the solution? To work hard so that I can afford my own house. Therefore, I am determined to work hard to achieve this goal. To have a house of my own one day. When? I will give myself 10 years from now.
It so happened that my cousin had just shifted to a terrace house in Sembawang. Though the place is out of town, the house was a huge four storey building. What’s more, there is a lift in that house itself. I was definitely impressed when I visited her over the weekend. This visit reinforced my wish to own a house. And I told my wife that one day, we will have a house bigger than that.
And I will do whatever it takes to make my dream come true.
Why do you choose to assume the worst of the old man? Just so you can add on to your list of arguments for ‘owning a house’? Can it not be a case of he wanting you to go first because he knew he was slow??
Hi Passerby,
Yes, it can be a case that he wanted to let me go first out of courtesy. And there are instances that some seniors greet us with a smile and even hold the lift for us when they see us carrying heavy stuff. And it feels great to live in a friendly neighborhood. Having said so, I do have different encounters with some of them. Some are friendly, and some are afraid to share the lift when they are alone. My guess is they just want to be safe (and I think that the ‘trolley’ probably increased the element of fear on this encounter). I am not saying that it is wrong for them to feel this way. What I am saying is I do not wish to live in such fear when I grow old and have no ability to defend myself.