It has been almost a month since we are back to Singapore. So what have we been doing all these while?
The first week:
Getting use to home, doing home ground orientation, we were having dinner with family and friends all the night. Then we had to push some over to next available date.
Second week:
I went for my annual army training for 2 weeks. It was a great catch up session with all my close friends.
Fourth week: start to look around for $$$ opportunity.
Meanwhile, Sam is taking her driving lessons.
When ever we meet our friends, we talked over our trip. Most of the questions they would ask were:
Where is the best place that we ever been to?
Which country is good for retirement?
How did we ship our bike from different continent? Some strangers asked me did we ride across the sea.
And the best Singapore question is: how much did we spend on the trip.
Many would only want to hear our answer ONLY (the technical answer, either one or zero) and the rest they would shut their ears. We felt so sad for them.
Some even asked about things that had not happened before: Mr. Goh, what if you travel on and the bike breaks down.
Well, we don’t really have an answer for that because that has never happened before. Most of the time I am able to rectify the breakdown. We are sorry for that guy because our answer for him will be the biggest obstacle for him not to go for such trip.
There is an issue in our life, which is settling down.
Many asked: so how? Have you settled down?
What is settling down? Having an 8-5 job and a regular pay? Have baby and have the phone ringing all the time about work and tell friends around that we are very very busy with work?
No!
We had always not settled down. The day that we really settle down would be the day we pass away. Even we pass away; family around us would need to find a place for us to settle down, that is to look for a cemetery. Then they have to pay the cemetery some fees for us to settle down. It would be never ending.
So what is settling down? Is it ok not to get an 8-5 job?
We have more meaningful things to do other than earning money. Now we are back home, life is simple. We look at other people, being so busy with their life, chasing for things that they do not need.
We do understand that some have to be busy earning money to feed their family.
We met a friend, he is so busy. Let’s give him a name: Rat.
Rat has secondary education and he is now working as a crane operator in a shipyard. He has to wake up at 4am and reach home at 8pm. He has to work 7 days a week. His wife is people that gamble a lot. His 2 children, 16 and 13 years old, are in their secondary education.
We know Rat’s family. The eldest daughter is having her O’level examination in 2 month’s time and her results were bad. When ever she finish school, she needs to come home to do some housework and get lots of scolding from Mrs Rat, so that Mrs Rat could go out for gambling sessions.
I asked Rat: why not give her tuition sessions?
Rat answer: you know, some people after getting tuition, their results become worst.
The only hope in their family is on Rat. The children needed guidance from the adult. Yet Rat is busy working earning money for the family which he think it is the most important thing to do at this moment.
As an outsider we see the problem easily.
Mrs Rat care about the gambling and her own hobby.
She took money from Mr Rat to gamble.
Mrs Rat need not care about the housework because the eldest daughter is handling it.
Why not she stops spending the unnecessary money for shopping and gambling?
Why not she lightens the burden of Mr Rat, then Mr Rat would have more time for the children.
What do you think?
Sam and I thought of giving the eldest daughter tuition to prepare for her examinations since the Rat family ‘couldn’t afford a tutor’.
But we stepped back because it would be a hole that would never be filled up. It’s like a black hole.
There is a root to these entire problem and we are studying all these cases.
Friends: what do you think?
1 comment:
crossing the world on a bike...
cool :) you learn about cultures, systems, how people in different spaces think, how we can be so different, yet how similar we are at the core as humans.. the deepest impressions.. , realisations in your life that hit you in the course of your journey.. nothing will be the same anymore. You cannot live the blind Singaporean life that the masses live by. It will be hard. So, either move away from Sgp, or figure out a way to still be yourself without getting sucked in by system. The cool thing is that, people who think like this exist, but are a minority. I would like to meet more of such people. We live the rare 'bohemian' life here. I was on the verge of saying f*** Singapore, I don't belong. But someone changed my mind, and i realised, because i don't think like the blind masses, i have much to contribute. But only as long as our government continues to cherish me more than a group of foreign talent(Banananians & non-Banananians) who deliver terrible quality.
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