Let's talk

I usually smile at the office cleaning lady and and thank her whenever she stops by to clear my wastepaper basket around 6pm every day. Two days ago, she stopped by my desk and started telling me about how a fellow colleague of hers took the tong with which she uses to grab the rubbish but did not tell her about it. She said that she turned up for work that day and discovered that her tong was missing and told her manager. She then asked me rhetorically why she would bother to take the tong home and forget to bring it to the office, as her manager suggested she might have done. As well as why her colleague would take her tong because that was akin to theft. She was quite upset over the incident. I was bewildered because this was the first time she had spoken to me for so long, but I knew she wanted to vent her frustrations. So I listened. She left a while later.


Yesterday, I took the transport van home. The driver started talking to me, and so I asked him about himself as well as his family. He's Malaysian and has Singapore PR status but does not want to become a citizen here because he does not think highly of our government. He runs his own vehicle repair workshop in Johor Baru (most of his customers are Singaporeans), and rides his motorbike to Singapore every night around 10pm to help his brother out with his night transport business. He usually takes about three transport trips per night, and earns S$500 per month from his brother. But he said that on days when there is heavy rain, he would call up his brother and tell him that he will not ride up to Singapore.

He has one son, 27, and two daughters, 23 and 19. His wife and children are Singapore citizens. He owns a home in Singapore and has a place in Johor Baru near the Second Link. I told him that once his youngest daughter starts working, he can look forward to retirement. He just smiled. I asked him whether his son was interested in his business, and he replied no and that perhaps when he dies, his son may then want to take over. Before I knew it, the van had already reached my void deck. He said bye and happy new year and told me to look out for his brother the next time I took transport because his brother also has a shaved head. I looked at him and asked him to drive safely and wished him a good night.

Such encounters always leave a deep impression on me because I experience the richness of human communication. I don't know why (I'll ask God) but people seem to open up to me easily and I seem to be able to talk to people easily as well most of the time. It's a gift that I'm very thankful for because I realise that makes me unique in a sense, and offers me the chance to lend a listening ear to people in need or the chance to know about another person's life and how he/she is getting along and God's hand in his/her life. And I learn so much more about life in general through their words and their experiences.