Lives have been lost to an unexpected natural calamity

5 June 2015 was meant to be a day of celebration. The 28th SEA games opening ceremony was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. that evening but 12 hours earlier, at 7.15 a.m, something untoward happened at Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, East Malaysia.

A group of primary school students from Tanjong Katong Primary School were making their way up Mount Kinabalu when an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 struck. At the end of that 30-second moment when the earth shook, six students, one teacher and an adventure guide perished. To-date, one student and a teacher are still unaccounted for.

The pain of losing these young children, who were mostly 12 years in age and their teachers, struck at our heartstrings. Our nation mourned their loss with our state flag flying at half mast on 8 June 2015. Sadly, this was the second national mourning in less than 3 months this year.

I visited Tanjong Katong Primary School on the morning of 8 June 2015 to pay my tribute. The messages pinned onto 3 large notice boards speak volumes of the impact of the loss. Singapore is one of the most costly places in the world to raise a child and Singaporean parents are exceptionally doting on their children. It was simply heart-wrenching to forcefully take these children away forever from their parents without even a word of goodbye. 

Those with children will probably be more sensitive to the acute pain of the grieving parents. My heart sank and rose again umpteen times. This fateful trip has drawn both sympathy and ire. There are those who question the wisdom of such trips for primary school children whilst there are others who see that the benefit of such activities outweigh the risks involved.

Whatever it is, lives have been lost to an unexpected natural calamity but there are certainly lessons to be drawn somehow. For those who never saw the light of day again when the earth shook on 5 June 2015, may they rest in eternal peace.

Walkabout in Tampines on 24.05.2015

NSP visited Tampines again this morning in their walkabouts. The familiar sound of a workout song drew me to the empty space near Blk 201C where a group of people, young and old, were doing zumba with a Health Promotion Board banner on the "National Healthy Lifestyle" campaign standing at a corner. The market was alive with the Sunday crowd and the stalls were doing a roaring business.

An elderly man sauntered up to me and expressed his pessimism about the future of alternative parties. He did not think they could do much especially when the ruling party has become so rich and strong. Another elderly resident approached me to highlight the concerns of people in his age group. He was troubled about the spiralling housing costs and could not accept that flat prices have reached hundreds of thousands when salaries for ordinary folks have not increased by the same.

One other elderly resident shared with me about the Pioneer Generation Package. He said he has given feedback to the PGP ambassadors and queried the partial coverage of medicine. He felt that all types of medicine should be covered and wanted to see the change.

There were also concerns about the weakening of our value system and how things will turn out for Singapore when our traditional values are not effectively transmitted. All the feedback from the ground was instructive.

Walking the ground is necessary for all those who aspire to understand the issues that ordinary folks are concerned with. At the end of the day, isn't politics about people?

A Visit to Toa Payoh on Saturday 16.05.2015

Old housing estates like Toa Payoh never lose their appeal. In fact, they age like vintage wine. Standing at the bend of tree-lined Lorong 7 which was utterly free of traffic, I could instantly feel the inviting quiet charm of this old satellite town.

Ron works at the Care Centre and was busy entertaining the elderly residents at the void deck. A bunch of NTU students had come to host some games and the happy folks were competing to give the right answers. The Centre has a kitchen and cooks 2 meals a day for those who are on their needs list. Project Awareness blessed the elderly residents with 40 boxes of Perk Beverages.

Mr. Kok was stressed out by his unpaid medical bills and expressed his frustration that he could not use his CPF monies to pay them. Born in 1949, he did not know at all whether he was eligible for the Pioneer Generation medical benefits. He was also worried sick about his imminent surgery to remove his bile and thought he might just die. After hearing some reassuring words, his mind was finally at ease. Initially reticent about receiving any favours, he finally agreed to accept some rations because he could not work and had no income. Noticing that his prayer offerings were pathetically placed on his floor, we offered to provide an altar table. He was surprised at what he thought was a very gracious offer but was more than happy to accept.

Old Granny Teo is a Hainanese and her husband is Teochew. Both are 83 years old and she has been passing out blood. She has 3 children who are almost all in their 60s and themselves in need. She is gearing up for surgery on Monday and was worried. Her husband, who has weak legs, was seated in the living room most of the time. Mdm Tan tried to put on a brave front but she soon could not control her tears as she shared her worries with us.

Margaret is 76. She lives alone and has been suffering from depression. Her aged father just passed away at 100 and her bedridden mother, aged 95, still does not know. Troubled by how to cope with her mother's persistent queries about her father, Margaret is constantly in tears. Her mother lives nearby and she knows her mother's days are numbered which adds to her feelings of melancholy.

Mdm Khoo has run out of help. HDB has told her that she has to take care of her internal spalling paintwork and she does not know who to turn to. When she saw us, she invited us into her flat and showed us the kitchen wall and toilet ceiling. The walls had traces of external seepage and the spalling toilet ceiling looked really bad.

Old Mr. Ayyakannu is 83 and his wife is 76. This gentle old Indian couple lives without their children who have moved to India. Even though they take their daily meals at the Care Centre, he  and his wife needed some dry rations. As we were talking, the Town Council's friendly plumber, Kannan, emerged from the flat with a smile. He had come to fix a leaking pipe and the old couple were happy with the job he had done. And more so with his friendly disposition.

She had her right leg amputated because of gangrene and lives alone. When we asked what we could do for her, she said all she needed was someone to help her clean up her electric standing fan. She invited us in and without ado, we got into action to carry out such the task which was difficult for her. Within minutes, the fan was in clean working condition and she was all smiles.

Mdm Du was opened her gate and invited us in. She was upset about how she and a group of colleagues were asked to leave the hotel where she worked a few years ago. She had reached 62 and the hotel did not pay them anything other than their last drawn pay. She rattled on about how the union had failed to protect her rights even though she had been faithfully paying the monthly membership fees. She asked if I could help her read some letters and produced them from her drawer. Her birth date appeared in a letter from the hospital and we realised that today was her birthday. Instantly, we burst into a birthday song and she was overjoyed. Perhaps, no one has sung her a birthday song for a very long time and she flashed the biggest smile we had seen.

The façade of Block 5 was colourful and surrounded by big trees. Walking from floor to floor, I noticed the corridors to be brightly lit and the residents had kept the floors clean. However, there were loose wires hanging out from electrical boxes and litter collecting on the parapets. Perhaps, closer attention could be paid to safety and hygiene by the relevant authorities.

At the close of the visit, we dropped by the United Temple. It consists of 5 smaller temples from the different dialect groups in the Chinese community in old Toa Payoh. We were warmly greeted by the organising committee of the Hokkien clan who were celebrating Tua Pek Kong's birthday. Overwhelmed by their hospitality, I made a small donation as a show of appreciation and support and was given a bag of festive goodies to bring home.

This was another chapter in my book of knowledge. Behind every door and fellow human being is a story that will help us to better appreciate our own existence. We learn that each of us walks a different journey in life. As we walk ours, let's just take some time to extend a listening ear and a helping hand to those in need and make our own journey that more meaningful.