We care. I am sure we all do

The volunteers arrived in groups. There were friends, couples, parent and child, and even individuals who were alone, who decided to do some good on a Sunday morning yesterday.

They had come to help distribute bread, biscuits, cooked rice and roti prata to two blocks of 16-storey high rental flats in North Bridge Road. They knocked on the doors, talked to the residents and helped to note down the living conditions of the flat dwellers, who were mostly living alone or with someone else. 

The oldest resident we met today was a 93 year-old grandmother who was dressed in her black buddhist robes. She was about to start her prayers when we visited and was happy that we had come. She was a little hard of hearing and lives all by herself. Her only daughter is apparently suffering from a weak heart and I gather they hardly see each other and communicate only through the telephone.

At the end of the distribution, I spoke to the volunteers who had joined us for the first time in such kind of work. Some found it hard to express what they had seen and they were surprised that there were such needy people in affluent Singapore. They are saddened by their encounters today but their spirits are uplifted by the sight of so many fellow volunteers who came to show they care.

We care. I am sure we all do. And as we count our blessings,  let's continue to show those less fortunate than us a little kindness whenever we can.