i was waiting for a bus one day at a certain bus stop in jurong west. there was a rather skinny lady who obviously had some sort of speech disability and metal problems, she was trying to wave down a taxi, but being a sat there were many taxis but non available. she didn't get that taxis dont stop just because you wanted them too and so was scolding 'naughty' to anyone that was there, refering to taxis. about 5 of us were at the bus stop and not one of us paid her any heed, choosing instead to give sidelong glances and keeping to ourselves. then this malay lady and her two kids arrived. the malay lady was pretty well dressed and had some sort of..'upper class look' about her. when the first lady started scolding 'naughty' again, to my complete and utter suprise, the malay lady started to help her. first asking if she wanted to flag a taxi, where was her destination and then proceeded to help her flag down a taxi. in fact, she placed an arm around the first lady and sort of comforted her and reassured her that they would get a taxi. it was a long wait, infact the malay lady and her kids missed their bus as she helped the first lady if her kids' faces are anything to judge by. but in the end a taxi was flagged down, the malay lady saw to it that the driver knew where to go exactly before waving good bye and resumed waiting for her bus.

being someone who abhore contact of any sort with other people, unless it's close friends, i was deeply shocked and instantly ashamed of myself. here i was sitting on the bench happily in my own world painfully ignoring the lady and her plight because she seemed abit 'funny'. i didn't have to put my arm around her or even comfort her. what i could do was actually help her. and i didn't. instead like a typical singaporean i sat there and ignored. 'the less i bothered, the less trouble i have' is this the kind of mindset most singaporeans have? because honesyly, that IS my mindset, and i'm not proud.

i have never been so humbled in my life. 6 years of primary education, 4 years of secondary enducation and 2 years of junior college education and where has that gotten me? to ignore the plight of others? to shun and discriminate against others?

those 2 malay kids are in good hands.