In Continuum.

Anyway, I made my way through the station and down the underground path to the bus stop on the other side of the road. I had my music plugged into my ears for the most part, which was the unofficial sign to the others that I didn't really want to be bothered by them in any way. Everything went on fine as I emerged from the station below via the escalators, and I made a right after the staircase and towards the bus stop where I'd be just a bus trip away from home. It was also where this drunkard came up to me when I was just sitting there on the bench and waiting for the bus to arrive. You see, I spotted him kneeing down next to me at that time, but I didn't really want to bother with whatever that he wanted. Until he started literally poking at my shoes did I react to him, and he was signaling to his ears for me to take off my earphones. The first thing he asked me was if I spoke English, and I replied to him "yes". He then started to murmur something about getting three dollars as he waved an EZ-link card in my face. From his murmured words, I made out the idea that he didn't have enough credits in his card, and that he wanted to go home to Bedok from Toa Payoh. You guys must be thinking that I must have been incredibly stupid to fall for a trap like that, but let's just say that I have made people like that with genuine needs before. Which was why my guards were down for the most part as I fished into my pocket for my wallet. 

You see, there was this other time when a foreign worker came to me in City Hall MRT station, asking for a dollar to go home. I gave that dollar to him because that was the first time anybody was short of money to take a train ride. So he took my dollar, went to the booth and got his ticket, then went downstairs - like he said he was going to go. Another incident happened in town before, when this old man wanted to walk all the way to Hougang from Orchard Road, and I convinced him to take the MRT with just two dollars stuffed into his hands, which he initially refused. Either they were really good con-men, or this other guy that I met tonight just sucked. He asked for three dollars initially, but it's not like I had coins with me at that time. So I gave him four, and asked him to go down to the station and then go on home. That was when I noticed that he didn't actually go downstairs to the station, but asked for money from another person at the other side of the bus stop, thinking that I wouldn't notice it. So I casually walked up to the both of them, and asked if the man was asking for three dollars to get to Bedok. The man the drunkard was asking from was a smartly dressed office working type of person, an indian man with white shirt and a small briefcase. He told me that that was exactly what he was asking, and I told that drunkard off on the spot.

And so I said," You already got four dollars from me, you don't need another three dollars to get from here to Bedok. Even if you have to take a bus afterwards, it's not going to cost you that much. I know you were trying to cheat my money, and I consider myself stupid to have given you my money. So take my money away right now and not bother this guy, thank you very much". That was kind of when my bus came, and the both of us (including the indian man) had to board the very same bus. He didn't end up giving him the money, but I was dumb enough to have done so. The man thanked me on the bus ride home, and we talked a little bit on our way home. Apparently, he lives right across the street from me in Chilton Park, has a Japanese wife and two children at the age of thirty-seven. He didn't look that age, though, and he could have passed off as a college student for sure. He works at Fujitsu as a manager under the services and solutions business unit. It was fun to talk to him on the bus ride home, though I was still slightly pissed off with the fact that I lost four dollars to a drunkard. I should have known, from his bloodshot eyes and the tattoos that were wearing away on his body, that he was just another crook at the side of the road, up to no good. 

Beggars aren't uncommon in Singapore, if you know where to look. You know those people, the ones in heartlands or downtowns trying to make a living out of begging passerby for money. Some of them actually tries to do something to earn those money, while others just kind of sit around and rot by doing absolutely nothing. I appreciate it if you don't have a proper job, and that you live off playing music at MRT stations, you know? You could be missing an arm, a leg, or you could be blind for the most part. But these street artistes, a fancier name for talented beggars, are earning their place because they actually have something to show for, for the most part. I find those people who just sit around and do nothing to be absolutely pathetic, and yes I am using the word "pathetic" to describe them. I see people trying to sell packets of tissue paper at hawker centers or at traffic lights, and that's perfectly fine by me, even if I think that they are not going anywhere with that business in the long term. Whatever that you decide to do, don't just sit there and hope that people would give you money just because they think that your life is sad and pathetic, you know?

I like that blind dude that plays his keyboard at the Orchard MRT station, or that caucasian man that plays the guitar without his right palm. These people are still "begging" for money for the most part, but at least they are giving something back to the passerby by doing something, you know? They may not be playing the type of music you like, or they may not be particularly good at it. But the point is that they are trying, and not just begging with your two hands pressed together and trying to look pathetic to a stranger at a bus stop. I hate to see people like that, people not even trying to make a living and has given up on life completely. At least there are others trying to sell tissue paper, or candies, and there are some who'd just start singing in the middle of a crowd. At least those charity are more worthy of my money, than the ones that are given out of guilt, or just because of your constant pestering. Even if you suck at singing, people will reward you for trying hard enough, and that is the reality of things. I wonder what the point was when he just said to himself, that I am going to go beg people in bus stops for three dollars each, and hopefully earn my lunch money like that. How was that like? How did you allow yourself to sink that low? 

I suppose that is one of the reasons why people in Singapore, for the most part, does not take part in charity work because of these people taking other people's kindness for granted, you know? Maybe that is why we are all so indifferent to those charity shows on television. It has just become very difficult for us to have any trust or faith in these shows, after all the scandals and these pests in our society, trying to cheat others for a dollar or two. It isn't a lot of money for me personally, but I still find it incredibly saddening, really. For once, I thought it'd be nice to do something good for somebody I don't know, for once I was feeling charitable. People around me should know that I am the first to go against those charity shows on television, with those celebrities jumping across buildings and repeating phone numbers for donations on television with a ball of tissue in all their hands. Yet, when I do feel like I want to do something good just because I feel like doing so, idiots like that has to come and ruin it for everybody. The next time somebody comes to me because of legitimate travel problems, I don't suppose I'd be forking out money for him anymore. That's just the way things work, and I really don't want to be fooled again. 

So anyway, that's what we talked about on the bus ride home, Sashi and I. Yes, Sashi is his name, as I later learned from the name card he gave to me when we alighted. It was nice while it lasted, to just strike up a conversation with a stranger like that. We talked about his work for the most part, and about the neighborhood and being away from home (He is from India). Either way, he thanked me probably ten times over about saving his three dollars, though I have a feeling he could have gave that bastard thirty and wouldn't have felt the scratch. Anyway, so it got me thinking about things, and I am still kind of beating myself up over it for giving him that four dollars. But anyway, a four dollar lesson and a friend isn't too much, now is it?