Weekend With Grace

In Singapore.

It was good and reassuring to see her after 3 weeks of being away from home in her new place of work...Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

It was also a strange coincidence that last August I took the 1st coach bus from Bangsar to attend a TCF conference in Singapore and landed at the same spot - Novena Shopping Complex which happens to be right beside Tan Tock Seng Hospital! Last Friday, the 1st coach bus took me to the same spot for Grace to pick me up after work...sometimes I wonder at the arrangement of affairs in life. Really, I did not imagine that Grace would be here in Singapore last year.

From Bangsar 1st coach took me to Novena which was just beside Tan Tock Seng Hospital just as I had desired. I started the journey at mid afternoon and landed at Novena in the night... a long journey but worth anything as long as I could see Grace.


Tan Tock Seng Hospital is conveniently smacked in the city and it took quite a while for the coach to plough through the jam . Singapore is definitely not free of jams despite all the restrictions on private vehicles and a super efficient public transport system...Grace kept calling to know where I was almost every 15 minutes.


We decided to have our dinner at Kopitiam in Novena which was exactly the same venue that I had lunch with Indy and DG last year. Strange that events should repeat so coincidentally. Grace was so excited to see me and kept chatting away...non-stop. She seemed to have lost some weight and said that she had some reflux problem due to inconsistent meals and cold coffee at the hospital! She related that she had 3 on-call sessions within a span of 10 days and that meant she had to slog through the nights without sleep...for 36 hours each time.

....ma do you see the dark blotches beneath my eyes? ma..the nurses kept calling every other minute...ma, like you I wake up at 6am every morning and I am already on the MRT at 6.30am to reach the hospital at 7am and to get things ready for the rounds. Ma, when can I sleep late again? That was what Melvin told me earlier this year.

She further related that she is only entitled to 7 days leave after 4 months of work. So this is working life.

My first question...is it safe to move around so early? To which I received an answer...ma, even the kids go to school at this hour and I see them nodding off at the trams...it's safe ma. And ma, my colleague's daughter goes to MGS. In Singapore they fight for premier schools cos that will determine their pathway in their future schools and careers.

Urg...sounded so familiar, always fighting for the best for children and it happens everywhere. Gone are the days that I had to agonise over tuition and tutors...now other problems crop up though.



Throughout the journey in the coach I was entertained by this young chap. He seemed to get both the grandparents' full attention with his demands for this and that.



I could see that grandpa was the disciplinarian as he smacked the child occasionally whenever he demanded too much from grandma. Poor grandma exhausted by the never ending chores of feeding and coaxing was quiet and calm and everytime grandad kicked him playfully he would go...por-por see kong kong...por-por see kong kong...

I wondered at one juncture what the couple was doing with such a young ward...they must be looking after the child of their daughter who was probably working in Singapore. As usual, I could feel the strong tie between child and grandparents and the genuine care and concern for the child. Who would rise up to the occasion of helping except your own parents? A child living apart from his parents...it must be due to the great demands of earning a living...hmm...will I have to do that for my children too? To be seen.



I could not help but notice the few important articles that accompanied the child ...the bolster, the special pillow and the familiar blanket. I saw the grandma taking out all the items when it was time for a nap. So very familiar. Ask Grace and her 'busuk' pillow. History will repeat itself, I am sure.

Saturday morning evoked the maternal instincts within me to help clean the apartment that Grace shares with another former IMU student. I kept telling myself that life must have been too hectic and I could only chip in some timely help. Staying in an apartment is God -sent...you finish the chores in a mere hour...and everything tip-top. So easy and I can see myself aiming for one when I am more challenged in life...later in my golden years.
Ma , what did you do? How come things seem to be more in order? Aunty...thank you for putting things in order... I reminded Grace that if long strands of hair are seen in the house and especially in the toilet, then it is her duty and courtesy to clear. It's never easy to live with another person; we need to give and take and not be calculative. Cooperation works wonder. She learnt about it during her undergraduate days in Australia.
Singapore is small and things are arranged in almost every way, big or small and the government has a way of handling her people. Lacking space, almost everyone is entitled to a HDB flat with their CPF savings plus many other prerequisites...



Even hanging clothes to dry has a certain set pattern. I am attracted to this pole used to hoist the pegs to the poles for the washed items to dry. Everything in order. Is there room for individuality?

Grace finally arrived home at noon and of course off we went for an afternoon bonding together in the city.

We had afternoon tea and she called out ...ma I give you a treat...now I am a working adult...hehehe. So we had some coffee and yummy carrot cake. Sipping coffee, she kept ranting that Singapore girls are so stylish and super thin...that's why she felt fat! And I remarked that she had never been skinnier than this.

In the city, we saw this vespa lady...riding the bike in style. Grace asked for my opinion if she should also get one and get around the city in this manner to which I answered...pass the test.

Singapore tells her people to do the above...the Chinese talk very loudly especially Hakka men and women...I know it. Aren't I loud? I take it from my dad... a Hakka man!

Amidst her modern development and aspirations, Singapore still keeps an unique feature among the ice cream vendors...selling ice cream wrapped in bread...throughout Orchard road ice cream vendors dotted along the walkway.

Browsing along Orchard road, I could verify that there was no indication of recession...everyone was buying and buying and buying goods that were needed and goods that were redundant...to be bought and then to be left aside later.

We finally thought it was time for a rest and took a cab back to Redhill. Singapore taxi men have the latest details in town and love to relate about everything and anything to entertain their customers...so you Malaysians really think we drink recycled water from the toilets? why the need to cut off the water supply? they never forget nor forgive...do you know that we can never withdraw our CPF savings even when we are 60? now you know why there are so many old people working here...we need to work to live...and the rantings went on and on...

Sunday morning after work, Grace took me to IKEA and I saw a familiar picture. Now which is which...which one belongs to Esther? Hahaha.

After another day of being together, it was time again for me to leave Grace. All good things must come to an end and though painful, I need to come home and to leave her behind. It is not altogether a good feeling. In fact it was terrible. But it had to be done. After all at one point in life, we will be alone, won't we?

This time I took the 1st coach at the Plaza as it would arrive at Holiday Villa in Subang which was nearer home. This is free advertisement for 1st coach.

I left Singapore at 6.30 in the evening to arrive home at 11.45pm.

Home sweet home...but I miss Grace already.

Dad : Stop it. When is she ever going to grow up? Leave her alone. She is a survivor.

I am sure she is ; aren't you Grace?