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Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Small Kindnesses



The Indian workers approached me today and said, "Don't waste money to park your car outside the house. Go ahead and park inside your house and if you need to leave the house, just let us know and we will lay down a steel plate for you."

They said all this to me very kindly, with the light of warmth gently seeping from their eyes.

My heart is warmed by their kindness. They don't have to do this for me. The official agreement is that they lay down the steel plates every morning and every evening only.

The government is building covered drains in my neighbourhood. For weeks already, there have been construction works going on. Firstly, I was really impressed by the whole team of Indian workers assigned to my neighbourhood. They are quiet, serious and responsible. When work stops every day, they leave the work site neat and well organised. I respect competence and high quality work wherever I find it, and whomever provides it.

It does not matter how educated or uneducated a person is. The moment I discern pride in one's work and a regard for high quality, I give respect. Our helper M is like so. Because of this, I rarely gainsay M. I accord her respect because she shows pride in her work. One of the men at Chuan Kee Boneless Braised Duck (the tall, dark and skinny one) is like so, too. I love watching him at work, his every movement purposeful and precise. I once brought him my cast iron Le Creuset pot to fill with braised meats. He placed my pot in a large plastic bag, but not just anyhow. He made very sure that he placed the pot so precisely that when we picked up the bag, the pot would hang in its dead centre. Sometimes, I wonder if this man is part-Japanese. When I brought a friend to try his braised meats, she exclaimed at how sparkling clean and neat everything was inside the tiny space we call a hawker stall. Grumpy Alex is like so too. This is why grapes will grow and fruit for him, and his brownies are all cut precisely so. Kookii's boss is also someone like that. She throws away entire batches of pineapple tarts if they don't meet her product standards. These people are all dear to me because they possess a quality that commands my respect.

So it was, that after a few weeks, I grew to respect the team of Indian workers doing construction works outside my house. So it was too, that when the weather became so hot (my head ached unbearably) and I saw these Indian workers crowd together at the bottom of a drain, in the only shade possible along my street, I felt that I needed to do something.

I gave them iced Ribena.

In return, I suppose, they felt a need to return a small kindness to me.

I am grateful for these small and sincere kindnesses. Not having to queue at a hawker stall and being able to park inside my house for 4 days of construction works may seem like paltry privileges to some. To me, they represent heartwarming gestures from the heart.

What price can you put on that?



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Petunia,
I had the drains covered in my neighbourhood previously. There will be ventilation covers at perhaps alternate 2/3 houses. If your house is chosen for one (like mine), request them not to place it smack in front of your main gate. Odorous smells will waft thru right into your front door as the drains no longer get sunshine.
SS

Petunia Lee said...

@SS Thank you for your small kindness too!

Simamora said...

this is the good thing, that no one will realise and no one taking care of