Musings from the Taipei trip - Singaporean

It was an early morning flight so I reached earlier and shopped a little. I had injured my wrist a few days ago and was looking for a pharmacy selling Tiger Balm or Salon Pas but couldn't locate but I found them in a souvenir shop instead. With advice from the friendly salesgirl, I was introduced to another local brand that is presumably more effective. Chatted with her a little and ended up buying. She asked if I'm Singaporean and I said yes. She's a little surprised and shared with me that the Singaporeans that she's come across tend to be a bit aloof or colder but I'm different (she's not local). So she now had a new view of Singaporeans. I told her that perhaps it's  due to the stressful pace of life and perhaps fatigue that everyone might have been a bit colder. ( I didn't tell her but I for one isn't the warm and fuzzy kind either. Some days I'm so tired I just don't want to chit chat) In any case, I thought I saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes. 

Interestingly during my trip, I made a new friend who shared with me her trip to Singapore and how impressed she was with Singaporeans. She felt that we were so warm and nice and how the taxi drivers all spoke so well of Singapore which was surprising to her . What happened during her stay in Singapore was that she and her family went to the zoo and realised that she couldn't find her wallet. So she had no money to return to her hotel. She told the zoo reception who didn't speak Chinese so they quickly found a younger girl who could interpret , they tried to help look for it but to no avail. The young girl then helped her find a cab and gave her some money for the fare. My friend was surprised and asked if it's part of the zoo funds/allowances for instances like this , but it wasn't. It was her own money. My friend was both touched and impressed. She managed to find some Taiwan dollars and gave it to the girl instead. 

She boarded the taxi and told him the story. The kind and helpful taxi driver promptly radioed his colleagues to check if the taxi which drove them from hotel to zoo had picked up the wallet. Unfortunately, it was to no avail again. When they returned to the hotel, she told the hotel reception what happened and they started the search in the hotel as well, but to no avail. 

Finally, she returned to the hotel and realised that they had left the wallet in her room. Oops. 

But through the entire event, she was very impressed by how warm and helpful all Singaporeans she encountered were. I'm also very heartened by her sharing. 

Thinking back, I also had quite a few cases of kind Singaporeans like this. Like the taxi uncle who was understanding when the kid puked in the car, or the uncle who returned me the books I left in his car and refusing the fare I wanted to give to him. Like the kind station control at Downtown station who gave me his own $1 so I could buy a ticket home (the day I left my wallet home) or the kind shopkeeper stranger who lent me $2 to buy my fare on another day (when I left my wallet home again!)

Overall, while we might not always be the warm and fuzzy kind but there are enough incidents where I have encountered kindness, graciousness and empathy along the way. Hope we can continue to grow in this aspect. This is truly what makes Singapore Home. 



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