NTU campus concert in 2 days. NYP in 6 days.

But what I really want to blog about, is the old man I met in the MRT two days ago.

For more information on the NTU campus concert, you can click here though. :)

And if you're a first-timer here on this blog, and you have no idea what's going on, they summary is that I joined a singing competition, did pretty well in it, chased waterfalls for 2 years and finally with a bestie I befriended during the said competition are now the front(wo)man of a chinese pop group called "the freshman" and have released an album that we hope the world will take to in the way that sugar is to ants. And for more information, please click here.

Its a 100% local album. And I could go on and on self-praising it and telling you support our music and us because that's all we hope for now but... we'll let the music speak for itself for now.



Ok. now that I've got that out of the way, and (i think) I did justice to the human traffic which I also dearly hope to have on our official blog, and the awareness that I hope to bring about for our events, I can now blog about the so-called inconsequential stuff. *phew* Heh. Ready?

I wanted to blog on the official blog, but the rate of my mental laxating would mean that blog posts would keep getting refreshed, and the readers might not see the informative stuff. Well, anyway, its got to give things some space. Oh crap, i'm still rambling and haven't got down to talking about the old uncle.

Well, the story begins with me raising up my head in to a minor commotion that was going on between a lady and a kind-looking old man with a head full of white hair. The lady was suggesting that the old uncle ask me to give up my seat to him. I was aware that my ass was warming the reserved seat and so when I saw the old uncle, I jumped up from my seat in embarrassment apologising profusely for not having noticed him.

"If you give up your seat for me. I will be very sad. It means you think I'm old."

Hello Uncle, but you are old.

"Nono, you are not old, but you are just older. *wide grin*"

"Then why didn't you offer the seat to THAT uncle? *points to a scrawnier looking uncle with equal amount of white fur standing about 2 metres away.*"

Have no answer to that, more embarrassment and guilt, and by now, because of how booming the uncle's voice was, the whole carriage was looking at... not me. But the scrawny old uncle with the equal amount of whites.

I'm sorry, that's not the 重点, i just like to tell stories with narration. I feel it gives a more personal angle to the story.

We started talking, me and the uncle about anything under the sky. He asked me if I was studying, and I said no, and yes, I was working but my work doesn't really pay like a normal job. He asked what I did, and I told him I was a singer, a struggling one but that I enjoyed what I did because I wasn't sure where it would lead but it felt like it might go somewhere.

He asked if I sang on radio stations, and I said no, but we do have an album and our songs do play on the airwaves. He was very kind and said he would keep a lookout for the freshman.

Then he started to talk about how thankful he was for the mrt, that he had been having lunch at the novena foodcourt which has so much variety, and was heading for his appointment at SGH at 3.15pm. He spoke about the mrt, how it made everything so much easier for him and how things would have been different if it wasn't for his friend who pushed through with his proposal to build the mrt system here.

His friend?

He studied in The Chinese High and it was there he had a friend, who grew up and entered a university and became a high flying scholar who was the key figure behind kick starting the mrt project. He spoke about how he himself had been for a poor family, and they couldn't afford to send him to a university, but this friend of his, was a smart chap and did good with uni. He spoke about his friend without a hint of jealousy, but was full of gratitude and praise. (Do you think his friend is the late President Ong Teng Cheong? I didn't get a chance to ask.)

It didn't occur to me then and there, holding on the railing for my life with all my barang barang talking to this chatty old man. But after saying goodbye and telling him to take care, while going up the escalator, I felt so contented. I had learnt so much from just 5 minutes of conversation with a guy in white hair.

His heart of thanks, his independence, his cheerful disposition, and even his love for his wife. He used to stay at Clover place, just a few streets away from my house. It was a nice landed house, but he sold it and moved to Bishan Street 22 because its nearer to the market and his wife has weak legs.

The way he spoke about lunch at Novena, the way he spoke about the mrt, the way he spoke about getting to his appointment at SGH, and how his cornea needed to be operated upon but that it was common amongst old people like him (tot you not old??? :p)

It was a lovely 5 minutes.
And I don't want to forget that moment on the escalator that I felt my eyes grew a little brighter.
Like the way a cup of hot chocolate fills your insides slowly and casually. It wasn't an epiphany of any sort. It wasn't Eureka. It was just, simple joy for the old man who stayed above it all. Who lived with grace, and with a zest for life and the things life presents that many of us cannot even claim to match up to.

It was lovely.

As though I had been sitting at a cafe at some cool European beach, sipping tea and listening to him tell me about the seagulls and the waves. Mundane, but pleasing and enough to make me feel that everything is beautiful and life is really wonderful.

Goodnight.




(WOo!!!! Paragraphs!!!)