Cheating of Sympathy?

Originally posted: 21 Jan 2011
Discrepancy due to failure to export/import blog

Those living in Tampines or come by to Tampines often, you may be interested to read on to find out a little more about this tissue selling lady and her young daughter just outside the southwestern exit of Tampines MRT station, the one facing Tampines Mall. I am not talking about the eldery lady who greets everyone cheerfully especially in the morning, but one who is around her late 30's to early 40's. If you still can't guess, she is usually accompanied by a young girl of approximately 9 years, to 12 years old, seemingly to be her daughter. The young girl stands there silently most of the time, while the lady keeps her arm out-stretched with a few packet of tissues, enticing passerby's to deal with her. While you think this may be a common sight in a lot of places in Singapore, I happened to see her in a different location, doing something that made me change my views on her.

She was smoking a cigarette, outside the KFC in Tampines Central, CPF building. Some might think that if she is so poor to resort to selling tissues but yet she is still smoking? We all do know how ridiculously expensive cigarettes in Singaproe are. Anyway, I smoke too and I know the craving can kick in badly even when I am broke near the end of the month, so I take it that she is just having a puff before she starts her "shift" at the MRT station. She then threw the cigarette butt on the floor and snuffed it out with her slipper whereby there's a trash bin in plain sight. To my astonishment, she took out a stack of multi colored dollar bills the next moment, and started counting them. Does selling tissues really make good money? At the price the tissues are sold, it's very profitable, probably several folds of the cost price, but I can't say the same for the demand. I mean if selling tissues is really lucrative, there would be a lot more people doing the same. But this lady has the ability to smoke, and carry more money than I usually carry in my wallet. The photo above that I managed to sneak on, is not any evidence, as I did not managed to snap it while she was smoking nor does it look like she is counting her cash. Then again, I swear I have no reason or whatsoever to lie or to malign her.

The other thing I really cannot accept is the fact that she "drags" her young daughter along when she is peddling tissues. Many conclusions can clash at this point. Some might say, she needs to "work" and there's no one to look after her child. Others might think that she just brought her child along to make it look like they are really poor and needy. I personally, embrace the latter; I believe she is using a young child to mislead the passerby's and delude the compassionate empathy of the heart. To sum it up, she knows where to vend her products, between Tampines MRT station and Tampines Mall. She knows when to "open for business", between peak periods of 6-9pm, where hordes of people alight at Tampines MRT after work. Last but not least, she knows how to convince buyers why they should buy from her. No bullshit, that's all marketing strategy.

I once saw a young man, give her a crisp new S$2 dollar note to this lady but refused to accept the merchandise. It's heartwarming to know that there are good hearted people in this mercenary land, where everyone is greedy for money. I wish this generous young lad would read this journal somehow and wonder if he would still do the same if he saw what I saw today? What about you? Would you? I'm not trying to tell everyone to do the same, but I wouldn't patronize this lady, never ever.

In all, I strongly object dragging her young daughter into this. If any good samaritian were to read this, or if any reader knows of any social worker, can he or she please tell this lady that her daughter deserves better. I mean, she might be learning the wrong values or stuff in life and could have been better off studying at home.

Reminds me of the Channel 8 reality show, 梦窑匠; which featured a mother and [unfortunately sissy] teenage son, supposedly living in poverty. The hosts got them doners for new furniture, found specialists to treat the mother's eye cataracts, another specialist to treat her son's spinal problem even recommended a super easy job for her son, but in the end, her son who idolized Avril Lavigne and aspired to become a famous pop star complained about being too weak to work. He would rather fulfil his dream than work, but those who heard him sing would probably advise not. After getting all the donations and [proabably sponsored] medical attention, his mother actually said she doesn't care how or what others think of them and will continue what they do. When asked how they would survive if they refuse to find a job, she said she would go look for MP's for help or get aids for the church. They ended up like ugly freeloaders, sponging off the compassion and sympathy of others.

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Ok, I know... I side-tracked. Feel free to leave comments or speculate further on different views.