Yours Truly, Uniquely Singapore! (3)

One of the things I dislike most in this little dot of Singapore ... rote learning and worse still, rote doing!

Yesterday, it was my first appointment at the Housing Development Board to process the transaction for the purchse of my 3 room flat in Little India. The officer was proficient in English, and was not too comfortable with Hokkien. Hence, the agent, who also happened to be my colleague, Sharlyn, had to translate all that had been spoken into Hokkien to the lady, Madam Lim. The officer knew that Madam Lim is the administrator of her brother's estate because all the documents were in the file on her desk. The flat is part of the estate.

Hence I was horrified when I heard the officer saying, "Your brother has already enjoyed two bites of the cherries of HDB loans and grants. In future, he no longer can enjoy these benefits and must buy a flat from the open market". I was hoping my colleague would remind her that Madam Lim's brother had passed away, but to my shock, Sharlyn repeated everything that the officer had said in Hokkien.!

Madam Lim suddenly burst out in Hokkien, "It would be so wonderful if my brother could buy another flat. Then I would not have to weep my heart out!" (Direct translation). She attempted to smile but I could see that she was justifiably upset. I was hoping that since Madam Lim could not understand English, my colleague would remind the officer of the owner's demise, and not repeat word for word what was spoken. Alas! It was too late!

Once, I had a painful bout of skin problems which left me with great discomfort. Worse still, I was quite unsightly as I had to apply greenish lotion all over my body. It left me looking like a green monster. One day, one of my students' mother unexpectedly knocked on my door. I refused to be seen in such a state. At that time, a friend, Sally had offered to look after me for a few days so that she could cook some healthy soup for me. To make things easier, I asked Sally to inform the visitor that I was not at home. To my horror, I heard Sally, declaring "Choo Choo said that she is not in!"

Gan Chau