Another Sad Tale .....

I hate narrating sad tales....yet they are sometimes necessary for us to to wail over them. I remember my pastor once mentioning that it is sometimes better to go to a house of mourning than a house of celebration.... because at funeral wakes, we become more reflective and begin to take stock of things that we sometimes overlook and take for granted.

My manager, Aveline, wanted to see my little apartment in Little India. Since it is very near the office, I brought her to view it. Aveline was very sharp. She noticed that my neighbour had removed the store-room in her flat and wanted me to do the same, so that the living room could be more spacious. Aveline suggested that I relocate the store to the kitchen. I am the frugal type. Hacking and rebuilding means more costs. Hence, I will just leave the store-room as it is.

The neighbour noticed that we were trying to look into her flat and greeted us. We introduced ourselves and she invited us in. Irene has been staying there for ten years and knows almost everyone in the neighbourhood. She told us that the flat I had bought was once owned by an elderly bachelor, Uncle Lim.

One day, Irene noticed her Shi Tzu behaving strangely. She kept looking at the wall and kept barking and jumping around. Irene wondered if her pet was trying to tell her something. She then realised that it had been a week since she did not see Uncle Lim outside his flat, watering his plants. Just then another neighbour came and asked if she could detect a stench. Irene called the police and immediately some policemen came and broke open the gate and door. Uncle Lim had passed away, with his body badly decomposed. It had been a week since he died of a heart attack.

I felt extremely sad upon hearing the story. Not sad because Uncle Lim had died...none of us is immortal. However, I was sad at the way he had passed away for a week before his death was discovered. His sister and family live a few roads from his block, and he has other siblings in different parts of Singapore as well.

As we were heading for the carpark, Aveline told me that it is important that I keep in close contact with friends since I am living alone in Singapore. I jokingly told her that the same might happen to me and she said it would never, as she would call me if she does not hear from me after two days! My best friend, Soh Wah, told me that she called me less often now, as she would go into my blog to read the latest article. If I stop posting articles in my blog for a few days, she would phone me to check if I am alright. I am grateful to God for blessing me with such wonderful friends!

I have also been blessed with wonderful siblings and relatives who often phone me from overseas. I also go on my yearly vacation to visit them. Once I was in a seminar from morning to night and could not pick up the phone. Immediately my eldest sister called my best friends to check on me! Hence, you can see that it is not how near or how far one is located. It is the caring heart that matters most.

I called up a colleague, Vincent, a bachelor boy in his mid-forties. Vincent had been down with the flu for the past week. He came for our toastmaster's thanksgiving dinner at the Chinese Swimming Club but fell sick again the following day. I told him about Uncle Lim's story and that I was calling him to check if he was feeling better!

I guess Uncle Lim's case is not an isolated one. In the papers, we have read how some of the old and lonely folks had passed away before their deaths were announced by the stench that greeted the neighbour's sense of smell.

These couple of weeks will be quite busy for me as I am getting ready to move. I will attempt to write an article everyday, but if you do not see my post for a little while, please know it is due to the constraints of time....I am still alive and kicking! Unless God decides it is time that I draw nearer to Him! :-)