Kind Man On 2 Wettest Days!

photo from ST

R flew to Bangkok on a working trip early morning last Tuesday.

That day, WY had to go for his Wushu training and so arrangement was made for Mother to take him to school and then bring him home after the training ended. I brought WF to CH School by taxi in the morning before going into my office.

From late morning, it started to rain cats and dogs. The rain continued through our lunch hour and the skies cleared up a little only about 4pm or so. As it later turned out, however, that this was only a brief respite because as we headed towards the MRT station after we had knocked off from work, it started to drizzle again.

I took the MRT train to the station nearest to our place. As I crossed the overhead bridge, the raindrops got bigger and bigger and finally, it started to rain again. I was very fortunate to be able to get into a cab before the rain got heavier.

The driver was an old Malay man. He was a very 'relaxed' driver and put on his brakes about 10 car-lengths from the traffic junction when the traffic lights turned amber. Then he started to talk a little about the rain, how the weather these days change - maybe this is for the better, he said, because..... 'God knows what is best for us'!!!

By the time I reached CH School, the skies had cleared and once again, it was ok to walk without the umbrella. I got WF and all his bags (on Tuesdays, he has 2 an additional bag for his Kindermusik lesson and a rather bulky musical instrument called the Dulcimer) and then we started to walk to the main street to try to hail a taxi.

No available ones came. So after standing by the road for about 10 minutes, we started to move along, turning back every now and then to watch out hopefully for any taxi that might come along.

Just then, a black Honda MPV pulled up beside us. It turned out to be one of WF's classmates called K! At K's father's invite, WF and I hopped on and hitched a ride to the bus-stop next to B125 where they stay. (Initially, K's father had offered to drive WF and I all the way back home, but I declined because that would have easily added another 10 minutes or more to their drive home. Anyway, the sky was already beginning to clear up by then and so I decided against troubling K's father.)

WF and I took a leisurely stroll back home from the bus-stop at B125. On the way, we saw that there are no more of the big, tall cranes which used to be stationed at the KPE worksite nearby. Only a handful of smaller excavators now remain on site.

WF also asked me where his classmate lived. I pointed out to him and he said, "Mama, I would like to go to K's house. Can we go next time?" Of course I said no, we haven't got any invitation! The cheeky little one replied, "Let's get K to invite us!"

Anyway, we got home before the rain came on again that evening. Shower, dinner and the other routine chores followed. R didn't call back as promised, and so WY called him instead.

The next morning, I overslept. As CP had planned to come back to give tuition to WY that morning, I let WY sleep longer. I woke WF up and got both ourselves ready for school and work. Luckily, there was no rain and we successfully flagged down a taxi relatively quickly after we reached the Boys' Club.

Almost as soon as I left CH School, it started to drizzle. I quickly got into a taxi and was soon on my way to work. The rain got heavier by the minute and stayed that way throughout the day. Even when it was time to go home, the rain refused to let up.

My colleague had wanted to go visit a friend at the hospital and so wanted to hail a taxi. Given the new rule (requiring taxis in the CBD to stop only at designated taxi stands only), she had to take a 150m walk to a new taxi stand which is located on the way to the MRT station. Despite my offer to lend her my office-umbrella, this colleague of mine decided to make do with her 'New Paper' instead of a proper umbrella. Stubborn woman, she is!

As I was headed towards the MRT station, I offered to shelter her to the taxi stand. As we trodded along, taking care to avoid as best as we could, the puddles of water that had formed by the roadside, the rain got heavier and heavier. It soon became very clear that her 'New Paper' would never do and so I had 'no choice' but to stay with her at the taxi stand until her taxi arrived. The rain started to splash onto us both as we stood by the roadside taxi stand, huddled closely under my single umbrella.

Very few taxis came by, and most of those which did, were 'on call'. After about 10 minutes, one finally pulled up at this roadside taxi stand and my colleague then went off. She was very grateful for my help, of course, and kept thanking and waving to me even after the door was closed. (She told me the following morning that the taxi driver later actually gave her a 'discount' of about $3 for her 'effort' waiting for his cab at the taxi-stand! Hahaha.)

I took to the MRT station as quickly as I could. When I reached the platform, an unsually thick crowd had already formed. I wondered why, but this became a no-brainer when I looked up and saw from the electronic-display board ahead that the next train was expected to arrive only 6 minutes later! I overheard 2 other women exclaiming to each other that the message had earlier been that it would take the next train another 7 minutes to arrive!!

Just then, I got a call on my handphone. It was WF's form teacher, who asked (rather weirdly) if I would like K's father (the one who gave us a lift home the day earlier) to pick WF up! She was barely audible because the station platform was so jam-packed with people who were getting increasingly impatient by the seconds.

"Oh, but the train is somehow delayed today, so I won't be there until about half an hour later," I had to 'shout' into my hp because I could hardly hear myself in the din. Then, I continued, "Erm, maybe if K's father is already at CH School, then perhaps he should just go ahead. It's not so nice for us to hold him back."

The teacher explained, "K is not in school today. He has gone to stay with his grandmother in Malaysia. K's father is asking whether you would like him to go and pick WF up. He says he is just nearby."

"Ha?! K is not in school but his father is offering to go into CH School specifically to pick WF up?" I thought the din at the platform must have been really bad, so bad that I must have heard wrongly.

But I told the teacher to thank K's father for his kind offer, but it wouldn't be nice for us to hold him up. So, with that, the teacher hung up the phone.

Seconds later, she called again. "Hello, WF's Mummy. K's father is suggesting that he will come to pick WF up and bring him to his house while he waits for you. When you reach the place, you can give him a call and then just pick WF up from his place. He will bring WF downstairs at his block when you arrive. Is that ok?"

"Oh, " I was a little dumbstruck, didn't know what to say, except, "Erm, ok, that will be great. Please let WF go with K's father then. I will meet them at K's block. Please thank K's father for me," I said hesitantly. After that, WF's teacher gave me K's father's hp number.

It was another 5 minutes or so before the train finally pulled in. It was so packed that I thought there wouldn't be any breathing space even if I managed to squeeze my way in. But then, I didn't have much of a choice - the crowd moved me in anyway. In fact, I think it would have been dangerous to try to remain on the platform - the impatient crowds had already started to surge forward just as the train doors were about to open!

Anyway, I tried my best to keep my balance (no poles to hold onto) amidst the sweaty people all sardined together. It was a wonder that I didn't faint from the stale stench of semi-dry clothes worn by some drenched people standing around me, and the stingingly-nauseating 'chao-sng' smell of unwashed hair of a woman standing right next to me! Yucks!

By the time I alighted from the Kallang station to catch a bus to K's block, it was already 6:25pm or so. There was no sign of the rain subsiding - in fact, if at all, it looked like the rain was going to get heavier and heavier. Sigh.

Luckily, the bus which I took was one of the newer ones which has plenty of standing space (the area meant for passengers on wheelchairs or with baby strollers etc). So this time, I could breathe better.

The walk to K's block took only about 5 minutes. When I reached the convenience shop at the void deck, I called K's father on his hp to ask which floor he is located. "1-5," he said.

WF was so happy to see me when I got up to the 15th floor. And he happily told me that like him, his friend K had Bob The Builder lego toys! After he put on his shoes, he proceeded to try out the swing at the lift lobby on this floor.

I thanked K's father profusely for his kind gesture, of course. He was very jovial and said that given the weather, he thought it would be quite unrealistic to try to get a cab today (which was what I had planned to do). I think he was right, lah. And it was really fortunate that we had him bring WF out from CH School in his car.

I am really grateful to K's father for being so considerate and kind - I mean, he didn't have to go in to the area that day because his son was away in Malaysia, but he actually 'bothered' to make that special trip because he knew from our brief conversation the day before, that R would be away till Thursday! Yes, it may well have been little trouble, but how many people would have 'bothered', right?!

Anyway, WF and I left the place after a while. We still had to use the umbrella to shelter ourselves as we made our way back home. On the way, WF told me, "Mama, you said yesterday that K had not invited us to his house. But today, K's father brought me to his house!" "yah, that's very kind of K's father," I replied.

So WF gleefully said, "So I get to see K's house. K's father showed me K's room, which was IN A MESS!!!" Hahhahaa.... this cheeky little fellow....

Incidentally, K's grandmother stays at B123. According to K's father, they have been long-time residents in this area. And from what he knows, many of the residents in B123 did not support the MUP plan for the multi-storey carpark because it was totally unnecessary. The carpark space was more than ample for our use. Also, there was a lot of concern that the increased cost of a multi-storey carpark would be an unnecessary additional burden to most users etc etc.

So, now we also hear about why that 'big, grand carpark with a big, beautiful roof-top garden' was not really completely welcomed by 'everyone' (yah, that's what they had said to us then!), lah. Heng ah.....

On Thursday morning, I received another call from K's father. He asked if I would like him to bring WF back to his house to wait for me as on Wednesday. I told him that R would be back by afternoon and so would be able to get WF in the evening. So we wouldn't need to trouble him that day.

What can I say of this man?.... Rare to come by, especially these days, hor?