I was on my way to work @ Bedok Interchange,waiting for Service 38...infront of me were two aunties or shall I say grannies? They can be either way,chatting on and off..I wasn't listening coz my ears were plugged into my earphones.Upon boarding the bus & seated near them(had my earphones unplugged), indirectly I eavesdropped their conversation that made me think until now..Some or maybe most of us are aware during the colonial times especially,there's such thing as amahs - servants/maids to rich people especially Europeans,right? For a moment I thought such people are no more in a sense that nowadays everyone can afford to engage a foreign maid that can stay with them and do those housework the olden days amahs could. But the moment I heard one of the granny talked, I realised that locals being servants/maids to Europeans are still around though its scarce to find them.. I don't really know how these Europeans managed to get their services because I don't think these amahs really have their own "agency" that opens up to Europeans searching for local servants/maids...hmm..maybe it's through words of mouth?
The point here is,it saddens me to see grannies to work in order to earn a living..especially our own community,the Malay/Muslims..it is during their golden age that they should be staying at home,relaxing & catching up on stuffs that they have missed during their younger days like sewing,cooking,reading & stuffs..again I overheard tat granny asking another one,how many kids she had,what type of house she's living and how's the husband...the answers were simple," I have one daughter,working,living in 4-room flat and my husband's dead." This showed how much life is difficult to live in Singapore..even if you have one child and she's working and your dad is no longer breathing..that doesn't mean life will be much easier..how come? Might be the house is still on loan,daughter ain't earning much and mom (the granny to me) has a number of sickness due to old age..So what does this have to do with us? We have to start thinking of our financial/life planning, not only for ourselves but also for the future generation after us...Even if now we are living comfortably,will our savings be enough for the young ones when we left them? Our CPF (Central Provident Fund) is not even beneficial especially after the government's new rule on CPF withdrawal..seriusly I felt pity to see grannies working,even though I heard the European families,some, are kind to them,paying them SGD$250/wk (they have more than one house to care for) just to clean up,cook and care of the house during the day until they are back from work..but still these old ladies need a rest,they still are needed by their own families..what if one day while working they fell? Who's to be blamed? Themselves for working? They work coz they dun wanna starve one day without food and to burden their kids further,whom we might not know,already have tons of probs in their heads..
With this, I wanted to make sure I have enough cash to save upon..making sure that I not only am prepared for any unexpected situations in the near future but also as a shelter for my future generation too..like the Malay proverb,"Bersakit-sakit dahulu,bersenang-senang kemudian" ,in English translation, Suffer Now,Enjoy Later..Something that I think all of us can realise is that..if we look around through our hearts..open up our ears and sharpen our minds..we can see the daily lives of others and learn something out of it..humans are created as a test specimen on Earth and we too,can experiment others if we are willing to learn and understand others..
