Emotions are brimming, heaven is pouring. Will you make it through the rain?

i can't stand singaporeans who can't be bothered about others, who don't put themselves in the shoes of others.
The bus trip home today made me reflect quite a bit.

Characters of story:
- Malay father of two. a toddler and a 2-3 year old kid.
- Helpful indian lady
- kind malay lady, sitting beside father of two
- living in own world young man who looks like he's from NUS sitting beside kid
- two girls who where also inconsiderate

After dar alighted from the bus. i was standing at this corner of the bus behind the seats tt were facing each other. Best view of the story. The father of two was carrying his toddler in front of his chest in a bag. his son was not directly beside him. They were separated by the "corridor" where passengers will stand. The kid was sleeping very soundly. but because of the movement of the bus, the kid looked as if he will fall off the chair anytime. the father was also holding a large bagpack and a baby pusher and trying to make sure tt his child dun fall off his seat....Can't help but sigh. can't imagine wad it will be like if i'm in the same situation as the father.

The helpful indian aunty was seeing tt the father was having difficulty ensuring tt his child not fall off his chair. so asked the father if should ask the young man beside the kid to switch places with him. I guess the father was too frustrated and annoyed at the young man for not being automatic enough. so he said, " it ok. people dun want to help i dun want to force. (repeated twice) If i were to give him 50 bucks i'm sure he will stand up. He won't know until my son falls down" the young man was watching a video on his ipod. so aware/unaware of the situation, he continued sitting at his seat. Even if he was too engrossed in his video, he should have realised how much difficulty the dad was having when the kid's head bumped into his waist.. Lack of consideration of teenagers. Teenagers living in their own world.

Den the two girls boarded the bus. cos the bus was relatively full already, the girls were standing right beside the kid, blocking the dad from ensuring tt the kid dun fall. unconciously during tt period, i was looking closely at the kid in case he falls. so was the indian aunty who was sitting opposite the kid. Could see the worried look on the father's face. Helpless as well cos the girls were blocking him completely. After the bus made some turns and the kid's head was like so slanted to the side (which will be awfully painful by the time he wakes up), his dad asked the girls to move aside. After a while, the kind malay lady sitting beside the father stood up and gave up her seat so tt the father can take care of the kid. though a bit late, but still very nice of her. at least better than the young man living in his own world.

But...i dunno if one of the girl was desperate to take a seat or din know about the situation (which is really bad cos she should know when the father told her to stand aside), wanted to move in to take the seat. The father was already in the midst of carrying his son over despite having difficulty handling the bag as well as the pusher. when the father saw that the girl wanted to take the seat, he said" still want to sit down!" though it wasn't very polite, can understand how it felt. He has been waiting for tt chance so tt he can take care of his son.

Now since the seat beside the young hopeless guy is empty, one of the girls took the seat. Both of them were listening to some song on one of the handphones. sharing earpiece. The bus was getting more and more crowded but the girl standing refused to move in because...? music more important? i dunno. She blocked the passage way for quite a while until someone managed to squeeze pass her..

The father of two took very good care of his kids. ensured tt the aircon was not too strong for the kid, put the bag at the side so tt his kid wun knock against the side of the bus..can see he's very responsible. Hillview area..the youngman living in his own world got down. the other girl sat down. so much more space for people to move in. Bukit timah area..the kid woke up and started crying..Father was very patient. trying to stop the kid from crying by talking nicely but it does not help. Thoughts about having kids next time scares me. Its so difficult to take care of one, its so difficult to bring up one properly. Just hearing the crying and wailing for 5 over minutes was making me and the other passengers a little frustrated. It was really loud.

One stop before bukit panjang plaza, the father needed to get down. He was carrying his toddler in front of his chest, had a pusher, a bagpack and a crying kid. Gosh...he had to carry the crying kid and all the other things alone.. Have to really compliment this indian aunty. Looked like a nurse from NUH. She offered to carry the pusher for the father. So when they reached the stop, the father carried the son, his toddler and the bagpack down while the aunty carried the pusher. had to squeeze through a number of people but well, at least people did try to give way.

Was looking from the window..the young boy continued crying and refused to sit on the pusher. the indian lady even helped to pacify the kid even though it din really work.

Bus left and i was left with a lot of food for thought.

Why that young man was so oblivious of his surrounding. Was he? or he just din want to give up his seat? If he is a NUS student, then its really sad.

Why the two young girls did not realise tt the young kid was sitting with his parent and had nobody looking after him?

Why the girl was so desperate to get the seat? she din see that the father was trying to bring his son over to his side?

Was music tt important? more important than moving in and giving way?

Its that difficult to look after a child.

Hmm..learnt quite a lot through this bus ride i guess. Singaporeans need to be more considerate. The yound man being strong and healthy should have given up his seat just when the father of two boarded the bus. Was watching the video so important? if i can stand for a one hour plus ride i dun see why a young man cannot~ Haiz, just feel sad for singaporeans especially the younger generation put themselves before others who need help...

LiJEin
Tuesday, March 18, 2008