I love to complain.
Each time 911 is late, I'll complain. Sometimes to my husband, sometimes to my sister, sometimes I'll just call the SMRT hotline. How can I not complain? LTA says that 80% of buses come every 10 minutes (or some statistics like that). But a feeder bus service like 911? It's just not right that I have to wait 40 minutes for the bus! 911E comes instead. 911E that terminates at the interchange. I need that 911 to fetch my daughter, okay? So I end up taking a taxi sometimes. I get real agitated when the bus that I want doesn't come within 15 minutes.
But that is what life is like in Singapore, isn't it? Things function like clockwork. Or almost like one. We are so used to things happening when it's supposed to happen that we get all riled up when it doesn't. We are just not used to waiting - perhaps for a short while, it's okay; even then, during our short wait, we'll be fiddling with the gadgets that we surround ourselves with.
My friend Suraya lives in India. She's there because her husband works there. I've always thought that she's making the mother of all sacrifices by leaving Singapore. I sound so jingoistic. But reading a recent blog entry from her made me see why people don't necessarily want to uproot themselves from India. And it is also no wonder that there are so many great writers that hail from India.
Yes, she had to wait more than, a whole lot more than my 40 minutes to get her train. But there's something about the long wait, the uncertain arrival time and the train journey that is so lyrical and poetic. It's charming. And the experiences that her boys go through are things that no born-and-bred-in-Singapore-kid can ever get. Charming.
5 comments:
lta says only but cant beat switzerland. the bus will really come as scheduled but maybe cos they dun have jams but then again for feeder service also lembap. how to plan our time efficiently then? ok maybe yes, we are spoilt that way. wen i went to US, we had to wait quite a bit in the queue in a restaurant and i was complaining and complaining and complaining and fahmy said," pls remember, this is not sgp. get used to it." :P
read ur friend's entry, i am so amazed at how her 2 boys (and i mean boys!) can travel so far and so long! i cannot handle just 1 boy in the plane, farthest was 8hrs plane ride and we were all so exhausted just handling 1 boy, but she handles 2 boys!! take my hat off her!
have u gotten ur hand on geography of bliss? the writer wrote abt india and how he'd very much like to go back there again n again and again. reading it, makes me wanna go there too.
so time to uproot urselves? i've always dreamed of that, for a better quality of family life...if 4 hours away by plane ride also ok jugak. :P i wish to retire by 50 (tt's like 17 years away only)...can only do tt if we uproot ourselves, in my humble opinion.. :P
uproot myself? no lah. i'm not likely to do that. not sure if i can survive hardship. i'm a wimp, you see. BUT, i wouldnt mind toughing it out for a few months. maybe 3-6 months. if i can survive that (with both kids), i'll be extremely proud of myself. it'll possibly be the biggest thing i've ever done and will ever do in my life. heh. that sounds quite sad. :p
anyway, suraya also travels alone with her 2 boys when she comes back to sg. amazing, right? she's power lah. i cannot imagine doing it myself. i'm such a whiner. maaaaaaaaaaybe, when they are bigger, i can travel with them on my own lah. (but when i say travel, i actually mean travel from woodlands to tampines. i AM a wimp.) and she has a friend who travels on her own with her 3 kids from london to singapore. i salute these women.
oh wait. u mean migrate to other countries? hmm. where exactly? then again, wherever we go, we most likely will need to know how to drive so i have to go get that license first. hehee.
heheh! yar i mean migrate.. this native location is fast becoming a business transaction country..so people are 'forced' to relocate? heheh..i dream only..
wah!! ur friends are superwomen!! i am really really impressed by these mummies...
the farthest i brought hazim out alone was just around the neighbourhood. anytime he cranks up, can make a quick dash home. :P
nad would you be able to check on the sbs transit website what time the bus would come? I do that sometimes, so i save my blood pressure from rising when the bus doesn't come after 10 mins.
yes, s'pore runs like clockwork. that's how s'pore is described on travel mags & tv shows. macam robot eh?
when i was in perth for 3 yrs, suddenly everything slowed down. at first we were frustrated, but later on, realised there was no point in rushing. People were happier. The bus I was in once, stopped at a bus stop to accompany an old frail passenger upon alighting to across the street. Everyone in the bus clapped. Shops closed by 5 pm. When I returned here, I was "slow" too. I'm still "slow" now. I think I drive my mother nuts due to my lembabness. hahaha...
Shall check out yr friend's blog soon :)
911 is not an sbs bus. so that iris system that they have is not relevant for me. i live in woodlands dah. all the buses are tibs buses. eh wait, that was donkey years ago. i think they are now called smrt buses. i could be wrong, though.
perth - that's what ALL my friends who studied there say. more relaxed. one of them has even uprooted herself and is living there now. but i am not sure i can take such a pace. i am born and bred here. never left the country other than for short holidays. so, at this late stage in life, i am not sure if i can take such a drastic change in my pace of life. i'll most probably die of ruptured blood vessels if my bus takes more than an hour to come. however, having said that, i do fancy the thought of living away from singapore for a few months. but it might be a bit too late now that the kids are so young. i once had thoughts of doing a 1-year masters programme overseas - not so much for the qualification but more for the life experience. but, well, too late for all that now. :D
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