love, life, school and coffee.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Behind Closed Doors

As I lie in bed at night, I often hear the sneezes of a man who lives in the block across from mine. He has the loudest whooping sneeze I have ever heard. The strange thing is, I only notice his sneezes in the dead of the night. Whether his sneezing attacks only come about then, or his sneezes are audible when all other noises have died down, I have never cared to think.

Isn't it interesting? The little quirks which come with living in a city with apartment blocks packed so closely together. In the dark room, while waiting for entry into lala land, I could almost make out how this man could suddenly be attacked by the urge for phlegm-y sounding sneezes. The first sneeze he sprays saliva all over his room, he reaches for some tissue paper and attempts to cover his mouth for his second and third sneeze. His body jerks involuntarily with each explosive blast of air; tears well in his eyes from the sheer force of the blasts.

It's just a sneeze, dammit.

But stop to think: Do you know what happens in the lives of your neighbours? How good are we as neighbours? Do we give a damn how well their sons are doing in the PSLE? Who cares?

Frankly, no one cares. And that is why it's so sad. I've always patronised a nasi lemak stall at a hawker centre near my place. For 2 dollars, I could get 5 items, including this huge (probably even growth hormone laden) chicken drumstick. My family would always wonder how they managed to keep their prices so low all this while. It was cheap, it tasted good and it was close to home. How good can it get? Recently however, the stall has been closed quite often. When it reopened, it only offered 4 items. But the drumstick was still included, so we didn't mind. Just last week though, we found out that the stall was permanantly closed.

For the first time in my life of patronising that stall, I wondered how the stallholder made a living. And that was only because I wondered why he closed in the first place. Was it because he wasn't covering his costs? Was it a problem with supply side economics? Did his license expire? (The wonder of studying in a business school is how all your questions end up being very business-like) My mother told me that the uncle had once told her that he was intending to wind up. His mother was getting to old to help out at the stall.

And then I remembered the mother. She was of very slight build, looked frail and was perpetually hunched over a huge wok of oil, deep frying chicken wings and drumsticks to golden perfection. She was indeed old. Or she looked the part. Then again, the stallholder himself looked old. Or the whole family ages fast. In any case, the stallholder probably feels it best for his whole family if he no longer sells nasi lemak.

While it seems incredibly selfish for me to be angry with them for not selling such wonderful nasi lemak, that was exactly how I felt. And then all these thoughts came in. Do I really know the stallholder's life? Did I even care what he did while he was still faithfully serving nasi lemak? Do we really need such a turn of events to turn our focus on other people instead of ourselves?

And I wonder how I'd feel if I notice that I can't hear the man sneezing anymore. How long will it take for me to realise that he's no longer there? -Jimmy

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Save Your Tears for the Plants

It hurts so bad when you're so glad
it hurts so bad i cry in bed
And only cos I saw you dance
I saw you dance with Joel

I was nursing quite a broken heart
Had a night out wanting a fresh start
Why did I see you there?
Why should I even care?

It hurts so bad when you're so glad
it hurts so bad i cry in bed
And only cos I saw you dance
I saw you dance with Joel

Drown my sorrows in my alcohol
Had no courage for a little chat
Then I saw my best friend
Found him to be your man.

You were happy dancing with him
And then he leaned, leaned in for a kiss
Those lips you touched, could've been mine
The lips you touched last valentine

It hurts so bad when you're so glad
it hurts so bad i cry in bed
And only cos I saw you dance
I saw you dance with Joel

And then I ran, I ran, I ran
And my mind was all a blank
And my heart a gaping hole
My tears I pour over my plants

It hurts so bad when you're so glad
it hurts so bad i cry in bed
And only cos I saw you dance
I saw you dance with Joel

It hurts so bad when you're so glad
it hurts so bad i cry in bed
And only cos I saw you dance
I saw you dance with Joel -Jimmy

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Sudoku Nut