Monday, December 19, 2005
POV
Saw on the news yesterday. Some taiwanese lady who out of kindheartedness gave a begger TWD200, roughly equivalent to SGD10. This begger then went to buy lottery, like our Toto equivalent, and struck jackpot. He came back to return her kindness and gave her TWD10,000 and some other tonics. As the reporters were interviewing her, she revealed that she didn't know whether to be angry that he took the money to buy lottery when it was given to him out of pity, or to be happy that he came back to give her TWD10,000.
Think about it, if you were a begger stuck in a poverty cycle, what is the quickest way to get out of it, with $10? Buy food to keep yourself alive and then pray that in the next 2 days someone would give you money? Or buy lottery using half the money? The lady was upset that she expected him to use the money to buy some food, as the weather begins to turn harsh and might need some sustenance and warm food to keep him alive through the winter and next few months. But how many of us were ever in that situation to think like he did? We always attempt to think of an explanation for another person, but rarely do we realise that we're trapped in a circle, because to expand your arsenal of explanations, you'd have to think like he did in the situation. To think like how he did, you'd have to interact with them and immerse yourself into his situation. Most of the time, we rarely stray far away from how we originally thought, in our comfy Manolo Blahniks & Bally shoes, not those $2 Bata slippers that gives you blisters in between your big toe & 2nd toe. That's egocentrism for you. In fact, he was far sighted enough to take the risk. I'm not so sure about whether taiwanese are generous people and how they regard beggers, but the chance of getting some more money through begging is definitely higher than striking it big in lottery. So if i lost the lottery, i'd still be likely to beg for enough money to buy my next meal. For all you know he had more than enough money for the day's meal and the next. Of course now that one man is off the streets, better for the economy ainnit. So let's all buy big sweep tickets and give them to beggers on the streets, for all you know we're buying them a ticket out of poverty. But nooo we won't because we most probably can't stand the fact that the person won and we didn't. That's singaporeans for you.
Unknown at 4:07 pm