From rags to riches

Today's entry has been brewing in Jerome's mind for a long time. Months, in fact. It wasn't put down into words because the issue touches a tender spot and he finds difficulty discussing it in prose without getting too emotional. Yet he thinks the issue is an important one to share, so he sat down one fine day and started typing away... Word by word, phrase by phrase.

I saw the tissue seller lady some days back, waiting for a bus. You'll probably know her as the lady who sings a fanciful tune to the words "one dollar, one dollar, tissue one dollar." She was dressed in a dull shade of green, carrying a nondescript, brown cotton bag. People in the queue who recognised her smiled, and she reciprocated courteously. Yet, you could see in her eyes that she was tired. She looked like she has just finished work.

This was on a Sunday morning, at 0020hrs.

Soon after a young chap dressed spiffily in a black jacket, carrying a Louis Vuitton bag, sauntered along, talking into his Prada LG phone.

The social divide.

You see the same thing in front of Paragon everyday: old folks playing tunes with their harmonicas, asking for a small token of appreciation while sitting in front of an elegantly decorated display window with words that read "Salvatore Ferragamo" across the top. And shoppers obviously satisfied with their latest acquisitions meanders around the perfomers, clad in Gucci and smelling of Chanel.

Jerome is not against branded goods. Heck, he carries an expensive, GPRS-enabled HP Ipaq and is secretly wishing to get Raoul shirts for his birthday. He is just lamenting on the social divide that seems to plague developed countries across the world.

He is fully aware, and decidedly reassured, that the government has never overlooked the low-income group when it comes to unpopular policies that make us dig deeper into our pockets. He is especially approving of programs that upgrade their work skills and enable them to secure better jobs and be self-sufficient, although he is uncertain if these efforts have enough reach to the poorly educated who cannot read and recognise the existence of these programs. And it is through the witnessing of these stark social divides that Jerome reminds himself how fortunate he is and to give back to society. Yet, everyday, he falls into meaningless and frivolous gripings of slow traffic, crowded trains, and busy work schedules, when there are people around him who work in menial, low-paying jobs until 12mn everyday while he takes 8-hour shifts seeing patients in an air-conditioned room.

Jerome takes his hat off to these individuals, and may this entry be a constant reminder of how we all can make their days brighter by helping within our limits, even if it's just a simple smile.