"Can you give me $1 so I can take a bus home?" the sweaty kid with wet hair plastered flat on his head asked me as I walked past the playground between the flats on my way to the office.
He asked me that in Mandarin at first and I thought I understood but I wanted to be sure so I asked him "What?" in English and he deftly translated. So he's bilingual. And smart too.
I said I didn't have a dollar (actually I did but I reacted on what I was taught, that you don't give money to homeless people in case they booze themselves out with it but buy them food instead) but I could walk with him to the bus-stop, see him up the bus and pay for his fare with my ez-link card (stored value smart card for use on public transport). He said no need to bother me so much and that he could walk.
The bus fare would have been less than $1, he was maybe 9 or 10 years old and definitely would be charged student fare. You wanna bet Hot, Sweaty Kid was hustling me for $1 for a can of Coke or something?
2 comments:
This is Singapore?!!! Now that's a scandal of the highest water. Quick, ask TNP to write a feature.
Yes, 100%. It happens in the UK too. Many many moons ago I was in Birmingham New Street shopping precint, about to enter a department store, when this girl in a school uniform stopped me and told me she couldn't get home because she'd "lost her purse". She had the face of a nerd, plain, plaits, goody-goody persona. I believed her and gave her £1. Several weeks later I was in the same area, and saw her again and she hassled the person I was with. I couldn't believe my eyes -I said "aren't you the girl I saw a few weeks back?" She looked at me, went "*@#*" and stormed off. Ever since then I've erred on the side of stinginess.
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