April 2017
It’s a different world now!
There
was a time when we helped strangers asking for directions most readily.
When neighbours knocked on the door asking if we had an egg to spare,
we happily gave a couple. Telephone lines and refrigerators, expensive
luxuries then, were generously shared. Grocery store-keepers delivered
rice bags to our doors with the bill settled monthly. That was the world
I grew up in. We were not rich but were generous. There were no desires
but only satisfaction.
All these seem like fairy tales now!
Strangers
wandering on MTR platform shy away from interaction when offered help.
In public transport, seats for those in need have to be labelled as
though commuters cannot decide for themselves to whom they should offer
their seats. Backpackers have to be persuaded to unload. Neighbours no
longer greet each other. We dare not knock on doors for help. And yet we
know and let friends know about one another’s lives in details. We
react with our thumbs and smileys. There is no human touch at all. We
nestle in our own isolated world comforting ourselves that we have tens
and hundreds of friends.
Oh! I miss the good old days!
