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How does it feel like to do intensive shopping?
Monday, September 12, 2005
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
5 Star Domitory
It is 7.30am in the soothing morning. With only time for a quick brush of teeth and wetting the hair, I stopped two steps after getting off my bed. The shower is on its full blast. Damned, I thought I could only go back to bed and nap for another 5 minutes before Tenant C comes out.
It is 9pm into the lazing night. The weary hands can't even seem to feel the turn in the keyhole. From the door, I can sense the radiation emitting from the TV. It's "Devil May Cry 3"... But I don't bother to even turn to glance at Tenant A and my PS2, as I stump up the stairs to my room. Echoed down the stairways is a foreign language that yet sounds so accustomed to me. Tenant B is on the phone outside my room, speaking in his hometown dialects that breezed past the smuggled-in cigarettes sticking in the mouth. The shower is still on its full blast. I could'nt find Tenant C anywhere else in the domitary.
It is a fine Sunday afternoon. Dad wanted to hang his clothes but realised that there was no space for him. He yelled at bro about not clearing the spaces. Bro found that he had none of his clothes hung, when most of the shirts left hanging are made in China.
It is a Sunday night. It had been a long while since dad cooked. He stepped into the kitchen. The 3 tenants have 2 of their 3 meals served from the kitchen every single day. The floor tiles are probably as oily as the unwashed pot in the sink. The filter in the sink are grossly choked with pieces of instant noodles and cabbages. Dad changed his mind about a home cooked meal.
*****
Evolution, or rather, revolution?
The 5 room unit apartment is now a 5 star workers' domitory, that accomodates 6 workers - 3 Singaporeans, and 3 China men. The nationality difference seems strictly imposed in this community. Ever since the third tenant moved in, I never attempt to initiate a conversation, or even to look at them. At times when we walk out of the flat together, board the same lift, walk the same path to the MRT station, we are total strangers to each other. I miss the days when I can have my dinner at the living room, watching TV with the fan on at full blast.
Anyway the Singaporeans agreed that its time to make the domitory solely a Singapore property really soon.
It is 9pm into the lazing night. The weary hands can't even seem to feel the turn in the keyhole. From the door, I can sense the radiation emitting from the TV. It's "Devil May Cry 3"... But I don't bother to even turn to glance at Tenant A and my PS2, as I stump up the stairs to my room. Echoed down the stairways is a foreign language that yet sounds so accustomed to me. Tenant B is on the phone outside my room, speaking in his hometown dialects that breezed past the smuggled-in cigarettes sticking in the mouth. The shower is still on its full blast. I could'nt find Tenant C anywhere else in the domitary.
It is a fine Sunday afternoon. Dad wanted to hang his clothes but realised that there was no space for him. He yelled at bro about not clearing the spaces. Bro found that he had none of his clothes hung, when most of the shirts left hanging are made in China.
It is a Sunday night. It had been a long while since dad cooked. He stepped into the kitchen. The 3 tenants have 2 of their 3 meals served from the kitchen every single day. The floor tiles are probably as oily as the unwashed pot in the sink. The filter in the sink are grossly choked with pieces of instant noodles and cabbages. Dad changed his mind about a home cooked meal.
*****
Evolution, or rather, revolution?
The 5 room unit apartment is now a 5 star workers' domitory, that accomodates 6 workers - 3 Singaporeans, and 3 China men. The nationality difference seems strictly imposed in this community. Ever since the third tenant moved in, I never attempt to initiate a conversation, or even to look at them. At times when we walk out of the flat together, board the same lift, walk the same path to the MRT station, we are total strangers to each other. I miss the days when I can have my dinner at the living room, watching TV with the fan on at full blast.
Anyway the Singaporeans agreed that its time to make the domitory solely a Singapore property really soon.
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