To give, or not to give?

 Following the recent post on STOMP, about a man asking for money to public transport fare,(link) I was approached by a man in his late 40s last thursday(6th January 2013) at around 5:40pm at Ang Mo Kio MRT station.


Dress in rugged clothes, he asked "对不起小弟，我不够散钱买ticket, 我可以跟你拿一块九来搭车回家吗？"(Sorry kiddo, I don't have enough change to buy a train ticket home, may I ask you for $1.90 spare change for me to purchase a ticket?)


Out of his very sincere approach and innocence, I decided to look into my wallet, and wala..... there was indeed some spare change amounting to $1.90 exactly, I gave it to him immediately, before I could make a move, he asked me what am I doing at the moment(working or studying), I told him i was an NSF with the Singapore Armed Forces of course...

He then asked "哦，真的谢谢你，不过你自己够用吗？。。。。“(oh, thank you very much, but do you have enough for yourself?...."

I am drawing only S$446.40 in allowance from the army monthly....what is "enough"? (certain amounts deducted for comchest charity and insurance), I am even struggling to save up for further studies and rainy days, but hey, if someone needs help, it's always good to help in any way you can afford to.

For some strange reasons, the number 1280 kept coming to me that day, I then head to a Singapore Pools outlet at AMK Hub NTUC. While in line and almost making it to the cashier through the long queue......guess who did I spot(and spotted me) before getting in queue?


THE SAME MAN, holding a bunch of coins with a $2 note, he approached me with a smile and asked me to help him make the bet purchase.....of course, I did it with a what-the-fuck expression.

I felt cheated, I didn't mind the $1.90, I felt my trust stolen, but whatever, I do hope he won(so he probably won't have to beg again).

On the way home, I joked about it via SMS and whatsapp with friends, later in the evening as I checked the results, guess what, I STRUCK 4D LOTTERY! WOOHOOOO, although it was only a winning of $3, it felt real good.



My point is, whatever happens to money you donate away to strangers, don't feel bad about it, I believe whatever you sow, you'll reap it again in some ways or another, for me, I struck the lottery.

Be kind to strangers. :)