I was at Tiong Bahru MRT going to Tanjong Pagar this morning
when an old lady, probably at her late 70s (from her all-white hair
and thin build), approached me and asked me in Hokkien which train
to take to go to Bugis. She showed me a doctor name card and told
me she needed to go to Raffle Hospital for medical attention, but
did not have any idea how to.
I showed her the way to the train as I was heading there (Tanjong
Pagar) too. As usual, the train was crowded. We managed to squeeze
out a standing space right beside the train's door. As the train
accelerated (and de-accelerated, or sudden break), the old lady had
to press on the train's door to stabilise her body. On a few
occasion she almost fell down.
Another standing passenger politely cleared out a standing space
near the holder for the old lady. The passenger asked where shes
heading and why was she alone. The old lady said that she lived
alone and going to Raffles Hopsital. She continued to say that she
used to take cab from Tiong Bahru but due to the rising taxi fare
(and other living expense), she had to take MRT instead.
When I reached Tanjong Pagar, the old lady asked me again had we
reached Bugis. I told her Bugis was a few station away but I had to
leave her as I was rushing for work...
My feel is that as we progress towards a better nation, some minor
group of people (esp old folks) are left behind. Most of them are
retiree with no income and rely on their CPF for living. With
rising living expense, this minority group will find it harder to
coup...
