getting old

i was utterly shocked when i heard about the stabbing incident in ntu ytd. it's so sad that one would resort to hurting others and subsequently killing himself. i guess he must have his own problems that nobody knew about, and perhaps it's because nobody knew about them that he finds it hard to vent. whatever the reasons, i do hope his family and friends get over the incident soon and move on with life.

i never expected an incident like this would occur in singapore unis (not that this was the first time it's happening - just saw the newspaper on similar incidents), i mean after seeing the news on the two virgenia tech incidents, i just never thought it would happen here. it's stress, perhaps. but i certainly do hope that people find better ways to solve their problems rather than taking such ugly ways out.

ah well. on to another topic, i was expecting to remove my braces today, but well, my right side experienced this open bite situation again, and hence, i left disappointed once again.

on the way home, i was on 63 (which has a lot of elderly because it goes past chinatown and circuit road area) when i saw this old man fall backwards when the bus driver braked. there was a bit of commotion cos he really couldnt keep his balance and he was on clutches. luckily he fell on someone else so he didn't hit his head. but for a while, he was totally in a daze until the driver pulled him up and helped him to alight.

somehow it made me think about getting old. singapore is well-known for its trend towards an ageing population. i can't imagine getting old actually, losing your balance easily, walking with a walking stick, going to the doctor every other day and having needles poked into you during every visit, not being able to communicate with the younger generation, being stubborn, walking so slowly that the people behind get so impatient, etc etc.

when my paternal grandmother was still around (she was the only grandparent that i ever saw, my grandfathers passed away before i was born, and my maternal grandmother passed away months after i was born), i remember how her eyes lighted up everytime we visited her at her house. but we could only stare and smile at her because the only language she knew was hainanese, and we totally have no idea how to speak the dialect. she would always walk up slowly to us, shove a $50 note into our hands and walk away.

i still remember how she passed away. getting a stroke at home, was sent to hospital, and then passed away a few days after that during the wee hours, without any of her children or grandchildren beside her.

sometimes i wish i'd spent more time with her and learnt how to speak hainanese, so at least i knew how she felt when she was still alive. we have so many things to learn from the elderly, really.

and then i was wondering what will singapore be like 50 years later when the elderly will all be educated. will we be as tech-savvy as we are now? will we still follow the technology trends? will globalisation change singapore so much that our kids will all be working overseas and not living with us?

we never know. we all dun even know if we will live till then. so i guess we should all really treasure being young and free and healthy.