给我一点吃的吧, huh

Under my blog archive I recounted that many years ago, I chanced upon one middle-aged lady near Tampines central on two occasions about a year apart. On both occasions, she wore a pitiful grimace and asked passer-bys for some money for food. She claimed she had a sick mother to take care of and hadn’t eaten for 3 days. For she could not provide sensible nor consistent answers when I probed her plight further (e.g. why don’t you find a job), I did not give her any money. Then, I assumed she was a lazybum seeking money the easy way.

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(Fast forward to a few years later)

One morning last week, on my way to the bus stop to work, I spotted a skinny middle-aged lady asking passer-bys for money. She donned plain clothes but spotted a white bandana and held an asthma inhaler in her left hand.

There was no way I could siam her along that path and expectedly, she came up to me. Slightly hunched, the lady pointed at her stomach, at the same time expressing a grimace, hinting hunger. First thing I asked was where she stayed. If she was a cheat, she'll fumble for answers.

She didn’t hear me the first time and was muttering something. I interrupted, “Where?”

Without looking back, she pointed towards an arbitrary direction behind her.

“WHERE?” I probed.

In Mandarin she replied, “800 plus.”

I needed to know she was in a genuine sorry plight. “Where?”

She said near the market.

“Which block?”

She answered, 801.

Okay. But I continued pressing her, “Why don’t you ask for help near the bus interchange where there are more people?” The auntie said she doesn’t dare to do it where there are too many people.

How much do you want, I asked concernedly. She lifted up the asthma inhaler and gestured at it, $46.

I gave her $10 and continued my journey.

2 minutes later, it suddenly hit upon me whether I had trusted her too easily. Ok, so there is indeed a Block 801. But it is nowhere near here. Why did she have to travel out of the way to ask for money? My gut feeling also told me the asthma inhaler did not belong to her.

Anyways. I felt $10 is within my comfortable zone to help someone in need. If indeed the lady's plight is true, it’s more than enough to fill her stomach and maybe get some groceries. If she had meant to lie, it’s not big an amount to part with.