Oranges

The campus is quieter than usual. Students have gone home for the Chinese New Year. The school is like a ghost town since last Friday, with many opting to skip classes-- something that I never thought these diligent students would ever do.


I spent Saturday with M, a friend and former colleague who has turned me to a J-pop and Jdorama addict. I like going to classes, I like learning new things, but without my Saturday sessions with M, I think I would have gone insane.


After watching animes, soap operas, and stuffing myself with Pinoy food, I took the train and waited patiently for the free shuttle bus that would take me inside NTU. Alas, even the bus drivers have gone on a holiday. I ended up taking the taxi instead.


As my usual practice, I engaged in a chat with the driver, who was about in his late 50's, as soon as I hopped in. I asked the driver why he was working during New Year's Eve. His answer: "I have to work. I have to pay my insurance. I'll spend it with my family tomorrow." 


In my country, this would have been considered tragic. Old people don't work--their kids are the ones who do it for them, which is why many leave the Philippines to slave their lives away in a foreign land. Some Singaporeans have been abandoned by their children. But others just refuse to be a complete burden. At first I thought working at an old age was tragic. It was later on I learned that in this culture, they view working--even in odd jobs-- as a way to keep their dignity intact.


Before leaving, I gave my Mandarin oranges to the happy and flustered driver. Those were gifts from M. I hope she won't mind me giving it away. And I hope the driver, in spite of his work, still had a great Chinese New Year.