Weather: Overcast with light wind. This is the kind of weather that either makes you want to sleep, stone or reflect. A few weeks ago, I was having breakfast at the hawker center in my new neighbourhood. I ordered myself some ‘chiu kueh’ (rice cakes) and found a seat in the crowded hawker center. Those who had chui kueh before will know that they are generally served with chai por and chilli on a piece of paper. With the fans blowing my direction every few seconds, the paper threatened to flip my rice cakes over, especially towards the end of my meal. And me having this habit of reading news on my smartphone while eating didn’t help as I timed myself to hold onto the paper whenever the fans blew my direction.

Halfway through my meal, an elderly couple came by and took the seat on the same table. I noticed the man seem to have difficulty moving, likely due to a stroke or something. Picture this, I was totally engrossed on reading and suddenly, a hand moved into my frame and pressed the edge of the paper which was flapping wildly. When I looked up, the elderly gentleman just gave me a reassuring look as if to tell me, ‘I got you there’. He continued doing that so that I could finish my meal. I thank him, put down my phone, finished my meal and said goodbye. Reading news on the phone during meals doesn’t seem so important after all.

Just a very nice experience that I thought I’d like to share.