My $2 Pledge
I’m the kind of person who wouldn’t think twice about wading through a dirty swamp. I even arm-wrestled with guys in my younger days. By all standards, I’m probably the most un-girly girl you can find.
Being in the company of guy friends most of the time means that I’m used to witnessing all kinds of disgusting acts. Hell, I’m even guilty of some of these myself. I mean, I do know my manners, like not burping, and not talking with bits of food spurting out of my mouth. But I would eat food off the floor in an instant as long as it looks clean.
Yet when I saw someone drinking from a half-empty cup right out of a random trash can, I had to look away.
After having dinner with my Mom at Chinatown, we waited for our bus at the bus stop. A frail and skinny old man that looked about 80 caught our attention (and many others). He was collecting empty aluminum drink cans from a trash can. This is a common everyday sight, but it’s still extremely sad to witness. Everyone there who was waiting for their bus watched and scrutinised his every move. Every single one of us there was so much better off than him. Yet all we did was stood there. And stared. And judged.
Then, my Mom suddenly said to me in an urgent manner, “Look! He’s going to drink that!” I turned and saw that he had fished out an item from the trash can. His prize catch? A transparent cup that was still half filled with a white-coloured drink. And sure enough, he slurped it all down. Can you imagine that? I was so flabbergasted I couldn’t help but start tearing up.
Here I am, dining at nice places most of the time and eating myself fat when I’m not even hungry. Not too far away there are people who are so poor they have no choice but to eat out of a trash can! I had never felt more disgusted with myself. Dammit.
We gave some money to the old man and spoke with him for a while. The only family he has left are his two sisters. He has no children of his own. And at his age, he obviously can’t get a job. Come to think of it, he’s not even that different from you and me. At the end of the day he’s just a normal person trying to make ends meet, to survive.
With the impending increase in GST (which I’m very unhappy about), would it really help the needy as promised? Would there be less homeless people sleeping in the cold every night? Would we see less elderly people collecting and selling cardboard and used cans for a living? Or would it simply go towards increasing the salary of our civil servants? Our ministers are already among the highest income earners of their league in the world!
I don’t have much confidence in the justification of such price increments levied on consumers. Despite the frequent fare adjustments (read: hikes) in public transport, I haven’t sensed any improvement in my daily commute. I still wait half an hour for my bus every morning. I still sit in leaky buses that have their own rainy climate. It seems the bus company has decided the best way to spend its money is on useless stuff like TV Mobile and its ridiculous “Flag the bus early” campaign. Argh!
But I digress. The purpose of this blog entry is to highlight the fact that there really are a lot of poor people in our community. And more importantly, we can help them! If you are reading this blog, chances are you are already living well enough to have your own internet connection, or at least the ability to find one.
As of blogging this, I pledge to help by giving a minimum of $2 to every elderly person I see that’s collecting used cans for a living. $2 isn’t much, but it is enough to buy him or her a warm meal. Besides I know if I started off with more than $2, I may not be able to keep it going for long. Who’s with me?
Oh it doesn’t even have to be money. If you’re feeling poor you can always help by giving away food! A pastry from BreadTalk or something. I gave away food a few times before and the recipients seemed just as grateful!
If one out of every five people that read this blog would pledge to do the same, we would be effectively helping *do a quick count* A LOT of people!
What say you? What say you?
(All right since no one asked, that last line is said by Aragorn in the Return of the King.)
December 6, 2006: Good news! On my way to work today I gave away my first $2 (since this pledge) to an old man collecting cans near my home. He asked if I won the lottery. He also said that for every kilogram of cans he collects, he gets $1.50. $1.50! How many trash cans does he have to rummage through to collect a kilogram’s worth? Those recycling companies are certainly not charitable.
December 8, 2006: This blog entry has been Tomorrow-ed! Does this mean there would be more of us helping the needy people around?
December 12, 2006: Benson, a journalist with the Sunday Times, is writing an article on helping the elderly and protecting the environment. He may be including the $2 pledge as well. So those of you who have left comments would be hearing from him shortly.
December 26, 2006: My $2 pledge has been featured on channel news Asia’s blogtv show. The flying dutchman interviewed me over a 3G phone for blogtv’s special Christmas episode, titled “the spirit of giving”. Check out the interview video.
June 23, 2007: This post has been nominated for the “Most Insightful Post” in the Ping.sg 1st Anniversary Blog Awards.
Dec 7, 2006
28
@”Anonymous aka Beni?”
I knew I was inviting comments/trolling when I said that. Lol. No worries about the “holier-than-thou” offence. I see where you are getting at. It’s a cliched way of saying it but still I wouldn’t put it past myself to give two dollars to everyone who’s collecting drink cans. Really, I don’t think I am that social-minded. And I’m sure it’s not a matter of seeing something that’s discomforting or letting light into my eyes, to speak metaphorically. I think there are more things discomforting than that.
But certainly I do not mean to put down Veron’s effort in any way.
*Looks around for lightning to strike him*
Dec 7, 2006
Marvelous entry blog i ever read ! I shall say the pledge with my fist on my chest ! Salute. =)
my exam is over!! Chicken rice?? haha.. shall wait for yr sms! tata
Dec 7, 2006
you’re a hero in ur own right veron ^_^
“save the cheerleader, save the world”
Dec 7, 2006
3472
Whoa so many comments! I can hardly keep up :)
Cheer: My heart really goes out to those elderly parents whose children refuse to work. It makes me fume at the same time. In our society any young and able person has no excuse to be jobless.
Lain: I’m glad you buy those tissue packets from elderly sellers! I see 9 out of 10 people rejecting them and it’s pretty sad. Many thanks for the thoughtful little card! Love the purple and the flower. Everyone should be able to admire your artwork so here it is:
Keropok Man: The whole idea behind my $2 pledge is to help these elderly people who make only a pittance amount of money from selling cans. 1 kilogram of cans earns them just $1.50. Do you know how many cans that is? Giving them more cans and newspapers to sell is a nice gesture, but it wouldn’t benefit them as much as directly giving them enough money to buy a warm meal.
As for TV Mobile, I apologise if I got my facts wrong. But I find it hard to believe that with the fare hikes we have had to put up with in recent years, none of the money went towards installing two TVs on every bus.
Jing Quan: Oh yeah, ’tis the season to be giving! I may be wrong but it seems the typical Singaporean is not exactly generous with his money even if he can well afford it as compared to the needy. I really hope people would start being more giving and charitable.
Aristocrat: Not sure who posted the previous anonymous comment. But I appreciate that you can be so forthcoming in voicing your honest opinion, and it probably represents 99.99% of what our fellow countrymen are thinking. My $2 pledge is not something that I expect everyone to adopt, because I don’t expect anyone to conform to my ideals. At the end of the day, I am only trying to appeal to those of us who are better off, to help those who are worse off. Everyone deserves a little pick-me-up no matter how poor they are.
KeOn: Sure! Chicken rice! I’m absolutely thrilled that you have taken the pledge too!
hiro nakamura: I ain’t no hero. Just doing what I can :) It’s nice to be called one though! Hiro was totally adorable in this week’s episode by the way!
Dec 7, 2006
27
@Aristocrat
No point masquerading around as Anonymous anymore, I guess :)
Yeah you’re correct in saying that we can’t start giving away money to everyone who’s collecting cans. That’d be overkill, and at that rate, very soon we’ll end up as one of them. Unless of course if you own a diamond mine or something!
And yes these problems are miniscule in the larger scheme of things. We’ve got wars, riots, racism, communalism, global warming, pollution, blah blah blah…
I am not at all trying to start a flame war, or to impose my opinions on others (which is an impossibility anyway) by responding twice to your comments. Rather, I am somewhat in agreement with your views. Except maybe I am a tad more “social-minded” than you are. No offence meant!
Dec 7, 2006
Yes, there is a lot of poor folks out there who do need our sympathy and charity (be it in kindness or monetary means).
Btw, you got a great a blog! Liked the previous post about you requiring protection, to safeguard yourself ;P
Dec 7, 2006
3472
Hey Beni,
I don’t think it’s that infeasible an idea to give money this way. I’m talking about giving $2 to every elderly can-collector that I see. How many would that be? Some days I may come across 2 or 3 of them. Other days I don’t even come across any.
But for the purpose of illustrating, let’s say I help an average of one person a day. We’re talking $2 a day, $60 a month. It’s just a few percentage points off my daily income. I think I would still be living a much more comfortable life than the people I have helped, and far off from having to collect cans myself.
Right now I am still a fresh grad holding my first job. I can safely say that my monthly salary is lower than the majority of the working people here that have left comments. If I can well afford to spare $60 a month to help people this way, I don’t think anyone should really be playing the “I want to but I can’t afford it” card.
That said, I have to emphasise again that I’m not imposing my views on anyone. Perhaps I am not empathetic enough and have overlooked certain things (to which anyone is free to voice out). The amount $2 is an arbitrary value and it would be just as nice if it’s 50 cents or a packet of food. It’s great to hear that you are making little sacrifices such as giving up that weekend beer for someone else :)
The grand idea is to make someone’s day (I dare not say “life”) a little better.
Dec 7, 2006
27
Veron,
Err.. I think there’s a slight confusion here. Maybe there was some ambiguity in what I said. Or maybe I exaggerated when gave that instance of owning a diamond mine. Let me defend my case please.
About feasibility, I completely forgot that I am in a different geography altogether and we were talking about needy people here. The place where I come from, you will encounter beggars, homeless people, and what not, in every corner of the street. Say you take out your wallet to give away some money. In no time, a whole troupe would be hounding you down for more cash. It’s a very common sight to see beggars actually clinging onto some well-dressed person until she parts with some money. And then the next beggar would start the same thing, and so on until she escapes in a taxi, or some cop/blessed soul comes to her rescue. And sometimes they wouldn’t let go of you for anything less than say, 10 bucks. Now you fret not, as this is not the case all over the place, but only in bigger cities where business/economy thrives.
Only when you mentioned about meeting 2-3 needy people, or none everyday, did realization dawn upon me that things are very different here. Firstly, there is no concept of begging. If someone’s needy, she will sell paper napkins, or pick up a guitar and sing besides bus/MRT stations. Now that’s called dignity and self-respect!
Ok. Digression is becoming second nature to me. Coming back to your example of $60 per month, it is indeed a very feasible amount. It can in no way lead us to our financial downfall, as I had previously (wrongly) suggested. And yes, it is less than my weekend beer cost :) So it’s very much doable as long as I am here, and maybe once I am back in my country, I can carry this forward in some way or the other.
Dec 7, 2006
1
hey there….
i am a regular visitor of ur site…u have done an incredible work alwz. wud like to know as how do u create such ideas of gesting up the thots on ur space. i have even put ur website link in my buddies in the website link i have specied. do visit by ma space…wud like to know more abt ya. i am a 24 yr old gal from india.
Dec 7, 2006
41
I’m just curious, have you met any can-collector who has so much self-respect that he/she refused your $2?
I think your action beats any charity organization in Singapore. =D
Dec 7, 2006
3472
Beni: The situation you described is one that I have heard many times before from other travellers. It’s sad that so many people turn to begging to make a living. Those that demand at least $10 makes me think that they are part of some syndicate. Begging is probably a lucrative business for some.
In Singapore most of the needy seem willing to work to earn their keep. If I’m not wrong, begging is considered illegal here. View all comments by Veron
juhi: Thanks for your kind words. For some reason I can’t seem to access your page.
chillycraps: So far I have given money to just two can-collectors. Both were very grateful for it. But I have to say that each time, I did fear the possibility of getting a scolding, should the person think I’m somehow looking down on him/her. But that isn’t the case and I hope they would understand my intentions.
Dec 8, 2006
80
The New Paper did a scoop on beggars in Singapore some time back, and apparently, some of them are earning enough from begging to surpass even some professional jobs!
Now if only I can find the article again…
That aside, while being charitable is a noble activity, there should be a need to exercise discretion, so that we do not let those whom do not need it take advantage of the donations.
The NKF saga is a very good lesson for us to reflect upon.
Dec 8, 2006
3472
Hey pkchukiss, I think you might have missed the point.
While I do agree with you that begging is probably a lucrative business for some, I must highlight the fact that can-collectors are *not* beggars. They are literally working for every cent and not asking anyone for money. Please do not classify them in the same league as beggars.
Like I said in comment #10, the NKF saga is precisely the reason why I am giving money *directly* to the people in need. That is the premise of this pledge.
Dec 8, 2006
6
if there were more people like you, the world would definitely be a better place to live in.
Dec 8, 2006
3472
The truth is, there CAN be more people doing the same thing, no?
Dec 8, 2006
your kind acts will deserve good karma!
my lecturer once told us that one elite thought there were no poor people in our society.
sad to say, that’s how most people think. despite the GINI index to be relatively lower than some developed countries, it doesn’t mean that there are no poor people in our society.
i too cannot understand how the GST hike will help the lower income group. will it be true that they will not spend so much money on non-essential items so they won’t be as affected as the middle and upper class?
Dec 8, 2006
1
“As for TV Mobile, I apologise if I got my facts wrong. But I find it hard to believe that with the fare hikes we have had to put up with in recent years, none of the money went towards installing two TVs on every bus.”
With regards to TV Mobile, The Straits Times published a forum article by SBS Transit Corporate Communications Director Ms Tammy Tan on 2 November 2006 entitled “TV Mobile Gets Thumbs-Up from Riders”. In her letter, she commented, “We do not pay for TV Mobile. Instead, it provides a revenue stream for us like bus advertisements. This is important to help us defray the high costs of running a nationwide public transport network and keeping fares affordable.”
Dec 8, 2006
its a wonderful idea. and i’m willing to try it!
also timely cos christmas is coming and its good to further stretch our ‘charity’ to beyond the shopping centers. :)
Dec 9, 2006
28
*another deluge of comments!*
None taken Beni ;) We just have our different ways of making someone’s day, that’s all. =)
edit: no wonder, someone tomorrow-ed your post!
Dec 9, 2006
1
Dear Veron,
Hi! You have set a good example by putting in action to help the poor directly as well as encouraging others to do the same.
I believe in God. Surely God will bless you for your kindness that comes sincerely from your heart. Yes, give out of love to others and expect nothing in return. It could be money (give within your means), food, clothings and a simple prayer or even a sincere smile.
Keep up your charitable good works from your heart. Whatever we do in our daily living, God is always there watching.
God Bless you and your family in great abundance!