Train Sagas

Before I discuss the train saga in Singapore let me share my own personal saga in the tube in Rome. It is a bit surprising that Rome is still quite crowded in winter. My husband takes pride in navigating the subway of cities thus saving much money on conducted city tours. Unfortunately he has a dumb witted wife who often appears as an easy target for pick pockets. It was sunset when son, husband and me pushed ourselves into a subway carriage at Spagna station. Both men managed to force their way about 2 steps from the entrance. However much as I tried I was blocked by a dark skinned lady wrapped in a big shawl. We looked each other in the eyes hesitating who should move into the carriage. When she finally let me, I was near my men. At this point I noticed my squarish handbag which I carried across my shoulder facing front half zipped. Immediately I checked the content and found my wallet missing. I muttered aloud that my wallet was missing. Instantaneously I figured that the woman who blocked my way was the thief. I squeezed up to her and exclaimed "Hey I think you took my wallet!" Almost split second another lady standing a person away from the first lady tapped my shoulder and pointed to a wallet on the floor and asked me whether I dropped it. I picked up my wallet in relief whilst still stunned. At this moment a seat was vacated and I plonked myself on it. The credit cards were in tact. Until this day I don't understand why I did not check the middle compartment (where the unfolded notes are usually placed)promptly. The fact was I actually paused awhile before checking for the notes. When I finally came to check the middle compartment and found the 200 Euro missing, the 2 ladies had alighted at the next stop. Fortunately some other notes in the zipped compartment of my wallet were in tact. Mind you I also had another fabric pouch containing passport, money and credit cards worn around my neck and hidden in the midst of layers of clothing (This is called contingency planning haha). Well the modus operandi as I figured it was woman no.1 took my wallet beneath her shawl whilst pressed against me. She then passed it to woman no.2. When I confronted woman no.1, woman no.2 dropped the wallet and alerted me to it. Why did she have to do that? Even had we searched woman no.1 we wouldn't be able to find anything on her. I guess they feared some other passengers might have noticed they came in as a pair or something. Well this is the third time I was pickpocketd in my life. Things do really happened 3 times and I hope it will stop there, otherwise I can write a guide on how to avoid being pick pocketed.

Needless to say my husband's holiday was partially spoilt by the train saga in Singapore. Poor him, he had to render advice on phone admist the Italian mayhem and merry making in those little cosy restaurants. Well this is not the platform for me to discuss what I gathered to be the likely cause of the great Singapore train disruptions. My own personal deduction may also run awry with the political explanation or vice versa. My only comment is just as pick pockets use the appropriate modus operandi for the right situation, Singapore may need to review the model upon which its transport system is run. Hopefully they are not as dumb witted as me who fell prey a third time round.

Lost qualities

A psychology professor in Berkeley shared her opinion on spontaneous compassion, how it can be lost and regained. Years ago she met with an accident which resulted in some head injuries that broke various blood vessels causing excessive blood flow into her face. Her face became swollen and took on several ugly colour disfiguration for a few months. Whilst convalescing in a centre she observed how uncomfortable adults were when interacting with her. They tried to avoid looking straight at her face whilst not knowing where to shift their eyes. She reckoned people dared not look at her for fear of being perceived as staring. To save themselves and her from perceived embarrassment they avoided her altogether.

In the centre were 2 children, a 8 year old girl and a 10 year old low functioning austistic boy. One day the girl approached the professor and told her straight in the face that she looked like a monster. However she did not withdraw in fear but instead engaged the professor in a lively conversation. They became friends and went on to play some "Monster will catch you" game.

The other child in the centre was an autistic boy who knew only 3 words, the name of his brother, the name of his caregiver and the word 'chocolate'. The boy had an uncanny sense of which passer-by had chocolates in their pockets or bag and would approach them and mutter the word 'chocolate' haltingly. In this way he would get to eat what he loved. One day the child crept up beside the professor (who was feeling very down) and muttered the chocolate word. The professor explained that she did not have any chocolate with her. The boy looked at her face, slowly pulled out a chocolate bar from his pocket and gave it to her.

2 things strike me in this episode:
-The autistic boy despite being very very low in the scale of most types of intelligencies, in my opinion scored very high in 'interpersonal intelligence' because of his ability to empathize. He seemed to possess a heightened sensitivity to the moods of others and an ability to heal through non verbal mode, ie. through an expression of the soul.

-The girl too seemed to fare better than the adults through her unconditional acceptance. Hers is an example of spontaneity and authenticity.

Do we lose such abilities as we grow up? Are they pushed to the background whilst we focus on other more 'useful' intellectual skills?

Can we regain or reconstruct these impaired abilities? Can we reactivate these positive qualities? I believe we can.