Ten years

Date: 18 May 2007
Time: 1554 hrs
Place: Tanjong Pagar MRT Station Platform

There I was standing with my head pointed up, neck craned, watching the video they keep playing on a loop, teaching people how to look out for terrorists. I call it the "excuse me sir you've forgotten your bag" video. Without prior warning, this petite auntie, wearing a black sweater and and jeans, just came up to me and asked how to get to Toa Payoh MRT. Well, actually, she already knew, she was just confirming that she needed to transfer trains at Raffles Place to take the train up north. Then she proceeded to confess to me that she had not lived in Singapore for about ten years and that she found it very confusing now. I told her that she was right, and told her it was seven stops to Toa Payoh, then she went back to who I suppose is her daughter, wearing a pink tank top and pink Crocs, maybe 8 or 9, and probably her older sister, an auntie with big hair and a green dress (inappropriately short for her age) and heels, looking about fifty something years old, with a smirk of arrogance on her face.