Monday, January 3, 2011

I haven't seen him since i was a little kid. My mum told me that he had been serving a sentence in Changi for an offense he didn't even commit. That's not to say he wasn't in the wrong though. He tried to rob an electronics store in the dead of the night and failed. He left without any loot but left a nice image on the store's CCTV for the cops to look at.

A 10-year sentence later, there he was, right in front of me. I had fond memories of him during my childhood. He use to buy me treats like chewing gum from JB and even tried to offer me a cigarette when i was just 6 years old! Looking back, clearly he was a disturbed man but yet, i managed to see the humanity in him and i found myself surprisingly concerned about his plight when he told me he needed a place to live. I told my mum who didn't appear too happy to see him at our doorstep.

After a long sit-down and talk with my Mum and Grandma, Uncle Tommy was sent packing and he never returned.

This little experience made me think about the bond between family members. My grandma AKA 'Po Po' told me he was a very bad man. Always disrespecting my great grandma and eating away at the family's measly income. He had gone to jail with over $10k owed to the bank with my grandma as the sole guarantor. My Po Po had to go through a lot of government nonsense to rid herself of this debt. Naturally, grudges wear borne.

Still, i was left wondering why Uncle Tommy was dismissed so promptly and decisively. Would that happen to me one day if i happen to betray the trust of my family? I certainly hope that our ties can hold steadfast even through difficult times.

Either way, i realised the meaning of mutual trust and respect between family members and how easily (or hard) it is to be broken. And as i had just seen, the severity of betrayed trust and the hurt that it can cause is immeasurable and extremely hard to mend.

I guess this taught me to be much more grateful for the love and care my family has showered me with.

Oh yea blood IS thicker than water. Not too sure how this applies to this post but sounds smart eh? Perhaps Uncle Tommy will come knocking tomorrow again.