A friend who taught us to judge a little less and love a little more
Neo Siak Ting
2 April 1944 – 30 October 2022
To strangers, he was a peddler, a beggar.
For most of his life, he was an odd job labourer until ill-health and old age caught up with him – many several years ago, he was a Stage 3 colon cancer patient and had undergone at least three operations.
Then, more than a decade ago, he, who was never married, began to pick up things and chat with people around him. Subsequently, the things he picked up filled an entire flat in Eunos Crescent, to the point that he had to stay with his friend in Tampines.
To strangers, he was probably just another hoarder, whose items may pose a safety hazard to his neighbours.
He was born with little. As the youngest of six children, he knows only poverty and hardship.
Despite having little, his heart was always for people who are even less well-to-do than him – he was contented to get by with his earnings of $40 a day.
Paying-it-forward was a lifestyle to him. It did not matter how much more he has in his pockets. Lest we forget, he was a peddler to society, a garang guni.
Here was an elderly man selling his wares at the small space he made for himself near the Eunos Crescent Market and Food Centre. With his every smile, and little act of kindness, he personifies empathy.
It did not take too long before he became a regular feature in this close-knitted community. The little space he made for himself became the crossroads where residents congregate, exchange pleasantries and serve this elderly man who had served them so very well.
Being an uneducated person, he spoke not with words, but with his heart and his genuine care for every person.
When interviewed by the media in 2019, he said, “what’s the most satisfying is to see the poor people who pick up things and smile. That’s true contentment”.
Where he sold his wares became a conclave, where the poor, the not-so-poor of different ethnicities and nationalities met, and he was their chief.
Their chief was a fiercely independent person who brings people together and treated everyone kindly, with a hearty smile and without pretence. Till his last days, it was likely that he was still helping people who are poorer than him.
Today, his passing is a genuinely sad event for the community at Eunos Crescent. They have lost one of their very own.
Each day, the space he made for himself is filled with life and love. Today, the space seems a little emptier and a little lonelier.
But we know, the space will forever be his; it is reserved for him as a mark of who he was and the values he exemplifies. With his love for people, his compassion, empathy and an innate understanding of the people who had little, he made it his own.
Today, we paid him homage.
To strangers, he was a peddler, a vagrant and a hoarder. But to us, he was our dear friend.
A friend who taught us to judge a little less and love a little more.
We never had a true idea of a person’s value until we lose it.
Society has indeed done itself a disservice when it sees him as being of no greater value than the wares he sells.
Today, we celebrate his values, his outlook in life and his genuine care and concern for people.
He has taught us so many life lessons that no amount of money can, literally, buy us.
Farewell, uncle. We love you. Thank you for showing us that character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you.
Top image: CNA Insider
