should u think life is the pits?

one of my favourite food centres is situated near where i live in central singapore. i usually take approximately 15 minutes by walking to reach the place. here, food and drinks are relatively 'cheaper' than most other food places in our tiny red dot nation. for example, a bowl of bak chor noodles is just $2.50, a plate of one of our local die-die must have dishes, the ubiquitous chicken rice is $3.00 with generous slices of either white or roasted chicken with a complimentary bowl of soup with cooked groundnuts. and there are many other food and drinks stalls around offering a very good variety to sastify every palate.

there is one drinks stall that serves excellent local coffee and a large cup of kopi-o kosong costs just $0.60. to me, this is the best tasting local kopi-o that i have tasted in my entire life in singapore.

we should be a pampered lot since there are cleaners to clear the tables after diners have finished their meals, and i happened to notice one of them who is not only extremely hard working but very fast in clearing and cleaning the tables and i chanced to speak to her.

this person is not a singaporean but from mainland china and probably aged late 30s or early 40s (the other cleaners are much, much older in their late 50s, 60s or even higher). she told me life is hard (xin khoo), having to work 14 hours daily and her pay is just over one grand. but she said what to do because she has to support not only herself but her dependents as well (no, i did not inquire as to whom are her dependents).

my comments:

for me, these are the unsung heros (heroines) who toil to clear the tables almost immediately after we have enjoyed our food/drinks so as to enable others to sit and partake of their meals.

what is my point?

well, this is an example of a group of people who fall into the cracks of really needing insurance but can't afford it.

the truth of the matter is, u and i may be able to put aside, some of our resources ($$$) to take up insurance (if still insurable) but not so for these folks and many others like them.

why?

because for them, every penny counts towards daily living costs and many of them do not even have enough to make ends meet.

so whenever u think life is the pits, please spare a thought for all these unsung heros (heroines) toiling tirelessly just to survive another day and more importantly, have to do so without any form of insurance.