Sungei Road vendor's generosity humbling and refreshing

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Toy story
Sungei Road vendor's generosity humbling and refreshing
Monday • April 9, 2007- Letter from Hong Geok Hua

In the late afternoon on Good Friday, I was on a leisurely stroll with my son at Sungei Road, where often you would see vendors being quite brash in their dealings.
Amid the crowd of people looking for bargains, there was an old Malay woman wheeled on a wheelchair by a Malay man and his young son. They stopped by a stall manned by a Chinese man selling new toy sets displayed on the ground. The Malay boy picked a toy set priced at $8. His father then bargained it down to $5 instead.
The Chinese seller with his weather-beaten face stood pensive for some moments. I was sure that he was calculating in his mind whether to agree to the deal.
But I was wrong. The seller instead shoved the toy set into the boy's hands and said: "It's okay, you can have it, free." The boy thanked him and walked away. But soon the seller called him back — to give him a plastic carrier for the toy.
I was pleasantly surprised. I never expected a Sungei Road vendor, probably making a hard living, with unpaid bills in his drawer, to possess such generosity. He just followed his heart.
It makes a powerful statement about the notion that you can't help them all, but you can help one. It was a humbling experience that was very refreshing to see in the hustle and bustle of rough Sungei Road. Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

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