In this entry, I'm going to gripe about this man who lives about 3 doors to my left. Now, I'm not against foreigners or something bashy of that sort. I wouldn't want "bloody foreigner" thrown at my face if I were to visit say, the land down under one fine day (that is, if I can gather enough spare change from under the carpet - oh yes, I have spare changes jiggling out of my ears!!). Hey, I'm a firm believer of what goes around, comes around.
I've met this man's son many times. He's one of those from mainland China. A very nice young man who cycles to the factory nearby every day, earning a decent living for his wife and two kids, one boy and a recent addition, a cute baby girl with eyes as round as fifty cent coins. I'm such a sucker for babies with big adorable eyes.
All went well until the man's parents (the one I'm griping about) moved in. While the wife is motherly and nice enough, (I've tried my smattering of mandarin on her and it didn't work - really), it's the father's uncivic-mindedness that gets on my nerves.
Here's his routine everyday. Every morning, he will bring his grandaughter downstairs. He'll carry her here, there and everywhere. Every evening, he will do the same thing. In fact, everytime I'm downstairs (going to and from work, or go buy curry leaves at the last minute) I'll bumped into him. You'll think there's nothing absolutely wrong with carrying your grandaughter downstairs to get fresh air right? You have not heard the whole story yet.
One evening, while stopping at the void deck to rid the letterbox of junk mails and (wish I could get rid of it too) endless bills requiring immediate attention, I chanced upon the old fella again with his oh-so-cute-grandaughter. They were both sitting at a specially made ledge designed for residents to sit and enjoy the breeze which was lovingly provided by the HDB. What happened next literally made my jaw dropped.
He casually slid aside the grandaughter's panties (she's not wearing diapers) and made this sound "shhhhhhhhhh..shhhhhh" right there on the seat!!!! The fuck was he trying to do??? He was actually, encouraging her to pee on the seat! Right there.
I gestured wildly at a small drain nearby and signalled him to let her pee there. Old man just smiled, nodded and "shhhhhed" away, not moving a single muscle. I was like "This is not your country lah!!!..." turned in digust and stomped towards the lift.
That was not the only time he toilet trained her. In fact, I saw a couple of incidences where he'll just carry her to one side and let his grandaughter shower the grass near the playground for the whole world to see. She's even got this custom-made pants with slits in the crotch for easier business dealings. Then, with the buttocks still dripping wet, he will casually straighten the pants and carry her away, his shirt sleeves darkening with the telltale spread.
I've got colleagues at work with babies who'll count to the last cent the cost of each baby diaper. If they could see what this old man does to save on the cost of diapers, I'd bet they would eat their calculators - batteries included.
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