of Singapore, cats and cargo

My old friend Wai Sing swung through town last weekend, on his way from visiting his family in Montreal to his new home in Singapore. He was hauling an amazing amount of luggage, including a 50 lb suitcase with wheels, a sports bag with about 40 lbs in it (by the time he left) and a 20 lb computer bag.

He arrived around 8 pm, the same evening as I was coming down with a whopper of a head cold, my second this year. For the entirety of his 27 hr visit I was having alternating coughing and sneezing fits. Other than that his visit was wonderful.

He had brought many gifts for his family and friends, a Singapore T-shirt for me, and was hauling back a cargo of items he could not easily buy in Singapore, including canned sardines, Premium crackers, black peppercorns and two cat carriers, amongst many other things.

The cat carriers are for two street cats he and his wife have become extremely fond of. Their housing authority does not allow couples to keep cats in their condo and there has been a complaint about the cats Wai Sing and his wife feed. Wai Sing is afraid the government will have a cull of stray cats in the area, so he plans to vaccinate and ship their two favourite strays back to a better life in Canada. Lucky cats.

Wai Sing had many observations about Singapore. He says it is a rule-driven city and that's its people are very shallow, mostly concerned with acquiring wealth and image and little more. Local men don't like marrying local women, he says, because they are only after the 3 C's: cars, cash and condo. The city is 70% Chinese and there is a strong disdain for Malays amongst them, which is why Singapore was forced out of Malaysia in 1960. The government encourages the growth of the Chinese population over other races so it upsets them that so many Singaporean men bring in foreign brides, often not Chinese. This time a Singaporean woman has found a foreign husband who, although Canadian, happens to be also Chinese, but it hasn't helped him get his landing papers any faster.

Wai Sing loves to cycle, though Singapore streets are too narrow and the weather too hot. We met while we were on our respective tours of Europe in Lille, France, in 1991, though we have never cycled together. He was injured by a taxi just before I met him in the Lille youth hostel, and could not ride for a couple weeks. We exchanged addresses and, when we were both back in Canada, he in Montreal and I in Toronto at the time, we reconnected. A year or two later he moved to Toronto with his current girlfriend and started the Ontario Cyclist newsletter, which I contributed articles to.

Since I moved to Vancouver 14 years ago I have only met him once, when I visited Toronto in 2004. He has taken on another role, being my web master for my stained glass art website -- www.intergate.ca/~tomilson This was his first visit to my home since then, and I had to have a major cold. Of course, I complained about how I felt like shit, which was honest. He told me I was being a drama queen. None of my gay friends has ever accused me of this, but then perhaps I am not in comparison. Since he has pointed it out to me, yes, I do appear to be a bit of a drama queen from time to time. Being sick does bring it out of me.

Wai Sing left Saturday night, after making two separate trips to the airport so that he wouldn't have to carry all three bags at once. He was already so tired after he dropped the first one off that he fell asleep and missed his exit on the return. He showered, changed and was out the door again with his last two bags in 15 minutes. His flight left at 2am Sunday morning, probably arriving late Monday in Singapore. It takes 13 hours to get to Hong Kong and probably 3 more to get to Singapore and a stop-over.

Thanks Wai Sing. Hope you made it safely.

Quiet chaos

It was a calm pleasant morning on Monday, cloudy but mild. I was awake by 6:20 and into the shower half an hour early. I made my lunch and got out the door a few minutes after 7, 40 minutes early. I used my head start to go for breakfast at Joe's Diner, a block away.

Being out early is like a blessing. The sidewalks are empty, the traffic still fairly light. That morning was gentle, fresh and alive. I felt grateful for our peaceful world where there are no government oppression, no gangs, no squalor, no violence.

I made my way from the back door up the hill through the parking lot to Burrard St. I had just reached the street when I noticed a Busters tow truck hoisting up an illegally parked car. I was thinking to myself how fortunate I am not to be a car owner.

The driver hopped into the cab and began to drive away just as I was along side of him. He was towing the car from the rear, but its front wheel steering had not been locked. As the driver gently pulled away from the curb the front wheels turned and the front end of the car swung into the curb. As gentle as the morning breeze, it rolled up onto the sidewalk and hit the parking meter beside me, bending it flat to the ground, but not before it tore a size-able hole in the side of the car's front end.

The driver got out and calmly surveyed the extensive damage as I continued on. It was a simple mistake with undoubtedly huge consequences to follow He had ruined not only the side of the car, the parking meter, his day and his week, but perhaps his employment as well.

Chaos comes suddenly, without warning or provocation, and the damage is extensive and non-retractable. My life is peaceful and consistent for now, but any day chaos could arrive in the form or a fall or an accident I cannot step out of the way of. It will be much like this.