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..........what it means to you may not be what it means to others.

White hair and balding, Mr. Lee was walking around Toa Payoh central looking lost and as if he was under a lot of pressure. It was obvious that he had not been sleeping well as his eye bags looked like they could hold water in them. He was so frail and skinny that he could easily fall down if someone gave him a light jab on his arms.

Brushing the few white hair that was left on his head, he looked around mysteriously, as if planning out something very difficult.

“AH-CHOOOOOOOOO!” he sneezed, without covering his mouth. It was as if he had sneezed on purpose and that he wanted people to look at him. The sneeze was forced.

Strategically, he kept sneezing and coughing as he walked to the bus interchange. He stopped when he came upon “Breadspeak”, a famous bakery in Singapore. By now, many passer-bys were staring at him because of his incessant coughing and sneezing. He then pushed his way through into the bakery even though it was not very crowded at the point of time, at 3pm in the afternoon. His every move was done on purpose.

Many people started to get annoyed and frustrated but none of them scolded him, maybe because they can see that he was really very old. By now, everyone’s attention was on him.

He went to the donut section and started to pack the donuts into a plastic carrier, which he had taken out from his pocket. Some people gasped and some just widened their eyes, watching him complete his “task”.

He was however, unfazed by all the attention. Once the plastic carrier was full, he slung the carrier onto his arms and proceeded to walk out of the shop.

“Excuse me! Excuse me Uncle!”  The cashier shouted over, “You haven’t pay money leh!”She continued as she brushed her way through the crowd that had gathered around the shop.

She had to run towards the uncle and stop him very quickly as he looked like he was about to dash away.

“Uncle ah, you haven’t paid. How can you leave just like that? “She asked, puzzled.

The old man stared at her, emotionless. “I no money.” He replied.

She told the old man to return the donuts to their respective places since he did not have enough money to pay but he refused to budge. He stood rooted there, without moving or talking. Some passer-bys wanted to give him money to pay for the donuts but he shoved them away. Many tried talking to him but he just stood there, as if he was a statue.

The cashier was helpless and she seemed rather astounded at the situation and seeing that she was about to burst into tears, the old man said: “Call police lah.”

She was left with no choice but to call the police as the situation was getting out of hand as the crowd circled around him as if he was a clown performing and basking outside the bakery.

10 minutes passed and the authorities arrived, astounded also at the sight of the crowd and the old man.

The male police officer started talking to the old man: “Uncle, I heard from the cashier that you took the donuts from the bakery but didn’t want to pay for it. That is wrong, Uncle. It would be stealing if you don’t pay for it.”

The old man looked at the police officer for a split second and broke into a smile. 

“Please arrest me,” he said. “Please!”

The police was dumbfounded. Why was Uncle Lee so happy to be caught?

“Please…” Uncle Lee pleaded with the police, almost going down on his knees to beg them.

Without giving in, the police continued to question and the old man gave in, throwing the bread on the floor and falling to his knees.

“My wife passed away due to cancer last week. My 2 kids, one of them died three months ago in a car accident, the other one committed suicide last year due to a break up. I have no kin, zero. I have no one to turn to. I have nowhere to live, my house was confiscated by HDB* last week and I am here at Toa Payoh to go to HDB Hub to beg them but no, I was not allowed my flat back. I am saddled with debts, amounting to about 10k. I borrowed from many people for my wife’s hospital stay and treatment. In my pocket, I am left with just a one-dollar coin. I have nothing else now. Please just shoot me with your pistol or put me into jail, please charge me with theft. All I want is a home now. I want to call the prison my home where my three meals are taken care of and I have a roof over my head. Give me my home.”

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*HDB = Housing and Development Board