Today I witnessed a usual sight every week. I was in the MRT station because I was on my way to tuition. As I walked out of the MRT, I saw a man making a living just by playing his guitar and singing songs in the MRT station. Every week, I would see him. He would be diligently playing the music. A week without him there would feel weird to me. As usual, I asked myself the same few questions.
I looked at the man. Why would he want to make a living this way. I saw the many commuters of the MRT walking past him, although enjoying his music, but did not make the effort to reach out into their pockets to retrieve just a dollar to donate to him. Since this man could not earn so much, why would he want to do this? Why did he want to do something which could not earn much? Is it because this is something he enjoys? Is it because he is trying to earn just a bit of money to help his family? Or is this just because he has no other choice or path to take? I looked at him again. He was perfectly normal, and could sing. However, why was he here. What is he doing here all day long just playing his music and getting money? Was this his only job? Or is this just a scam beggar? I asked myself time and time again, what is this beggar's main aim? What was his background? Many question marks filled my head, but they all faded away when I saw what unfolded next.
A girl, about 6 years old, took a dollar from her dad and donated into his donation box. The man smiled and said thank you to her. She smiled and I could tell that made her day and she was extremely thrilled by the fact. She skipped off to her father and was jubilant to tell her father that the man smiled and said thank you to her. I was extremely shocked at that moment that such a thing could actually make people's days. Then, I could have a better guess why he wanted to choose this path although he seemed such a normal person.
It was not because he was poor. It was not because he had nothing to do. He did this with a purpose. I believe that one of the minor reasons which could be possible is that he wanted some side money. But this could not be possible because he didn't look too poor. I believe the main aim of him being here is to bring joy to people. It is to bring smiles to the public. And by doing so, it can make people's days. He doesn't want the money, but if he didn't take the money, he had no reason in being there and he couldn't tell if he was bringing joy to others. I believe this was just a side income. He couldn't possibly be living on this because I believe he doesn't earn a lot from this. Many people do not donate, including me, because we are selfish and too simple-minded to go into the further step to try to comprehend the goodness of this, that is to bring joy to our lives with music, and not because he wants to earn money from this, not because he wanted the money so easily. I was extremely touched by this and donated a dollar.
It is these small things that bring joy to the world. These small things bring happiness. You guys might call me stupid, call me and idiot, why would I be thinking this way. Why would I donate to some guy who might just be a scam, that he was not actually very pitiful. But do beggars really have to be defined in that way, that they can only do this for money because they are pitiful and poor? This is being unfair to such people as they want to bring joy to our lives as well. It is very unfair to say that beggars can be defined as a scam or not. A scam where the beggar is already rich and want to earn easy money. Actually, such people are just like singers. Singers also earn our money through concerts. This man, for example, would be a form of a concert, but a small scale one in the MRT station. And you can choose whether you want to give them money, but their main aim is to bring smiles to you. If you say that rich people who do this are swindlers because they want to earn easy money, then you might as well say that the singers are all swindlers as well.
In conclusion, I feel that smiles and joy can be brought to this world just by such small things. And I believe in the goodness of people, that they want to bring happiness to the world. What are your views on such people who get money from singing or playing the guitar?
Dexter,
ReplyDeleteWe see that you have gained the terrible habit of changing blog post dates. We stumbled across your website through Google blogs and have been reading it for a while. We felt that the material is great and we can see your thinking process.
However, the moment we noticed that you had changed blog post dates, you lost all our respect as a blogger. To us, this is possibly the most serious crime a blogger can commit. Lying about his blog post dates. If you did not update your blog, it is your fault. We take this very seriously. Your blog is virtually useless if you change your blog dates. It loses all its reliability and can no longer be trusted.
You may ask, where and what proof do we have that you change your blog dates? Well, this post was done on the 1 May 2010, and now it is on the 24 April 2010. There are more examples but we will save you some face and let your followers find them out for themselves.
You are probably going to delete this comment but rest assured. We'll post it up again. You can't win.
This is your punishment for cheating. Thanks to Gerald(not his real name)for the tip off.
Youranarseseriously Community
Chairman
2010
"Join the fight, blacklist cheating bloggers"
I am grinning while looking at the above comment but I shant say a word. :)
ReplyDeleteSo, seriously speaking, I think these buskers have to smarten up. Usually, they would 'perform' in more populated areas such as Newton MRT etc. and most of the people who pass by such places are most likely teenagers and young adults. Such people would not be attracted to some old guy playing old songs which we have never heard of.
They should be flexible and maybe learn to play/sing more modern songs such as Fifteen. I believe this would be more appealing and naturally, bring about more smiles on people's faces, with an old man singing to Taylor Swift being something extraordinary.
Yupp, this is just some of my thoughts. :) And kudos to 'youranarse'
Dear youranarse,
ReplyDeleteThanks for telling me that. But I prefer my posts to be dated back when I thought of that blog post. It's like I date back my posts to the day when I get inspired to write it. Is that a problem? It's just my preference and it's none of your business to comment on it. It definitely isn't a crime. How is changing the date of a post to fit the timing when something happened even a crime?! It's just that you do not know my way of things and since you don't, don't come and insult my way of doing things as it is a false accusation. And if you're not happy with this, it's just too bad for you.
Dexter
Oh just to add on, you're being absolutely cowardly since you have to resort to using a false identity. I mean, if you want to insult my way of doing things, just do it straight into my face, if I know you. Or else, you can just leave your name there to let me see if I know you. This is just an act of cowardice. Finally, that's only YOUR opinion, so don't add in false accusations saying that it is a crime to do this and I will lose everyone's respect for me because you don't get your facts right in the first place.
ReplyDeleteWow dexter, real protective are we?
ReplyDeleteI wonder who that person is....
the person is an arse
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way youranarse please punish me, blacklist me man. I welcome that with open arms:)
ReplyDelete