Power Point

Well, what do you know? Singapore isn�t as pleasant as it really makes itself out to be or wants itself to believe. Despite all the publicity and campaigns, there are still creepy people who are, well, just plain creepy.

---

The circuit board at home was behaving like a thug on drugs. Throughout most of the evening, it was tripping (or should I say, �trippin�). Little things like this is enough to send my mum on a anxiety panic attack.

�Oh no! What�s wrong?�

�Is there a broken appliance?�

�Did we overload the powerpoint?�

�Will the house blow up?�

�Will the world end tonight?� (I had to add this in...)

Anyway, she will then proceed to over-analyse EVERY socket in the house, pondering over whether it is overloaded. But tonight, she went all out (and she wasn�t even on amphetamine) and called an electrician. I wasn�t too hot about the idea especially when the power was already back when she made the call.

When the guy came, mum told him that everything is already fine, but could he check on the circuit breaker just to be sure. Of course he could. And promptly told my mum that our ICB had a problem that $460 would fix. Of course, with that kind of a nosebleed price, we said no. But he wasn't about to give up. After pestering her for about another 30 minutes, we manage to get the electrician to leave with a $30 transport fee. We thought we had sent him packing and that was that.

Unfortunately, that was only the tip of the iceberg.

His boss called about fifteen minutes later to talk about the repair. Mum spent 20 minutes on that first phone call to reject his offer that kept reducing from $460 to $380, $250 with each subsequent call and finally the last offer stood at $120, after pestering us with about 10 phone calls later. At one stage, they actually demanded another $20 for transport from us if we refuse to �repair� the ICB. Ridiculous!

By then we had already made a police report. This was triggered by the scare the guys gave us when they switched off the current from OUTSIDE the house after we�ve refused their offer to fix the ICB. In one of the conversations, they even accused us of making prank calls about the circuit problem, then threatening that the condition of our ICB won�t last another three hours� time. It was creepy. I felt like I was on the set of �I Know What You Did Last Summer� but with less rainfall and no size 6 actresses screaming their heads off.

Mum was of course having a full on panic attack. I had to try to calm her down, first by being REALLY mellow (like I was on LSD or some Jamaican �Spice� cake), then by making her a cup of Earl Grey. All the while I also had to try to convince her that the police was the way to go but she was anxious about the possible repercussions police presence might incur.

I have to agree with her on that point. I also have to admit, with only her and I around, the situation was stressing me out. Fortunately, she finally agreed to make a police report and get the guys in blue to come. That was after the guys had called for the umpteenth time, accused my mum of pulling a prank and we had decided to let the phone ring without picking it up.

I decided mum should get the family members to come home. With such a situation going on, involving such characters, it was better to have more people around the house. That was when we confirmed our suspicion that those electricians (the guys and his boss) are actually hanging at the void deck on the ground floor of our flat!

By the time the policemen arrived, everyone was in the house, including dad. He was so full of it, as he had always been for the past 31 years that I�ve known him for. Whenever and wherever there is a family crisis, you can even get a whiff or whimper from him. But when the storm clouds have passed, he�ll be there like he was the main guy in the whole story.

If you think we have issues. You�d be right. But what�s new?

Anyway, while my mum was explaining the situation to the cops and dad was trying to put on an act like he was there the whole time. In fact, he was at the coffee shop doing god-knows-what with god-knows-who. When mum called him to come back, I thought he sounded reluctant even! So the whole �act� in front of the cop sickens me.

Meanwhile, my sis noticed this � the group of three policemen was the epitome of Singapore racial harmony and stuff � there was a Malay, Chinese and Indian each!! Were they cute? Well, if you were into uniforms, they�d be � for their uniforms� sake. Anyway, my mum recounted the thing to them while they offered kind words and advice. They were very nice enforcers, constantly assuring my mum, which was what she needed while my father appeared rather busy. From his behavior, I thought he was either showing that he was VERY involved in the whole affair or he was hopelessly flirting with the boys in blue. I don�t want to speculate.

For the all the hype there is about Singapore, this appears so out of character. But it leaves one wondering. If it could happen to us, surely there must have been many others who have had similar bad experiences. So then, what do I make of this? What can I assume of Singapore�s level of civility?

I think there are a bunch of us working hard towards it. Unfortunately, society is made up of a continuum that spans a wide spectrum of characters that aren�t exactly fixed. Even then, there will be some who actually falls of the axis. Until then, we will just have to exercise our intelligence and sometimes just err on the side of caution and wisdom.