a losing battle?

sketched on the train ride to the AMk hospital

Walking across the Toa Payoh Lor 8 half of Mr Chiam's Potong Pasir ward, J and I cannot help but notice how worn out its pavements, lift lobbies, playgrounds and other public areas are one quiet Sunday morning.

J: It really does look very old and in need of rescue. Quite depressing actually.
Y: Yah, I wonder how someone living here might think... whether they are frustrated when they look across the road at the flats under PAP's town council.
J: But old things are not necessarily bad.
Y: Hmm, of course. But in Singapore, something old always looks so out of place. And -
J: And the old things are actually broken.
Y: You're right! That's probably why. It's because we take such little pride in them being old we don't actually let them age, we let them break down.

Or maybe it is just the tropics. The heat, the humidity, the rainstorms - they leave us all - even the concrete - tired.

So if Mr Chiam loses the fight to keep Potong Pasir at this upcoming elections, it may not be because the Senior Minister has entered the ring, but because of our inhospitable clime - and our insatiable desire for air-conditioning.