out, out!

kidnap calligraphy
#5 of Kidnap Bob 2. Count the roaches on a typical day. click for flickr view

Given all the common values we may profess and the common ground we will always try to build on, the reminders of the possible divisions - be they cultural, financial, physical or generational - are not always pleasant. Still, they exist and persist.

Two days ago, the Town Council conducted their periodic "fogging" of the rubbish chute. For folks who don't live in HDB flats, this is when they smoke out the rubbish disposal chute located located in all the kitchens and connects all the flats. J and I had taken a walk for brunch, having forgotten about this exercise. When we got back, we found the void deck (i.e. ground level common area) littered with over a hundred dead cockroaches and those half=alived, upturned, their legs twitching or trying to carry their poisoned bodies away. When we next ventured out of our flat in the evening, the cockroaches were gone. (It was probably in the pest company's contract that they had clean up after the massacre.)

By now, the idea and image of a whole colony of cockroaches living it up in the 16-storey tall rubbish chute just a metal door away from our homes, are no longer as vivid in my mind. But in reality, these hardy creaures, I am sure, exist and persist.

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