Thursday, December 04, 2008

Beg, Borrow or Steal

As I walked past the interchange today, amidst the maddening throngs of crowd and the deafening voice so generated, I noticed, seated at a pillar of the interchange, an old, unkempt man, with a container laid neatly in front of him, his eyes gazing at each of the passer-by...
Needless to say, this old man is a beggar... it is not surprising that in affluent Singapore, there are still beggars around, and there may be even an increase in their number in the face of the prevailing economic gloom.
I scrutinized the old beggar for few seconds and realised he was not maimed, he looked healthy and fit. It would be a shame if he were to resort to being a beggar rather than using his able body to earn a living.. however to give justice to the beggar, he might be harboring an illness which is not apparent to outsiders..an insidious illness.
If one really resort to beg to solve his daily financial needs, I could not say much. But I despises those who are fit and healthy but refuse to earn a living with their limbs. These people could be those, as earlier mentioned, beggars or more commonly, people who idle all day, and sticking their hands to ask for an allowance from their parents.. either rich or poor.
When one is really desperate for money, one could resort to the following: Beg, borrow or steal. Worse, some ladies could even resort to prostitution.
I have never give money to beggars... be they really the maimed beggars or the psedo-beggars. You may call me heartless but I do not care. My reason is simple and it is encapsulated in a popular adage which I have customised for this purpose:
"Give a beggar a cent, and you feed him for a day, teach a beggar to earn a proper living and you feed him for a lifetime"
Beggars, no matter how maimed they really are, or how unfortunate their circumstances are, can always be able to find a permanent solution to solve their financial woes..the question is to know where to find and whether the beggars would take up the help offered.

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

Our local mall is invaded by a band of scruffy looking gypsies playing the accordian for a handout at the entrances. Sometimes there r females with babies on the arm just holding their hands out for spare change.

It can be annoying when they try to stop u in ur tracks - we r afterall rushing to get our groceries done n head on home n out of the chilly weather !

If I'm not wrong, Sg has outlawed begging since the 70's ?

Singapore Short Stories said...

there are always some who defy the law in Singapore. e.g illegal hawking, jaywalking etc.. beggars are plying their trade openly these days.

alkw18 said...

I believe some beggers or females with babies on the arm do have illness which they cannot find suitable job and that explain they resort to begging.No females like to do prositution or men want to rob if they can get help from goverment agency.

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