A letter to a stranger

Dear Uncle I heard it from the Gossip girls this morning.We are the regular breakfast gang at the kopi tiam downstairs with a penchant for catching up with the latest news about fellow residents,the latest headline in the newspaper (and yes,the printed kind not online) and banters on food or the grandkids or our trips on holiday.This morning you were the hot topic of the gossip girls. Guess what The Dai Ga Cha said the policemen called me to the station to give an eyewitness account as I told them I saw your figure clinging onto the railing outside the balcony on the ledge peering down into the inky darkness.Now what would that uncle do looking down.We knew you had a stroke and used a clutch to walk.Did you drop your clutch ? Dai Ga Chai exclaimed I got a fright when i saw he hesitated for a split second before letting go.As he leaped from the balcony,there was a loud ,crackling sound i as his body hit and broke the branches of a tree and then a loud Thud. Dai Ga Cha quickly phoned the police.An ambulance came followed by the police.The paramedics said you were gone.It was too late. Uncle you were one of the quiet ones who sometimes ordered a cup of kopi and chit chat with the old men gang in the kopi tiam.i overheard you telling the old ah pak pak n ah gong that you prefer to have cancer than a stroke.Your kids rented a room for you in this condo and gave you a meagre allowance.Better i die from cancer than my useless body that need help from others just to crack the soft boiled eggs.i cant even pick up a spoon i dropped on the floor. The old ladies also heard your words and consoled you.dont worry so much uncle.you will recover your mobility soon.cancer is a death sentence sometimes as it may recur anytime.Just continue your treatment and you will get back on your feet. But last nite,you lost the will to live.The loneliness of being abandoned by your family and your disability caused you to sink to depression and you decided to let go of Life. Rest in peace Uncle for i forgot to tell you about the courageous middle aged woman who lives on the ground floor rented unit.She was born to a Hong Kong father who abandoned her and her brother and ran back to Hong Kong leaving her single mother to bring up her sibling and her. After high school,she worked part time to helped ease her mothers financial burden. On receiving her first pay check,her boss decided to celebrate by taking her and his staff to a restaurant for dinner.Fate had it her boss got into a car accident and all survived but she had one of her legs amputated as it was crushed beyond hope. She had a strong will to live.A real fighter Her mother was her pillar of support.She balanced working part time jobs while studying for a part time degree at USM Penang for distance learning.Now she is an independent,disabled woman renting a unit hete on the ground floor.She works as the business manager of an online business,.She is self supporting.In her free time,she loves to sing and busks at nite at the shops in Kota Damanara where my son who works as an ehailing driver at nite picked her up and send her home.She likes to entertain people with her melodious voice and it is a chance for face to face interaction instead of being cooped up in her home office.There is so much vitality and joie de vivre in her.Shes generous and treated my son to a KFC meal when he picked her up with her old mother and cousin brother from her unit to go for an overseas holiday in China and it was early in the morning at 3am.Her mother would be proud of her capable daughter who could take her on vacation. Perhaps Uncle if you didnt suffer from depression,i would have a chance to tell you.Dont live for your children.love yourself and find your own happiness. I hope youve finally found some peace but your final resting place shouldnt be in this common ground of our condo.let it be doing the things you love or in a place youve good memories of.Whatever,go in peace if life is suffering for you.Namo buddhaya.