Around the place I live, there are a ton of historical locations. There are places of Chinese heritage, tourist attractions, colonial monuments, everything of that sort.
The thing is that now, many of my own memories of the locations are tied together with the stories that they hold. Nearby, down the street where I live, where the road meets the river, that’s where the Chinese coolies used to live, and that’s where they had many opium houses of old. Now, its full of pubs, and where people go to rest after a hard day’s work. My memory with it is linked as my running route, and I just remember the tired people trying to look happy, sitting next to historical buildings where The Man used to tell them how to live.
This area is also known as Boat Quay. I do intend to write a bit more about this but here’s just a sample picture for an idea.
All these things are really scenic, really nice to look at, and to live near. It’s just really sad when you think about the hamster wheel life that they live, to quote Emma Chamberlain’s recent rant on what YouTube life was for her. The people move in, and try to work hard for what they think life should be, and they spend day and night trying to make it happen. It’s not fun, they lose their lives, and they just end up unhappy, and alone.
But maybe some do make it, and that gives the rest hope. Maybe that’s what’s the glimmer is for many who do strive for that 1% of Singapore’s top bracket. But it’s expensive to live as the 1% in the World’s Most Expensive country. It also makes sense that we’re not the happiest people in the world. Clear proof that money doesn’t make you happy. I wish there were better statistical correlations that people could objectively look at to see this, but I guess many won’t even think too hard about what that would mean for them. That’s really the sad bit of it too.
Anyway, my memories of my current carefree life, lived next to these modern day coolies are now intertwined. I hope one day someone bans the modern day opium of self made success.