One of a few places that always possess magnetic attraction to me is secondhand bookstore located in Bras Basah. Everytime my friend and I went there we lost track of time and scanning a title one by one suddenly is not a tedious work at all. My friend had always pulled me and tried her best to hold me from stepping inside, she knew better we won't be out in less than thirty minutes once we walked in. When can you get good books for $2.9 in Singapore? If you don't mind scent of old books and yellowing pages, you won't think twice.
Another thing I have kind of recently experienced a few days in a row is the conversation that takes place there. Perhaps because it was not a very common place and people who went there would at least have one interest in common. I was with a friend of mine when a man, seemingly over middle age tourist broke in a silence "They are pretty cheap. A lot of collections too." That is when we found out he was an english man living in Malaysia in venture for good Malayan books. He is quite a thin guy just slightly taller than me, his hair has thinned and whitened and he wore patterned shirt that looks like Batik but not quite the same. He admitted he like living in Malaysia despite some grudges he threw over the people "Yes means no, no means yes." I asked him to further explain it, he basically sum up by saying "How do I say it.. people just don't know what they are talking about." To that I need to gather bits of this and that to make sense of what he might mean. It might be simply language barrier it also might be what we acknowledge similar as what some of Indonesian is lacking, the straightforwardness, in contrast to Singaporean. You say yes when you kind of mind it, you say no when you kind of just want to play hard to get. Anyway he also came to venture for good healthy breads, the hard baguette preferably. He then went on asking about culinary places here. Being homebody I am I could not tell much beside the ones surround my place, so my friend became an instant guide here. We could not guarantee the name we mention would stay with him after he left the bookstore but he did not bother to note it down anyway. The conversation went for a little more awhile yet we needed to hurry back. He somehow read our gesture and we had our farewell there. Of course, what are the odds, we might see each other again, right? I said "Bye" he said "see you", He is an english after all.
The next day I was with the same friend we were in the middle of mural project that takes place in Bras Basah. Wrapping up and called it a day on the last second day, we hurried for food nearby to later rush to my place before rain got any heavier. Walking across National Library, we bumped into the man we met yesterday. Yes.. right, what are the odds?! But I got to remind my self it is Singapore. You could bump into three people you know in the same mall at Jakarta, perhaps a few you would call unfortunate encounter. This time we got to know his name and his contact if any future info on secondhand bookstore. He said he was just now lost and people weren't helpful about location. We said it is Singapore, people depend on GPS our spatial sense had long not been put to much of use, I muttered in my mind another possibility is that random people these days are too anxious to be approached by strangers they say "i dont know" before even process the question. A few minutes passed now we were on a topic of tight regulation Singapore has on everything, that he could not just dump his secondhand stuff to sell here. "In Malaysia you won't need All those, you can just sell it." "Indo too." I relate. It comes in a package of course, more news of good deals more news of scam. We parted away again for the second time and this time we were somehow quite sure that no more encounter will happen. I mean who knows but that has been the universe rules that no odds happen over twice right?
We were right, up to now.
But the next few days I did not know how did I make myself comeback there after piling up my unfinished readinglist. Upon searching row by row, an interesting conversation took place between an old american man and a Singaporean man I'd assume on his 40s? They were talking about being happy in old days. The SG guy suggested to do volunteer work as it can be quite depressing to not do anything especially in Singapore. "It is good to work, you'll feel empty after you retire." That kind of reflects on the old aunties and uncles in Singapore who takes up so much physical works despite their slowing movement expose undeniable need of rest. Some has totally walk bending down as they sweep the floor. When I asked my friend about it, she went "because you don't want to burden your kids" There might be more to it but all I can make up for now is that the living cost is too high that to go according the old way by having your kids returned the favor by sending money is not enough. Is it financial issue or mental issue of being in need of doing something, I am not sure. No matter how much you have gotten used to the view day by day, you can't still yet fully normalize it. It better not.
They talked about job the SG man said how hard it is to be an engineer that he downgraded from the previous job. The old man said he too was an engineer but on the side of construction. I forgot the following lines but somewhere nearing the end of this topic, the SG man said "I think you are up there. I am nothing compared to you" His voice sound confident, humble but not the self-pity kind of tone. The old man of course, denied humbly with his hoarse mumbling voice. It is quite funny now you think of it they could have a few stages away and such conversation will rarely happen in professional basis but the bookstore got them talking like buddies. The things about strangers, you can't really grasp of who a person is so your action toward them genuinely represents you before knowing the respect you should've thrown upon this actually-somebody-or-nobody depending on your boxes. Interesting fine line huh what professional world can make upon connection of two persons, the jump of persona and trait that attracts your "friends" but not your 'friends'.
After awhile hoping they didn't catch me stepping closer toward them as I scanned over the books to eavesdrop, they have changed the topic into some political influence that has turned Singapore of what it is today and of course, the China's economy. I was now in lost of the books and now had stepped far enough to only catch unclear mumble of them in a distant.
I lined up near to the cashier as the old man departed with the SG man. That has finished the stranger series of today. I paid my book and went home.
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