shooperman.com

Photo by Martin Kingsley

Something happened in Singapore a couple of weeks back and it affected me greatly.

What I knew I read vaguely almost a week later from the evening papers and a discussion on a local forum:

A 15 year old boy was begging in a neighbourhood food centre when a patron called the police on him. Allegedly, he was asking for $2 to buy lunch for his ill mother. The police came and probably took him back to the police post and filed the incident. After that, they escorted him back to the void deck of his HDB (public housing in Singapore). From there, he went up another building and jumped. The boy died.

The story stuck with me for days, and nights. It wasn’t publicized much in the local papers and most of my friends hadn’t even heard about it.

I had been wondering why the story of the ‘begger boy’ (coined by the local paper) had affected me so much.

I came up with many responses to it: I talked to my friends about it, complained about the state of charity organizations in Singapore, and even thought about a startup for it.

In final analysis, I believe the story of the ‘boy’ is really trying to teach me something, something personal, something about how to give.

I am categorically a ‘jaded giver’. Over the years, my personal contribution to charitable causes have declined.

I’ve convinced myself, in the light of the recent mega scams in Singapore’s charitable front, that you’re not giving when you give via these multi-million dollar charity setups. Unfortunately, these organizations have monopolized the attention of the general public through star-studded fundraisers and professionally orchestrated PR.

So, when the biggest of them fell, there was a domino effect on the trust I had on the rest of them. Soon enough, the next in size fell too.

For some time, I gloated. Because I saw it coming and stopped giving when the first fell. Now, I know I shouldn’t gloat.

Rather, I should be thinking about whether my actions (or lack of) had indirectly caused the incident with the boy. You see, I could easily have been at the food centre and refused to give to the boy when he came by my table to ask for that fated $2. It would’ve been so automatic - that looking away and waving of an uncaring hand.

I’m wondering what it would have meant to the boy if there was someone there who willingly gave him $2.

You see, that’s the whole point about the story. Two dollars would’ve solved his problem for the day. A more generous four dollars might have ease a relief from him. A red ten could have make him see that there’s still hope in his lot.

Damn.

So, how should I give?

I tell you, I still wouldn’t trust big charities. Big money corrupts. And frankly, having the who’s-who on the board or stricter regulations doesn’t really convince me at all. It’s simple - big money corrupts. That said, there’s one thing that’ll change my mind - when big charities publish their detailed financials transparently for all to see.

In the meantime, I know I have to continue to give.

My idea is to give directly to the needy.

It’s my money and hence my benchmark. If I see someone whom I think needs a couple of bucks (or ten, or fifty), I’d give it to him/her there and then.

On top of this, I’m going to encourage others to do the same. The more people ‘give direct’, the more beneficiaries will be. It’s a new meme. A new attitude.

I’m thinking hard about how to propagating the meme beyond my network of friends now.

I’ll come up with something and post an update here when it’s ready.

In the meantime, if you agree with me, please go all out and give your monies to those you deem in need. You’ll never know if another ‘boy’ might walk up to you for $2.

Postscript

A reader commented and doubted the story. While I didn’t witness it with my eyes, I did catch the news first off the local Shinmin evening newspapers (I believe its 31 Jul 2008).

I also happen to know that he jumped from Blk 646, Ang Mo Kio Street 61 (but also that he doesn’t live there) and his funeral was held at Singapore Thong Teck Sian Tong Lian Sin Sia at 91 Geylang East Ave 2.

Think I’ll go to the latter to see if I can verify this further.