7 funerals in 2 weeks. There is a flurry of "activity" these two weeks for correspondents from My Queenstown. We did not leave our traces in photographs as a mark of respect for the deceased. We did leave our sincere prayers and heartfelt condolences for those present. Quietly and fleetingly, we made our way to some of the funerals and understood that all of them had passed away because of natural causes.
What that caught everyone's attention was probably the unfortunate suicide at Buona Vista last week. A 26-year old Indian national was fatally hit by a KTM train at about 1.15pm last Wednesday. His dead body was found at the glass verge next to the railway tracks near Block 12A near Buona Vista MRT Station. According to national reports, he was a cheerful and well-liked student at a private university in Alexandra.
Photo from Stomp.com.sg
This is not the first time My Queenstown had reported incidents of suicides over the past 2 years.
Is committing suicide really that easy?
Mr XXX (in his 70s) has been residing at Stirling Road for the past 36 years. He has 4 grown up children who provides him with financial support regularly. He lives alone as his wife of over 50 years has passed away in recent years. Every morning, Mr XXX will visit the Mei Chin market for breakfast and stroll around the "SkyPark" at Mei Ling Heights to keep fit and pass his time. He does not wish to visit the Befrienders at around the corner because he considers himself as "unsocialble." Life, to him, is boring. There are many occasions when he feels lonely because he has no one to approach. He says in Hokkien, "I would have committed suicide if I did not have phobia for pain. It is painful to live alone and it is tiring to be lonely."
MyQueenstown Team has regularly visited Mr XXX
A friend of a correspondent in MyQueenstown Team has committed suicide last year. He scored a GPA of 4.2 in his university examinations but he felt he could have done better. He commented, "I'm stupid." A week later, he had committed suicide.
Suicide ratio for Singapore= Male:Female 10:1
Perhaps death appears the only way out for these depressed and lonely people. It is worrying to see Singaporeans sending out "hate" messages to the family of the Indian youth instead of showing some care and concern to our loved ones. We, Singaporeans, pursue a materialistic and self-indulgent lifestyle which revolves around "me, myself and I." Selfishly, most of us can't even bother to ask for the wellbeing of our families and friends. Like many others, I used to blame those who committed suicide for being "mentally weak." More often than not, we failed as pillars of support for loved ones.
Let us all take a step back and stop being egoistic. Let us show our concern in one way or another from today onwards.
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