Skip to main content

Shanghai Bus Terminal

I'm having breakfast with my family and am watching this excellent documentary on discovery channel - Shanghai Bus Terminal. At first i was overwhelmed by the sheer no. of folks and families heading back home, some as far as a 24hr bus ride, to celebrate the lunar new year. Most of them are migrant workers whom have worked their butts off for the whole year to save up and spend quality time with beloved family members. Sadly, not all of these folks are literate, most don't even know how to buy a ticket in the first place. These migrant workers or the 'new' Shanghainese, total about 4 million in strength - that's about the whole population of Singapore!
I see both the good and bad side of human characters in the show.

BAD:
  1. A man was robbed on the way to the terminal.
  2. Scalpers taking advantage of the situation & selling tickets at 10 times their original prices.
  3. Migrant workers who were not paid by their employer only bus fare to go home!
GOOD:
  1. A stranger helping an elderly lady whom have missed her bus home. She was distraught and was crying outside the steps of the terminals. Not only did he get her a new ticket, he paid an extra 10 yuan for her new ticket. ( my eyes were watery at this point...there's still hope for mankind)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye to a fellow friend.

Salam boys, Change is the only constant on life. I am having Iftar with Ms Faridah, my school TA, who is leaving the school for greener pastures to better provide for her family. May Allah bless her with bountiful rezeki and good health. Insha'allah!
Post a Comment
Read more

The last lap

I was on my way to marking PSLE scripts @ Toa Payoh. in a crowded mrt train but chillin' with hari raya tunes on my ipod. sepasang kurung biru...such sweet melancholy...thankfully my malay is still good enough to really appreciate the words. sighh... feels good. though eid celebrations have become low key for the past few years, i've stepped it up a notch a bit this year by hanging twinkling lights! energy-effecient LEDs, for the record. : ) wait..there's an unfamiliar raya song being played. Anyways, probably with my sons Hari raya might take on a different meaning in years to come. For me the takbir-my memories of my grandparents it rekindles & the old school, evergreen Raya songs will always be my version of a sweet & tranquil Eid celebrations. one more shout-out to my beloved pupils- all the best for your year-end exams. Your best is yet to come. Insha'allah!
Post a Comment
Read more

Kuliah Subuh

Bismillah and Salam boys, Just finished Fajr prayers at Assyafaah mosque and am now listening to the mini-sermon, if I can call it that. These are the excerpts. Reciting al-Fatiha not accurately not following right tajweed makes solat invalid, imam nawawi. (Lahan: 2 types a) bad grammar b) change in meaning As long as meaning not changed-solat is valid. Eg: (1) Na an am tah - changed to Na an am ti(etc) (2) rab bil al lamin - rab bal al lamin : no change in meaning just like poor arabic grammar (3) wa lad dhooooor liiiiiin - wa lad zoooor liiiiin : mostly Pakistanis and Indian Muslims from India mispronounce this - solat not valid as meaning is changed (4) if one cannot recite al-Fatiha especially a mualaf, just recite one of the 7 ayats of al-Fatiha - dzikir. One can even simply stand for the right duration for the recitation of al-Fatiha when solat and follow the sequential movements (5) al-Fatiha cannot be recited in any other languages except for in Arabic (6) jemaah praye...
Post a Comment
Read more