Sometimes it feels like the whole world is on your shoulders. Or that it never rains but pours. Either way, there are times where one bad thing follows another and sometimes you wonder when it'll all come to pass. Right now, Mom's suffering from some unknown ailment where she'll be hit by strong waves of dizziness and nausea, and she only leaves her bed to go to the bathroom or to the dining table to eat her oats, and then back to the bed again. Then she'll get better for one or two days, and then the pain will hit her again and then it'll be back to the drawing board. It's pretty scary to hover on the edge of uncertainty of what might actually be going on. I suggested Mom go for a scan, but what's holding her back is the cost of it. And that's what peeves me. Why do hospitals and clinics charge such exorbitant prices for medical services? Aren't they all heavily subsidised by the government? Surely it's obvious that there are poor people in Singapore who need such services more than those who can actually afford it comfortably, yet how are they to cough up the money to pay for even a simple scan? The government taxes us to high heavens, yet money isn't being channeled sufficiently to all these necessary outlets. It's no wonder people always suspect governments of being corrupt. Really. People pay [more than enough] taxes for the services that they want to utilise. Why on God's green planet should they have to pay more for something so mandatory?! It's ridiculous and absurd. And then these taxes are being used instead, to beautify the roads by uprooting old trees and planting newer and more beautiful trees so that the IMF delegates from around the world would think Singapore's a beautiful and lush country. Such baloney and total crap, and an utter waste of money and resources which could otherwise be channeled to more useful facilities other than plants. Then there's Daniel, my crippled brother on crutches who has to be chauffeured to and from school. If Dad was going to be around, it wouldn't be half bad. However, Dad is going overseas tomorrow (for a week), which leaves me [as the oldest] in charge of one crippled boy and one bedridden woman. I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO WORK A WASHING MACHINE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! Which could lead to some pretty classic scenarios if things weren't so crappy. Since Mom was out cold on the bed, Dad and I were trying to figure out how to work the washing machine. We didn't know how much detergent to put in. We didn't know what the water level needs to be set at. We were pressing EVERY SINGLE button on that infernal machine. Dad was adamant at pressing the 'soak' button, which really was more of a lighted picture than a button. Yet it seemed to him that it would depress like a button if he could only push it hard enough [even though I kept telling him that it couldn't be pressed]. Then he kept turning off the machine, by accident because we WERE pressing every single button. I'd admit it was pretty hilarious. A shoo-in for Singapore's Funniest Home Videos if working the blasted machine wasn't so downright frustrating.
Yet I kept reminding myself to count my blessings. Things could be worse. I could have school this week and then there wouldn't be anyone left to look after things at home. Thankfully this week's my termbreak, so I'll at least be at home and free to oversee stuff, and to drive my brother around. And Dad would be back in a week's time, so he can take over while I start school after one week. It's like seeing the silver lining behind a dark cloud. Or to have a 'glass-is-half-full-rather-than-half-empty' perception of life.