In our early days of Singapore, Arushee and I were enjoying our Oreo coated waffle after her piano class, a Sunday morning ritual. We were so lost in our joy that I totally forgot my phone on the stairs, where we were sitting inside the mall. After a good hour or so, I found myself scrambling for my phone with a sinking feeling that I had lost it. I called my number from my wife’s phone. To my relief, somebody answered on the other end! They first checked my name and told me to come and pick it up from their shop. I thanked the lord for this act of random kindness and went to their shop and collected my phone. I was amazed that some kind soul had watched out for my phone and returned it to me. I was a happy squirrel that day! And thanked God that I was in this amazing place called Singapore. Over the years, I heard several accounts of people being handed back their lost wallets and what not. Only in Singapore.

Context: recently, I’ve been plagued by bitterness about how trapped I felt in Singapore during Covid. As a foreigner, I did not have the right to return to Singapore for almost two years. As a result, I wasn’t able to travel home to see my mum where as people around me were able to. I penned my thoughts in an article called the Chief Kindness Officer and promised that I would try and move on by recollecting good memories, positive experiences, what strike me as acts of random kindness over the years.