A Piece of A Begger's Mind

This afternoon, I went to pay respect to my grandmother's "memorial plaque" (a.k.a. san chi pai). An old lady entered the premise while everyone was busy paying respect to the memorial plaques. She approached everyone that she sees. After paying my respect, I went to the basin to wash my hands. I stood nearby waiting for my parents whom went to enquire some things. The old lady headed towards my back. She approached me from behind.


Old Lady: Hello...hello...hello... (from soft audible to loud audible)

Me: (Turns around to face her)

Old Lady: Can you give me some money? (Ni ker yi kei wo chien ma?)

Me: I don't have any money with me now.
(Seriously my bag wasn't with me. It was with my mum)


The old lady started scolding me for not giving her money. Then a young couple walked into the premise. The old lady instantly approached them to ask for alms. The young man initially listened to her attentively. After a while, he excused himself from the old lady (whom was obviously very unhappy already). The old lady then approach his female companion for alms. The young lady who was busy sms-ing looked up. At this time, her male companion called out to her and shook his head. She then followed him. Not a very good harvest for this old lady today.



It is not that we are selfish. The thing is this old lady is bold in demanding what she wants for alms. She is one choosy beggar that is not contented with what she is given. She goes around not only in this premise but throughout town, asking people to buy her a sack of rice,etc. My dad once bought her a sack of rice after hearing her tale. After she got her rice, she did not immediately leave for home as she had described in her pitiful tale. Instead she approaches others telling the same tale hoping to get more. It makes one wonder, what does an old lady do with so many sacks of rice? How much does she and her family consume in a day? Why hasn't the social welfare looked into such sad cases (if what she claims is true)?