Of hell

After reading Ms Chiongster and Spidey's comments regarding my last post. I have come to this conclusion. I'll probably see my sis in hell... If such a place exists.

About this obsession with the word .. hell, purgurtory, eternal damnation ... It comes in many forms. The terminology varies with different cultures and religions, but the end result is more or less the same.

To me, hell embodies fear, fear of misery, pain, anguish. We work so hard to avoid it, to secure ourselves a ticket out of it ... to heaven? To a better next life ? Or to disappear into oblivion? We pray, donate to NKF, contribute to the Tsunami aid, and sometimes simply decide not to step on an ant. Or curb the urge to prod that millipede you spot on the pavement.

Yet, sometimes living is hell. I choose to believe in living hell. To me, that is more scary than the unknown. Sickness, discrimmination, pain, poverty. That is less apparent in Singapore though, where the underclass leads a somewhat invisible life. You spot them when they venture out of their homes and once in a while, you see a man or woman foraging the rubbish bins at bus stops. Or the old uncle cleaning the tables at hawker centers, straining with the heavy buckets.

At other times, we struggle, trudging along to keep up and find that you're falling behind, and you keep trying and trying and you're exhausted. Its like the uncle who mops the floor at the bus interchange on a rainy day. He painstakingly cleans every tile, yet, the shuffling of footsteps continues and mud is smeared all over. Mopping makes no difference. And that's what happens. You can try but it makes no difference. Or your efforts may be wiped out by the folly of others or that of yourself and in the end you have nothing.