nice day.

the one about goatees and naughty boys

About 10 years ago in the east of Singapore, there was a plump little bespectacled boy living with his parents. Being an only child, he indulged in the toys his parents bought him or simply went outside the corridor to play with the kid next door. Cycling was usually the case, other times, it was just playing.

For a short period of time, when he was frolicking outside, there was this uncle who would walk along the corridor and down the stairs to get to his house 2 floors below, directly under the boy's flat. He should be in his late thirties then, with narrow shoulders and a small build. Most of the time, he was dressed smartly in shirt and long pants and there was an air of arrogance surrounding him. He would have looked rather non-descript if not for his unique-looking goatee protruding from the bottom of his narrow chin.

And it was this distinct looking feature about him that made him the butt of jokes of the mischievous little imp. For a few days straight, the boy made him a source of ridicule by constantly poking fun at the few centimetre long stump of hair. 'Billy Goat' was what he called him. The latter did not do or say anything, probably taking into account, the innocence of the child.

It was until a particular day of the week, probably in the early afternoon or so, when the middle aged man finally snapped. In a fit of anger, he muttered something no one could ever make out, and walked briskly towards the boy in quick and short steps, his right palm raised up high as though there was an irritating mosquito flying in front of him and he wanted to swat it.

Realising that he had finally got into trouble, the little boy let out a shriek and fled, eventually hiding around the corner of a neighbour's flat. Instead of giving chase, the man turned around and headed for the little boy's flat, where he complained to his parents, and then headed back.

It was not until the scene was clear, when the little rascal ran back to his house, into the comforting arms of his parents. After a little admonition by his doting parents, they then decided that it was best for their child to head downstairs to apologise. Not without some procrastination from the little boy, of course.

It was a brief and dramatic encounter between the 2 families outside the 5 room apartment on a quiet little afternoon. The boy with his parents. The 'victim' with his wife. Yes, the boy apologised, prompted constantly by his parents behind him. The man (let's call him Mr Billy Goat) strangely enough, continued where he left off by scolding the poor kid, in front of his wife and the boy's parents. Bursting into tears once more, he was immediately comforted by the man's wife.

The encounter ended soon after, and you bet, the boy didn't dare call the man a billy goat anymore. Or maybe he didn't have the chance to, since he didn't see the man walking along the corridor anymore. It was later known, probably a few months or years later, that the man had shaved off that goatee, probably to stop any irritating kids from calling him names in the future.

The boy, of course, wouldn't have forgotten that incident. Especially not now, since the man's daughter is Fiona Xie.

posted by weihao @ 12:03 AM