a wake up Fall

today was a great day, spent in church, lunch with church mates, took the afternoon to do some shopping with our friends... we took a ride back home from them and while missing a turn, we took a slight detour and as we were approaching home, we saw a gathering of people around a block, with police barriers around it, there were at least 3 police cars, 2 mini fire-engines and a big fire engine truck turning into the block.

with such a big commotion, we could not help but look out if it was a fire in our neighbourhood, there were no sighs of fumes or flames or water hoses sprunting out...

that lead to another conclusion, sucide.... since I noticed a huge area around the block of flights being out of bounds.

we deliberated if we should walk back towards the crowd to check out what was happening, afterall, it is our neighbourhood. I dread to read about what happened in the newspapers tomorrow as if it is totally none of my concern. I guess, the kampong spirit in me is still quite strong, I need to know if this is a safe neighbourhood, are there many unhappy people living around here??

So we dropped off from the car round the bend and quickly moved towards the general direction of the crowd. When we arrive, most of the people were looking upwards towards one of the blocks, just as we were trying to narrow down which unit they were looking at.... I noticed a figure decending from the block, followed by the surround sound of many on-lookers' gasp of breath...

Yes, someone jumped out of the window from a 13th floor. I couldn't help but voiced out "OMG" and feeling a strong pang of sadness for her and her actions. Standing there in shock (my first witness of a sucidal jump), I was praying real hard that she'll be alright. (but what are the chances? the big fire engine just just arrive mins ago, would there be enough time to set up something?)

a million questions raced through my mind.

was there anything set up for her? the civil defence often showed adverts of how responsive they were....

even if the CD did not have the time/resources to do so, wont the neighbours be able to pool together some mattress just to cushion the fall?? I mean, its someone's life wer are talking about here, it cost more than what a mattress would mean to anyone I'm sure...

did someone profession manage to speak to her? I'm sure there was quite a lag time between sitting there and the jump.

what was bothering her so much that she had to end her life?

was it money? the new budget was announced! surely she would be able to have some of her finances taken care of? (but was she even aware of it?)

what does her fall mean to all those by-standers around? would it be another piece of news to pass around? we noticed alot of folks around started their own little stories already....

did anyone in the crowd even know her? or her problems? or do we really live in a concrete jungle when the person next door to you could be in terrible state but yet, you have no clue of it. would you extend a helping hand out to your neighbor if they had asked?

the biggest question i have is: do we even care about our neighbors? I dare say now, after witnessing the brutal fall, I do care alot more than before. How do we start to share our lives with our neighbors? In order not to be invasive but yet let them know that they can count on a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, sometimes these are all they need to get over their sorrows...

with the million questions racing through my head, Ad noticed a stretcher was being moved towards the ambulance and catching a glimpse of the middle-age lady on the stretcher, looking alright with no breathing aids was reassuring that she did not pass on. Indeed there was a air-bed that she landed on at the bottom of the block.

Thank God!

Now we pray for her recovery and that her issues will be taken care of... maybe one of these days, when I gather enough courage.... I may knock on her door and try to offer my ears and shoulders to her...... ( i scared...) But I'm certain that her case would be referred to the social services and prayfully, she'll be able to resolve her issues.....

it was definitely a wake-up Fall to remind me about how valuable life is and that we should show our concern to those who lived next to us.