Viewpoint: An ode to a woman in a wheelchair

As human beings, we will eventually succumb to disease and death, but what matters ultimately is the lived history of the mind

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Till about a year ago, I used to see an old woman sitting in a wheelchair being pushed by another woman, perhaps her sister, around my HDB estate. The older woman waved at every passer-by who caught her eye, but her incoherent words were mumbled even beyond slurring. Their gurgling sound did not resemble any language or dialect that I could recognise. I tried to speak to her helper once, but I could not understand her reply.

I do not see them any more. Perhaps the older woman is in institutional care. Perhaps, well.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 25, 2020, with the headline Viewpoint: An ode to a woman in a wheelchair. Subscribe