The Sims

My keleng neighbour (on the right of my apartment) has strangely quietened down considerably in the past week or so. I hope it stays that way. Sometimes I hear a child crying, so it might be that his wife returned. My guess is he toned down because of his family, Or, had been told off again by my other neighbour, Mr.Sim (who stays on the left side of my apartment). That has happened once before, more than a year ago. Mr.Sim told me the story himself.

Mr. Sim is quite a character. He is in his 60s and is pleasant, harmless looking enough except for the tattoos on the underside of his legs and arms (isn't that the more tender side to tattoo on - Ouch!). He lives with his wife and an older bachelor son. He's got a girlfriend that visits every other day and even stays over with his family while the rest of the neighbours think that is his daughter; his wife let slip about this in a conversation. He has a younger son (also another character). who is married with a boy and girl and who lives in the next block.

His story about the incident - it happened in the wee hours of the morning, like 4am. My keleng neighbour was talking so loudly that Mr.Sim's household was woken up. So Mr.Sim stormed over to scold him. It must have been a big disturbance in the corridor; thank gawd, I was away on some trip at that time. He challenged the other guy to think twice before messing with him. He lifted the back of his shirt to show the tattoos on his back and those on his arms and legs, and warned my Indian neighbour,"Do not think I have a simple background, okay, I have been to places. You can tell from my tattoos." The warning was effective for the neighbourhood became peaceful for many months after that. My keleng neighbour even went over to seek Mr.Sim's forgiveness during Deepavali last year, but seems like his memory span is short.

I found Mr.Sim's married son very strange when I first moved in. He comes by to visit his parents every day and of course, passes my door, sometimes several times a day as though he doesn't work or is doing freelance work. I was very uncomfortable with him because he is the only one in the family who would not return a greeting and pretended he didn't see me. Yet, he had tried to peep into my apartment when he thought I wasn't looking. If he asked, I would have taken him on a tour but he would rather pretend disinterest when his curiosity was there. That pretense made me wary of his motives so much so that, John and VianNa talked about helping me install a surveillance camera in my corridor but in the end, gave me a motion door chime (thanks guys).

Funnily, a year ago, I recognised Mr.Sim's son in a picture in the newspapers. He was in uniform and holding a rifle, while walking down Orchard road or something. It was an article about more security patrolling the streets to deter terrorists. I mentioned that to Mr.Sim and finally found out his son is in the Police and was a Minister's bodyguard. Sheesh. That explained his suspicious and stern demeanour. It was a great relief.

After that discovery, I am now somewhat amused that under the covers of the mundane life that is in HDB estate lies crouching tigers and hidden dragons.