A letter looking for someone · A stranger I met once
The hawker uncle who shared his table
Sent Nov 12, 2026
- Where & when
- Toa Payoh hawker centre · Singapore ~2012 a table near the drinks stall
- About them then
-
A hawker in his late fifties selling drinks from a corner stall, with a towel over his shoulder and a transistor radio tuned to the oldies. He talked to every customer like an old neighbour.
- Who I was then
- The foreign woman with wet hair, sneezing into a paper napkin, who had nowhere to sit at lunchtime.
- Why I'm writing
- Just to say something · Just hoping my words reach them
It was pouring, I had a fever coming on, and the hawker centre was packed at lunchtime. You waved me over to your own table, moved your newspaper and said, Sit, sit. Then you brought me a hot drink I had not ordered and refused to take the money. We spoke about nothing for twenty minutes. Fourteen years later I still remember that nothing. I do not need anything. I only want to say it out loud once.
Passed on by 0 · reached step 0 · 0 keeping an eye out