Uncle Kopi

It suddenly dawned upon me despite it being so obvious. It is for such reasons and more its not worth committing suicide; each day has the possibility of a new revelation despite its obscure probability the day before.


On being Uncle
I call myself Uncle T. This blog is my kopi place. Friends get annoyed at me for talking about things too serious at TCC/Thai Express/Coffee Club dinners. I talk too much and I talk with too much convicted opinion.

Then today I realised why or where these come from. I find myself typing this blogpost over with 3 middle-aged Singaporean men having an extended conversation about how Hainan Island chicken rice is different from our local Hainanese Chicken rice. Now they are lamenting how the younger generation today are 'softies' who want to 'lie in their bed but not build it', wanting long-term benefits with short-term efforts. They lament with conviction saying its part of life to bear hardship before enjoying life. Not that I totally disagree with them, but I argue with them for the sake of us 'younger generation'.


Makan with uncle, become uncle
It is these kopi sessions that I have been having with these men for over a decade. I think my opinions and debates about the whole gamut of issues in life from the hawker centre tables. I wish my intellectual seeds were planted in more romantic places like debates with philosophers at Cafe de Flore in Paris. But my intellectual reality begins at Ang Mo Kio hawker tables. In this last decade, I've had breakfast with these men from them in their managerial days to now them being retired. Surely, breakfast sessions with my dad and his friends all these years have had a huge part to play in me being an Uncle today.


On being a young man
Uncle Tony puts his hands on my shoulder, gives it a firm goodbye squeeze and says, 'Young man, when you decide what to do (in life), let me know'. For a young man, that is a tall order.