One fine day, I was sitting and staring at the long winding and terribly confusing agreement and thinking on how I would ever get through drafting the agreement. I heaved a “Sigh” and looked up only to see the giant Singapore flyer moving rhythmically cyclically. The view is from my office on the 27^th floor! The vagaries of having an office overlooking the expanse of the sea is that one goes on a self driven cruise more often than desired in one’s mind only to reinforce the “cage” of the four walls at work!

If you have managed to read my gibberish in the paragraph above, I would now like to talk about what I initially set out to write. To me….. the Giant Singapore Flyer doing the 30 minutes cyclical round signifies the life and times of Singapore and Singaporeans. Let me illustrate by citing the following examples-

-          everyday as I board the shuttle to the MRT for work, the clock ticks and I look impatiently at the time.. 7:58 am, 7:59 am and as the clock strikes 8:00 am, a jolt, Mr. Lee (our shuttle driver) smiles patiently and slowly moves the bus. I see Mr. Lee everyday, smiling and wishing each one of us good morning, driving the 4 minute stretch, hearing the same music, driving in the same pace and going back.

-          When I am rushing to walk from the bus stand to work, I see a very aged man picking up the dry leaves and twigs from around the bushes on the pavement. He mechanically and very carefully picks up each twig, examines it and with a sigh of contentment dumps it in his garbage bag.

-          Entering office and trying to keep my cheerful spirit I bump into the lady who helps in cleaning the office. She is diligently scrubbing one corner and continues to do so till she can probably see her face on the side board.

-          As I look around my office I see some of the people working from the wee hours in the morning until the very wee hours of the night or the next day working their way through complicated agreements and documents whilst never tiring with the same.  

I pause and I think, I wonder and I actually marvel at the cyclical quality of the lives in Singapore. The deep diligence and devotion to the work they do. To do the same job with such satisfaction and contentment is something I admire. My restless soul is always looking at the future and is never content. I love trying new things and experiencing so much. I look around and I see such fulfillment in the eyes of the people. I admire that quality, I admire the diligence and the way they do their job. As I continue staring at the giant rhythmic flyer it seems to me that it symbolizes the lives of the people in Singapore, moving in its very own motion and staring majestically at the city, very akin to the people who go on with their work defining Singapore as a “fine city”. Suddenly, I rattle back to reality and my agreement and somewhere around the corner the man bends to pick up the dry leaf which just fell from the tree.