Eureka is an online friend of mine. Eureka sent me an e-mail not too long ago. The e-mail is a reflection of what Eureka saw one day on a busy road in old Geylang.

Eureka wrote, "i had some wonderful memeories of staying in 'attap' house in sembangwan in my younger days. there is a broken-down backyard behind d house & many hours were passed playing swords & sticks & many nights were spent 'imagining' there were ghosts as we children often hear strange sounds from d backyard.

as 4 yr suggestion on writing some short write-ups on d environment, i am not sure what i can write about as i'm a 'urbanite' & hav little xplosure/xperience 2 green-related issues or leading experts on d environment.

just 2 share with u, there is indeed a xperience i had which i will not 4get. 1 hot, xtremely humid afternoon i boarded Bus 51 near d old 'gay world' centre at geylang & d bus went on d way 2 d xpressway. i was sitting on d upper deck, glancing outside d bus-window. d xpressway as usual were filled with cars & all kinds of vehicles. nothing xceptional.

something caught my eye when i look 2 d left side of d pavement on d xpressway. it was d dignified sight of a old elderly woman, pushing a traditional chinese cart on her own on d xpressway. it was very hot & she was pushing d cart with her might though it was moving at a uncomfortable slow pace. cars & heavy vehicles swerved by her with astonishing speed while she continued pushing her cart. can't xplain it but i felt moved at this sight & wanted 2 get off d bus 2 help her. i couldn't get 2 as at dat moment my bus had already overtook her 4 quite a distance.

d sight of d elderly woman on d xpressway makes me think of d contrast of new modern/ old traditional. how many ppl r like her, 4gotten in d current pursuit ever-growing progress? does progress means anything 2 her or 2 them? this is 1 of my personal observation which i find worth giving food 2 thought though it may it doesn't mean nothing 2 others. till this day, i still chided myself & if only i had a camera with me on dat day."

In Singapore, we still have a generation that has resisted the passage of time. These old timers still go on in their own ways, with their own lifestyles and livelihoods. A new generation is taking over, and they are doing it very rapidly. I do not know if such changes are good or wise. The new generation has comfort, convenience, materialism, ease, wealth and power. These possessions can be represented by an object, i.e. the car. Compare the car with the cart pushed by the old lady mentioned in Eureka's e-mail. The disparity is too obvious.

I myself am not too worried about the income gap. The old lady and her generation will soon move on leaving a new generation to pursue new lifestyles and goals. I am however deeply troubled by the pace of development, the eco and social ethics of the new generation, and the way by which we are moving "ahead". As much as I am concerned about environmental sustainability, I am also wary of the characteristics, personalities and behaviours that are developing in new generations. An unsympathetic competitive money-oriented world economy will only create one type of person suited to survive in such a world. The environment is waning, so too are humans. My judgement is pessimistic only because humans are so passively indifferent.

A simple scene such as examined by Eureka can draw many inferences when one explores deeper. Environmental issues are about matters of everyday life. Daily scenes of Geylang that I photographed recently can be viewed at Pic 9, Pic 10 and Pic 11.