can you spot the odd?

During our anti-crime rounds last Saturday at the Esplanade, most of what I saw only made me feel disgusted and sorry. Teenagers roaming the Esplanade Promenade, most of which were malay youths, drinking and smoking while their handphones played music so loud that one could probably hear it from the Merlion.

Whenever the division officers checked and screened those delinquents, our guys would have to be on our toes in case of any of them attempts to make any rash decision that compromises the purpose of police presence. In simpler words, we had to be vigilant in spotting the unusual.

Well, young and mischievious as most of my squadmates are, their 'utmost vigilance' was channelled to the wrong object. They probably spend more time gawking at scantily dressed girls outside clubs during our patrolling duties, than observing potential trouble. I do not deny making a few glances at them, but my priority has always been to be alert for any contingencies. And being someone most senior in terms of rank in the squad, I sometimes quietly hope that my actions would influence them to do likewise somehow.

As we were finishing off our half-hour patrol at the Esplanade, I happened to notice a little girl about the age of 9 or 10 sitting on the inside edge of the promenade, somewhere near the underground walkway beneath the bridge. On closer look, she was cradling on her lap whom I presumed to be her baby brother. Something prompted me that this was something unnatural. A young girl out on her own with her baby brother at 1 plus in the morning, sitting by the waters certainly triggered some impulse in me to do something.

When I informed my OC about this, his worried reaction was kind of a justification of my suspicion. While I was concerned about the safety of the little girl and her brother, my OC was more worried about them being a case of missing children. Anyhow, we approached the little girl before my OC asked in Chinese in the gentlest tone I've ever heard, 'hello, xiao meimei, may I know what are you doing here so late?' Her facial expression leaked 2 possibilities - that she did not understood at all what my OC said or that she was deaf. It was a good few seconds before she replied, pointing to the man at the ice-cream cart a distance away, 'my dad's over there.' That response from her shrugged off the first possibility but not quite the second one.

Finally, we got the clear picture of the situation. She was babysitting her brother while her father continued with his ice-cream business for as long as he could, so that he could earn more money. Only a few words were exchanged between my OC and her, but there's something about this that touched me. I couldn't exactly describe what touched me - filial piety, love, patience, innocence or even the simplicity of her words - but it could be a combination of all.

I appreciated this consolation of some positivity and warmth I witnessed as we were rounding off our time at the Esplanade, amidst the rather upsetting sight of teenagers wasting their time away along the waters. Something else that disappointed me was that my squadmates, most of whom were walking ahead of me, failed to notice the strangeness in the fact that a little girl was all alone by herself and her baby brother along the edge. I just honestly feel that they're not at all serious when they should be. And we've gotten ourselves many unnecessary lectures from others because of that. It's time to wake up, guys!