LOVE, Kloudiia

“Love thy neighbours,” says Jesus.  Strangely, though my mom isn’t a Christian, she not only echoes this dictum, she follows it to the letter.

Her excellent relations with her neighbours, used to be mine (erh, not really if we take out the only factor that gives me such a remote connection: physical location) before I moved out can be seen, felt and heard. Yes, her prowess extends to all realms!

Heard because I believe her name should be known to many parties. And I’m naturally known as “{my mother’s name)’s daughter”.

Felt because of the concern they show my mom.

Seen because of what they’ve done. Do you remember last year we had to renovate our place due to some cracking tiles? Well, rather than leaving the fate of our house to the contractors and going shopping, my mom undertook the role of supervisor so that her meticulous standards can be, well, met to the best of her expectations.

Naturally, she treated those guys pretty well. Seeing that they will pack their own lunches with nothing more than lots and lots of white rice with some strands of vegetables and occasionally bits and pieces of meat lying around, she bought them chicken wings. Oh, plus lots of Cokes for them to quench their thirst.

Tea breaks are not short of coffee and some snacks, which she will dutifully run to the coffeeshop and get for them. By the end of the works, all the workers are greeting her “Pretty Auntie” which she laughed in joy and blushed in slight embarrassment. In short, they were very “friends” with each other.

What has this got to do with our neighbours? Well, not really. I just sidetracked a little to demonstrate how good she can be with people.

Our friendly neighbours, worried that she might go hungry as she not only supervised, she actually got her hands dirty and helped out. Then came the bread for her breakfast, fried beehoon for lunch and I-can’t-forget-what-other-food for lunch and dinner. All by her neighbour friends.

One particular friend, whom my mum is close to, even came around at night and asked if she like her to buy some bread for the next day’s breakfast, as she was going to get some for her family too.

My mum didn’t have a chance to go hungry at all!

How about this? She gets fresh fish delivered to her doorstep with only one phone call away. All because she also chats up with the fishmonger in the market and builds a relationship with his family. This man happens to be staying in the same block as her.

Now, small chatter can come a big way, don’t you think so? If you don’t, maybe you can start now…

But, small talk is only the beginning. To develop a relationship takes more than that! Sincerity and a genuine interest in people, showing of care and concern when they are not that well, and yes, sharing of food are what my mom do. She didn’t expect them to be so nice to her in return, though they did.

I think these skills are excellent tools to pick up, hone and apply them to achieve impressive results in all relationships in our lives. Be it your haughty boss, your sassy girlfriend or your nerdy cousin.