By K B Ryan Joshua Mahindapala

"We got everything that we wanted except for good neighbours," Brenden says to his wife, Judy, as they take the grocery bags out of the booth of their Toyota Prius one Sunday morning.

The Tay family have just moved in to their resale three-bedroom HDB flat in Yishun. It has been barely two months, and already, they are facing difficulties with their neighbour, an elderly man who is insistent on hanging his wet laundry on their side of the shared corridor. As a young family, the Tays are adamant on owning a home – a haven and a place of solace for themselves and their daughter, Cynthia, who is in Primary 4.

Mr Kang is a man who never seems to spare a thought for others and only cares about himself and having him as a neighbour has made Brenden and Judy rethink their decision to move in. Brenden, especially, is restless and uneasy at the thought of having to put up with the antics of Mr Kang for the foreseeable future.

"Inconsiderate is an understatement. We should complain to the Town Council! Speaking to him is no use. He thinks he is right and everyone else is wrong. What can we do? Such people are just a nuisance!" Brendan complains.

Judy shoots her husband a look of dismay as she doesn't want to discuss such matters in front of their daughter.

"Just imagine, all the dripping wet clothes that we have to tolerate in the years to come," Brenden says, exasperated.

"Shhh! Enough lah!" Judy snaps.

The Tays live on the 10th floor of their block. As they enter their flat, they hear Mr Kang unlocking the gate, he exits his flat carrying a few bamboo poles used to hang laundry. Brenden shoots an angry look at Mr Kang. Mr Kang responds with an agitated look on his face, his brows furrowed as he jerks his head upwards signalling a deep-seated resentment towards the Tays.

"OK lah, you gangster LAH!" Brenden says, raising his voice.

Brenden's snarky remark further irritates Mr Kang, but he continues to hang up his wet clothes, undeterred.

"Come inside and close the door. We don't want to get into another fight like the last time," Judy whispers to Brenden, hinting to him of the consequences of such an encounter, if it were to happen again.

"I won't touch him, don't worry. But if he tries anything funny, I – "

"Mom, dad! I am going to do my homework now," Cynthia says, interrupting their conversation.

"Ok dear, I will come and help you in a while,' Judy replies.

"Get yourself together," Judy says to her husband, firmly.

Friday evenings are always a joyous time for Cynthia, and it is her favourite day of the week. Cynthia wanders outside of her house to the corridor. She picks up her three- wheeled kick- scooter with attached rainbow tassels on its handlebars which her dad bought for her when they first moved in to their new flat. She scoots around the corridor for a while, without a care in the world and the thought of the weekend with no need to go to school excites her.

She goes back and forth along the corridor and repeatedly goes past the entrance of Mr Kang's house. His front door and gate are closed. On her third trip down the corridor, Cynthia is startled when she sees Mr Kang standing at the entrance of his flat, the front door and gate both open.

"Kit, have you eaten?" Mr Kang asks.

"Hello Uncle, sorry what did you say?" asks Cynthia, politely.

"I asked if you have eaten yet? Come inside and have some porridge," Mr Kang says.

"Ummm...," Cynthia is lost for words.

"Come, Kit," Mr Kang says, endearingly.

Not wanting to be rude, Cynthia puts her kick scooter down next to Mr Kang's shoe cabinet and follows him into his house.

"Kit, come – sit," Mr Kang says, inviting her to sit at the dining table.

"My leg is hurting these days, and I can't seem to walk up and down the stairs properly. Kit, do you have some of the painkiller that the doctor gave to you the other time?" Mr Kang asks Cynthia.

"Uncle, I don't know what you are talking about, and my name is not Kit, it's Cynthia."

Mr Kang walks into the kitchen, ignoring Cynthia, and comes back to the dining table with a bowl of pork porridge.

"Eat, Kit, eat," Mr Kang says.

"Uncle, I just said that my name is not –," Cynthia pauses, weary of the old man's behaviour.

"Never mind," she continues.

Mr Kang continues talking about his day: when his medical appointments are, what TV shows he was watching and what he has been talking to his friends about at the coffeeshop.

All this while Cynthia sits there, puzzled. Feeling uncomfortable, Cynthia plucks up the courage to interrupt Mr Kang.

"Uncle, I must go now, my mummy is waiting for me. See you, Uncle," Cynthia says before hastily getting up and taking her leave.

She picks up her kick scooter and makes her way back, down the corridor, and to her house. Upon entering, she closes the door behind her quickly fearing that she is being followed.

Knowing full well of the adversarial nature of her parents' relationship with Mr Kang, Cynthia does not tell her parents what happened.

The school bus fills with talkative children stops at the sheltered driveway. Cynthia straddles her backpack and gets off the bus. She takes the lift to the 10th floor where she once again sees Mr Kang, sitting outside his house on the floor of the corridor, polishing his leather dress shoes. She smiles at Mr Kang, and he reciprocates with an acknowledging gesture with his right hand.

"Kit, you are back," Mr Kang says, brandishing a smile on his face.

Cynthia, feeling flustered upon being called a name which is not her own, thinks about correcting Mr Kang again, but she hesitates. Instead, she decides to play along to find out more as curiosity gets the better of her.

"Yes, I'm back," Cynthia says, now eager to find out who Kit is.

"Have you eaten, I have pork porridge," Mr Kang asks. "How come you only eat pork porridge?" Cynthia asks. "Hai ya, Kit, you don't remember? You are the one that made it for me and said we will eat together today for lunch! We always eat together," Mr Kang said, slightly annoyed.

"We can eat together later, now I have to go," Cynthia says, calmly.

"Okay, come back soon. The food will get cold," Mr Kang says, cajolingly.

Cynthia turns and continues walking to her house but feels a creeping desire to find out more. So many questions lurk in her mind that must be answered. She turns around and walks back towards Mr Kang, determine to solve the mystery: Who in the world is Kit?

"Okay, let's eat now but I don't have much time. I have things to do but I can do them later," Cynthia says to Mr Kang.

"You are always so busy. First, it was work, and then, the grandchildren. No wonder your health is so bad these days," Mr Kang responds.

Cynthia steps into Mr Kang's flat and already familiar with its interior, she goes directly to the dining table and sits down. Mr Kang goes into the kitchen to pour her a bowl of pork porridge. They both sit at the dining table and start to eat. This time, Cynthia takes a few spoons of the porridge. Both sit in silence for a moment, eating. Then, Cynthia breaks the silence as she begins her quest to satisfy her curiosity.

"Have you met your friends in the coffeeshop recently?" Cynthia asks.

"Yes, I did," Mr Kang replies.

"Today?" Cynthia probes.

"Yah, this morning, for breakfast."

"What did you talk to them about?" Cynthia asks.

"Tony said that his son just bought a new Mercedes Benz  and one day he will take us all for a ride. He said we can go to JB and makan. I can't wait! Long time I never go JB," Mr Kang says. "Did he say when his son will take you all to JB?" Cynthia  asks.

"Maybe next week or week after, not sure. I heard from Ah Lok that JB has good seafood!" exclaims Mr Kang in excitement. "Is Ah Lok another friend that you meet at the coffeeshop?" Cynthia enquires.

"Eh? You don't remember Ah Lok? You know him, right? I told you about him before. He was the one that helped us buy the stingray fish last Chinese New Year," Mr Kang responds.

"Oh yes, I remember. Next time you meet them, tell them to come over, I will make pork porridge for them also. I know that everyone likes my pork porridge, especially you," Cynthia says cheekily, taking a stab in the dark, secretly hoping that Mr Kang will not realise that she has absolutely no clue what is going on.

"Yes, everyone in Yishun know ah that my sister makes the best pork porridge!" Mr Kang says joyfully as he takes a spoonful of porridge and puts it in his mouth, gleefully savouring his meal.

Cynthia pauses and puts the bowl down.

"Have you been taking your medicine?" Cynthia asks. "Yes, I have. Wah – the doctor gave me so many different types. I don't know which is which. I think I am taking almost as much as you now," Mr Kang replies.

"Brother, you must take all your medicine yea. Make sure you don't forget okay," Cynthia says.

"Okay, I will try not to forget," Mr Kang says in reply.

"Alright, I must go home now. It was nice spending time with you," Cynthia says as she finishes up her porridge.

She places the empty bowl in the kitchen sink before taking her leave.

"See you tomorrow," Cynthia says, waving goodbye.

Cynthia goes home and is quiet for the rest of the day. She does not utter a word to her parents about her encounter with Mr Kang and what she found out.

The Tay family usually spends their Saturday mornings having breakfast at one of their favourite hawker stalls. After that, Brenden and Judy spend the rest of their Saturday watching television while Cynthia has math tuition followed by science tuition that ends around 4 30pm.

After her tuition, the Tay family will hop into their car and head to the park or the beach to get some fresh air and exercise. They are about to leave their flat when Brenden sees Mr Kang once again hanging out his wet clothes to dry on the side of the corridor nearer to the entrance of his house. Brenden is furious.

"You stubborn old man! Can't you just keep to your side of the corridor!" Brenden screams at the top of his voice.

Judy hears the commotion and rushes to the front door in the hopes of easing the tension.

By the time Judy reaches the front door, Brenden already has a shoe in his hand. He flings it directly at Mr Kang who flinches to avoid the flying shoe. Judy grabs hold of Brenden's right wrist.

"STOP! Just leave it!" Judy says, but it is too late.  

Mr Kang retaliates with a slew of Hokkien vulgarities and shows Brenden a clenched fist signifying his readiness to get physical if he needs to.

"You think I am scared of you!" Mr Kang says, belligerently.

Mr Kang picks up a rubber slipper and bangs it against his shoe cabinet making a loud crackling noise which reverberates through the corridor.

"Are you sure you want to take me on?! You know what will happen to you?!" Brenden threatens.

"That's enough!" Judy interrupts. "We will be making a complaint to the Town Council about you!" she adds, pointing her index finger directly at Mr Kang.

"Go ahead and complain la! You are not the owner of this house! You are just renting a room. You think the Town Council will listen to you? I will tell them that you are causing trouble here and they will kick you out!" Mr Kang says, asserting his dominance.

Brenden is taken aback when he hears what Mr Kang just mentioned.

"Renting? Are you crazy, old man? Which rock are you living under?" Brenden responds, rudely.

"This is my house. I own it and nobody gave you permission to hang your clothes here! So, get lost, do you understand?!" Brenden says, firmly.

"You are full of rubbish lah you! My sister gave me permission to hang my clothes here! You don't believe me, go ask her! She is your landlord!" Mr Kang says, now livid.  

Brenden and Judy exchange confused looks and, in that moment, realised that there has been some sort of misunderstanding.

"Brother! Brother! I'm here!" Cynthia says.

Brenden and Judy turn back and see Cynthia striding her way to the front door with a smile on her face.

Judy steps aside as Cynthia squeezes her way through the doorway where her parents are standing.

"Hello brother, have you eaten yet?" Cynthia says.

Mr Kang relaxes his stances, and he puts down the rubber slipper.

"Have these people been paying the rent? Be careful of them, they are cheats!" Mr Kang says, still agitated.

"Yes, they have been paying the rent. They just need some privacy, and it is better if you hang your clothes on your side of the corridor from now on. Is that okay?"

"Ah okay, okay. If they give you trouble, you let me know," Mr Kang says as he glances at Brenden with a piercing stare, his eyes narrowing as he speaks.  

"Okay, brother, don't worry. Everything is fine. I will bring your pork porridge later, okay," Cynthia says, dotingly.

Mr Kang smiles and returns to his flat. Brenden and Judy are dumbfounded after they see Cynthia carry herself with such equanimity, and in turn, drawing their admiration. They glance at each other bewildered by what they saw – a side of their daughter they have never seen before.

"Are you going to explain to us what just happened?" Judy asks Cynthia, desperate for answers.

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