SIDE TRIP 42: Home is where the heart is

It’s like they transported a piece of Luneta all the way to Singapore. Lucky Plaza along Orchard Road on a Sunday is quite a sight. Teeming with OFWs on their day off, they practically take over the entire mall. Outrageous fashion sense prevails, each one trying to outdo the other.

On one side, I saw a group of women huddled on the floor, hiding behind an umbrella. When I took a peek, it was to find an enterprising Pinay peddling pancit to kababayans. At the Kabayan Fastfood on the third floor, long lines stretch all the way out the door, eager to gorge on adobo and sinigang. And lots of extra rice.

Next door, even longer lines lead to remittance centers. Sisters, mothers, fathers, brothers, tita, tito, anak… sending hard-earned money back home. To families who may not even have a full grasp of how hard it is to work abroad, away from loved ones.

But every Sunday, on Lucky Plaza, they reach out to each other, recreating a piece of home in a foreign land.

On a previous trip to Singapore, a Singaporean colleague once advised me: “Don’t go to Lucky Plaza on a Sunday; there will be too many people there!” But that’s exactly the point! That is why I would want to go there. Because there would be a lot of kababayans around.