It was L.H. who started the ball rolling.

Hi guys, just a conversation starter prompted by a friend who is very involved in community organisation: – What are people’s thoughts around the topic of mutual aid and charity? – What do these terms mean to you, and how are they different? – How do they show up in your life, if at all? – What questions emerge from this brief reflection?

Let me answer briefly.

What are people’s thoughts around the topic of mutual aid and charity?

I think people do want to help others – who may not be related by blood to them – they just don't know how. (and, indeed, who to help). but my own experience has been that when I was in severe desperate need, the right help came at the right time.

“charity” seems like a tainted word in Singapore – incentivised by tax deductions and appearances on Lists of Honoured Donors -

“mutual aid” was something new to me, I only learnt about it during Covid times – but burn-out became a real thing – the organisers were burnt out – I wasn't an organiser, just a participant in my own small way – but my phone was ringing at strange hours with desperate, gut-wrenchingly worded requests for food and cash – it seemed I was slipping into an endless ocean of endless suffering.

I had to limit my own involvement in mutual aid, for my own peace-of-mind.

Two young men walked into a bar. J had clothed himself in his usual way: a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, hat-less. Whereas Y had chosen a floral-print button-up shirt, a pair of skinny jeans, and a baseball cap.

They sat next to each other at the bar counter, saying nothing to each other.

J's dessert punctuated the silence. Its arrival elicited a puzzled look from J.

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It ended on an carefully curated optimistic note:

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I asked Cole how he deals with burn-out and being jaded. (He's been in the coffee industry for 15 years).

He suggested finding an outlet for your negative energy.

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He had these tips to offer, about providing service to customers:

Takumi Minami, Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Music Box Museum – that's right, a museum for the quaint music box – welcomed me warmly

I chatted about ethics and technology, with Sebastian Müeller.