Woman van driver went out of her way to show us how to get to the stadium

For the past 19 years, my husband and I have been living in Singapore, and are happy with the quality of life we have in our adopted country.

However, we have sometimes been frustrated by what seems to be a lack of concern for others within some of the Singaporean community, especially when behind the wheel of a car.

Last Saturday night showed us clearly that there are many Singaporeans who are truly helpful and remarkably kind.

We were in our car going to the Singapore Indoor Stadium and a restaurant that was new to us. Travelling with visiting friends, it was frustrating to be close to our destination, but totally confused as to how to actually get there.

Building sites, changes in road patterns and new construction works combined to make us unable to get to where we wanted to be... the stadium building. Instead of being there, we found ourselves lost in Geylang.

As we pulled up to a stoplight, I tried to get the attention of the woman driving a small van who was in the next lane. Instead of merely ignoring us, shaking her head, or driving away, her reaction was fantastic... she indicated to us to follow her and then took time from her evening to lead us through the maze of roads until we were looking at our destination at Stadium Road. She waved to us, we shouted our thanks, and then she drove off while we went to dinner.

This special experience made us aware of how easy it is to judge people by a few, and we thank this unknown person for being so thoughtful and kind to strangers. And this experience left us with smiles and a new appreciation for being here in Singapore.

Janet Stride (Ms)