Fire.

6am in the morning.
Awakened by frantic calls of "help help! XXXXXX!"
Initially thought that there was a fight going on. Sat up and looked outside the window, to slightly burnt smell. Saw an uncle at the opposite block looking out. Nothing else out of the ordinary...Alarm bells rang in my head.. only slightly.
Just about to venture back to sleep when i heard the house phone ring.
THen, i knew for sure that something was up.
It was my uncle, calling my mom to tell her that our block is on fire.
Everyone hopped out of bed, but not to escape- more of to get up so that we could go downstairs to see what was going on.
Dad even went to brush his teeth, and mom changed her shorts. I called out to them to wait for me so that we could go downstairs together while i sauntered to the loo.
Suddenly, frantic calls from dad asking me to hurry... "come out now NOW NOW"
I dashed out of the loo ( i did wash my hands) and to the front door. Pandemonium- a policeman was urging us to leave our flats immediately plus neighbours streaming out of the door.
Fresh-breath dad (sigh, foul-mouth me) had already quickly grabbed a torchlight, car keys and keys to the house. All of us made our way downstairs, knocking on every door, calling the other neighbours to flee.

WHen we reached the carpark, we saw flames flickering at the 11th storey in the middle block. Someone was standing at the window, waving a cream towel and shouting for help. Firemen, policemen and the ambulance had arrived at the scene. Rescue had take place. Fortuntely, the firemen put out the fire fairly quickly and everyone was safe and sound.

Am grateful that no one was hurt in the fire, but certainly many lessons to be learnt...
It was ironic that it would take a crisis before we (or at least I) get to see faces i have never seen before despite living in the same block. Most of us were decked in grubby t-shirts and shorts, with hair touseled, just roused from sleep. Some more prepared neighbours, however, had handphones and cameras ready to snap any action.
RUmors were rife, and everyone was speculating the cause, which units were involved, who stayed in those units etc... information was shared freely among the neighbours and everyone was like friends... for that one hour plus at the carpark.
It was almost like a mini-kampong, right at the carpark...
The famous Chinese saying ("far water"' and "near fire") had never been more appropriate... If not for people at the opposite block/bus-stop who saw the smoke and called the fire department, we might all be burnt to death in our sleep.

ANyway.. also had no electricity for about 8 hours, plus sooty weird-tasting water from the taps.
Made me realised how spoilt and dependent we are on electricity and technology.
Very ashamed. But that didn't stop me from being really happy to have the lights, fans and internet back on.
Kudos to the firemen for their efficiency and to the foreign workers who worked tirelessly to restore electricity before night falls. Thank you!

Oh well... i think this mini disaster made us bond for a little while. I think i would be more friendly towards the neighbours in the future... afterall, our fates are tightly woven together... to put it crudely.. "if you can't escape, neither can i"
But BUT BUT! To end off on a positive note: we will definitely help one another in times of crisis. Yes. definitely. And after this incident, i think we'll all be more equipped and prepared...