🔗 Share this article

During the year 2006, I made a trip to Canberra for an interview at a medical college. My plan was I would book accommodation after getting there, however once I got there, a big convention was in town and all the youth hostels and cheap hotels were fully booked.

Coming from Singapore, I considered perhaps I could spend the night at the airport – but soon learned Canberra airport, not like the one back home, does not operate all night. With no idea what my next move should be and feeling increasingly desperate, I caught a bus into town and began walking in the direction of the casino, believing I might spend the evening in an establishment operating 24/7. Admittedly, this plan in the best shape for nailing a crucial interview the next morning, yet, as a student on a tight budget, luxury accommodation was impossible.

We could all use more individuals like that woman.

It seems I seemed confused since a woman saw me wandering around the city and asked whether I needed help. I shared my situation and immediately she said I could crash on the ground of her dormitory at the local university – an ideal turn of events, considering that was where my interview would take place the next morning. She went further by offering me some free dinner: a leftover stuffed baguettes she had taken home her evening job. I was able to use warm shower facilities and somewhere safe and safe to spend the night.

In retrospect, it’s clear to me the significant risk she undertook as a woman inviting a man she had only just encountered stay in her room. In those days I was in my male privilege bubble and not even thinking about things like that. Now, as a father, I am astonished she did that – yet incredibly thankful.

Ultimately, I did not attending that university, and I lost touch with her again, yet her memory has stayed with me her amazing act of kindness. It is my wish karma has rewarded her good deed abundantly. The world needs more individuals like that woman.