🔗 Share this article

During 2006, My journey took me to the Australian capital for an interview at a medical college. My plan was I would book a place to stay after getting there, but once I got there, a large conference was in town and every single youth hostels and cheap hotels were fully booked.

Hailing from the city-state of Singapore, the idea crossed my mind the possibility of bed down in the terminal – but quickly found Canberra airport, unlike Singapore’s, is not open all night. Not knowing quite what to do and feeling increasingly desperate, I boarded public transport and started wandering near a gaming venue, believing I might spend those hours somewhere that stayed open 24/7. That wouldn’t put me in the ideal condition to succeed at the admissions interview the next day, yet, as a student on a tight budget, a pricey hotel was out of reach.

The world needs more individuals with such compassion.

Apparently, I appeared out of place as a woman noticed me loitering in the city and asked if I was OK. I explained my predicament and immediately she said I could sleep on a spare mattress in her student dorm at the local university – an ideal turn of events, considering that was where my medical school interview would take place the next morning. Generously, she also provided me some free dinner: a leftover stuffed baguettes she had taken home her work shift. This gave me warm shower facilities and somewhere safe and safe to sleep.

In retrospect, I now understand the enormous leap of faith she took being a woman allowing a man she had only just encountered stay in her room. At that time I was in a bubble of male privilege and did not consider to the potential danger. Now, as a father, I’m amazed she did that – yet very grateful.

I never did go to ANU, and I didn’t meet the student afterwards, but her act remains etched in my mind her selfless deed of human compassion. It is my wish life has returned her good deed tenfold. The world needs more individuals like that woman.