The Aftermath

Eighty-three safety deposit boxes were dumped to a scrap yard and crushed with other supposedly empty boxes this past weekend. Though not legally obliged to, it sounds like DBS Bank is willing to "honor its ultimate responsibilities to affected customers".

I'm really interested in seeing how the bank and these customers can come to a consensus when it comes to compensating stuff like black-and-white photos of great grandparents, love letters from secret same-sex lovers, dried up umbilical cord stumps, and endless pieces of invaluable jewelry. On the late news last night, a victim said to the reporters,

"My husband and I got married last year, and my father-in-law passed away a few
months ago. There's no way the bank can compensate us for the dowry and the
diamond ring he gave me."

Without a doubt, a friendly relationship with the in-laws is always rare and hence priceless. But from what I heard, the stress of that sentence was most apparent on the "di" part.

Another victim, chief lecturer at City University, said the money value of his loss is secondary to the memory he was robbed of.

The WHO must get in touch with Professor Sung, as it sounds like he has discovered the medical breakthrough of the 21st century. Keeping memories in safety deposit boxes might just be the new cure for Alzheimer's.

I dare to say that most of the 83 crushed deposit boxes contained nothing more than birth/marriage certificates and diplomas, which can all be replaced with some hassle and administration fees, and some heavy-duty gold jewelry one will never wear to any occasion held in this century and yet will never bare to melt because they carry sentimental value. If so, what is the big difference between leaving these things in a metal box in a bank across the harbor and keeping the belief that they're in that box while the remains of these things had really gone to fill the harbor?

Don't get me wrong. This mistake by DBS is colossal no matter how you look at it. But those of us who have suffered great losses, especially at a young age, should understand that not only is it true that no amount of money can compensate for the loss of items with sentimental value, but the fact also holds that no tangible item of sentimental value is quite parallel to the memory behind it.

Besides, it's the immensity of the empty vault an invaluable loss leaves behind that is truly immeasurable.