NIGHT OUT AT THE MAMAK...
Last night, after we had our dinner at home, B suggested for us to go to the nearby Mamak for some nescafe tarik.
I live in an area where 90% of its entire population is Chinese. So, everytime we frequent the mamak stall, we would be the only Malays there. But I never encounter any trouble. Instead, I have made good acquaintances around the neighbourhood. There's the laundry place owner, who's shop is owned by my Landlord's mother who, in turn, would always call me "Anak". Such a charming old lady. She would give me a pat on the back or she would take my hand and place it on hers while talking to me. A moment of reflection makes me realize that there's hope for this country. Things are not as bad as perceived or portrayed by some. We should not discard all the eggs in the basket simply because we've found a few rotten ones. I am a Malay but people always think I am Chindian (mixed parentage, Chinese-Indian) and I live in a Chinese community area, represented by an Opposition MP. Kinda rojak instances, but hey! That's the beauty about us Malaysians. We're like one BIG bowl of yummy rojak.
Back to my 9 pm rendezvous at the mamak with my B, we managed to secure a parking opposite the stall. There was a motorbike parked behind our car and behind it, another empty parking space. After ordering our drinks, we just stared around and started talking to each other. Then, the DVD boy came by our table. I don't remember for what reasons, but we were not interested (usually we would be rummaging through the collection shamelessly!!). Suddenly, an MPV drove passed us. The driver saw the parking spot behind our car and he slowly manouvered his MPV into the spot. However, the motorbike (which was not supposed to be there in the first place) proved to be a nuisance, and the MPV driver was struggling to manouver his car without hitting the motorbike. We were watching them all the while. Half way through, the missus (I presume) came out from the passenger's side. She looked around at us all, sitting at the stall, opposite her. Then like some cosmic alignment, our eyes met. She took a look at my B and then at me. She smiled and gave a signal to the motorbike. We're like, "Say what? We don't understand your sign language la Aunty...". Then she moved the motorbike slightly nearer to our car, to give way for their MPV. Then we understood. She thought the motorbike was ours!!! We laughed. Wow! We were singled out in the crowd and presumed to be the owner of the motorbike. What does that say about us? My B must've looked like some Mat Remp-it and yours truly like some lowly bohsia (though I was still in my working clothes). That is the only reasonable explanation that we could think of. Or is there any other? I leave it up to you to ponder...
Anyway, this whole incident has led us to our next topic; our plan to sell nasi lemak, should we decide to leave our bloodsucking, life draining jobs in the corporate world or if we become paupers and can't afford to maintain our current luxuries (which is not much, really). This is another reason why I love this man. His humility. I know of some people who would rather starve to death than be seen selling nasi lemak or kuih. Maintaining their perceived status is more important than earning a decent honest living.
Back to our nasi lemak stall story, I could imagine us sitting by the road side somewhere, selling nasi lemak and, I am almost certain, we would still be happy together (Insyaallah). My falling for this man was never driven by any monetary gain anyway. I believe rezeki is in God's hand. So long as we have good intentions, hardwork and honesty, it will come our way, God willing. In the mean time, we still have to struggle every morning to beat the rush hour, so that we can be at work, on time, and as for me, transform myself into a Hindu Goddess or some sort, with 10 hands, conveniently for my multitasked job.
Maybe, just maybe, if one day, not so far in the future, you spot a couple selling nasi lemak, where the husband has this sweetest smile and the most gentle mannerism and the wife would be next to him with her Jackie O shades or if the Aviator is still in trend, she might be wearing those instead (who says makcik jual kuih cannot be stylish, kan?), and they would be staring and smiling at each other every now and then...that would be us.
I live in an area where 90% of its entire population is Chinese. So, everytime we frequent the mamak stall, we would be the only Malays there. But I never encounter any trouble. Instead, I have made good acquaintances around the neighbourhood. There's the laundry place owner, who's shop is owned by my Landlord's mother who, in turn, would always call me "Anak". Such a charming old lady. She would give me a pat on the back or she would take my hand and place it on hers while talking to me. A moment of reflection makes me realize that there's hope for this country. Things are not as bad as perceived or portrayed by some. We should not discard all the eggs in the basket simply because we've found a few rotten ones. I am a Malay but people always think I am Chindian (mixed parentage, Chinese-Indian) and I live in a Chinese community area, represented by an Opposition MP. Kinda rojak instances, but hey! That's the beauty about us Malaysians. We're like one BIG bowl of yummy rojak.
Back to my 9 pm rendezvous at the mamak with my B, we managed to secure a parking opposite the stall. There was a motorbike parked behind our car and behind it, another empty parking space. After ordering our drinks, we just stared around and started talking to each other. Then, the DVD boy came by our table. I don't remember for what reasons, but we were not interested (usually we would be rummaging through the collection shamelessly!!). Suddenly, an MPV drove passed us. The driver saw the parking spot behind our car and he slowly manouvered his MPV into the spot. However, the motorbike (which was not supposed to be there in the first place) proved to be a nuisance, and the MPV driver was struggling to manouver his car without hitting the motorbike. We were watching them all the while. Half way through, the missus (I presume) came out from the passenger's side. She looked around at us all, sitting at the stall, opposite her. Then like some cosmic alignment, our eyes met. She took a look at my B and then at me. She smiled and gave a signal to the motorbike. We're like, "Say what? We don't understand your sign language la Aunty...". Then she moved the motorbike slightly nearer to our car, to give way for their MPV. Then we understood. She thought the motorbike was ours!!! We laughed. Wow! We were singled out in the crowd and presumed to be the owner of the motorbike. What does that say about us? My B must've looked like some Mat Remp-it and yours truly like some lowly bohsia (though I was still in my working clothes). That is the only reasonable explanation that we could think of. Or is there any other? I leave it up to you to ponder...
Anyway, this whole incident has led us to our next topic; our plan to sell nasi lemak, should we decide to leave our bloodsucking, life draining jobs in the corporate world or if we become paupers and can't afford to maintain our current luxuries (which is not much, really). This is another reason why I love this man. His humility. I know of some people who would rather starve to death than be seen selling nasi lemak or kuih. Maintaining their perceived status is more important than earning a decent honest living.
Back to our nasi lemak stall story, I could imagine us sitting by the road side somewhere, selling nasi lemak and, I am almost certain, we would still be happy together (Insyaallah). My falling for this man was never driven by any monetary gain anyway. I believe rezeki is in God's hand. So long as we have good intentions, hardwork and honesty, it will come our way, God willing. In the mean time, we still have to struggle every morning to beat the rush hour, so that we can be at work, on time, and as for me, transform myself into a Hindu Goddess or some sort, with 10 hands, conveniently for my multitasked job.
Maybe, just maybe, if one day, not so far in the future, you spot a couple selling nasi lemak, where the husband has this sweetest smile and the most gentle mannerism and the wife would be next to him with her Jackie O shades or if the Aviator is still in trend, she might be wearing those instead (who says makcik jual kuih cannot be stylish, kan?), and they would be staring and smiling at each other every now and then...that would be us.
posted by Ms O at 2:38 pm
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