Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Cracked Salad Bowl

I had to go to a bank in Mentakab, 60 km away to settle a surat saman regarding my credit. I received a *warning* letter from a lawyer’s office regarding my supposedly unpaid credit. Turned out I have settled the credit one month ago and I was advised to ignore the warning letter. Sheeezzzz !!! 60 km travel for nothing.

On the way back, I wanted to stop at the B*T* shoes shop. It was starting to rain and there was no parking space. I had to drive around Mentakab town very many times and finally I decided to park at one parking space between two canopies erected on the parking lot. Chinese New Year is just a few days away so these canopies were for selling CNY goodies much like Pasar Ramadan.

One of it was a barbeque stall. The Chinese and Indian boys who were barbequing [I’m sure it was pork meat] looked at one another with puzzled looks. One of them, an Indian, in a very concerned way tried to tell me off. “Kak! Nanti kita punya ni banyak minyak boleh kena kereta akak … kotor”.

I was tired and hungry. My knee was killing me and I needed to get a pair of shoes. “Tak pe lah … sekejap aje!” and I walked off. They looked exasperated. An older Chinese man at the next stall said something in Chinese.

By the time I reached the shop it was closed! What a disappointment. I was very angry for it was only past five. How could they close shop that early in Mentakab … a town bigger than Jerantut with Chinese New Year coming in a few days and anyway it was right in front of a supermarket and Pizza Hut and McDonald which were opened until 10pm.

So, muttering disgust under my breath, I walked back to the car in the rain which was getting heavier. When I reached the car, I noticed the boys looked relieved. I was puzzled! Then I noticed they had stopped barbequing. When I got into the car, they jumped to resume the cooking.

As I drove the 60 km back, I got to ponder about the incidence. I come to appreciate the boys’ effort to inform me of the ‘sticky’ situation. I think they were trying to tell me that they were doing pork … haraam for a Muslim though I could argue that they shouldn’t have done it at an open public place. I don’t know if their stall was legal. It was at a very open place, just across a shopping centre: impossible to have missed the eyes of the municipal people. I wonder ???

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is a question we should all ponder. I noticed a long time ago Chinese sell pork in closed area. They have a section in the market where only their people go. I remember the uneasy look on one Chinese lady when she noticed I saw what she just bought!

Well, I honestly dare not comment on this. But putting myself in their shoes, I don't think I like going through a life like that.

BTW, is it a written rule that pork shouldn't be sold in public area?

koolmokcikZ said...

Dear anonymous,

Thanks for dropping by. I really appreciate your comment.

However, I have no knowledge about any written rule regarding selling pork in public area but I have never seen pork being sold in the market.

Btw, I have a group of friends on YM conference and we chat about everything under the sky. It is interesting. You are very welcomed to join us.

Thank you.