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Friends in unusual places



I had recently bought a bicycle with a cycle loan from my Department for which I had to pay RM5/- a month. One day I cycled up to my uncle’s house, parked the bike in the porch of the house. As it was a safe neighbourhood I did not care to lock it and went into my uncle’s place. I came out after half an hour and found my bicycle missing. I reported the loss to the nearest Police Station and was the subject of ridicule at the station as all the policemen who saw me making the report chided me that it was careless people like me who added to their problems. I had to swallow the insults as I had to admit that it was indeed careless of me to park my bicycle unlocked.

Despite my loss I had to continue the instalments of RM 5 monthly to my employer to satisfy the loan I had taken. I forgot the loss of my bicycle when I had fully settled my bicycle loan soon after. I applied for a motorcycle loan next after my last instalment for the bicycle loan had been satisfied. This was after two months of the loss of my bicycle. An office subordinate working in my office one day told me that he knows who stole my bicycle and its current location. I headed to the Police station where I had lodged a police report and told them where my lost bicycle is. Two detectives were asked to follow me to close the case. When we entered the Kampong where my subordinate resided a woman who heard we were from the Police Station directed us to a hut nearby. The detectives knocked on the door and finding no response gave the door a kick which gave way allowing the officers to enter the hut. The sight before us gave us a surprise We found two men in the process of canablising my bicycle and there were carcasses and parts of about 10 more cycles in the hut. I could identify the parts of my bicycle as it was a new one with its brand name still intact. The two men were arrested and sent to gaol after a hearing. I was called to the Police Store after three months to identify my bike. It was an impossible task as the bicycles were left to the elements and had become rusted. After 10 years I found myself working in a Northern state of Malaya. One day as I was walking to my Office after a drink an Indian guy stopped me and asked if I recognised him. He said he is my Kampong mate and is serving sentence for some criminal offence. He told me he was the one who stole my bike a few years back and was sentenced to a year’s gaol for stealing my bicycle. I inquired what he was doing here far removed from his original Kampong.   He said after the initial gaol term for stealing my bike  he got mixed up with wrong company and has been in and out of prison and currently  he has been banished to the northern state of the country for various offences. I wished him well and went on my way to my office.


All content (c) Ganapathy Ramasamy, mynameisgana@blogspot.com


Image (c) https://www.bicyclehistory.net/picture/picture-of-old-bicycle/

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