Neighbourhood Charity Lunch

A neighbour in my Kampong used to provide lunch to commemorate the passing away of his parents and forefathers. They were just vegetarian meals but free to anyone who dropped by. Free lunches were rare those days and the occasion almost always drew quite a lot of people.The neighbor also hired about 5 trishaw pedlars to bring the poor and hungry from the town to the venue. Every trishaw load would earn the pedlars RM2/-, a large sum for those days.

The eldest son of this neighbor was a misfit who was always seen in the company of beer and samsu drinkers - this chap was loud and boisterous and used to brag about the charity lunch as though it was through his generosity. We learnt later that he hardly contributed his share to the charity lunch but would want a giant share of the publicity. After being intoxicated he would come to the dining area where the lunch was in progress and make a nuisance of himself. He would snatch the rice tray from the helpers and try to load more rice onto the banana leaf despite the protests of the customers. So much so that customers would avoid getting into the dining area if they spotted the drunk anywhere around the dining area. Some refrained from assaulting him simply because of the charitable nature of his father.

One day the drunk was so intoxicated he started kicking the banana leaves containing food. There was only so much the poor could take - free food or not. Some of them accosted him to stop his nonsense — when the drunk refused, a few of them pounced on him and gave him the thrashing of his life. He was bleeding from his mouth and nose. The neighbor witnessed this and pleaded with the assailants to stop the assault on the son. After that incident, the neighbor ceased the practice of providing lunch at his home and delegated this task to volunteers at a nearby temple.

I remember that some cursed him for ceasing the practice not realising the circumstances which led to the change in venue.

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

Images are for illustrative purposes only, and are sourced from the web. Please drop us a note if you are the owner and wish to be credited.

Comments

My first car

After my Higher School Certificate examination, I was appointed as a labour officer. This job paid well enough that I could finally afford a car for work. It involved a fair amount of travelling, the allowances for which could well cover my petrol bills. This first car was a second hand Volkswagen 1200, reg. AF 1085 in white. However I had just learnt driving and was not confident in taking out the car for my duties. So for the first few weeks, a friend of mine agreed to be a co-driver while I learnt to drive in my neighbourhood. Once I gained confidence, I told my friend that I was confident and he need not assist me while I drove around. The first day of independent driving, I reversed into a child’s tricycle. Fortunately the child had abandoned the bike in my driveway and went away to look for other pursuits that drew her attention. There was a dent to the rear of my vehicle that would require some money to have it fixed back into its original shape. ...

Pigeons always look for variety

One of my female pigeons left her nest and moved over to my neighbors pigeon Coop where she had taken a fancy for a male pigeon. I spoke to my neighbor and told him I shall trap my pigeon later that evening. But my neighbor like a budding lawyer told me “possession is 9/10th” of the law and since the pigeon was in his coop it is rightfully his. Now when I feed my pigeons I usually give a loud whistle for them to attend to their food. I told my brother to spray some green peas on the ground. My house was about 5 houses away from my neighbors where my pigeon had sought refuge with her boyfriend. When I gave a whistle my pigeon with 3 other pigeons left my neighbors coop to peck food at my coop. The neighbor was stunned seeing his 3 pigeons heading to my house. He mellowed and asked me to allow him to go over to my coop later in the evening to trap his birds. I used his same words and turned down his pleas despite his apologies. In the evening when the birds got into the coop I caught hol...

SENIOR CITIZENS AND THE QR CODE

Age is certainly catching up for me and my friends of my generation. Technology is moving fast and I find we are no longer able to fit into the fast paced modern age. The other day Ben, my friend and I set out to Bukit Damansara to meet up with an Investment banker. Both of us are retirees. I am in the 80's while Ben is a lot younger. We have been residents of KL for a long time, used to Pusat Bandar Damansara area as we had worked in that area many years ago. We decided to take a Grab to go to Bukit Damansara. As we got into the car and buckled up with the safety belt, the driver told us to scan the QR code a small piece of plastic stuck to each side of the window. It took some effort as the sticker was slightly bigger than a postage stamp while we are used to a big placard attached to the back of the front seat. It was quite a challenge to scan it as the car was in motion through some humps and bumps. To our surprise Pusat Bandar Damansara wasn't the place we knew. Our office...

My name is Gana

Search This Blog