ONE MALAYSIAN QUIRK

Last Saturday, at the market, I met a dear old friend whom I have not kept in touch for quite some time. After the usual greetings, our questions turn to the children, "And how are they doing?" As most of our children are overseas, it's inevitable that we would inquire after our loved ones. I smiled bemusedly as she gushed to inform me : "Oh, my first is now working at...... very high pay, ...... my second is now with..... and you know, they're paying........" It seems we measure the success of our children by their paychecks. It's a Malaysian quirk.We Malaysians love to probe and pry into other people's pay checks.

In the same way, my dear aunt (mum's second sister) used to ask bluntly : "So how much are you earning? How much is your husband earning?" My 3rd uncle was more subtle : "What's your tax bracket?" It used to irritate me in no small measure and I would try to avoid them if it were possible. Too polite to retort : "It's none of your business", I would hawed and hemmed and say something vague "Something over a thousand......." Auntie would not be deterred : "Exactly how much?" "Enough to survive-lah."
I met the dear old lady again last Wednesday, and boy, she has not changed a bit. However, this time she reveled in telling me how much her sons and daughter are earning. Good for them!! My husband is the only one who can handle her. He used to draw a chair and sit beside her, just to chat, and when she says something controversial, he would just laugh and ask her certain pertinent questions. This would make her pause, and she, realizing she had make certain erroneous statements would then correct herself :"Oh, I don't mean that exactly........perhaps it does not apply to all." Amazing - she still is fond of him.