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| With my father in front of what used to be maternal grandfather's shop |
Sri Gading, although a small village, is not without its share of some characters. Some good, some nasty, some 'ham sap lou', some mean, some stingy, some generous and some nice people. Art mirror life and the dramas that happened here was like a script taken from Hollywood. This village was a mini Peyton Place. This is not meant to be unkind but there were some quirky characters whom I feel would be interesting to my readers.
Dad would be categorized as generous and nice. Indeed, I've never heard him spoken any unkind words about anybody. His philosophy seems to be "Live and let live". He was generous to a fault . He lend money to his 'friends' and did not attempt to ask them to return the money. It was my sister Alicia who had to chase those people to return the loan ( but that's another story)
THE STINGY
It was this generosity that some people took advantaged of - most notably a woman whom we nicknamed "San Ta Ren" - taken from a cartoon "Old Master Q or Lou Fu Tze". Our Madam 'San Ta Ren' lived for money and would find ways and means to save a single sen whenever she could. Thus even when buying vegetable, she would sneak in an extra chilli or a spring onion for free. It was not that she was poor - quite rich in fact but that's her character. Every month she would approach dad to help her to buy bank draft (to send money to her son who was also studying in Taiwan together with my brother). And she would inevitably give the exact amount - conveniently forgetting the bank charges. Even when my sister reminded her about the bank charges, she pretended not to have heard her. Dad was too kind to deduct the amount from her.
THE FREE LOADER
Then there was this man - let's call him Mr. P. Mr. P was a haberdasher and he was well known as a free loader. Every time he saw dad and his friends having a drink, he would inevitably come to join them. After the meal, it was the custom for everyone to fight to pay for the drinks, Mr. P would also pretend to insist to pay - but it was noticed that his hand never left his pockets. Soon, people began to notice his tricks. One day, they decided to test him. So when it was time to pay, they 'allowed' him to win. Ah Ha!! This time he was caught - he pretended to hunt for his wallet... then said he forgot to bring it along!! This was related to me by Mr. Teo's daughter!!
THE ITINERANT GOSSIPER
Mum led a rather solitary life. She hardly went out and she hardly had any friends in the village. However, she still got all the local gossip - thanks to our local itinerant gossiper whom we addressed as "Ah Sum". Ah Sum was a widow and after finishing her chores (her husband used to own a dhobi shop ), she would gad from house to house collecting the latest news. No secret was safe with her. Every Tuesday evening she would come to our house to watch wrestling - her favourite. You could hear her coming a mile away ! And when she reached our doorstep, she would whisper conspiratorially : "Guess what I heard today......" and on she would rattle on....., until her favourite show came on air. Then she would be thumping and shouting gustily with the wrestlers !! What a character. By the way, she was the one who made abacus seeds every festival.
THE FORTUNE TELLER
In front of our house was a row of shops. There was a wan tan mee shop, a sundry shop, a tailoring shop and a coffee shop. The old man in the sundry shop was a dreamer. He spent most of his time reading the papers. Then he would play the Chinese Er Hu and sing some opera songs. Children would gather round him and he would tell stories to us. After that he would do some palm reading, and by examining the whorls on our fingers as well as studying the lines on our palms, he would predict our future. We children would eagerly offer our palms to him to read. This irritated his wife to no end and she would scold him roundly. She often tell us not to believe him : "He's a fraud. He knows nuts about fortune telling." Actually we later found out that he was just a dirty old man using this trick to get to hold little girls' hands !!
THE MEANIE
We shall call him Mr. CK. He was another haberdasher. Besides that, he also stock some stationery. I dislike going to his shop for he would always make some nasty remarks about my appearance such as "Why is your face so dirty ?" or " Why is your dress so old?" or " Why so smelly?" I had no choice as his shop was the most convenient place to buy stationery. His children were equally mean. The boys like to tease girls and would get into fights with other boys. Of course the father would invariable side with his sons. The girls would sometime spit at people for no apparent reason. (However I get along fine with the girls). The family kept mostly to themselves and they did not seem to get along with their neighbours. Somehow they gave the impression that they were a class above all the others. Upon thinking back, I wondered if there was some problem with the youngest kid - mental perhaps. Certainly he was unusually aggressive. Perhaps it was the family's was of protecting themselves - by being aloof towards their neighbours.
THE GENEROUS
Of course there were some nice and generous people too. One of them was Mr. B. He was a butcher but that was just a front for a more clandestine and lucrative business - that is illegal 4D outlet. Mr.B was a cheerful, friendly and generous man. He owned a morris minor and would generously allow his friends to borrow it.
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| In front of father's row of shops |
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