I had bad motion sickness and my grandparents couldn't be arsed to take
me along on any trip unless they absolutely have to. So whenever they
need to leave Cameron Highlands for more than a day, they used to dump
me at the Nyonya's next door.
The Nyonya in turn would lock her dogs , but unfortunately, not her kids. Not because of any senstiive issue.
I mean, my Muslim grandparents already happily left me there. So
there's really no need to be coy and all. Besides, we have two dogs as
well - Patrice and Evra, I mean, Blackie and Darkie and a nasty cat
called Moon who almost bit my finger off.
They have to lock
their dogs because one of em bit me once. I stil have the scar on my
knee. And I get hysterical around dogs to this day. Cats too. And
chicken. And geese. You ever been chased by a goose? I rest my case. I
was also bitten by a scorpion. Twice. But that's another story.
Anyway, I digress. I wanted to tell you another story.
Once,
when my aunty was dying of cancer, my grandparents left me with another
family for about two weeks. A muslim family with a Punjabi lodger. Of
sorts.
They have two daugthers. One of em is my classmate. So I
knew very well her name ber-binti the Malay man. But they both look just
like the Punjabi, errr....lodger.
But kids were raised better
those days. You were not encouraged to talk. A death glare is all it
takes to shut you up until you leave home at 17. Or 12 in my case. So we
didnt go around asking neighbours and strangers, "Awak janda ke?",
"Awak ni lelaki ke perempuan?" "Kenapa suami makcik Melayu tapi anak
makcik muka Punjabi?"
Recently, I finally remembered to ask my
Mom about that family. My Mom nonchalantly told me everyone in Cameron
knew that the Pakcik 'ada masalah baka' so the wife slept with the
Punjabi lodger.
Everyone knew?
Then how come my
grandparents left me with keluarga yang tak bermoral dan juga tanpa nilai-nilai murni? And where is JAWI? Apasal tak kena tangkap?
I tell you. We Cameron Highlanders are the real urban liberals.
Kau apa tahu? Sibuk pasal hak asasi immigrant, makcik kat kampung sakit tak gi visit pun.
