The day that was 12/02/12
It was a Sunday , I drove for about 15 minutes on a narrow road thriving with potholes, before turning to a familiar junction with a signboard pointing to the location of a Chinese temple, and drove for a further short distance to finally reach my destination. I parked my car and took out two huge plastic bags containing some fishes which I wanted to release into the small river, nodding and smiling to the two Timorese men working on some scrap metal as I crossed an old bridge to go to the other side where a handful of wooden houses were seen perched by the riverbank. This is the place I often go to for fang seng (life release) activities, mostly by myself. I often ask for permission to step on their properties, lest they are in knowledge of any trespassing law, just in case. But Malaysians are such peace loving and friendly people that you can hardly hear of any incidents relating to legal suits that would drain you of your financial means, as we often hear in the west. Being alone, it always brings a sense of comfort in me to see their smiling faces albeit with a bit of inquisitiveness at my intrusion, and my intention of buying then releasing the lives of the creatures is something these folks would not be able to comprehend.
Only politicians and wealthy individuals will get themselves embroiled in legal cases. The majority of ordinary folks like us would be too engrossed in the daily mundane works that we would eschew any opportunity to redeem our pride and maybe a chance to gain some financial rewards by means of embarking on legal actions of any sorts, even if the opportunities glaringly present itself in front of us. Plus, I believe, most of us don't have the financial means anyway.
Or so I thought.
While I squat on the riverbank releasing the fishes, the kids from the houses were standing on the bridge looking down gleefully for what perhaps to them a refreshing sight, and they seemed to truly revel in the opportunity to bask in the camaraderie and innocence playfulness with their peers.
Once, the landlord of the houses, an overweight lady wearing some gold bracelets on her arms who came to collect rents was seen berating the kids for standing and playing on the wooden bridge, `it would ruin the bridge and I would not have money to repair it’, she shouted in her deep Kadazan accent, while the adults who peeked from outside their windows just looked on helplessly, feeling somewhat a little oppressed and discontented on how the Landlord in her condescending tone seemed to clearly emphasize her status of being the boss around here, at that moment inevitably relegating their ranks to that of temporary occupants, at her whims and whilst their finances allow them.
I clambered up the rather steep river bank once I was done and moved towards the kids still standing on the bridge, their excitement were laced with a little anticipation, knowing I would probably hand them some sweet treats. I whipped out my digital camera and asked them to pose for photos and they eagerly obliged, thereafter hurriedly approached me to take a peek while I checked on the images on the lens. These children later scurried behind me when I left for the car and patiently waited while I retrieved some packages of sweets from the car trunk and distributed to them.
Their polite utterance of `terima kasih’ and the look of delight and pure joy on their faces quickly dispersed any sense of unease on my part for having this Timorese adult, the father of one the kids I presumed, monitored from behind, even taking a closer look into my car trunk, lest I happened to be a child abductor masquerading as a sweet-talking woman to lure these kids into my menacing trap.
He didn’t know that these kids, as innocent as they were with their tender looks and heart melting smiles, were in fact the ones who have unconsciously set up an imaginary trap, and I was being the one so irresistibly lured into it.
For through their eyes I thought I could learn to see the world with a little less scepticism, making living a little more tolerant, and every problem encountered just seems a little more manageable .
At that point of connection, these kids did just that to me.
There is always some valuable little lessons to pick up from every times I venture out of my comfortable dwelling for this life-release activity, and to reach out to some strangers like these.
It’s always a soul-enriching, energy-shifting experience for me...
