Yesterday I visited the friendly neighbourhood 7-Eleven to acquire milk and bread. The clerk recognised me. She usually gave me a friendly ribbing about wearing sarungs in public.
“Kenapa pakai kain?” she’d ask.
(She recently started wearing a tudung, in-store; she mentioned a husband previously, so I presumed he was the reason for it.)
This time she asked me about my bike-riding.
“Kenapa selalu naik basikal?” she asked. “Tak susah ke? Naik motor la.”
“I takde lesen la,” I said.
“Ambik lesen la,” she replied. “Bukannya susah pun.”
“Motor pun takde,” I said. “I tak mampu.”
“Tu, banyak duit tu,” she said, pointing at the contents of my wallet, which happened to be full of 10-ringgit notes.
“Ni duit ang pow la,” I answered.
She wasn’t convinced. “Eleh,” she said. “Tak mampu, tak mampu — nampak you pun tahu, ada tiga empat kereta kat rumah.”
