This is me eating at some fancy Thai BBQ concept restaurant in Gurney, Penang.
Hailing from a small small town called Seremban (where shops close at 9pm n ppl sleep early), to be able to dine at restaurants was an exciting rare treat for me..
after some years in Penang, (also blame the clowning job for free 5star buffets at hotels) the novelty of restaurant food faded n my tongue grew pretty picky about good food n was quick to judge, complain n push away "common" food. (ask any of my frens n they will rant about me WASTING alot of food easily)
This is a bowl of rice. u and i eat see rice so often it means nothing much to us. its just plain food to fill the tummy. its not like abalone or foie gras (duck liver) that is exotic n expensive. its just white good old rice. something we have always had since childhood until now..
This is the view from my rented room window.
Today i witness something that broke my heart n left me very troubled. As i was sipping juice n watching online movies i heard the dustbin lid open n sounds of scrunching plastic bags ensued.
I had cleared the kitchen earlier this morning throwing away 2 big black bags of expired can food, eggs, rotten veggies, melted candies n bottles of half consumed ketchup,mayo and seasoning.(by all ex housemates left behind)
To my horror there was a thin malay man opening the plastic bags (within the green bin u can see) and taking out mushy food n collecting it inside his bag!! (even my half eaten cheesy junkfood plastic bag i threw cause it went soft he was taking home!)
i stood there horrified not knowing what to say for a minute. i quickly went downstairs to the gate n asked "pak cik, makanan tu dah rosak, dah luput dari tahun lalu!" (u cannot eat this stuff, many have expired beyond consumption!)
He bowed his head n softly said " tak apa, bawa balik tengok apa yang keluarga pak cik boleh makan, u tak mau lagi kan semua ni?" (its ok, i'll just take back and see which ones can feed my family, u sure u dont want them no more?)
My heart broke into a million tiny pieces as i saw him go thru moldy stuff n thought, no human being should ever be eating out of the rubbish bin.
i dashed into the house, took the very few stuff edible in the house (rice, pepper, salt, maggie mee, butter, spaghetti n apples- which were new) put it into a plastic bag n told him to take this n leave the expired food.
i wanted to offer money but i didnt want to bruise his ego. he took alot of stuff i threw out this morning like old clothes n Tupperware n handbags n small decorations..he stood under the sun for 40 minutes going thru the rubbish n putting wanted stuff into his bag..
the malay man told me he worked as a security guard at night n daytime he would search for things in other ppl's rubbish. i felt SO HUMBLED n ASHAMED of myself. here was a man digging for food n things to continue life itself while i selfishly waste food, throw things and complain about having nothing.
he thanked me many times (nobody around and i kept coming out to see he okay or not under the blistering sun) and eventually after a few trips of collecting stuff he left..
*God does work in mysterious ways. to drive home a message he gave me a lesson i will never forget.
I really want to help the poor, feed the hungry and clothe the cold, i dont know how to get the resources or chance to do so? i feel so helpless..
I can only hope for a better future for that malay man and the many more hungry poor ppl in the world today..=(
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