Real Or Not ?

Last Sunday evening we met up with some old friends from London who came here for a break and of course we brought them out for dinner and a taste of the local scene. They asked to buy fun goods at fun prices and where else would we bring them?

Yes, like all China Towns of the universe, the streets were filled with anything you can perceive in shopping centres but of course at the most affordable rates; it all depends how good a haggler you are. If you are bold and not shameful, call your shots. You may just meet your lucky star and get the goods at the price you ask for. 

My friends gave me the privilege of course. So, they asked for Ray Ban sunglasses but only at RM10 -20. They got them with my skilful haggling. They asked to pay me but I told them it was ok; my early Christmas gifts for them !

Petaling Street is fun; you get to taste local cuisines and buy bags, clothes, shoes, pearls, jade, underwear and name them if you like them for the moment. When you bring them home and you feel not happy with them you can always put them aside; the pinch is not painful.

It has been some months since I last visited the place and to my friend's astonishment she saw a display of the latest craze in her hometown being offered...

Don't they look tempting?; you can buy a couple and wear them on different occasions...

Yes; it's the Cath Kidston series !

She told me the varieties here out beat the ones in her hometown ...at one point she asked; "Are they real?"

What do you think?

Can anything be real here ?

They can look real though; only if you don't touch and go too close...

 

 Back home we too have some Cath Kidston products.

Can you guess which is real?

How about this? It can be RM20 or 24 pounds.

And this? Real or not?

Hey what about this? Is it from London or Petaling Street?

Sara is crazy over the products.

She used to tolerate the not so real ones; but now she says she is working and so she will only go for the genuine ones.

Who will know the difference?

Nobody except yourself.

What will you wear?

The Trishaw

A picture but it evokes such memories.

How many passengers do you think this vehicle can carry from one point to another? 

I suppose it depends on the physical size of the passengers.

When we were little, my siblings and I went to school on this type of trishaw. Three of us would sit on the main seat and the creative trishaw puller would put another bench on the foot area to allow another 2 passengers to be ferried on it. That would mean having 5 school going children on it.

It also meant that at one point the puller could gather all of us to school in the morning.

 We considered ourselves fortunate to be given the pleasure of being ferried to school; many had to walk with heavy bags on their backs.

I used to remember that my parents had to pay 5 Ringgit each month to the trishaw man. 

Don't laugh; 5 Ringgit was a huge sum then. 

But the Pak Cik who carried us played us out at times. There were many occasions when he did not turn up to take us home; so we would also creatively look for a long branch and my older sisters would carry it on their shoulders with all our school bags hanging on them. It was not a joke to walk for a couple of miles home.

My mother would give us 10 cents each for break; 5 cents for a plate of noodles and 5 cents for a piece of mee siput. We were trained to spend within our means.

The mee siput is unforgettable till this day.

Life was so simple then. We, the children were happy ones as we need not go for tuition classes. My parents could not afford the fees. The older ones would teach the younger ones.My parents knew no English nor Malay but we turned out to be good speakers learning on our own. I admire my parents for their guts; they did not have to worry about straight As. Somehow they trusted we would turn out well; we did to a certain extent.

Today some parents in school voiced their qualms on the introduction of the school-based assessments system with no formal exams. "How can the children survive without exams? Do they play all the time?"

After decades of an exam-orientated education system, parents fear their children may not have sufficient knowledge to see them through in life.  A pertinent question : "Do we have to send our children for tuition classes now ?"

Maybe we should also remain simple like the days of old; have no tuition and allow water to find its own level; trust that the children will turn out fine whatever system they may have to go through.

 Perhaps more important is to teach the children right values with survival skills. We can prepare our children for exams; send them to good tertiary institutions; pay through our noses for that degree and yet we cannot vouch for their future plans.

Indeed man can plan but only those who have the right attitudes and values would find meaningful existence.

Do you agree?

More to see in life.