HERE TODAY,
GONE TOMORROW
(This
story is written by Lim Poh Keng,a friend of Zest Zipper. It is a
rehash of the original story ‘Sudden Departure of a Friend’ by Zest Zipper. It
is revised with the intention of making the original story more dramatic and
philosophical.
The writer would like to dedicate this story to the late Mr.Xiao Chai Chin.)
The writer would like to dedicate this story to the late Mr.Xiao Chai Chin.)
ON the next morning, the first task to be
put into action was to inquire at the coffee shop from the char-koay-teow vendor, in order to extract from him the truth of
Chai Chin’s fate! “Yes!” he blurted out-the confirmation of my worst confounded
fears- Chai Chin had truly kicked the bucket, with a massive heart attack on the
way to the hospital. I suddenly felt a chill running down my spine as if I was
as cold as Chai
Chin’s corpse itself. The setting of Xiao Chai
Chin’s (萧财庆) sun shocked several of his classmates as well. It was all too sudden
for all of us to swallow and be choked by this terrible news!
AUGUST 9, 2013 was a fateful date for me
and Chai Chin. It would turn out to be our final encounter in this lifetime. I
dropped in at his stall for breakfast. Who could have expected that it would become the last rite for him to serve me for the very first and last time his
white curry mee! If there were any consolation at all, it would be at least I
was lucky enough to have tasted his white curry mee- even just
this once and for all time. Small
consolation that! Likewise, many of his classmates were left disconsolated at
his passing.
AS
a matter of fact, Chai Chin had phoned me up several times telling me of his
inclination to sell white curry mee at a coffee shop here in good, old Bukit
Mertajam(BM). Frying noodles for umpteen years had lost its zing for him. It
was high time to move on and embark on a new venture. It struck him that selling white curry mee
would open up new vistas in his business. After a thorough and meticulous survey of
the curry mee enterprise around town among the various vendors, he reached the
confident conclusion that his curry mee would be the cream of the crop, if not
one of the best in BM!
As a passing jest, I tendered the proposition that he displayed his business banner
outside the coffee shop to publicize his specialty of white curry mee bearing
the following catchlines:
‘Why
Carry Me?
Try
Carry Me.
You’ll
Carry Me Home!’
The last line turned out to be a
premonition, now that I see its darker meaning! “You’ll Carry Me
Home!” suggested a funeral procession whereby the deceased was sent
to his everlasting resting place! O what have I done? However, at that point in
time when my suggestion was tendered, Chai Chin responded favorably as he
believed it would advance in his new venture. But on second thoughts mayhap he
was jesting with me.
AMONG our circle of friends was my
classmate, Seng Kwang. Whenever he returned from Sabah to BM, I would gather
him and Chai Chin around for a reunion at the coffee shop to while away the
evening with small talk as we threesome were really close chums notably during
Primary Five at school. We would rally around to share a fag, each one taking
his turn for a few puffs. We exemplified the adage of “Boys will be boys!” during
those innocent bygone days.
Chai Chin was also a brilliant story
teller, and he would regale us with his engaging tales. Many of his narration
set us roaring with laughter so much so that we were assailed with stomach aches!
One such incident is worth accounting
here.
CHAI Chin spotted a conspicuous mole atop
his right shoulder. This was interpreted as being burdened with family
responsibility. Consequently, his friends advised him by way of coaxing, to have
it promptly removed. Eventually, Chai
Chin paid a visit to the fortune teller to get rid of his inauspicious blemish.
It so happened that the fortune teller was busily absorbed with a client when
Chai Chin presented his problem to him. However, in a jocular vein, the fortune
teller counseled him in the Teochew dialect: “Sang Kar Chun Tik, Toa Miang Ta Kea!” ( 双脚伸直，就不用擔家！). Literally, this is paraphrased as: once you have stretched out your
legs, you are no more carrying the burden of your family responsibility, which means:
upon death one is free from all responsibility. However, Chai Chin missed the point
by the mile. So he literally took a seat to stretch out his legs upon it, and
sat patiently waiting for his turn to have a consultation with the fortune
teller, and to get his mole disposed thereafter. When the latter had finished
with his client, he was taken by surprise and hilarity to notice Chai Chin
displaying his yogic posture with outstretched legs! In a fit of exasperation,
he let out a yell at Chai Chin: “Tambai Kia!”(Stupid Oaf!) for misunderstanding his
earlier injunction. However, when the truth dawned upon him, Chai Chin burst out in rollicking laughter!
BACK TO THE PRESENT. Now that Chai Chin ‘had stretched out his legs
at last!’, the necessity of removing the luckless mole from his shoulder is no
more relevant to his well-being.
Life and death, tears and laughter,
permanence and change….., ultimately death would spell the end for all of us
miserable mortals… for life is
impermanent but death is undeniable, unavoidable, and unforeseeable – it can come
at any time when you least expected it!
Not seeing Chai Chin for only just a month
was his life cut in twain so suddenly leaving both his dear folks and friends
alike in limbo, scarcely saying a word of farewell to any of them. We, mortals
all, will take the same road as Chai Chin one day when it will all become
evidently clear that everything is
HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW.
MAY Chai Chin – zaijian (再见) Goodbye to him – attain an auspicious
rebirth – and also rest in peace. Amen.
