Ah Seng, the painter....

There are days in your life that you would want to forget as fast as possible while there are days in which you just want to dissect each momentous hour in the crazy 24 hours of a day. Today was just one of those days I would rather skin a rabbit somewhere in a forest or probably hike up some mountain for some breath of fresh air. But like any other day in my life, my Creator always has something in store for me to ponder upon.

Today, I had coffee with Ah Seng, the painter. This is no ordinary man. He is almost 60 plus years old and the lines on his face will probably grate coconut flesh to bits and no SK II pitera lotion or whatever whitening lotion is going to smoothen that sand paper face of his. BTW, I have told him this before and he laughed to bits. But in a weird and almost loony way, one of my colleagues and I are his good friends. Sorta the ones he would talk to without hesitation and with free flow expressions. He would have coffee with us and shared a joke or two or just talk about everything under the sun. Garbed in his "batik" shirt [ due to paint falling onto his shirt and making it "batik" multi-color splatter and all that! He has a few distinctive ones! ] , he would go around carrying out painting works all over Melaka town. Incredibly, he is quite sought after for his good painting works. Small in built -frame, thin and bespectacled, I was told that he does his work efficiently and he can be quite choosy with his customers. He is usually well paid and he doesn't believe in keeping his money in bank. Yup! He keeps his money in his pillows! Yes, hear ye, such people still exists. When I asked him about this, he curtly answered, " Boh Thak Cheak! No need bank. Bank is the pillow! Better!".

Self-confessed bachelor but young at heart ( That's what he says!), he is really a nice person. He lives in a rented room in the older side of the town, he doesn't give a crap about politics and he walks to every place he needs to go because he doesn't know how to ride a bicycle. motorcyle lest the car. Always with cheap cigarettes in his pocket and puffing away like some chimney of London houses, he talks loud but always in a careful manner so that his false teeth would not fall out! For the talking loud matter, I have always suspected that he is "deaf" in his ears and that's why he needs to talk loud! BTW, he doesn't stink nor look dirty at all. On the contrary , he is very clean but he is always in his "batik". He is pleasant, mild-mannered and an old man with a good heart. For his goodness, he is always been taken advantage of and sometimes, it irked me a lot but Ah Seng would always tell me that it is okay. He had seen all sorts of people in his life and so, nothing is new to him. Afterall, they can only cheat him once and he learns faster. That's what I liked about him - the positive outlook plus concrete jungle survival skills.

I remembered that when I was down one day and was having my usual coffee break, he came over to join me for a cup of coffee and he cheered me up even though he didn't know what I was going through. He just said that if he was to take life that seriously, he would have been dead by now! I laughed my head off then. I still remember the time he gave me a Parker ball point pen and told me that it would be useful for me than for him. That's his big heart. I have lost count the number of times he treated me for drinks together with my colleague. One thing is for sure, we always have good conversations and laughs.

So, to Ah Seng, the painter, God bless your life always and may more lives be blessed by you, my friend!