The Basket

Everytime I go to a supermarket in Malaysia and grab a basket instead of a trolley, it always reminds me of those days when I spent my first 11 years of childhood in Singapore. At that time, I stayed with my parents at a rented wooden attap house in Kampung Bukit Kasita and went to Radin Mas School, where I studied from Standard One to Standard Five. My family was of course struggling at that time to make ends meet.

The basket in the supermarket reminds me of the cane basket that I used to carry when I had to walk for half a day after or before school, selling food to the public. If I went to school in the afternoon, then in the morning before sunrise, the kampung folks would be hearing a boy calling out "nasi lemak...nasi lemak...", sometimes louder than the sound of the "azan" (the call for prayer) from the local village mosque.

Yes, in those days (1951 to 1962), the village folks didn't have to go to a Malay or Mamak restaurant for their breakfast. Breakfast was literally brought to their doorsteps. All they had to do was to call out to the boy,"Hey, Nasi lemak, mari sini" (Hey Nasi lemak, come here...). The boy would then carry the basket of "nasi lemak" to the customer who would then purchased the quantity that he wanted that morning. At that time a packet of nasi lemak wrapped in banana leaves only cost ten cents. Now it costs from RM1.00 to RM1.50, depending on where you are in Malaysia. To know more about "nasi lemak" dish, please click here.

The nasi lemak made by my late mum was very popular and well-liked by the local village folks. It sold out so quickly that sometime I had to come back to the house to fill my baskets with more nasi lemak packs and went out again to finish my round of the village. You see, I had a fixed route which I took every morning with my baskets of nasi lemak. Normally there won't be any nasi lemak left by the time I finished my round of the kampung.

If I went to school in the morning, then I would go out to sell "epok-epok, mee Siam" and a few other Malay "kueh" like "seri muka and lepat pisang" in the afternoon. After I came back from school and had my lunch, my late mum would hand to me the two baskets containing the food to be sold that day. I carried a basket in each hand and with my right hand holding the bottle of mee Siam sauce, I began the journey in the afternoon to sell them to the Singapore town folks.

At that time the "karipap" of today was called "epok-epok". I don't know why the Malaysians called it "karipap" and not "epok-epok" and I have not been to Singapore for so long that I wonder whether Singaporeans still call it "epok-epok." "Karipap" as I understand it was originally made by the Sikhs or "Benggali" as we called them. It was a big-sized triangular-shape piece of food containing spicy curried potatoes wrapped with a layer of flour. It was deep fried until the flour skin became crispy.

The "karipap" of the Malays is also made of spicy curried potatoes and wrapped in the skin of flour and deep fried. However, the shape is different and the size is smaller.

"Mee Siam" was actually the fried mee-hoon that is normally found in Malaysia, except that "mee Siam" came with its own special sauce. I can't seem to find mee Siam in Malay restaurants nowadays.

So there I was carrying the two baskets and a bottle of sauce with my bare hands. Initially it was tough for me because of the hot afternoon sun and the heavy weight of the baskets which were fully laden with the food. But as it got towards evening, the sun's heat became more bearable and the baskets became lighter after the food were gradually sold to customers.

The route that I took was diffrent from the village route in the morning. Onr of my elder brothers (Rosli or Shariff) was covering the village route and I had to cover the town area. Selling at the town area was tougher than selling at the village. I had to cover a longer distance. Normally I returned to the house at about 5.00 pm after the baskets were empty . When I didn't return to the house by 7.00 pm, my late mum would know that I couldn't finish selling all the food yet and was trying to finish selling before returning home.

My late mum gave me twenty cents for every dollar of food sold. I used the money to save at the Post Office. What I did was to spend all my earnings to buy stamps from the local Post Office and then stick the stamps onto the Post Office book. Whatever amount contained in the stamps were considered as my savings. I wonder whether the same style of savings are still being practised in Singapore now. Come to think of it, I don't remember whether I managed to cash out my savings before I moved to Johor Bahru in 1963 :)

After my father moved to Johor Bahru in 1963, my elder brothers and I also stopped our "selling business". My late mum didn't tell us why it was stopped and my brothers and I didn't dare to ask her (in case she changed her mind about not selling...hehehe). I guess my father had a better pay and we didn't have to resort to the "selling business" again to augment the family's income.

In 1963 and 1964, I manged to concentrate on my studies and was among the students selected to study Form One at the Malay College in Kuala Kangsar, Perak. The basket, wherever I see or hold it, will always remind me of the "selling business" experience that I had in Singapore as a kid.

Killing 3 birds with 1 stone

From Ibnu Umar radhiallahu 'anhuma that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "To pray in congregation (Solat jamaah) is 27 times more beneficial than to pray alone." (Dari Ibnu Umar radhiallahu 'anhuma bahawasanya Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: "Shalat jamaah adalah lebih utama dari shalat fadz - yakni sendirian -dengan kelebihan dua puluh tujuh darjat."(Muttafaq 'alaih))

Based on the above hadith, I always try to go to a mosque to perform the "solat jemaah." Where I work, it takes me about 7 minutes of walking to arrive at the nearest mosque and of course less than that if I am to drive there. So I have 2 choices, either to walk or drive there. Which one should I choose, then?

As you may have guessed correctly, I chose to walk there because of the following hadith:

From Abu Hurairah r.a. who heard the Prophet (PBUH) said: "Whoever cleanses himself ("berwuduk") at his home and then goes to one of Allah's houses (the mosques) to perform one of the five obligatory prayers ("solat fardhu"), therefore every step that he takes (on the way to the mosque) will remove one sin from him and the next step will raise his status ("darjat") to a higher level." (as "riwayat" by Muslim)

So it's nice to have our sins removed and status elevated higher ("dinaikkan darjat") everytime we walk to the mosque, don't you think? But what if we have a transport like a motorcycle or a car to take us there? Do we get the same benefits as walking? This question was subsequently answered when I attended one of the religious talks ("ceramah") by an Ustaz (religious teacher) who said that we get the same benefits as walking if we ride a motorbike or drive a car to the mosque. So, given the choice between walking and transportation, which one should we choose? To answer that question, let's look at the following hadith:

From Anas bin Malik r.a. who heard the Prophet (PBUH) said, "Make it more convenient and not more difficult, be calm and not be fearful."
Hadis Anas bin Malik r.a katanya:" Rasulullah s.a.w pernah bersabda: permudahkan dan jangan memayahkan, tenangkan dan jangan menakut-nakutkan. (Riwayat Muslim)

Thus, between walking and driving, which one is more convenient? It is of course more convenient to drive than to walk. So, I decided to drive instead of walking to the mosque to perform my "solat zohor" and "solat asar" there.

This went on for quite some time until a few days ago I came across another hadith which says that " A strong Muslim is much better and loved by Allah than a weak Muslim." (Seorang mukmin yang kuat adalah lebih baik dan dicintai oleh Allah berbanding mukmin yang lemah - Riwayat Muslim)

I deduce that to become a strong Muslim, one must be healthy,and to be healthy, one should exercise more often (apart from eating good food, has enough rest and peace of mind and heart).

I have always wanted to walk from day one, but because I was "convinced" by the above hadith that one should choose the more convenient way of doing things if there are more than one way of doing it, I decided to drive. Furthermore, I haven't come across a hadith which says that one can also get one's sins forgiven and one's status elevated if one is to go to the mosque by using a transportation as the ustaz had mentioned.

Thus, by walking to the mosque, one gets at least 3 benefits, namely,

1. One gets 27 times the benefit of praying alone.

2. One gets one sin forgiven for every step taken and one "darjat" elevated with the next step taken and so on until one reaches the mosque. The further the distance the more benefits one shall get. Thus, for a total of say, 500 steps, 250 sins are removed and one's "darjat" is raised 250 times.

3. One gets to become more healthy and therefore stronger with the exercise that one gets by walking to and from the mosque. A lot of chronic diseases, like high-blood pressure and diabetes, were due to lack of exercise.

Thus, without further delay, I started walking to and from the mosque starting from yesterday (1/11/11). I carry an umbrella with me just in case it rains or it gets unbearably hot. I have also told my friend that I have to stop going with him in his car to the mosque. He at first thought that there was something wrong with his car or the way he drove, but after hearing my explanation that my decision had nothing to do with them, he finally understood and felt better.

If you are unhealthy or overweight, why not you try "killing" 3 birds with one stone by walking to and from the mosque. instead? :)