Barefooted
I could never imagine myself walking barefooted in a shopping complex,
what
more if it is at KLCC Suria - the megamall at the foot of the The Tallest
Building in The World. Anyway, I just did it last month when someone
stole
my shoes while I was praying at the Śsurau¹. I had to walk all the
way,passing through the busy food court, two flight of escalators and a
sea
of starring eyes. Honestly, not everyone was looking at me, but that was
how
I felt. The locals may think that I must have lost my shoes, but the
foreigners eating there may think that this particular Malaysian must be
off-centred , walking barefooted while wearing a full suit!
As they say, there is a first time for everyone. This happens to be the
first time for me to lose my shoes and had to walk two floors barefooted
to
the nearest Bata Shop to buy a pair of slippers.
I had been warned so many times not to leave my shoes unattended while
praying at any surau. Somehow,there are thieves among those who " go to
pray
". To my mind, these so called muslims actually went to the surau
not to
pray but rather to prey on trusting fools like me who think that it won¹t
happen to them. It happens to others, but I don¹t think it would happen
to
me-whatever the reason is. There are many of us who share the same belief
as
I do. They only learn their lessons when something happens to them. But
then, it is too lateŠIn my case, I really missed my Clark shoes that
I
bought at half the price during a sales last year!
Well, it is only a pair of shoes. So what, how much was it anyway?
Well,
if it is a pair of shoes is okay,. What if it is your car got stolen, your
wife got mugged, your kid got kidnapped and your family life is at stake?
We
took so many things for granted. When the bad thing happens to us only
then
we really believe it. As my guru said, knowledge comes with
the arrival of
meaning! A few months back, three Indonesian robbers ransacked
my cousin¹s
house and held knieves at his family members¹ throats. They were so
scared
that they had to move out of their house and now live some where
else. The
experience was very scary and traumatic for the whole family, and
I don¹t
think my cousin has thought that this type of robbery will happen to him
and
his family!
During the last Ramadhan (fasting month), my family missed the Śsahur¹
because all of a sudden my bedroom door was jammed. We could not come out
.
I made some noises to wake my kids but they were fast asleep at 4:30am.
I
was too shy to make louder noise because it may disturb the neighbours.
When
my elder kid woke up around 6:30am , then only my wife and me could come
out
but it was too late for sahur. Just imagine,what would had happened if
the
house got on fire and the doors were jammed or locked with keys outside?
Nobody would think it will happen to them, but my scoolmate¹s house
was
gutted by fire while he was overseas. Luckily, no one was hurt.
Nowadays, I become more safety conscious because two bad incidents had
taken
place just next to my house. One is a salesman who came home one night
around 12.30 am and he was hit with iron stick by two men on a
motorcycle. The other, as reported in the newspapers about a lady TV
personality who was hit with a safety helmet by two men when she
came to
visit her sick mother around 2.30am. Now,everytime I come home late, I
will
my call my wife or kid to wait for me at the door. It is better to
be safe
than sorry.
I think I have learnt my lessons.
How about you? History repeats itself because mankind has failed to learn
from their previous mistakes! Honestly, I hate history lessons. I never
get
an A for History.
By the way, does anyone wish to sponsor me to walk barefooted at
KLCC? I
will do again for RM 300 just to recover the cost of my Clark shoes;-)
--01/07/2001
cerita kedaikopi #72