A Simple Story
Ah Kau is a guy who sells newspaper every morning next to your
apartment, and you are one of his daily regular customers. Before
dashing off to your office every day, you will go to his small stall and
buy The Star newspaper. Wearing a newly pressed shirt, a tie, and a pair
of Clarks shoes, you grab a copy of The Star, pay RM1.20 and exchange
smiles with Ah Kau and greet him.
"Apa macam Ah Kau ini hari? Bisnes ada baik?"
The normal greeting like you do every day. Yes, Ah Kau doesn't speak
English. He speaks Chinese and knows a little bit of Malay. He speaks a
little bit of Malay but with a very thick Chinese accent.
"Biasa saja... ini bisnes aa, kadang kadang baik, kadang kadang tada
untung oo...."
"Biasalah hidup. Kadang kadang ok, kadang kadang tak ok." You give Ah
Kau a pat on the back. You smile and walk away and get into your car.
You start the engine and start driving to your office, a multinational
semiconductor company located in a premier industrial area. You are a
young and promising finance executive and the future looks bright for you.
A year goes by and things look pretty good on the track. You decide to
marry your fiance and have your new wife moves in to your place. Both of
you feel happy because you can save more money as the two of you will
be sharing one apartment and can live as one.
Ah Kau is still selling the newspaper as usual. Sometimes in the
morning your wife gets the newspaper from Ah Kau instead of you.
A year later a child comes along, and you decide to buy and move into a
newly developed condominium just across the street. This place is bigger
so it will be perfectly fit for the three of you. But since both of you are
working, you decide to get a maid to take of the household and your kid.
By this time you're offered a managerial job from another
multinational company. The remuneration package offered is much better
in terms of the pay, contractual bonus, medical benefits and a few
others which make it impossible for you to decline. So you join this
company happily.
You get busier. You realize that you spend less and less time with your
family. When your department is busy preparing for the next audit, your
working hours become more and more ridiculous. Any internal issues
arising in the office means you'll be stuck in the office until 8.00 or 9.00 pm.
Sometimes, during the weekend, you'll spend your time in your office,
buried under paper works and documentations, instead of taking your
family for a walk in the park.
One morning, on your way to get your copy of The Star, you realized
that Ah Kau is no longer in his stall. So is his rundown motorbike.
Instead, there's another young Chinese guy at the stall.
"What happen to Ah Kau?" You ask out of curiosity.
"Oh, he is still around, but he is no longer taking care of this stall
as he has opened up a new grocery shop down town. I am running this
newspaper stall for him."
"Ok," you smile. You feel happy for Ah Kau. "At last he manages to
improve his life."
Your normal life continues. A year passes by and at the end of your
company's fiscal year, you are rewarded for your effort with a 5 months
bonus pay-out by your employer. Wow!! Now that is a
very handsome reward.
You feel your effort has been equally compensated. To celebrate, you
decide that it is time to trade your 5-year old Proton Wira to the latest Honda Civic model. It won't be much a problem to you to get a loan scheme from the bank as your pay slip will provide you an easy gateway
to access financial help from any bank.
One day, the hardest reality of life hits you right on the face. The
company that you've been working for years announces that they are
moving their business to China for cost and competitive reason and has asked you to find a job somewhere else. "What?" You scream out cold.
"I got a lot of liabilities on the card! Who's gonna pay for
You yell like there is no
This is the first time you feel let down by your own employer. All your
hard work seem to go up on the smoke. You feel sick. You now hate your
company. On the way home, you stopped by at a mamak restaurant for a
cup of teh tarik while pondering about your future. Alone.
Suddenly you saw this new, shiny BMW 3 series being parked nearby. And
to your surprise, it was Ah Kau. Yes, Ah Kau who used to sell newspapers
nearby your old apartment. "What happened to old Ah
Kau?" You whisper to yourself.
Ah Kau still recognizes you, and sit next to you, and shared his story.
To make it short, Ah Kau had accumulated his money from selling
newspapers to open more stalls, one after another. Every new stall is
run by his workers so that he focused on opening more and more stalls,
which in turn give him more and more money. Over the years, he had
accumulated enough cash to open up new grocery store while at the same time buying more assets to grow his wealth. And his current wealth and
success is achieved without any loan or financial help from banks and
other financial institutions.
There you go. That is the story. While Ah Kau is set to become
financially free, you are back to where you have started before. Ground zero .
Before leaving, Ah Kau gives you a familiar quote, "Biasalah hidup.
Kadang kadang ok, kadang kadang tak ok." He gives you a pat on the back
and walks away.
In reality, if you are observant enough, there are a lot of Ah Kaus out
there, that you will see everyday and every where you go. The names are
different, but inside them is every character of Ah Kau. They might be
Uncle Dorai, Ah Chong, Pak Abu, Makcik Senah, Pak Man nasi lemak or others.
They look to be struggling on the surface, but if you look carefully
and compare with your life, many of them are living with little or no
liabilities. They ride an old 'kapcai' bike. They live in an old rundown
house. They don't have credit card to swipe. They wear a 10-year old
shirt and short. No new, shiny Toyota Harrier. In short, their living
means are far below than yours. But what you don't realize is that many
of them can save more money than yours, and over the years generate
enough money to expand their business, or invest in properties. Their
asset columns are much thicker than that of yours.
So the next time you see Ah Kaus, never look down on them, and never
under estimate them. Or else you are up for a harsh reality lesson.
2 comments:
Benar... adakala orang seperti AH KAU tidak pandai menunjuk kelebihan harta dari segi luaran. Ini dikira tahap kesabaran paling tinggi.. Berbaloi, kan
Cuma bagi Kak Azie, mengejar kebendaan hingga mengenepikan masa bersama keluarga itu yg amat dikesali..
“bekerjalah sekuatnyaaa...!” lirik lagu, tapi keluarga tetap priority. Konsep kita, doa dari ahli keluarga (esp. pasangan) pasti mendorong kita ke arah usah menuju kejayaan dan kemakmuran. kan?
terimakasih, citer simple, tapi penuh makna.
Sama-sama kekandaku. Doa tu penawar hati yang duka serta suka..
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