Brother, you put me to shame...

So, I was leaving Kelana Jaya (in PJ, just outside of KL...for those who are not familiar with acronyms, PJ=Petaling Jaya; KL=Kuala Lumpur) in a taxi that I had just flagged down. I was leaving for the airport to take the next flight home after having been interviewed by a Malaysian company for a job position in Singapore. I had actually called for a cab but twice, the cab drivers did not see me and decided to run away with other customers who flagged them down first.

Mental note - in Malaysia, make sure you have a backup plan with cabbies that you have booked.

Finally settling myself in the cab, I thought that I would just lie back and relax. This morning saw me awake at 4.30am to check-in at 5.30am to catch the 6.30am flight to KL. It was now 5pm in the evening and I was trying hard to keep awake. The ride to the airport would take about 40 mins. The Malaysian goverment had the wonderful foresight of building a world class international airport in the middle of a palm tree plantation that is an hour's drive away from the city central (I am being sarcastic here, just in case you did not get it).

The cabbie turned out to be rather chatty. Looking not a day above 30 years old, we struck up a conversation with his 70% knowledge of English and my pathetic 10% of Malay.

As we were into our conversation, I discovered the following:

- He has 1 child and 1 more kid on the way come January
- He has a wife that is a teacher
- He asks me for permission before he answers his ringing handphone (terribly polite, I must say)
- He holds 4 jobs...

Whoa...say that again?

Yup! He holds 4 jobs.

"How does that work?" my interest piquing.

"I work as an IT technician from 9am to 5pm; then I start driving taxi between 5pm onwards, you are my first customer today; then I go home and trade in forex and at the same time am an agent for pre-paid phone card sales."

Well someone hit me with a baseball bat. I must be dreaming.

Why, you might ask.

The Malays, native to most parts of South East Asia, are easy going folks. They mostly get along well with everybody both within and outside of their community. The large majority of the community is not career driven. They are, by and large, easily contented with life and promote strong family ties...not to mention big families too. In this day and age where having 2 children is a rarity, most of my Malay friends come from a family of 4 kids. And while some detractors dismiss their attitude towards life as laissez faire, I feel that the other races (especially us Chinese) have much to learn from them.

"Brother," I replied, "you put me to shame!"

He graciously chuckled at my confession.

"But why? It's great to be driven but 4 jobs?" I inquired.

"For survival lah. We have no choice. The cost of living in KL is rising so fast that I have no choice. This is the only way to survive." He said matter-of-factly.

And this is certainly true. The cost of food, daily necessities and cars are ridiculously high. In relation to the salary of a fresh graduate, we in Singapore have it much better.

With my newfound respect for him, we chatted on everything ranging from our cross straits relations; to food; to religion; and Phua Chu Kang.

As I bade him goodbye, I wished him in words that I sincerely hope turn prophetic, " Someday I will probably see your picture in the newspapers when you are nominated as businessman of the year. All the best to you, Areeza."

With that, I turned and walked into the airport terminal.

Now, if I can catch the earlier flight out...