I found this message scrawled in cursive writing by hand on a white board at of all places, a mamak shop in a suburb of Rawang called Bandar Country Homes.
The mamak shop occupies a corner lot of a row of double-storey shop house . The white board is hung on the wall at the back portion of the eatery in full display for all to see. If not for the inspiration message on the board there is nothing extraordinary about this nondescript joint. What is so interesting about the phrase is that it is written in the English language, and not in Bahasa as one would expect.
Whenever I attend my weekly Rawang project meeting on Mon I normally go to this particular joint for light breakfast and refreshment before the start of the meeting. What keeps me coming back to this mamak shop is not the bland food but the white board and the inspirational messages on it. Every week I come here I would see a different message. At first I didn't pay much attention to the writing, but after a few visits I began to appreciate the subtle lessons of life that the writer of these messages are trying to convey.
On Mon 16/6/08 when this particular message appeared on the board I was struggling inside my head with some thorny engineering issues which I had to resolve at the meeting but have not yet find a solution. I was expecting to be lambasted by the client and was busy conducting trial runs of how to answer the client's questions in my head. Then looking up while sipping teh O (without the sugar) and tucking in the thosai, I saw this amazing phrase flashed before my eyes : "The difficulties of life are to make you better, not bitter"
After paying for the food and drink, I left the restaurant and headed straight for the site office where the morning's meeting was scheduled to be held with a much happier frame of mind than before. I still had not resolved the problematic issues in my head nor had I worked out a appropriate strategy to handle the demanding client. The agitation and apprehension of not being able to answer the client's questions satisfactorily did not seem too intimidating as before.
I am sure most of the locals who patronize the shop don't pay attention to the messages or are aware that the board exists at all. Even if they see the board it would be difficult to distill and comprehend the essence of the messages as the writing is in the English language.
If the reader wants to visit this particular mamak joint in Rawang, look out for Restoran Ghazali Sdn Bhd, the name of the restaurant. I wonder who is the writer of the messages on the white board. The next project meeting is scheduled on Mon 23/6/08 and I can't wait to find out what is the next message on the board.
That's interesting! I wonder who wrote on that whiteboard but it's a good thing to have different inspiring messages for people to read. And the message "The diificulties in life is to make us better, not bitter" is so absolutely true.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow Mon 23/6/08 I will be going to Rawang to attend the regular weekly project meeting. Wonder what will be tomorrow's message. Must remember to ask the cashier at the mamak shop for the identity of the person who writes the messages on the white board.
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