Woman of Substance...

of the village kind.

A village woman in her sixties, died recently, while walking out of a private hospital after mastectomy.

This woman was normally seen riding an old-fashioned bicycle in Pusing. It is rumoured, each Chinese New Year, she made at least Rm10,000 from making ‘nin kou’ a must ‘kueh’for CNY because it sounds like ‘year of happiness’.

It is now rumoured she left at least 200k each to her two sons! Even an ex-neighbour running a restaurant in Cameron Highlands was envious, saying ‘I do not have that amount in cash’.

During other days of the year, she would sell vegetables and groundnuts grown from her backyard. Firewood for making nin kou was available for free, she only had to go and get it.

This should be a lesson to those who are jealous of others’ wealth. 'Sweat and save' was the key to a villager’s wealth. Someone lamented that she could have accumulated more if she had invested in agricultural land over the years.

But I sincerely hope the Inland Revenue would not go after such hardworking and thrifty people because it was accumulated over a long period of time. Saving Rm10,000 per year over 40 years would have accumulated Rm400,000, excluding interest.

Go after those loan sharks who operate with licence but charge exorbitant rates unofficially.

Go after those ‘massage parlour’ operators who operate it as a front for vice and pay substantially to enforcement officers and police. Check the operators’ and enforcers’ lifestyles and assets.