This is the Hokkien saying which means very little money means a lot to some people (Gasp! Two "means" in one sentence! How mean is that? Who cares? I'm not a copywriter). And when I was a kid, it was as big as the Singapore Flyer. Actually not five cents but five ringgit instead.
A Vitagen truck used to come to our school about twice a year to sell those cultured drink at discounted price. My mum would always give me five ringgit for the treat. I can't remember how many you can get with five ringgit in those days, 200 bottles? Anyways one day it was announced to us that the Vitagen truck would be coming tomorrow so happily I asked five ringgit from my mum the next morning and off to school I went.
I normally only have 50 cents a day for snacks (canteen food was subsidised and free) so I'd kept the coins in my left shorts pocket and the five ringgit note in my right. When I got to school, five ringgit, checked. After the first lesson, five ringgit, checked. Another two more lessons gone by, five ringgit, checked. Right before recess, five ringgit, GONE!
I searched high and low, inside my pockets and out, top and bottom of desk, chair, school bag, corridors. If there was a ladder I'd have searched the ceiling. I ran home during recess to tell my mum hoping I'd get another five ringgit for my much anticipated elixir of life but I guess you know her answer: NO. "Do you know how much is five ringgit?? It's as big as the Singapore Flyer AND London Eye combined!!" (OK those were not her exact words but she meant the same thing...)
NO VITAGEN ON THAT FATEFUL DAY.
[Ethnic Joke Alert]
"What's the difference between an Australian and a Vitagen?"
"Vitagen has culture."
No comments:
Post a Comment