"If No Rice, Eat Potatoes lah...."

"Hey, Choo, you didn't go and buy rice ah? Shortage you know?" queried my friendly neighbour.

"No, I still have a few more cups of rice", I smiled.

"Must stock up, you know. If not, price increase," advised Sharmila.

I suddenly remember my beloved aunty, papa's relative. Meng Kor (as we affectionately called her) was illiterate, but she was one of the wisest, most cheerful and positive ladies I have ever met.

I loved to visit her whenever I could when I was in my teens. Meng Kor would tell me stories of papa's childhood days. Through her I learnt more about my paternal and maternal grandparents. They all passed away before I was born. Only my older siblings had the privilege of calling them "Ah Ma and Ah Kong". (Hokkien for Grandma and Grandpa).

Meng Kor also told me about the Japanese Occupation. I asked her about food, and she told me that one must be happy despite harsh circumstances.

"If there was no rice, we ate sweet potatoes. Eat potatoes, also good. Always be happy. Never let circumstances affect our mood and happiness. If got rice, thank God for rice. If got potatoes, thank God for potatoes".

I only went to Sheng Siong yesterday to buy a 5 kg pack of rice because I had depleted my stock. It was too heavy for me to carry a 10 kg pack. Morever, I do not want insects to attack the rice before I could finish consuming it. Eldest sister was going to cook dinner for everybody. To my surprise, there was even a discount of $1.30 for the packet of fragrant Thai rice.!

Once I read in the newspapers that some students had never even eaten sweet potatoes. Some grumbled about having to eat sweet potatoes during the survival exercise. Till today, I still remember a Caucasian pastor who had been pastoring a church in Malaysia. Rev. Smith was quite strict with the upbringing of his children. Wanting to remember the poor and hungry, he declared every Wednesday to be "Soya Sauce Day". The family would only eat porridge with soya sauce once a week. You can imagine, the children grew up, never having to complain about food at all. All food will have to taste delicious after plain porridge with soya sauce.! Perhaps, we should emulate the pastor's examples.!

Then all of us would happily say, "If no rice, eat potatoes lah ....."

Gan Chau