To satisfy my cravings for Char Koey Teow, I found myself driving to Section 17 Petaling Jaya recently. According to a good friend of mine, there is a Char Koey Teow hawker operating at a pasar malam there every Tuesday evening.
Unwilling to park my car by the street, and block the path of other road users (unlike most other drivers who don’t seem to care), I ended-up driving round in circles as I desperately hoped to find a legal parking spot. Throwing my hands up in despair, I settled nevertheless parking under a tree – not exactly a designated parking area I admit, but I wasn’t blocking anyone either.
The Char Koey Teow hawker recommended by my friend is a Malay guy. When I arrived, he was busy cleaning up his wok with water and a wooden scrapper.
“Boleh order lagi tak (Can I still make an order)?” I asked, worried if he was getting ready to close shop.
“Boleh (Yes, you can),” was his one-word reply.
Not much of a talker, I assumed.
“Char Koey Teow dua,” I placed my order and began watching him cook.
The hawker was quite skilful with his wok. To preserve the authentic taste of his secret recipe, I noticed that he only cooked one order at a time.
Approximately five minutes later, my first order was ready. The hawker scooped the flat noodles with thick gravy into a translucent plastic bag and began cooking my second order. That was when another customer, a Malay lady, arrived.
“Char Koey Teow satu, ya,” she ordered.
The hawker then instructed his assistant to pack my first order before turning to me, saying, “Saya bagi dia dulu ya, sebab dia order satu bungkus je (Let me attend to her order first because she only ordered one pack.”
Before I could respond, my packed Char Koey Teow was handed to the Malay lady – she handed over a RM5 note and walked away. I was stunned. It wasn’t like I had 10 orders of Char Koey Teow for him to give priority to this lady!
Anyway, not wanting to make a big deal out of it, I decided to hold my tongue and wait.
Soon came another customer, a Malay (again), who ordered one pack of Char Koey Teow – once again, my order was given away.
“Kesian dia kena tunggu kak. Kak order dua, dia satu je (I feel bad making him wait. You ordered two packs while he only ordered one),” the hawker justified his actions upon seeing me frown.
At that point, I was no longer angry or upset. To be honest, I was amused – amused at the level of stupidity and ignorance of this hawker. Was I made to wait simply because I was not a Malay? Frankly, I do not buy his excuse of prioritising customers who place a less number of orders with him.
So I continued waiting for my Char Koey Teow, secretly wishing more Malay customers would stop by his stall – I was keen to see how long the hawker intended to keep me waiting.
And just as I waited, another customer walked in. A Chinese.
“Kasi satu (One please).”
“Char Koey Teow?”
“Ya, ya. Char Koey Teow. Satu ahh…”
I just knew right away that I would no longer be made to wait for my orders – the other customer was after all, a non-Malay. And I was right, for I was handed my two packs shortly after.
I wish I could say I did not enjoy the Char Koey Teow as a result of the incident, but I cannot lie – the Char Koey Teow was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. But with the hawker’s mentality of serving his own kind first before others, I doubt he will ever succeed in this business. Most likely, ten years down the road, he will still be a hawker, and nothing more.
There are many others who share a similar mindset as this Char Koey Teow hawker – not all of them Malays though.
I remember making an appointment with my Chinese hair dresser only to be made to wait while she attended to other walk-in customers – who coincidently were all Chinese. She even lied when asked why this was so, claiming the other customers had made earlier appointments than mine, when it was so evident by their queries on services available and the price, that they were indeed walk-ins.
Some Indians are not much different. Try walking to a vadai and samosa hawker in an Indian-majority area – most likely, those who make orders in Tamil are given priority over others.
The only people I’ve seen so far who do not give any preferential treatment based on race are the Bangladeshis. Be it a Malay, Chinese or Indian – you will just have to wait your turn patiently.
Bangladeshi workers in our service industry tend to treat others more fairly – your race matters not to them. The only people they give special treatment to are those who are respectful. I think it’s about time more Bangladeshi people take over hawker stalls selling noodles and vadai as well as offer their services at hair salons, so Malaysian customers will no longer have to tolerate being discriminated against according to their race.
Hidup Bangla!
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