Colgate

Some of you may ask, “what has Colgate, a toothpaste, got to do with Kopi Tiam?”. Now that is also a question I would like to ask, to a person none other than my elder brother. But before we get into the juicy part, we need to find out a little more about this person and his favourite breakfast meal. My brother’s favourite breakfast is the infamous NASI LEMAK plus a cup of teh tarik from a road-site mamak store. According to him, the dirtier and messier the place, the better would be the served beverage. You get his logic? I don't!

He wont settle for this. Too elaborate and unhealthy, according to him.

A nasi lemak is a plain old fashion nasi lemak for him, and yes, complete with an egg topping (but must not be half cooked!). Or, he could accept this

With a hard boiled egg.

And if it does come with a banana leaf wrapping, that will complete his requirements of a proper nasi lemak breakfast.

To this, I raise my cup and toast to my brother……….a teh tarik, yang kurang kurang manis. Come to think of it, however many times you may say “kurang”, the good old mamak will serve you the sweetest.

That's breakfast to all of us, and breakfast is normally usually a 2 hours session for my brother except for the times when he gets into complicated kopi talks………ends up coming back for lunch. Why? Quite simple, allow me to explain. My brother is clever (academically, I think), but when it comes to life’s little things, he is simply clueless. Whisper him a gossip, and if it within his memory, you are in luck. But if it turns out to be outside his memory bank, then you may need to spend hours telling him when and where his path does crossed with the subject. That, from experience, is a titanic struggle to most of us. And by most of us, I am referring to us, his fellow siblings.
You have to fair to him too…….nobody is flawless. I guess his flaws are a little bit in excess than most of us. Well……here is another flaw of his which, how should I put it, endearing to most of us. My brother has a gift of quoting proverbs…save for the rainy days…..we will cross the bridge when we come to it. He has been saying this for years, and I wonder what if rainy days don't come, or we never come to a bridge. To this, he will say, “ah! better to be safe than to be sorry”. I guess his wisdoms does makes sense, sometimes………only sometimes.

It is almost coming to 2pm now, my lunch hour is about to finish………I have a hypothesis that I would like to share, unless my brother comes out and tell us the truth. Colgate is actually my brother’s nickname! Why would anyone want to use this name as a nickname?? I have been thinking about this for many years, and I think I am coming near to finding the real answer. Colgate is actually “Cool Guy”. Say this aloud, with the thickest of our malaysian accent, you will end up with Colgate. Try it, I challenge you!!!!!

PS. My brother refused his consent to publish his photo, citing he will sue me if I did.......hmmmh I might consider taking up that challenge.........next week, that is.