The Karang Guni Man: The Dog
I remembered something back yesterday when I was making my rounds near my home. It was those executive rooms flats with better amenities like larger playgrounds and a mini shopping mall to cater to the residents.
The incident wasn’t anything special but it has been lingering at the back of my mind.
I was singing my infamous tagline along the corridors when a middle-aged man opened his thick wooden doors and waved me over in earnestness behind the posh metal grilles. I happily returned the wave and when I went up I noticed the tall stacks of newspapers and magazines propped up nicely behind him and wondered how long has this family been piling them up.
He opened the metal grilles and beamed, “Karang Guni, I got a lot of stuff for you. Boy ah! Come help me!”
As he began to offload his goods at the entrance of his house, I saw the Business Times on top of the moulds of newspapers. I casually flipped them over and realized that only the top few papers of each heap are the Business Times, the rest are mainly the Straits Times and The New Paper.
“Boy! Get those magazines over here! Stack by stack ah!”
A heavily bespectacled boy, probably around seven years old, brought a pile of Reader’s Digest to his father and opened the wooden door wide to reveal a dog held in a small area at the living room. A small fence cordoned the dog off and the boy stood quietly, looking at a spot behind it. The dog was ridden with fleas and whenever it sneezed I can see bits of black dots dropping off the dog’s fur. A putrid puddle lay beside the canine.
“Aiyoh, I tell you to come and help me, not play with your dog!”
The dog wasn’t big; I can’t differentiate the breed though I know for sure it was still young, not more than a year old.
The father was working hard at emptying his wares and when all was done, I weighed them carefully and handed over several coins. I eyed the boy and he looked down and played with his fingers absent-mindedly.
I waved to the man and thanked him before he closed the metal grilles.
But before I left, I took another look at the boy and his dog stuck behind the gates.
The incident wasn’t anything special but it has been lingering at the back of my mind.
I was singing my infamous tagline along the corridors when a middle-aged man opened his thick wooden doors and waved me over in earnestness behind the posh metal grilles. I happily returned the wave and when I went up I noticed the tall stacks of newspapers and magazines propped up nicely behind him and wondered how long has this family been piling them up.
He opened the metal grilles and beamed, “Karang Guni, I got a lot of stuff for you. Boy ah! Come help me!”
As he began to offload his goods at the entrance of his house, I saw the Business Times on top of the moulds of newspapers. I casually flipped them over and realized that only the top few papers of each heap are the Business Times, the rest are mainly the Straits Times and The New Paper.
“Boy! Get those magazines over here! Stack by stack ah!”
A heavily bespectacled boy, probably around seven years old, brought a pile of Reader’s Digest to his father and opened the wooden door wide to reveal a dog held in a small area at the living room. A small fence cordoned the dog off and the boy stood quietly, looking at a spot behind it. The dog was ridden with fleas and whenever it sneezed I can see bits of black dots dropping off the dog’s fur. A putrid puddle lay beside the canine.
“Aiyoh, I tell you to come and help me, not play with your dog!”
The dog wasn’t big; I can’t differentiate the breed though I know for sure it was still young, not more than a year old.
The father was working hard at emptying his wares and when all was done, I weighed them carefully and handed over several coins. I eyed the boy and he looked down and played with his fingers absent-mindedly.
I waved to the man and thanked him before he closed the metal grilles.
But before I left, I took another look at the boy and his dog stuck behind the gates.
posted by Bao at
2:18 AM
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