My Ah Leng

He is my contractor and my big brother too...

Ah Leng came into my life in 2005, we were deciding to extend our kitchen among other things in the house. Appa's money came through and we thought it will be best to use appa's money on the house.

I met a number of contractors, they were all ok and I am not sure who gave me Ah Leng's number. When I was telling him how I want my kitchen to be, he started suggesting where my stove should be, facing east, good for feng shui. My Ah Leng does not talk much English, we converse in Malay and most of the time I will be lost in what he was trying to tell me. I have no clue if he knows my name as when I call him, I will usually say I am calling from Taman Pekaka. He however knows my profession. I was thinking then, this is going to be a beautiful beginning to a great friendship.

Ah Leng knew there were no men in my house, he promised he will only send his trusted employees to do the job and he will be there too. He started work on an auspicious day, he looked for all that! He saw the girls were very young then, he offered to buy lunch for amma, she was confined to her bed..I leave to work when the guys come and only when I come home, they leave. Ah Leng took me to shop for tiles, but then, he decided what would be best, I was only allowed to choose the colour!

He completed the job within 3 months, love my kitchen :)

Ever since then, Ah Leng has been doing all kinds of work on the house, he is always just a phone call away. Once he was doing my porch and I was in the midst of doing my doctorate and was busy doing something at home. He looked at me and told me to go and study, the men won't disturb me! He would ask if I had finished my studies and when I got my doctorate and told him, he was very happy for me. He saw me changing my cars and always told me I am doing the right thing! 

He was there when I wanted to buy my apartment, checked it out and gave me the go sign. He did up my place really well...finally he allowed me to paint the whole place white! 

A couple of months back, he came over while I was baking cup cakes to show me paint catalog. When he ate the cake, he looked straight in the eyes and told me to stop work and go into the baking business. A couple of weeks back, he came over with his roof guy and I had just brewed a pot of coffee. We left the poor guy on the roof under the hot sun while Ah Leng and I had coffee and fruits and was having a political chat!

Last Saturday, Ah Leng brought the new altar, I was really happy with what he had done, a solid altar, he choose the colour and he helped to fixed everything up. At the end of the job, we gave him K's wedding invitation, he was so happy and said he will definitely attend.

It was then I realised that my Ah Leng is part of my family. He is my big brother.  He has been taking care of all of us. Not only my Ah Leng, my Ah Beng too...my plumber. These guys have been in my life for over 10 years now, they come each time I call them and do the work sometimes even without taking any money! They know us well and it is comforting to know someone's taking care of us.

My Krishna, thanks for bringing Ah Leng into my life....am truly grateful to this wonderful friendship and trust!