Peasants...fake or the real thing

Balik kerja tengah hari tadi, I decided to singgah at one kedai runcit called Noorfathima di kawasan Mentiri. After I locked my car, ada this male kid (probably under 10 years old) pakai t-shirt biru muda and seluar quarter length.

He was standing not far from the entrance (ada tampat stand penyapu & mop). Ditagurnya ku and gave me a hand signal as in"Minta $1".

I was shocked and totally ignored him. Ku tanya cashier kedai about the kid. She said that andang lama sudah anak atu di sana, tiap hari. If I'm not mistaken dari start puasa sudah. Again I'm shocked!

How can his parents be so ignorant.... How could they let their child minta sedakah like that. I'm disgusted.

When I left the shop, I decided to speak to him personally.

Di mana ko tinggal wang? Di sana... (sambil menunjuk ke jalan menuju ke Muara).

Jauhkah? Inda jua brapa jauh.

Inda ko skulah kah? Skulah. Aku balik skulah tadi.

Bah, patang ani inda ko skulah ugama kan? Inda... (sambil tunduk2 mungkin segan).

Pasal apa inda skulah ugama? Batah sudah inda...

Kenapa plg inda ugama? Nada baju ugama.

Siapa nama bapa mu? Kula bin Mansor.

Mana bapamu masani? Becarai sudah.

Mamamu di mana? Balik kampung ia.

Ko tinggal sama siapa kan? Abangku... (sambil tunduk2).

Sudah tah ko makan? Balum...

Nada urg basar danganmu tinggal d rumah kan? Nada...

*Sigh* Kesian jua ku mendangar...

Honestly, I'm the type of person yang inda suka bagi muka rah peminta sedekah. Normally, I would totally ignore them. Not because I'm a stuck-up b!+ch, but I don't like the idea of them being peasants (fake or for real) while they've parents or family at home. They are either being ignored or simply seeking for attention...I'm not sure. You may have heard about these 'kid peasants' asking for $$$ just for the fun of it. Ada yg pernah teliat, lapas kids ani dapat duit, ada yg selajur berlari ke kadai internet main CS (Counter Strike)!

Now that disgusts me!

However, in this case, I've a hunch that this kid is telling the truth. Why I said so... Because he didn't for one second hesitate replying my questions. Inda ia walk away... inda penyeluru or senyum2....U noe lah, if yg jenis kurang ajar nampak dari facial expressionnya.

He stood there speaking to me in a good manner. If ia jenis yang bedusta, he'd probably hesitate giving me all the details...u noe, takut kedapatan or kana report to his parents.

I purposely questioned about his father's name, just to test him & see his reaction.

Hmmmm.... Allah saja yang tahu. So I hand him 50 cents (the change I got earlier) and said, "Nah! Agatah membali nasi di dalam".

Mind you, I'm not 'karit'. I just disagree that he's there asking for money. I noe it's not his fault & just hungry for lunch. But, karang nyanyat ia diri2 d kadai atu minta $$$ saja rah urang. Inda pedah2 branti skulah ia pulang kraja minta sedakah!!