(387) Neighbourhood food providers

Very near where I reside, there are four sellers of coconut rice. When I first moved here six years ago, there was only one stall set up opposite the school. This one is run by a middle-age couple of Malay descent. Whenever I got tired of eating bread, I would choose to eat a packet of coconut rice. Of course it contains, among many things one can choose to add, two pieces of cucumber, a few fried peanuts, some fried anchovies, a tablespoonful of hot chilly paste and a quarter of a hard boiled egg.

Then an Indonesian lady opened a tiny eating shop and offered coconut rice, fried rice, fried bee hoon (rice noodle) and fried mee(wheat yellow noodle). Without thinking, I tried buying food from the new stall and found that I quite like the way she fried her bee hoon. I guess I made  the mistake of first buying the bee hoon and then walked to the original  stall to get coconut rice for my children. Lo and behold, the Malay couple gave me a no nonsense talking to for buying from the "dirty" and "unworthy" Indon. I was shocked! Even though I did not argue with any of their recriminations, there and then I resolved never to buy from them again.

So you can imagine my glee when another Malay lady set up a new stall at the end of the block! Once again I have the option of choosing to buy from either stall that I decided to patronize. Imagine my surprise when this new seller told me that she believe in free enterprise. She said that it is God who provides her daily needs. She welcome other sellers, whether Malay, Indonesian, Bangladeshy, or Indian to set up stalls, after all, a congregation of stalls would attract customers from far and wide. Only those who consistently provide tasty and clean food at reasonable prices can survive long term. Oh my, how refreshing a thought!

Then recently  the struggling Indian restaurant was sold and the new owner decided to join in the melee and become the fourth supplier of coconut rice. Now my joy is complete! Some days I choose to buy a packet from the Malay lady because I like the spicy chilly paste. Other times when I am in a hurry to send my offspring to work I quickly grabbed a pre-packed coconut rice from the Indian restaurant and run. And the wonderful thing is that in these days of soaring food prices, I can still get such delicious breakfast for one dollar at three of the four stalls. (the grumpy couple sells at one twenty, I heard.)