Nasi Berlauk

I ordered a Grab car at about 4.05 in the morning. I was traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, catching a 7.20am flight.

I greeted the driver, a young gentleman. He replied and his reply indicated something.

He asked where I was heading to? I said Kota Bharu. Right away he said he was from Kelantan too.

So my earlier assumption was correct. He sounded like a Kelantanese.

As the journey to the airport took about an hour, we chatted a lot, mostly about his life story! We of course spoke in our Kelantanese dialect, typical of Kelantanese.

He said he only started driving Grab car a few months ago and he has a full time job. His full time job was selling nasi berlauk (rice with curry which is popular in Kelantan. Most Kelantaneses take rice for breakfast).

He then told me his story. He was in the insurance business for 13 years. He was doing very well. He had a few cars and houses. For his age he was considered very successful.

However he was played out by his own team when he was away with his family as one of the members fell ill. By the time he got back his business was ruined. His reputation was also damaged. He could not rebuild his business. I did not ask for the details. I only listened, like I always did.

Things were really bad for him so much so that he had to sell his houses and cars. He was using a small car for his Grab car driving.

He turned to me and said could you imagine,  I used to drive porch cars! I could only smile.

He said he did not given up. He still had a family to take care of. He was determined to find a way out to rebuild his life.

As he used to buy Kelantanese food from a stall at the general hospital,  he went looking for his favourite stall one day. However the stall was gone.

He later found out that the woman who sold Kelantanese food there has gone back to Kelantan. He got an idea and sought for the women's address.

He traveled back to Kelantan to look for the woman and wanted to take cooking lessons from her. Lucky for him the woman accepted and so he stayed in her house for a week.

The woman was a widow and was staying alone. Her children have all grown up and stayed outside the state.

Armed with his new skill he went back to Kuala Lumpur and started to sell nasi berlauk. Business was picking up and he was earning well as a nasi berlauk seller. However it wasn't enough for him.

So instead of selling at a stall he started to look for more customers. He took orders from other premises especially government offices. He also managed to find someone to help out as the contact person from the hospital he once bought the rice from.

The person was non other than the daughter of the woman whom he took cooking lessons from. She was working in that hospital!

He worked out a commission system for people who helped him promote and deliver his food. With the attractive incentives and enlarged network, his business grew even better. By the time he spoke to me he could deliver about 500 to 800 packs of food each day!

He could easily earn a few thousands a day! That's a lot of money.

I asked him why then was he still works part time as a Grabcar driver and why driving that small car?

He said he has worked out a system for his food business and his younger brother was helping him out. He has workers to do the cooking.

He was also looking for new opportunities. Being a driver is one way as he could meet a lot of people and get new ideas.

Driving a small car reminds him of his past, how he started and how he has once fell! Furthermore he no longer take pride in driving big cars.

He has a house slightly bigger as he invited his in-laws to stay with him so that he could take care of them. He did not mention about his parents. I did not ask nor made any assumption.

By then we have arrived at the airport. I thanked him and wished him all the best! He said hopefully we could meet up again one day!

Where else would one have the chance to listen to an inspiring story so early in the morning? I reached the airport at about 5.30am.

Life Lesson 101: If we do not give up, opportunities are waiting!