Resmi Padi

I've been very negative in my writings so far, so I've decided to switch the trend a little bit. I don't want to be perceived (why do I care abt what ppl think) as grumpy "young" man. Man...I'm not as half as grumpy as RPK and definitely I'm still very young(menyedapkan hati sendiri).


While driving to the office this morning, my memory takes me back to the time where I only think about eat, sleep and play. And I remembered one important pesan my grandfather told me. "Kita hidup kena ikut resmi padi, semakin berisi semakin tunduk, jgn ikut resmi lalang"


What a strong 'pepatah'. Total opposite of UP. This was the value that the Malays had been upholding since god knows when...zaman Hang Tuah maybe? If we breakdown the meanings, surely we can learn something from it.


First let's look at the meaning, literally; Padi (paddy) is a plant that produces rice, a staple food for more than half of the human population. It looks like a long grass (lalang) . Difference is, it yields rice at the top quarter of the stalk. As more rice are being produced, the lean stalk will bend down bcos of gravitational factor. The more rice it produces the lower the bend will be. But it wont break. However, the long grass(lalang), will be more upright and straighter as they grow, but of no use.

Now, The Malays, who had been traditionally planting paddy for ages had symbolised the scenario above. The old folks are implying that as a person gets more powerful, richer, stronger, he/she needs to be humble and to use all the good things that they had acquired for good use. Unlike, the long grass, the higher UP it goes, the more useless it will be.

*terasa mcm Karam Singh Walia la..