Sunday, July 20, 2008

Durians

I was passing by the ground level of a multi-storeyed carpark, when an uncle standing next to a van beckoned to me in Hokkien, “Yan dao, ai mai (Handsome lad, do you want?”

I trained my attention to what his finger was pointing inside the van: Durians. “Very cheap” he continued his sales pitch but I politely declined his offer.

Back home, there wads an article reported in today’s Sunday Times on how some Singaporeans don army camouflages and venture deep into the forests in search of free durians. Some went solo, others organize outings with novices to share their interests and others treat such ‘expeditions’ as exercises or hobbies. Their laborious results bear fruits for some as they lugged out durians by the basketloads (80 of them) and eat all of them? Or was the uncle one of such ‘durian warriors’?


With durians selling cheaply at many locations scattered around Singapore, I wondered why some Singaporeans disregarded a more valuable aspect: safety and took the hassle to venture into the jungles for the kings of fruits.

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