Eat what you can afford, not what you feel like eating

At my aunt's place.

She's my father's sister.

She used to be an officer at the Fisheries Department but has now retired.

I'm at her place to settle some personal issues over the weekend.

Helped her cooked lunch today.

We had fried peria (bitter gourd), grilled ikan keli (catfish) and ulam (Malay salad) with sambal.

Simple lunch.

My aunt told me that these days she only buy food which are sold cheap at the time of her shopping.

"Cik sekarang beli mana yang murah, bukan beli yang teringin makan," she said.

"Peria tengah murah masa Cik beli tu. Cuma 90 sen sekilo je. Kalau ada yang murah buat apa beli yang mahal.

"Peria pun sedap juga. Nanti kalau brokoli tengah murah Cik beli lah brokoli pulak.

"Nak kata semua barang mahal tak juga. Kita pilih la yang kita mampu.

"Ikan keli tu pun murah je. Memang la tak sesedap dan seglamer ikan salmon, tapi okay juga la.

"Ulam sambung nyawa tu pun Cik tanam je kat pasu depan rumah tu. Tak payah beli."

My aunt who is in her late 50s grew up in a poor family.

It's a big family and my late grandfather was the sole breadwinner, working as a labourer.

My father used to tell me how things were different back then, growing up in a poor Malay family before the New Economic Policy was implemented.

Lacking things which now most of us took for granted was a norm back then according to him.

As my aunt was telling me today, my late grandmother was the one who thought her the concept of spending only what she can afford.

"Ya lah, kalau kita nak komplen je pasal hidup susah, tapi belanja nak macam tu juga, memang la tak jadi apa," said my aunt.

My aunt also reminded me that it's normal for the economy to go up and down all the time.

"Memang ekonomi ni macam tu. Sekejap mewah, sekejap susah. Kita kena adjust la.

"Kalau ekonomi merudum, kita belanja lah ala kadar. Tak boleh la ikut rasa je.

 "Nanti kalau ekonomi dah okay semula, boleh la makan ikan bawal ke, ikan halibut ke.

"Tak payah nak kecoh-kecoh.

"Kena sabar banyak dan hidup ikut kemampuan."

My aunt is a bit like me when it comes to politics.

She's quite tired of what's going on.

Not unlike me, she feels that everyone should chill off and wait for the next general election to settle things.

"Yang dia orang nak huru hara bergaduh sekarang tu nak buat apa.

"Pilihanraya nanti undi je lah mana yang rasa boleh improve keadaan.

"Kalau kecoh sekarang pun suruh Najib tu turun bukannya jadi apa pun.

"Lebih baik concentrate kerja kuat lagi untuk tambah pendapatan.

"Kata ekonomi tak bagus, barang mahal, jadi kalau boleh buat duit lebih sikit kan bagus."

I totally agreed with my aunt on all that she said.

They were all just plain common sense.