"Kurang pedas, basah sikit......"

While I was in KL, invariably BSC was the "go-to" place for lunch, dinner, and coffee when what we talked about mattered more than anything else. You need to hear and be heard and of course, the ambiance needs to be just right when discussing politics and/or corporate matters.

But in Bangsar, all road leads to Mahbub! And when I am at Mahbub, I either have their Ayam Madu Briyani or the Mee Goreng "kurang pedas, basah sikit" - both of which are their house specialties since decades ago when Bangsar was my turf.

As you turn into the road leading to Mahbub, your heart is already beating faster as you hope, against hope, that maybe this time around, you are lucky enough to get a parking space close to the restaurant. If you are the designated driver and the guy tasked with paying for the meal of others, then better to drop your passengers in front of Mahbub while you drive around and around looking for space to park your chariot! Surely a thankless job, but someone has to do it!

These days, Bangsar is much too commercial to be anywhere I would want my Kampong to be. Shops to the left and shops to the right of Jalan Maarof is madness. And high-end gated communities in Bangsar? What is that all about?

The Bangsar I remembered a decade ago was an oasis of calm where one can still leisurely take a short drive to the Lucky Gardens Market on Sunday mornings, walk over to TMC for some groceries or venture further uphill to BSC for some "upmarket" shopping when the mood strikes you. Not anymore. For some, Bangsar may be a shopper's paradise, but I would rather be a stranger in that paradise! Give me the serenity and quiet of Bukit Damansara to what Bangsar has now become....a total surrender to commercialization. Sad.

What else has Bangsar become? From what was once the Bungsar Estate rubber plantation, Bangsar is now a fully-fledged high-net-worth residential community and high-end commercial conclave pandering to the same high-net-worth individuals who, too often and too obnoxiously, think too much of themselves. The first time, after over a decade away...the first time I was at BSC, I left after only fifteen minutes. There were just too many rich people around. But gradually BSC takes over your dislike of it, simply because you grow to understand and like what is on offer. A civilized oasis of calm, good taste, and grace that gives you serenity. All are on offer for a price....a Chicken Pie and a Cappuccino will feed a family of four for two days! So take your pick...does your conscience allow you to splurge on a coffee and a Cappuccino that will feed a family of four for two days? Or do you have a conscience at all?

That is what troubles me about KL. Does it have a conscience? Are the people in KL and of KL only concerned about how to survive and survive well....not with the ethics and morality of survival? In all honesty, I am now back in Melbourne and what happens in Bangsar no longer concerns me....BUT Bangsar was once my Kampong and when I am next in Bangsar I will have to worry about that Chicken Pie and Cappucino that costs more than what a family of four needs to feed itself. So really when all is said and done, we are all our brother and sister keepers, and we should think about the state of our nation today. For me, a place like Bangsar is untenable because it feeds upon itself and there will come a time when those on whom Bangsar depends on to survive, will have had enough of being used, and simply go elsewhere to live.

Is that not also the state of our Tanah Air today? Enough said.