: : The Little Boy and his fish : :

Scene

At a wedding dinner.

Actors

Tidan, a precocious 3 yr old boy (my nephew)

Gwen, his mother (my cousin)

Julia, his aunt (my other cousin)

Lolly, Julia’s sister (another one of my cousins)

Scene 1

A dish with a steamed red snapper in TeoChew style.

Tidan : No, no, put the fish back into the sea so he can swim. No one eat the fish!

As the young protector undertook the grave task of heroicly protecting the fish, he was the highlight of the evening. For up to 5 tables were laughing with him although his glare said it all about his irritation at us adults.

Scene 2

The bravest amongst all sitting at the table (and having not eaten Malaysian cooking in the last few years so the temptation was too great), Julia proceeds to cut a small piece of fish.

Tidan : No! No! No eat. (Smacks Julia on the hand like a mother cat disciplining her kittens.)

Scene 3

Now, another brave diner proceeds to cut away the fish. Lolly dear starts to do so.

Tidan : (Massive frowning on his little forehead and his eyes were pointing daggers to poor Lolly)

Lolly : (Starts to stroke the fish with the spoon in the dish) Sayang, sayang the fish. (Loving, loving the fish). See, Tidan? (leaves spoon in dish) I sayang (love/care) the fish.

An expert maneuver that averted an otherwise major disaster.

Who said wedding dinners are boring?