Shooting the Basket

For the past three months, this guy

has been shooting the basket all alone

from 7pm to 9 pm every day.

I asked him why

he was so interested in shooting

the basket but

never care to be a team player?

He told me that was none

of my stupid business.

I borrowed the ball from him

took a sharp shot

The ball went through the ring and the net

and naturally

dropped on the cement court

He became friendly

and wanted to know if I ever represented

any team

The conversation went on and on

Eventually he had some trust in me

I repeated the question of his three months

shooting the basket

At last he confided that the girl who used to

do the same thing at the same hour every day

suddenly never turned up again.

She refused to give him her address,

E Mail or otherwise,

She also refused his coffee

She completed her assignment

in Singapura and had to return to China,

without telling this strange guy

This poor guy,

still thinking that his beloved was

currently in Singapura

He wanted to hear the words

from her own beautiful mouth

that she did not like him.

What a special request?

I told him to advertise

in the Chinese papers all over China

Hopefully by then she would come to her senses

and give you her address?

The Kiasu always take any defeat as

the greatest blow on earth.

He refused to advertise because

the whole world would laugh at him.

I told him if he was really in love

with this fair Chinese lady

he would not mind if the people

from other planets also laugh at him.

Why didn’t you follow her

up to the flat to see the unit number?

I was afraid she might call the police.

If she did call the police

what can the police do ?

The worst they can do is

to ask you write down the places you

visited during the past seven days, and

then perhaps kick you a few times

on your bulging stomach

should you become uncooperative

A few kicks on the stomach

is a little price to pay

if you can successfully court her

Won’t you try again?

(End)

Copyright © 2004 by Poh Tiong Ho

Kiasu is a Chinese word for a person who has an irrational horror of failure, that he dares not try doing it.