When you do good, it’s only fair that life treats you in kind, right? A pizza-maker gives our columnist a fresh perspective.

THERE is a pizza-maker called AJ who operates from a coffee shop near my home in Overseas Union Garden, Kuala Lumpur.

In the old days, my main reason for going to his stall was the pizza. AJ prepares the ingredients fresh daily and makes each pizza from scratch.

If you sit at the coffee shop, you can see his towering frame bent over the table, rolling out one pizza after another, deftly spinning and shaping them, loading them with freshly-cut ingredients, and then popping them into the big industrial oven that shares the same cramped table.

When your nose detects the delicious smell of cheese and pepperoni, sausage and tuna in the air, you know it’s ready. Needless to say I’ve never gone back to franchises after discovering AJ’s Pizza and Pasta.

Tales from the oven: Pizza-maker AJ makes a mean pizza, and he’s also a very good storyteller.

These days, I’ve found an additional reason to enjoy going there – AJ is an incredible storyteller. Other than a mean pizza and hearty marinara, he dishes out thought-provoking stories that have shed clarity on some of my work and personal challenges.

I know what you’re thinking: how much of life could he have experienced, if he’s always stuck behind an oven?

Ah, but AJ wasn’t always stuck behind an oven. In his nearly 20 years in Malaysia, AJ has lived a rich, varied life and has developed a keen understanding of the country – more so than some Malaysians I know.

I look forward to our yumcha sessions – which have become a fixture whenever I’m in KL – because they often contain gems of wisdom for just about any situation, like this parable he recounted a few nights ago.

One day, AJ saw a large group of people gathered round a drain. Curious, he walked over to see what the commotion was all about. A small kitten was trapped in a greasy drain. The onlookers were murmuring “Oh, poor kitty!” and pointing anxious fingers, but nobody helped.

AJ rolled up his trouser legs, squatted over the smelly drain and fished the mewling kitten out. He took out his handkerchief and wrapped the kitten up in it and placed it in the basket of his motorbike. Straight away, he rode his motorcycle to a shop, bought soap and cloth.

As soon as he got home, he set about removing the grease from the cat’s fur. Although he rubbed, and scrubbed, as hard as he dared, he couldn’t get most of the grease out. Afraid for the kitty’s life, he took it to the nearest veterinarian.

The vet said he couldn’t do much to help. He gave AJ a strange look, as if to imply, “Why the heck are you wasting your time? It’s just a stray!”

To AJ, it was simple. “I was thinking to myself that this thing has life,” he said solemnly. “I couldn’t just leave him to die.

I nodded.

“I took him home and continued trying to get the grease out. Luckily, after a few days, all the grease came out. The kitten’s fur became clean and soft again.”

AJ smiled, and I could just imagine how pretty the kitten must have looked. Every day, he would buy food for the kitten and play with him. In time, the cat grew strong and healthy. So AJ let him go out of the house to make friends with the other cats in the neighbourhood. Whenever AJ came back from work, he could see the cat playing with his newfound companions before slinking home at night.

One day, the cat did not come home at all.

AJ found him with his feline friends in another street. When AJ passed by, the cat did not seem to notice, or pretended not to. But he never left his companions to follow AJ. Nor did he come back to AJ’s house again.

“Although I didn’t start out feeling anything for the kitten, over time I grew to like him. I enjoyed having him around and I did not want him to go.”

Even through those neutral words, I could feel the pain. He must have felt terribly betrayed, I thought.

“Did you try to coax the cat into following you back?” I asked. It would have been the logical – even human – thing to do.

AJ shook his head.

“He has his own life. If he is happy in my house, he will come back. If he is not, even if I keep him, he will leave me one day. We have no right to keep anyone as a prisoner. How many times do we come into this life? We should try to lead a happy life and try to make others happy.”

I digested his words, unsure whether if I was more moved, or skeptical. What he just described was ideal for sure, but how many of us have it in us to give unconditionally?

While debating my feelings, I said teasingly, “I should just sit down here one of these days and record your stories, and in one month, I’ll have a book!”

He blushed. “No lah, Alex, don’t embarrass me. I am just a simple guy.”

I snorted. “How is it that you manage to produce a story for every situation, like magic?” I challenged.

“That’s because they are not stories,” he began laughing. “I experienced them myself!”

Alexandra Wong (www.bunnysprints.com) wonders if selflessness is really in such short supply. Or are we just not looking hard enough?

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