The Tailor Of Panama

One day when I was with my mom and dad going out for jalan-jalan, my mom said she needed a new blouse. So my dad and I, went over the boutiques in the shopping mall accompanying her to choose the best blouse. Too bad, after hundreds of blouse that we ‘scrutinized’, none of it hits her taste. So my dad asked my mom;

"Awak nak yang macam mana?"
(What type of blouse are you looking for?)

“Ala yang leher dia cekak musang tu..”
(I want something like, high collar..)

And then I asked her;

“Yang leher dia macam cheongsam tu ke mak?”
(You mean the collar like the ‘cheongsam’ one?)

She replied;

“Ha’ah yang tu la…kalau awak tengok rancangan Selamat Pagi Malaysia, ada pengacara tu pakai baju design tu, memang cantik la”
(Yess…exactly like that, if you watch the morning program by television, there is a host wearing the design that I want, it’s really exquisite)

After we have been struggling to find that type of blouse, suddenly my father gave an idea;

“Apa kata kita tempah aje? Lagi senang, nak cari yang dah siap design camtu, susah laa…”
(Why not we just tailor the blouse? Much more easier, it’s hard to find the ready made design for that type of blouse)

So we went straight to the tailor that my dad used to tailor his baju melayu and kemeja. The best part was, when the tailor asked my mom what kind of design she wants, my dad answered with very big confident and complete with a long imagination on the design;

“You ada tengok itu rancangan tiap pagi dekat RTM tak, Selamat Pagi Malaysia? Ada satu pengacara tv itu pakai baju macam design yang dia ni nak, dia punya collar tinggi…. baju labuh sampai lutut pakai dengan seluar la… bla bla bla bla and bla bla”
(Have you watched the morning show by RTM, Good Morning Malaysia? There is one host wearing that type of the design she wanted, the design has high collar, and blouse length until the knee wearing with the pants…)

Adoi la bapak akuuuu....…..and I was standing near the mannequin, grinned away when the tailor looked at my face as if he needs more explanation on what he has been asking for. It must be a lot of things puzzled the tailor after he heard that question. Let me picture what was in the tailor’s mind;

Perlukah aku jawab soalan cepumas orang tua ni? Atau
(Do I need to answer the ‘jackpot’ quiz from this old folk? Or)

Takde ke contoh design baju yang lebih susah dari yang bini pakcik nak weii….?Atau
(Don’t you have any designs that harder than this uncle….? Or)

Eh! aku kena tengok rancangan tu ke demi untuk pelanggan-pelanggan aku?
(Gee! Do I need to watch that tv program just for the sake of my customers?)