How inappropriate

Last night I was walking along at a pasar malam. I saw a man, standing facing his teenage daughter and they were chatting. A girl walked pass him and his conversation with his daughter stopped. He stared at the girl, but only in the area between her face and chest, until she had completely passed him by. But, it still wasn’t enough for him. He turned around and continued staring at her, this time at her legs. All this time, his own daughter was looking at him.

It’s a fact that men look at girls, and vice versa. There is nothing so wrong in looking at what you deem is attractive to your eyes. I can understand that. But personally, I find it completely inappropriate for a man, in front of his grown-up daughter, to be staring that way. What do you think goes on in the daughter’s mind when she sees her dad ogling at much younger girls? Let’s put this the other way around, what would he think of other men looking at his very own daughter in that same manner?

Moving along after just witnessing that, our last stop was at a fruit stall to buy guavas. I stood beside my mom as she busied herself selecting the fruit. I realised the stall-keeper was looking at me. I looked back and he still kept staring. He made me very uncomfortable. But I am not the kind who would turn away in such situations. Instead, I returned his stare with a glare to let him know I’m not flattered, but insulted. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally noticed my mom picking some fruits into a basket and he asked me “This is your mother?” I answered yes. Suddenly he was extra helpful with her selection of fruits. Then he turned to me and asked for my name. I ignored him and he repeated the question. Already annoyed, I answered “Why should I tell you?” Not deterred by my unfriendliness and not knowing when to stop, he picked up a pen and paper and asked “What’s your phone number?”

I couldn’t believe my ears! Did he really think I would give out my name and number to not just a stranger, but a pervert??? I don’t think he did this out of naivity because he seemed a man in his 30s to me. I wondered if he’s had any success in getting girls' phone numbers and dates in this same manner.

Anyway, before I could say anything, my mom decided to answer his questions on my behalf. She said “Her name is Ah Mui”. Hearing her response, I stifled my laughter. He started scribbling what apparently was my name on his paper. He then asked my mom for my phone number to which she said “012…”. By this time, he was getting incredibly excited and prompted her further after he was done jotting “012” on his paper. My mom continued “7654…321”. He knew he was played a fool but didn’t want to give up still and kept pestering more.

After we paid and turned to leave, I again shot him another disgusted look but by now he kept on saying “Ah Mui, I’ll call you”. With that, my mom and I couldn’t help but burst into a fit of laughter.