The world of Tzu Chi August 2020 (Vol.125)

TZU CHI 125 15 vegetable fritters, her mother fastened a bandanna around her head and readied herself to deep-fry the fritters. The latter ladled a lump of vegetable and batter mixture and skilfully immersed it into a wok of boiling hot oil, leaving it to sizzle amidst the crackling air bubbles rippling across the surface of the oil. “Be careful, Mum. Don’t let the oil splatter onto you,” Kar Ling warned thoughtfully. However, Saw Keok was not in the least bit ruffled. After the vegetable fritters were done, Kar Ling’s younger sister, Say Wen pitched in to slice the potatoes, shred the lettuce and prepare various other ingredients. Sunlight streamed into the kitchen as the trio continued working in the kitchen and bonded over their shared responsibilities. The sisters began packing the food at 8:30 a.m., setting the lettuce and blanched bean sprouts on one side of the container, adding the cooked noodles and topping it with potatoes, dried tofu, vegetable fritters, eggs and lime, before garnishing it with a drizzle of chilli sauce and a sprinkling of crushed peanuts. “Later, we’ll pack the broth. It’s the final step of the process. Otherwise, the meal would have turned cold by the time it reaches the customers,” Kar Ling explained as she deftly arranged the ingredients in the containers. After running food delivery services for nearly two months, the family has become increasingly familiar with the procedures, effectively reducing preparation time and labour. Kar Ling had to ensure everything was in order by 11:00 a.m. Her husband was at home over the weekend and offered to fetch her on her delivery rounds. “I’ll be meeting a volunteer midway through my trip. She lives in Kota Kemuning, but I’ll be delivering to the Puchong area. However, she doesn’t mind meeting me in Klang, so I’ll be handing her the orders by the roadside,” she elaborated on her delivery route while transferring the packed meals into a thermal insulation box. Route planning is of paramount importance to the food delivery business; every minute counts as meals have to be delivered to customers on time, besides preventing the food from turning cold. Kar Ling is particularly careful in handling meal orders from office workers as she is well aware that employees are bound by fixed lunch hours. Hence, she insists on punctual delivery to avoid any delays. She and her husband returned home after completing her delivery rounds at 1:00 p.m. Mee Jawa is an Indonesian delicacy and a Malaysian favourite. It appeals to the local palate with its spicy, savoury and tangy broth, its rich flavour enhanced by various condiments. Kar Ling takes every step of the preparation process seriously and is committed to ensuring the freshness of the broth. Therefore, she wakes up especially early on the days when Mee Jawa is on her menu. “I didn’t even have to wake up this early for work,” she quipped with a chuckle. Thinking on her feet Kar Ling managed a travel agency for the past decade. However, the travel industry took a hit from the Covid-19 pandemic and she began receiving requests from her clients for booking cancellations and rescheduling since January this year. The volatile circumstances led her to dismiss her sole part-time employee, before the MCO was implemented in mid- Adapting to the Times