Someone tell me. If toddy makes people get drunk, why does the City Council allows it?
What is the rationale of operating toddy shops all over the city? People get drunk and then, fell on roadsides. Some ride bicycles in a drunken stupor, endangering themself and other motorists.
Even worse, many of these drunkards will probably go home and hit their wives and kids. Some probably had to steal money, or old shoes or someone’s mangoes (on the trees la) to buy their toddy fixes.
I can’t comprehend. Why?
In case you do not know what toddy is, it is a fermented drink harvested from coconuts shoots. Some people will climb up to the trees, poke a hole at the young shoot, let the juice drips and leave it to ferment. It is called tuak. Very dem high one. But sickly sweet. It is cool to drink tuak when you have some seafood in Sitiawan. Or as a guest in an Iban’s long house. Tuak is also needed to make ‘huat kueh’, a kind of steam rice cake.
But over here in Penang (and don’t know if other states have them), we have licensed toddy shops. Plenty of labourers and those of the lower income group who can’t afford beer will hang out at toddy shops. During the day, all the time.
I pass by one toddy shop here everyday. (in Kampung Baru, across Chung Ling High School). It is the same scene everyday. Why, why, why? Why must these men spend their money on toddy when they can’t even feed their children well? Why? Why didn’t the Minister works harder to change the mindset of these lower income group? Probably the Minister is busy with semivalue wig.
Another reason is probably if the Government doesn’t make toddy legal, some parties will resort to moonshining. I.e. making their own alchohol. Once upon a time, This had killed many due to poisoning.
Anyone ever drank tuak before? Nice eh? I tried before in Sitiawan, in some palm oil estate, with seafoods. Best nya.
cold toddy with oh-kau : very kheng one wor…
stinks… that suin-suin sook-sook smell… uwek
If the gov banned toddy … it will make matters worse cos they have to resort to the more expensive beer. Twice as much voilence … twice as much crime 😛
tuak n toddy not the same meh ?
oh yes..must drink with oh-kaw baru kau….
In Kl can get it in Brickfield and Sentul.
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Tuak ah nice ah..In Sarawak (that’s where my hometown is)tuaks are made through fermented rice (kinda the same process as producing Sake and SK-II Pitera haha).These tuaks are made by the Iban and it tastes sweet and a bit sour. Nice eh…
Ditto toxicle’s comment. Toddy began as the poor labourer’s drink after a hard day’s work. Remember those days, how each would bring a mug to the toddy shop (and making all that noise)? I tried some in Port Kelang (seafood and all); didn’t like it 🙁
i drank before. quite nice leh…. a friend of mine is a toddy supplier.
drinking is the ultimate tradition in the US. we try to avoid going out at night due to this. we can be careful but others wont, especially during the long weekends and the holidays.
Lilian,
I used to live in Jelutong long time ago. There was a tuak shop not far from Jelutong mosque. I wonder if it’s still operated.
I’m from Sitiawan. You can get the sweet liquid just b4 it turns into today during lunch time. by the time it’s evening, strong toddy liao. I’m not particularly enjoy today…too ‘soury’
can u believe that near my hse in bukit tengah (BM) the toddy shop is NEXT to the police station??!!!!
canggih uh?
😉
ps- i enjoy reading your blog
Fiona – So I suppose you see some of them swaying all the way home. It happens here and whenever they tumbled, no one bothers. Just let them sleep on the ground/tarmac/roadside. So pitiful.
athena – I tried the Nira Nipah the other day and it was really sweet. I wonder if they are the same?
anasalwa – I think so la. The facade oso never change, the green, chequered wooden grill, open space and long table. There is another one near the Penang GH.
Ely – Yes, I heard about that through my bereaved moms support group. Many innocent people are killed by drunk driving. Sad. Got one woman whose two kids were killed at different times.
Wendy – Wow, free unlimited supply la?
fishtail – I suppose it is ads like Guiness Stout ads that influence them. To be a real man, drink! Right?
Tony – Wow, you do know a lot about SKII pitera. It stinks sometimes when I apply on my face.
93-94 – 🙂
Max – Tuak and toddy same lah. Tuak is local name.
toxicle – Vicious cycles la?
Samm – Must do everything once, so I tried mah.
li – Next time, I try and see?
In KL, fresh toddy supplies come from Banting. Fresh toddy are so smooth and I almost “tahpow” when the alcohol kick in. And the no-so-fresh toddy taste like stale coconut oil.
CAP keep publish the problem and solution in the paper from time to time for many years. But no resources is given to them to put their idea in works.
Hmm…although it’s sad that people get drunk and harm other people but i think your post is a bit prejudicial. Not only toddy drinkers harm other people, in fact if you look at road accident statistics you’d be hard pressed to find a significant amount of road accidents being attributed to toddy drinkers.
People who are poor also have a human right to consume alcohol (but that doesn’t make it right decision) but alas the way our society practices control is by increasing sin tax instead of proper education. Our newspapers, tvs, magazines are all rife with calsberg,tuborg,tiger and etc adverts. The last thing we should be worried about is toddy drinkers.
I don’t know what your take is on alcohol but personally i think it’s has killed more people, and destroyed more families than cigarettes ever have and yet there is more funding in (though not enough) trying to stop people from picking up the smoking habit. In fact one would be hard pressed to find adverts for ciggies in any printed and digital media nowadays and as i said earlier, there is more adverts for alcohol.