Chiak Ba Boh?

"Chiak Ba Boh"? (Have you eaten?) The cleaning auntie at my office will always greet me when I meet her along the corridor. "Chiak Ba Liao, Le Leh?" (I have eaten, how about you?) is my usual reply. Kind auntie she is...always worried about me going hungry (I didn't tell her I had Yong Tau Foo for lunch again though). It's really funny that someone would rather ask you whether you "Chiak Ba Boh?" than "Le Ho Boh?" (How are you?). But then I kinda felt that the former is a lot more faceted than the latter. "Chiak Ba Boh" - Isn't a bliss to be full? The warmth in the stomach and the tightness at the waist - such joy! Isn't it a blessing to be able to have a satisfying meal be it a "Man Han Quan Xi" (Imperial Feast) or just a simple plate of "Chap Chye Peng" (Economic Rice)? And apparently if you can have a satisfying meal, it simply meant that you have nothing to worry about! (except for the calories!) Cos your next meal will come - and the next after the next...shouldn't you be happy that you don't have to worry about the (next + n) meal(s)? Mebbe the auntie meant more than a simple "Hi! Bye!". A casual remark but so deep in meaning. For that, we should give her a double PhD in "Hospitality" and "Environmental Engineering". Some people with PhD's don't even say "Hi!" to you along the corridors - lagi worse if they don't even know your first name.

I still don't know the kind auntie's name - and I doubt she knew mine.