Coconuts, rambutans and broken trusts

Dad was observing Seng plucking coconuts the other day when our neighbour Jagan dropped by.

“Uncle, what is happening?” asked Jagan, pointing at Seng on our tree.

“Selling my coconuts,” dad replied short.

“How much?”

“RM1 each.”

Jagan gasped. “Aiyoh, uncle! Why so cheap? They are selling coconut water at RM4 per coconut!”

Dad smiled.

“Don’t sell it to him, lah uncle. I can help you pluck the coconuts if you want,” Jagan offered.

“Nevermind-lah, Seng is doing all the hard work – climbing, plucking and then selling. I am earning RM1 for not doing anything,” dad said.

Jagan lowered his voice as he watched Seng climb down the tree by placing his feet carefully on the grooves carved into the sides of the trunk.

“But uncle, you can earn more!” Jagan replied.

It’s okay, it’s his rezeki” (sustenance), dad assured Jagan.

The generous offer

A couple of days ago, dad was busy plucking rambutans in our house compound when once again, Jagan came to offer his assistance.

“Uncle, let me help!” he said.

Dad thanked him for his offer, insisting that it was not difficult to pluck the rambutans using his bamboo pole.

“Quite a lot of rambutans, ah uncle?” Jagan stood nearby, observing the tree as my dad started picking up the harvested rambutans lying on the ground.

“Alhamdulillah. It’s a good season,” dad said with a smile.

“Your rambutan is the best rambutan I have ever tasted, lah, uncle - sweet, juicy and lekang! (easily separated from the seed). It tastes exactly like the fruits from your old trees,” Jagan added.

Dad chuckled, proud.

“Of course they taste the same, I re-planted this tree from a cutting I made from the old tree before chopping it off. It took almost five years for this tree to bear fruit!”

As dad carried a bucket of the harvested rambutan into our house, he offered some to Jagan.

“No uncle, it’s okay. We still have the rambutans you gave last week.”

“Well, in that case, whenever you want to have some rambutans, just help yourself,” offered dad.

Jagan thanked my dad before returning home.

Where did the rambutans go?

Yesterday, as my dad drove his car into our house compound, he was shocked to see a few men plucking our rambutans. Jagan was among them, busy filling up a few buckets and boxes with our rambutan. As dad walked towards them, he noticed the tree bald. There were no more rambutans in sight, except a few hanging on a low branch.

Dad watched them as they cleared the tree. He only offered Jagan to enjoy the fruits, maybe pluck a few whenever they craved for it. He certainly did not expect Jagan to harvest the whole tree for his friends and relatives!

“Jagan, please leave the few rambutans still on the tree. Or else, we would not have any rambutans for our own family,” dad voiced out as he noticed almost a thousand rambutans filling up the buckets and boxes.

“Yes uncle, no problem,” replied Jagan as he removed the rambutans with his buddies back to his house.

My dad was upset and disappointed. His trust was broken.

Broken trusts

We’re all familiar with broken trusts. When someone you trust manipulates the trust for their own benefit, without considering how it affects you, it can be damaging.

Breaking trust is never a small thing. It forces us to scale our impression of the person who broke the trust. It makes us predict a pattern and filter their future actions based on their past behaviour.

While apology and the very act of making a positive change can regain the weight of trust over time, it does not work in all circumstances. When you manipulate someone’s trust, taking what doesn’t belong to you, the road towards recovering the trust isn’t as easy.

Jagan could place much effort in the future to eradicate the negative view we have on him by committing to small acts of neighbourhood kindness, but will it transform the way we see him? Will it make him worthy of our trust once again?

I don’t think so.

Having our trusts broken and manipulated so often these days, it makes it difficult to forgive and forget. Anger and resentment are more prominent emotions today - if you ask me, they are the right emotions to have. They serve as a reminder to never give anyone the rights to twist, turn and break the trust you have for them - be it a neighbour who profits from your rambutan or a politician who profits from your vote.

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FA ABDUL is a passionate storyteller, a media trainer, an aspiring playwright, a director, a struggling producer, a photographer, an expert Facebooker, a lazy blogger, a part-time queen and a full-time vainpot. - Mkini