Agriculture?

My dad had a surprise for me; he had a proposal.

Basically, he wanted me to join him in this project of fish farming. This is one of those initiatives taken by our ever-helpful government to help people start their own business.

“Adik takde duit la ayah”, I told my dad.

Quickly my dad said, “jangan risau, diaorang akan bagi modal. Modal tu dah termasuk gaji. Dalam 4 bulan kita dah boleh jual ikan tu & boleh terus dapat untung.”

Tempting…

When I asked my dad what fish this is, he told me he only calls it ‘ikan bodoh’.

“Kenapa nama dia ikan bodoh?” I asked, laughing.

“Sebab ikan tu kalau kita pergi dekat pun dia tak akan lari. Jadi senang nak tangkap. Ikan tu bodohla” explained my dad.

My dad said this is for export, especially to Japan. We only need to worry about taking care of the fish, other things including buyers and export arrangements are already in place. Then I asked my dad where are we going to do this, do we have to find a place somewhere to dig up pools?

“Tak payah,” said my dad, getting excited because I’m showing interest. “Kat sini kan banyak rumah2 kosong. Diaorang akan cari tempat untuk kita, cari rumah kosong. Ikan ni bela dalam tangki je, dalam rumah. Tak payah nak berpanas. Tak payah susah2 cari tanah nak buat kolam. Semuanya akan disediakan.”

Before I could tell him that I know next to zero about fish, he said,
“Nanti diaorang akan bagi latihan. Akan ada kursus, seminar untuk ajar kita cara nak bela ikan ni. Semua ni free. Kerja kita cuma jaga ikan tu je.”

Oh wow, ‘diaorang’ are REALLY eager to help!

I stayed quiet for a few seconds, thinking…

“Ayah memang betul2 nak buat ni. Sementara ayah boleh dapatkan tempat untuk kita baik kita join. Diaorang cuma akan pilih 50 orang untuk projek ni.”

My dad went on and on about the positives of this project, trying to convince me to join him. He didn’t actually say it, but from the way he said it, he really wanted to do this and he wanted me to join him; and if I’m not joining he is not going to either. Dang, talking about pressure!

Then he dropped the bomb.

“Projek ni fulltime, tak boleh buat part-time. Jadi adik kena berhenti kerja. Jangan risau, pulangan dia lumayan. Kena berani la sikit.”

EEEEK!!!

Quit my job?!
Throw away the security of monthly income?!
WTF!!!

What am I going to do?

I HAVE NEVER EVEN GONE FISHING BEFORE!!!