“Good to see, nice to hold, once broken considered sold”

Notice the crystal clear water in my outdoor 'koi' pond?

I manage this by simply circulating the water through the eco-system formed with the roots of Epipremnum aureum and Centella asiatica, (money plant and pegaga for Malaysians)

But what I really want you to see is the wooden carving of a monitor lizard that I had to buy last week from a souvenir shop located on Jonker Street in Malacca.

It was not on offer at knockdown price but looked life-like for me to pick it up for further examination.

What happened immediately was the right foreleg of the carving dropped off with a loud clang on the glass shelf, like a shop-lifting alarm!

The leg must have been broken by another shopper or an employee and then carefully replaced on the shelf.

I tried to explain to the proprietress what had actually happened. But it was of no use. All round the shop were signs prominently warning “Good to see, nice to hold, once broken considered sold”

So I paid for the damaged carving in order not to spoil the day for my fellow travelers.

You could almost see the smugness on the face of the proprietress as she registered the sale. She was also quick to recommend a particular brand of superglue for the repair even though her advice was not solicited.

And then she whispered to her assistant to make a call to cancel something, presumably the SWAT team.

If this is a scam, never mind la! Since the damaged carving had brought ‘fortune’ to that souvenir shop, I decided to name it Good Luck Biawak.

Hopefully my Good Luck Biawak can keep away the real thing that had been spotted scavenging in the drain outside my home.