Tuesday, September 22, 2009

LaLa and his publicist..


I first came to know about a seafood makan place in Subang called 'LaLa Chong'
more than nine years ago.Its a small and cosy outlet that serves some really good dishes and at the time
when this eatery was up and coming, prices were reasonable.The owner, who calls himself LaLa (razor clam in Cantonese), was introduced to
me by my fishing buddy Ah Pan.I wrote a piece about the place and patronised it for some time. Until recently, an interesting email had surfaced on our server.This time, LaLa has his own publicist.And the person behind the write-up was no other than a disgraced Editor who was
the third most powerful man in the oldest newspaper in this country.I learned that the said person had gained some inroads into LaLa's good books. They became fishing and golfing buddies and due to the nature of their good
relationship, LaLa Chong is now a sponsor of a golfing tournament.The seafood towkay had made it. I once told him that he should be wary of the snakes and crocodiles that surround
him and that they are there only for the good times.But again, people would only learn when its too late.I guess that for all the free food and beers, the publicist had decided to mobilise
his contacts in the media to inform the public of LaLa's new outlet.And the signature mark of this disgraced ex-Editor was to ask for a byline for his
rehashed efforts.I have nothing against LaLa. Just fear that somehow, he's being exploited.He's a good natured guy, naive at most times and seeing as it is, the truth hurts as
he is being surrounded by fake people who are taking advantage of his
generosityy.

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