The Vanishing Roti Man

It’s amazing how fast and how dramatically things have changed within the last 10 or so years...

I was just driving one day.. and there was a man on a motorbike in front of me and his bike was filled EVERYWHERE with bread, junk food and pastries. I was kind of surprised, because I hadn’t seen such men in such a long long time. I’m sure you’ve seen him before too. Here it is:

Familiar to you? Yes, it’s the Roti Man. (Roti = Bread) Many of us grew up to the familiar sight and sound of the Roti Man going house to house, tooting his horn announcing his arrival. All you had to do was open your door and shout “Roti!” and he would park right at your doorstep. Kids and parents from all around would start to gather around his bike to make their purchases.

The Roti Man used to be such a common feature in neighborhoods back then. These days, you only find him in the suburban areas or in small towns… even then, I doubt if there are many of them left. Something tells me that in another ten years… the roti man will most likely be extinct.

What has changed? Well, people did. People no longer waited at their doorstep for the Roti Man to buy their weekly loaf of Gardenia like they used to. No time. People also started living in Condominiums and gated communities…. places the Roti Man had no access too. And as for the Roti man… selling roti probably got harder and harder. Hypermarkets sold the same things he did at a much lesser price and with greater variety. The cost of fuel for his motorbike was also escalating every year. His customers taste buds were also getting much too sophisticated. He had kaya, butter and coconut. People wanted croissants and baguettes. The roads seemed to get busier and more dangerous as the years went by… and he was getting older and older. His strength was leaving and his eyes were failing. A day will come when the roti man will have to stop riding.

I suppose it’s inevitable. As times change, new things come into being and old things go extinct. My dad told me there was once a group of people called Stevedores who loaded and unloaded ships at docks. Stevedores are extinct by now of course. Next to the Roti Man, I think the Putu Mayam uncle, Susu Kambing seller and the old newspaper collector might well go down the road of extinction too.

Remember the old newspaper chant?

“Sao Gau Pou cheee! Oww Newsss Payper! Peli sulat kapar lama, peli payper lama, peli pattery lama”… honk honk honk… then repeat….

Can you recall how that looked and sounded? I do.. And for what it was, I considered it charming. It’s a sad thought knowing that many people these days won't get to experience that sort of thing anymore. We’re more occupied with Facebook, Twitter and a slew of other online preoccupations these days. I don’t think anyone would notice even if the Roti Man did drop by.

To us, the Roti man is vanishing from our neighbourhood. But to the Roti Man, it is we who have been vanishing from our doorsteps.