When we were in Kuala Lumpur last month, the chronic tingling in my left arm was so excruciating that I went to the first acupuncturist that had a good online review. However, after four sessions of 40-minute electro-acupuncture over seven days, the pain was just as intense. I knew I needed a different kind of treatment, so I called Fatah. Fatah is the very strong blind traditional Malay massage therapist who treated me in January.

The man who answered the phone said Fatah was still in his hometown celebrating Hari Raya (Eid al-Fitr). He said he has availability if I could get there within an hour. His name is Roslan. Like all the therapists at Shujin Therapy Zone, Roslan is visually impaired. Within the first few minutes of my appointment, he said, “Your C5 is pushing on your C6.” Before I finished realizing he was not talking about Microsoft Excel, KRRAAAAKK!!!!

Hallelujah! I immediately felt the pain subsiding. Who knew cracking under pressure can be so liberating. Outside the room, a man asked to speak with Roslan. It was the guy who missed his two-hour appointment. He explained that he was going to arrive on time, but he had to wait for his girlfriend. Roslan said he had already started with a different client because he didn’t hear from the guy at all. I congratulated myself. The guy asked if he could come back the next day, but Roslan said he’s booked through the following week. Damn, I was hoping to come back the following day too.

Shortly after we resumed, someone called hoping to see Roslan the next day, but was turned down. I told him I was also hoping to come back the next day. He said he could squeeze me in the day after next. I said I fly out early that morning to East Malaysia. About 20 minutes later, he asked, “If tomorrow, can you come at 10:00 pm?” “YES!!” The second appointment really helped, but I felt bad about it because he started at 8:00 am. Since that day, I’ve been randomly blurting “I’m so thankful for Roslan!” at least once a day.

I Love My Job!

Roslan has really strong hands. I joked that with his strong hand on my neck, I would have given him my bank account number had he asked. He replied, “But, is there money in that account or not?” He said just the other day he was teasing a couple that he massaged. When he started on the husband, Roslan told the wife that it was a good time to interrogate her husband because he wouldn’t dare to lie. The wife jokingly (I suspect only half-jokingly) asked, “Do you plan to marry another wife?!”

More chatting today; he watched the World Cup final last night and was cheering for France, he is 47, he likes fishing and will go fishing this Wednesday, he has three sons ages 19, 15 and 13, he met his wife through a female therapist who works there. I wanted to ask if his wife is also visually impaired but couldn’t decide if I should use “visually impaired”, “blind” or “buta” (the Malay word for blind), so I didn’t. I asked if he travels. He said he traveled a little when he studied massage therapy in Beijing and when he went for additional training in Bangkok.

He asked what my plans were tonight. I said I wanted to go get some durian in Kampung Baru. He said, “Don’t have to go so far. Just across the street in front of the 7-11. They have good ones.” He started naming all the varieties that he likes and that he likes to eat them cold from the fridge. Then he joked, “You want to get some for me as hadiah also can!” I was so glad he said that. I’ve been thinking about getting him a gift, but couldn’t think of any. Our go-to gift of a bottle of wine wouldn’t work because he’s a Muslim.

The Joy of Durian

I added an XO durian for Roslan. For takeaways, the durian flesh/pulp are removed and placed into plastic containers. Regardless of dine-in or to-go, the price is by weight and includes the entire fruit, thorny husk and all. I put the two containers into the fridge at the massage place. Since he’s with a client, I called him instead of knocking on his door. I hope he remembered to take them home. I’m so thankful for Roslan!

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