Years ago a sudden outbreak of a mystery disease causing a few deaths led to a scramble for mung beans. Men and women rushed to the supermarkets and retail shops and bought every single mung bean.
Some women who did not get any mung beans even sat down on the road side and cried. There was this great fear that children would die from a fearsome fever as a result of catching the mystery disease.
While many started wearing face masks and trying to send their young to Singapore and as far as Australia, most humble people of the lower income group braved the elements and went on their life as normally as possible.
I gave my children soy bean milk.
And a friend did give me a few hundred grams of mung beans which we all ate that evening, almost mid night. We were told that we had to have mung bean soup that day before MIDNIGHT or else we would all die. The rumours spread like wild fire and that was the reason why not even one bean was left on the shelves of the supermarkets and even all the tiny little sundry shops. Was it a marketing scheme to sell mung beans. If so, it was very effective. Furthermore the price skyrocketted to 15 ringgit per kg on that day.
It was an unforgettable experience.
I was not even aware of the scramble for mung beans as I was busy teaching, tucked away in the college. .
The next day I read in the Chinese newspapers all about the mad rush for mung beans. NO one had died from not eating mung bean soup.
Was it a relief for the gullible, or did the naive feel cheated?
Nowadays I continue to cook mung bean soup but instead of using dairy milk, I use Soy Bean Milk (less sugar).
It is a very cooling dessert.
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