Rural Malaysia - Farmers' Market in Batu Kikir

Every Sunday, from morning till noon, there is a farmers' market (pasar tani in Malay) in Batu Kikir's town centre. This is the time when village folks come to town and do more than just shop for groceries. It is also the time to bump into someone, whether a friend or relative, and exchange the latest village news or gossip and then possibly for a drink at a nearby coffee shop.

For a city guy, I am curios to know what village folks (besides my in-laws) here put in their cooking pot. There are the locally grown produce like water spinach, wild yam, mangosteen and bananas. The folks have also acquired a taste for imported produce like broccoli, cauliflower, apples and oranges. Times are changing and even village folks are eating what once considered a luxury.

Rural Malaysia - Another Village in Batu Kikir

This is another village scene in Batu Kikir, which happens to be the home of my wife's aunt. It's a home surrounded by rubbers trees, where the trees are tapped for their latex. The latex is what makes the tyres for your cars, the eraser on the pencil, gloves used by surgeons and the 'little device' called condom. There are also the fruit trees for the family's consumption like bananas, guava, mangoes and rambutan. There is also the pet goat, which would probably end up in the cooking pot one day.

Rural Malaysia - My Wife's Village in Batu Kikir

While Batu Kikir is the town itself, locals also refer Batu Kikir to include the villages situated around the town. My mother-in-law's home is in one those villages. It's a half-brick half-wooden house on a hectare (2 acres) of land surrounded by rubber trees, bananas and a few fruit trees. Then there are the few odd chickens roaming around and when fat, it's into the pot!

For those unfamiliar with rural Malaysia, most homes in the villages have electricity and piped water. So you have the basics - a fridge, television, washing machine and flushed toilet. Cooking used to be firewood, now it's the gas stove. There's even free internet access from the nearby aerial receiver/transmitter, courtesy of the government's rural internet access program.

Meet the in-laws

The kitchen and dining area

Rural Malaysia - Town of Batu Kikir

Batu Kikir is a rural town in the state of Negri Sembilan, located about 45 km (27 miles) east of the state's capital of Seremban. This small laid back town is situated between the larger towns of Kuala Pilah and Bahau. Being a city guy, Batu Kikir has a special significance in my life. My wife was born here and many of my in-laws live in this unheard part of Malaysia.

Batu Kikir is a small town cut in two by a trunk road and you can walk from one end to the other in less than five minutes. An uneventful town but far from being called sleepy, though life comes to a halt as evening approaches. There is a small bus station, old mosque, post office, school, several shops and would you believe it, a 7-Eleven in the middle of nowhere.