A Lasting Burning Sensation

Have you ever touched a chilly before? How does it feel? Well, my friend Tan Ching Hong and I had an unforgettable experience with dried chillies.

One day, the lady teachers in my former school (Jerantut Secondary School) suggested having a barbeque at Mrs Cheong's house. All of us agreed to it. However, Miss Tan Lee Nging who proposed it wanted us to share the work of preparing food and ingredients for the grill. The lady teachers took to the task of getting meat and vegetables ready for the occasion while Tan Ching Hong and I were to get rid of seeds from the dried chillies which were soaked in water. At first, we enjoyed doing a simple job like this. Little did we realise we were tricked by the ladies who must have known that it was a nasty job. Sure enough, our hands began to acquire a burning sensation after some time. As we thought that it would go away soon, we didn't complain about it to anyone.

The barbeque party went on smoothly and we helped ourselves to roasted meat of various kinds and some cooked vegetables. As usual, Simon Ching entertained us with his guitar and Anchor Chong had us in stitches with his jokes. We seemed to forget the burning sensation in such a jovial atmosphere.

I still could feel the burning sensation on my hands the next day. Despite having washed repeatedly with water and detergent the effect did not wear off at all. The sensation only left my hand on the fourth day!

From then on, I dare not touch chillies anymore

Readers are warned not to deal with chillies barehanded. Use gloves to prevent the burning sensation as experienced by me.