Are We a Pessimist Lot?

Yesterday while having breakfast, I overheard a guy at the Cafeteria where I worked uttered the Malay proverb "Sedangkan ulat dalam batu pun boleh hidup!!" Apparently, he was arguing with his friends on how to survive financially when almost all "barang naik".... This makes me wonder is the "peribahasa" denotes a pessimistic approach towards life or the opposite. The positive aspect of the proverb is that how the "ulat" has to work hard to "hidup" in a "batu"... On the other hand, it is more towards an attitude of apathy or "tidak apa" attitude ... Perhaps our elders those days had their reasons in coming up with these pessimistic proverbs. One of which is "kais pagi makan pagi, kais petang makan petang" which need not be analysed using special mixture of chemicals or litmus test or even being sent to the court of law for interpretation!!! It's a crystal clear pessimism to the highest level. Other "peribahasa yang sewaktu dengannya" are "seperti habuk di atas tunggul" and its synonym "seperti melukut di tepi gantang". These two proverbs are normally used to show how a person's existence is of no significance towards others or in "bahasa pasar "ada pun serupa macam tak ada"!!! Those are the proverbs, there might be more ... What about our "pantun"? The only "pantun" which I could think of is a "pantun" from the film entitled "Seri Mersing" where the hero, Nordin Ahmad said: " Kajang Tuan Kajang Berlipat, Kajanag Hambang Mengkuang Layu, Dagang Tuan Dagang Bertempat, Daganag Hamba Musafir Llau" The pantun does have a pessimistic colour in it but I would be more inclined to say that it's a "Pantun Budi Bahasa" as we, the Malays are known to be courteous lot ... Just like the proverb "Masuk kandang kambing mengembek, masuk kandang harimau mengaum" ... Lastly, the National Laureate Shahnon Ahmad wrote a novel entitled "Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan" , a story about husband (Lahuma) and wife (Jeha), slogging hard at their "14 relong sawah padi" at "Kampong Banggol Dedap". They have no son but seven (7)dauhters. They were faced with so many "dugaan" ... their "padi" were destroyed when attacked by "ketam" and "burung tiak" and even "air bah" ... If that is not enough a "dugaan" Lahuma the husband was taken ill after his feet "tertusuk onak nibung" which led to his death. Jeha was left alone mending the "sawah padi" and due to the tragic death of her husband and pressure of hard life, she went mad .... If this is not pessimism, I do not know what it is .... I will leave this post with another proverb " biarlah enggang dengan enggang, mana nak sama dengan si pipit" .....