Many years ago when I was a young student living in the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia, I liked to go to a nearby town
where I lived for meals. There was one particular area in that town where vendors would assemble their stands in a long line at the side of a busy street to sell food, clothes, shoes accessories and so on. One day, I went to a Malay vendor whose speciality was beefburger. There were already quite a few customers around him waiting for their burgers. None really spoke except one when his beefburger was grilled. He gave quite a few instructions to the vendor how he wanted his beefburger to be done. I could see the facial
expression of the young vendor that he was trying to maintain his patience. I understand when one gives instruction on how she or he wants the steak to be done, such as, to have it half-done or well- done, but you do not just take over the task of the cook!
The vendor did exactly what was told and suddenly, the beef broke into pieces due to the constant “coaching” of the fussy
customer. Now, the vendor broke his silence for he was really annoyed by the interruption of this customer. Instantly he snapped, “That’s why I said, one shouldn’t be as smart as a monkey and as dumb as a person!” I remember this funny expression up to this day and I think the proverb is solely the invention of the vendor. I have never heard it anywhere else.