Friday, September 30, 2005

A FRIEND'S CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE

Sender :
O*** HP
+6013*******

Sent :
01:02:07pm
14.09.2005

Hi N***,rang undang2 islam wilayah persekutuan, ciptaan shahrizat betul2 tidak membela langsung balu, janda dan anakdara tua. kesian kami. one day i wish dia jadi janda dan bercinta ngan suami org. Apa agaknya reaksi dia nanti. Jika tercommit adultery sapa gaknya punya pasal..

*********************************

Ooooo... this sms is so wrong on so many levels!

OK, backtrack a little. It was sent by a friend (let's call her The Widow) who has been widowed for a year plus. She lost her hubby to an illness, and now currently bringing up her kids all by herself. I know, sad story, I feel for her too. Life gave her a big ugly turn, and her being able to cope with it (so far) is admirable. One can just imagine how tough her life is at the mo.

I personally have been lending her a shoulder-and-a-half, as I too have gone through a similar loss, albeit in a different way. I can understand her loneliness, helplessness, frustrations, her angry lashings to the world in general, her self-pity and all. Been there, done that, hated the tshirt! But there is such a thing as carrying it out too far la.

OK she's lonely, needs companion. Hell, we all feel that. She's thinking "at my age, a balu with kids, no single man would ever want me". So the next best thing is to find companionship with a more matured married or have-been-married guy {haiya, senang cakap, laki orang atau duda}, who will look beyond her age or status, who's not afraid to shoulder fatherhood responsibilities for her kids yadayadayada. So now she's in a relationship with a married guy (let's call him Mr Truant) but she's facing opposition from everyone - her family, his family, his wife, her friends, his friends, even the neighbour's dogs la.

Here's the thing - she undertook this adventure {misadventure kot?} fully knowing about all the hurdles she'll be facing from the community, because once she had the very same opinions, before she lost her hubby. Pompuan, be it anak dara or janda, yang berkawan ngan laki orang tu, adalah pompuan gatal perosak rumahtangga yang hina dan laknat. But now that she's 'friends' with Mr Truant, she's lamenting about how his wife is cruel because his wife mengamuk when she got to know about her hubby's relationship with The Widow. How masyarakat is unfair, tak faham dan tak membantu etc. How her family is cruel and prejudiced towards Mr Truant. How her friends are judgmental and 'menyibuk' because they don't approve.

Dear The Widow, you are my friend and I do wish you happiness. But you also have to be rational. Kalau dulu you jealous bila laki you ada kawan pompuan (walaupun kawan biasa), kenapa nak marah sekarang bila wife Mr Truant jealous of your (romantic) relationship ngan laki dia? Whilst you were happily married, did you ever give a thought about how your single friends' lives were? Did you even care? Oh I know, now your perspective has changed because you are faced with that situation, cuma orang yang dah merasa sahaja yang tahu kan? But at the same time, you cannot expect everybody to change their perspective to suit yours, kan?

Personally, I'm not opposed to poligamy { ye ker Jie???? }, only that I think it should only be practiced by people who have equipped themselves fully for it. Guys, just having the equipment is not enough tau. By 'equipped' I mean, dah cukup faham konsep poligamy dan tanggungjawab semua pihak, dah cukup iman dan keredhaan dalam hati, doing it for the right purpose and not for nafsu alone, adil, mampu physically, monetarily and spiritually etc. Kalau cukup syarat, no problem.

If you're really serious about it, then find the problem and fix it. Why lash out to other people like that? Why lash out against Shahrizat's good proposals (to ensure the first wives' and children's welfare is taken care of)? Why wanna wish bad things unto other people ("...one day i wish dia jadi janda dan bercinta ngan suami org...")? Apa plak kaitannya dengan 'tercommit adultery'? There is no such thing as 'ter' in adultery, it's something that both parties consciously consent to, otherwise it would be rape la kan?

If you wanna be gung-ho then do it like Nike (Just Do It!) Bukannya susah la ni, takyah gi Narathiwat, kat Perlis pun boleh. Better still, kalau guy tu confident & macho, get the local Syariah Court's approval, which shouldn't be a problem if he is qualified in the Islamic sense.

Oh well.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

HARI Q

Ini salah satu event paling gomen yang seingat aku la hehehe :-) Generally, Hari Q(uality) ni, is for the department's management to show appreciation to their staff, to award & honor staf yang cemerlang & berkualiti etc. Sup-po-sed-ly la.

Anywhichways, we had our Hari Q last Friday, a day before Hari Keluarga. Usually, selain dari acara biasa - you know la, baca ikrar Q, nyanyi lagu organization, nyanyi lagu perkhidmatan awam, kasik sijil & hadiah - we will have a short ceramah either by the department boss (beri penghargaan dan bakar semangat supaya staf jadi lebih rajin etc. Sup-po-sed-ly la) ataupun panggil penceramah luar untuk beri ceramah berkaitan menjalankan tugas dengan Q(uality).

This year, we invited Ustaz Wan Sohor Bani Leman. Yay! Ustaz hensem! Hehehe :-) Ehem, the handsome part tu actually beside the point la kan. The ceramah was interesting, macam 'kena' je. The gist of his ceramah was (1)buat keje dengan ikhlas & amanah (2)jangan mengumpat (3)Islam memandang seseorang sebagai berkualiti on a wholesome basis (4)jangan mengumpat (5)bahaya mengumpat (6)perempuan yang badan gempal lebih bernafsu dari yang terlalu kurus. Ehhh...???? Ha yang no. 6 tu, selingan je, tapi maybe betul kot? *wink wink* hehehe. Ustaz ni suka illustrate his points melalui cerita kisah2 nabi, so macam-macam kisah Nabi Muhammad s.a.w, A'isyah, sahabat2 etc.

Ambil iktibar dari ceramah Ustaz. Kualiti dalam Islam ialah secara menyeluruh, mesti buat baik sesama manusia dan dengan Allah. Takde gunanya jadi orang yang baik perilaku tapi tidak beriman kepada Allah. Dan tidak berkualiti juga jika hanya beribadat kepada Allah tapi tak menjaga hubungan baik sesama manusia. Kena ada IQ (intelligence), EQ (emotional), SQ (spiritual) dan PQ (physical). Maksudnya kena pandai fikir, pandai jaga perasaan (sendiri & orang lain), pandai dalam ibadah, dan pandai bikin serupa cakap.

Hmm... mula tadi nak tulih gak about how medem sabotage our Hari Q bila taknak berucap langsung untuk majlis ni walaupun dia akan hadir. Camana plak pada majlis untuk pengurusan award & honor staf cemerlang, bos plak taknak berucap? After that we all dah setkan menu jamuan (nasi beriani), tinggal nak reconfirm je ngan caterer, tetiba dia suruh kensel semua, gantikan ngan laksa johor AND nasi dagang. Then tetiba je pagi tu dia kata kat Chetun yang dia ada meeting (walhal diari meeting dia memang confirm kosong waktu tu) dia suruh kami start majlis dulu dan dia akan datang bila time Ustaz mula ceramah.

Also mula tadi nak tulih gak about how ridiculous the anugerah Q yang medem kasik tahun ni - bukan kasik kat saper yang keje rajin/cemerlang, instead kasik kat orang yang takde MC (ni OK la), orang yang paling kurang gunakan peruntukan perubatan (WTF?) and lagi 8 orang untuk Anugerah Khas Pengarah yang takde kriteria pemilihan ditentukan, instead nama penerimanya dipetik dari langit (WTFF???)

Aku sendiri dapat sijil & hamper on that perubatan thingy, tapi aku sedekahkan je hamper tu kat assistant aku, because I really fail to see WTF that has got to do with Quality. I mean, kebetulan tahun ni badan aku sihat, so aku pekerja kualiti ke? What about others yang tak pernah sakit but anak ramai and quota perubatan dia banyak habis kat anak, so dia pekerja tak kualiti sebab anak dia selalu sakit? {Oooppp... dah cukup le tu Jie. Kan Ustaz Wan Sohor Hensem kata, jangan mengumpat?} OKla OKla stop sampai sini je la hehehe :-)

FD UPDATE

Had the FD last weekend. Everything went well, with just minor glitches! AlhamduliLlah, leganya rasa... Yelah bukannya mudah nak organize 2-day overnighter event for +- 110 orang on such a tight budget like ours, with absolutely no sponsorship from panel firms etc. Wei, tak main la rasuah-rasuah ni. Biar la AJK terpaksa keluar pocket money sendiri, officers terpaksa tolong sponsor hadiah {tima kasih jugak pada bapak Cheyah yang contribute quite a few hadiah lucky draw - tahun depan boleh mintak lagi ye?}, janji kitorang taknak perut busung makan duit rasuah :-)

Saturday starts with check-in at 3.00 pm. Tapi aku sampai lambat sebab tersilap masuk jalan lama kat Genting Sempah, dah la jalan belit-belit terpaksa patah balik kat Karak etc. Sampai kul 5.30pm. Amik kunci bilik, minum petang, letak beg, then terus ke dewan untuk persiapan dinner, susun hadiah etc, then rushing balik bilik for maghrib & bersiap.

Dinner started at about 8.30pm. Chetun gave a nice opening speech, and introduced us AJKs {thank you for your appreciation, Chetun!} Ha, gini le sepatutnya bos yang baik, menghargai anak buahnya, bukan main hantam saja sesuka hati macam kitorang ni punching bag. Anyway, lepas start makan, mulakan event dengan kids' fancy dress contest. There were Captain Hook, Little Fairy, Gerak Khas, Rambo Boy, Scottish Girl, F1 Racer, Cinderella, Arctic Boy, Ustazah, Ustaz (bukan Ayah Pin) etc. Alahai comelnya! The rest of the night we alternated between karaoke & lucky draw - 3 contestants nyanyi, selang-seli ngan lucky draw. The whole thing ended at around midnight. Karaoke contest was won by our PAR, and generally most prizes were given away to the lower level staff (officer takyah la kan) so everyone were quite happy.

Next day, brekkie was supposed to be at 7.30am, but someone made a booboo and the kitchen staff was told it was at 9.00am. {OMG OMG OMG Jie dah panic - apa nak buat for the next hour? Ramai orang dah turun, takkan nak dok melangut je} Nasib baik dah ada contingency plan, ajak semua orang ke padang, bawak radio sebijik, kita buat senaman pagi! Cover line, jangan tak cover hehehe. By the time habis exercise, breakfast pun siap. Lepas makan, mulakan telematch & games.

Hmph, detour sket, nak masuk part ngumpat la plak nih. Since masa dinner lagi, ada sorang budak kecik 3 tahun yang hyper, memulanya it's cute sebab dia petah & running around the dewan. Then dia start climbing the stage & kacau masa lucky draw, still OK. Pastu orang nyanyi karaoke, dia dok tarik mike & jerit-jerit, and people start to get annoyed. Masa telematch pagi tu pun, dok kacau games & alih prizes, rampas barang dari kids lain etc. Yang aku heran tu, mak bapak dia boleh buat derk je, sekadar panggil nama je tapi tak angkat punggung pun nak disiplinkan anaknya. Bila ditegur, anak tu siap pukul & tolak mak bapak dia, and also some of the AJKs. OKlah, aku belum ada anak sendiri, tapi mak bapak tu apsal biarkan anak tu kurang ajar sangat? Bebudak lain takde pun buat perangai gitu. "Puan, saya rasa nak tampar je budak ni" said one of my staff. Nuff said.

OK, after the games & prize-giving, aku balik awal. Others mostly gi mandi sungai, then have lunch baru balik. All in all, rasanya ramai yang enjoy dan generally puas hati. Today, I handed out evaluation forms to all participants, so tunggu la jawapan depa untuk dibentang dalam post-mortem lusa nanti. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Tapi dalam pada tu, biasa la, rumah siap pahat berbunyi. Remember the guy yang 'dulu panjat kinabalu...' and 'aku ni ada tahi lalat di pinggang...'? Ha, tu ler pahat yang aku dok dengar pagi tadi, no hal memang kami dah expect pun. Helo brader, kau bayar yuran Badan Kebajikan RM7 sebulan (RM84 setahun) pastu Hari Keluarga angkut anak-bini semua, you expect nak duduk 5-star resort & dapat hadiah lucky draw Percutian ke Gold Coast ke? Kirim salam ler. I sent this email to another AJK "Ko ada martol tak? Meh sini, aku nak ketuk kepala pahat yang berbunyi nih" {Jie! So ganazz!} Hehehe cakap le apa pun, tak menjadi kudis pun sebab aku tahu all of us AJKs have done the best we could, and that is what counts. Dalam dunia ni takleh nak puaskan hati semua orang, kan? Life's too short, says a new friend, and I agree with that.

Yang pasti tahun depan aku nak 'rehat' dari jadi AJK Badan Kebajikan. Cukup le dah 6 tahun ni, kasik can kat the new blood plak untuk bikin program untuk staf. More importantly, aku malas nak involve dalam majlis persaraan medem tahun 2007 nanti. {Aiks? Jauhnya planning, Jie?} Mestilah, kena ada wawasan kan? *wink wink* :-)

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

STOMP !!

Went to watch Stomp! last Wednesday. F*CKING FABULOUSLY FANTASTIC! Puas hati hahaha!

Nore managed to wrangle free tickets from her brother, who's well, in a position to get free Istana Budaya tickets at a drop of a hat {Anore, get us more free tickets next time too!}. Not only were the tickets free, they were the royal box tickets! Gelabah gak la aku & Kaez, had to shop for something nice to wear sebab lately ni dok beli jeans & tshirt je. Then memandangkan its just us ladies yang nak gi, and it would be quite late for each of us to drive home sorang-sorang after the show - to PJ, Kajang & Seremban respectively - we made plans to crash at Nore's sis's apartment in Kg. Baru. Girls' Night Out, yay!

OK, so off we trooped up the stairs to the entrance for the royal box. The staff yang jaga pintu tanya, whose guests were we?
"Dato' K" says Nore.
"Alamak Dato' K tak datang ke? Actually we have some other guests in the royal box tonight, and we were hoping Dato' K would be around to help entertain them"
"Siapa?" we asked.
"Minister from Mongolia"
Noooo! Give us some other seats, please!

So we ended up sitting at the stalls after all. Which was just as well, because the seats were nearer to the stage and we were clapping and laughing like madwomen along with the rest of the audience there hehehe hancus! Sempat kerling ke atas, hak yang kat royal box tu kena jaga protokol, dok tegak je cam patung, mamabosan!

Isy, nasib baik tiket free. Kalu idak, bayar beratus ringgit untuk nengok a bunch of matsaleh (with two token blacks) main ketuk penyapu, tong sampah, botol air, and a whole myriad of household items. Bunyi cam bodoh, kan? But they were BRILLIANT! Bak kata Kaez "I'll never look at a penyapu with the same view now" hehehe.

After the show, we had a nice dinner in Kg Baru, where everything from the tomyam to the nasi goreng was piping hot (cili api seems to be the main ingredient for everything. Podeh porut den!) Then off to the apartment. It's been such a long time since we three had to spend time together like this, so of course we ended up gebang-ing the night away.

Biasalah, exchange life stories. Kaez about her kids, me & Nore about our pathetic personal lives - mine more pathetic than hers hehehe :-) Funny how each of our lives turned out, totally different from what we had ever imagined. Yelah masa student dulu {has it really been 17 years since we first met? Oh no, Jie feels positively jurassic, help! "wrinkle wrinkle go away, come again another day"} Kaez was the tomboy, Nore the social butterfly, and me the low profile nerd. Now, it's the tomboy who has the 'standard' average family, while the social butterfly is still looking for her Mr. Right, and the nerd budak baik has gone through M & D {been there, done that, hated the tshirt, wanna burn the tshirt!}. Macam terbalik je dunia ni hehehe.

Kaez asked me, what do I want in my personal life right now? I said, 1+2+3. I want to be happily married, with 1 house + 2 cars + 3 kids. "Hey, that's MY life!" she remarked. Yeah yeah, count your blessings Kaez, in these days of 'shaky' everything. You already have what others like me want, but yet you say that you're getting bored? Need something more? Count your blessings, I say. What, there's more to life than that? Oii oiii, focus on MY story la, isy minah ni.... cubit kang hehehe...

"So what's stopping you now?" she asks. I showed them the sms I received on 12.9.05. "This is good. This is the closure that you need, to get on with your life." Yeah, I guess so. I love you guys to bits, my soul-friends, who's always there to help pick up pieces of my broken heart, we do that for each other la actually. Friends forever, insyaAllah. Now, if only I could find a nice guy... Anyway, entah kul berapa la tertido, sedar-sedar je dah subuh. Bersiap & gi ofis masing-masing.

It sure was a good night for me, and I hope we get to do this again some other time. Probably not soon, since Ramadhan is coming up, but we will, insyaAllah. Anytime you can get them free tickets, Nore! Ooooohhh, cheapskate betul la kitorang ni hahaha :-D

Monday, September 19, 2005

PRE-FD UPDATE

Lupa plak nak tulih. By last Friday, the situation was :-

(1) medem on monday suddenly said that dia nak pegi. Then she requested to see the namelist of attendees. When she found that her name wasn't listed, she suddenly said that she won't be able to go after all sebab ada hal lain. Helloooo....!!!!! kan ke masa memula dulu masa we presented the plans to you, you said "enjoy yourselves, I tak pegi" Bih tu now nak kecik ati because your name's not on the list? Manusia....manusia...

(2) setelah dipujuk oleh Mr.Semooth on tuesday, suddenly medem kata dia boleh plak attend. "Berapa orang Puan?" "Entah tak tau lagi, sebab husband takde sini, so kena ajak anak lelaki I, anak lain tak sure. Itupun I datang malam je, tak tido sana". Takpe Jie, siapkan je nametags depa and allocate a room for them, even if it all most probably will go to waste. Hmmppph!

(3) medem passed a remark to Cheti "diorang ni lagi suka kalau kita tak pegi". Apa sajalah labuuuu.... asal hati kau senang. Kalau sakitkan hati orang lain puuunnn takpeee....

(4) medem questioned why Chetun paid RM300 when everyone else paid RM120 only. Woi, suka hati la! Apa, ingat Chetun bayar mahal sebab dapat bilik suite ke? Sumbangan ikhlas from members dialu-alukan.

(5) Aku sendiri sponsor 6 mini hampers (feeding bottles and a toy each) for babies under 2 years old, and hadiah untuk Juara Karaoke (funky table clock for second & third place, and a radio plus cassete & CD player for first place). Cheda & Chemaj sponsor sweetstuffs for children's doorgifts, bukan gegula cikai2, Cloud Nine etc lagi tau. Cheti sponsor sweetstuffs for children 2-4 years old games and the respective prizes being toys etc. Cherock sponsor some prizes for several other categories. Even Raffi the newspaper guy pun ada nak sponsor (rasanya food hamper kot - must remind them to put Raffi's name on the hamper, in appreciation). medem sponsor apa, you ask? Ala, no need to ask lah.

(6) the one who said 'nak attend husband punya function' kata yang function tu ditangguhkan, so now she & family wants to attend ours. Adeehhhh....

(7) another one who said 'husband ada hal' changed her mind and now wants to attend the FD. Adeehhhh...

(8) the one who said 'dulu pernah panjat Kinabalu, takkan sekarang nak panjat bukit je' now also wants to attend the FD. Adeehhh....!

I need lots of paracetamol, now please!

GADIS MISTERI

Lama aku menanti
Musim saling berganti
Mekar layu di pinggir waktu

Lama aku mencari
Dalam angan dan mimpi
Keujudan gadis misteri

Berbagai bentuk dan rupa
Bermain di ruang mata
Di mana gerangan agaknya
Ohh....

Bukakanlah jendela asmara
Agar terang kamar cintaku
Moga langit menyeri warna
Mewarnakan taman hatiku

Berilah daku sayap impian
Bawalah daku di awangan
Bukakan jendela asmara
Untuk kurasa kasih dan sayang

~ Search, 1998

Dunno why this song stuck to my mind all this time. OK, OK ngaku ler, dulu memang minat Rock, walaupun orang tak caya sebab takde gaya minah rocker langsung hehehe :-)

Masih ingat lagi masa first year matric, Search baru keluar album yang Isabella tu. Masa tu aku ni kira low profile abih, tetiba ada plak minah-minah 'In Group' yang aku tak berapa kenal, dapat tau yang aku dah beli kaset tuh, so tengahari depa mai bilik aku tumpang dengar lagu Isabella tu. Terbeliak gak la depa nengok koleksi kaset rock aku hehehe.

Aku sibuk bersiap untuk ke kelas tengahari kul 2.00, depa dok sibuk nak dengar lagi lagu tu (brapa kali rewind aku pun tak tau). Aku no hal punya, tapi cukup time aku pun blah ke kelas. Depa plak lambat la sampai kelas. And the Pengarah Pusat Matrik chose THAT day to do an attendance spotcheck on our class! Adeehhhh.... banyak lah mata yang terkulat-kulat lepas tu sebab kena marah ngan Pengarah hahaha :-D

STOMP!

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.
Stomp! Stomp!
STOMP!

Nore, where's my ticket???

Tak sabor dah ni...

FORWARDED EMAILS

Have you been forwarded with that email with pics of an old man several days dead with maggots all over him? Which the original author supposedly in his line of duty, was called in to help investigate a complaint from neighbours about a bad smell emanating from the premises, and found the deceased when they broke into the house? With a commentary from the original author about how the deceased died alone whilst his 9 children didn't call or visit him during the week prior to his death? Did you forward the email to someone else?

I have, in the past, encountered numerous 'official photos' like this one, which came from none other than 'official sources'. I think you know what I mean. It would hardly be members of the deceaseds' families who would distribute those photos, right?

Personally, I hope that people would have more respect for the victims' and the deceaseds' families in cases like this. The 'official sources' should practice discretion, as I think it is distasteful and a breach of his/her professional duty and/or abuse of his/her position to disclose photos like these to the public.

Anyway, what good would it do to us, other than to make us barf up our breakfast? Plus, the commentary sounded malicious and slanderous - anak derhaka tak jaga bapa, gitu. If it ever comes to the knowledge of the deceased's family, there's gonna be hell to pay for the department & staff involved!

{ Jie, if you don't like those emails, just delete it and shut up }

Hell yes, I'll do that. Cuma kesian je kat diorang yang affected nih. Yang dah pergi tetap pergi, tapi keluarga yang tinggal ni bagai dihiris-hiris hati dan maruah mereka.

Among other numerous forwarded emails, ada satu lagi yang aku kesian sangat nengok. Apparently a newly married couple on their honeymoon managed to lose their camera to some very hampeh people. So they got their bersanding pic emailed all over right next to some very personal pics. I mean, they're married (wifey's hands covered with henna and new wedding ring on her finger, so the personal pics must've been taken after their nikah). So what if wifey gives hubby a blowjob, or hubby sneaks a peek at wifey covered in suds at their honeymoon suite bathroom? You never do that ka?

Of course their mistake was to have it all recorded, but I'm sure it was never their intention to allow others to view those images. It's not like they're committing some big sin that needs to be uncovered and dealt with, kan? Whoever started distributing stuff like this is one mean S.O.B, if you ask my opinion.

So please, friends, exercise discretion and caution when you next hit the 'Forward' button, OK?

QUOTE

TJ, in her blog says,
"Never stop looking for love, and never stop giving all the love you have, because in the end, there is someone who will love you just as much"

I hope she's right.

Friday, September 16, 2005

TEXT MESSAGE

Sender :
ABANG HP
+6012*******

Sent:
08:12:27pm
12.09.2005

Abg dah bernikah pd 27/8 dgn org johor.

**********************************

{Are you OK, Jie?}

I'm not too sure.

**********************************

Update on 17.09.05

I guess when the inevitable happens, there's bound to be a roller-coaster of emotions accompanied by tears. I'm sad but glad at the same time. I so miss our happy times, I so miss him, but it was my own painful decision. I'm just glad to know there's someone taking care of him now, because I know he needs it, and primarily because I also feel the same need. I've sometimes driven myself up the wall worrying about his health etc within this past three years, but I don't have to do that anymore.

A coincidence, I am sure, but is this the reason why that very recently I suddenly warmed up to the idea of making new male acquaintances, when all these time I never wanted to? Are we both finally letting go of each other?

First love is never easy to forget, and I know deep in my heart I will never be able to completely erase it all. But I hope someday soon, I will find a love much stronger which will overwrite those memories. I will however, NOT let my past become an emotional baggage for my future. That much I promise myself.

I am ready to get on with my life.

Monday, September 12, 2005

MAKING NEW FRIENDS

Met him online last weekend.
Met him in person this weekend.
Lotsa phone calls in between.
Can it be....?

We are as different as day & night
Yet across the ocean of differences
Gathers ripples of understanding
Can it be....?

{Jie, are you trying to write a poem? The words don't rhyme, the story sketchy, not a good poem at all}

Who cares! It's MY words in MY blog hehehe :)

I'm not saying that he's The One, that'd be counting my kittens before they're born. It's just that, all this time, I've not been interested in cultivating new male friends at all due to the you-know-what. But this time around, I kinda (just a little) open up a bit. He might not be the one, but may be the beginning of a new happenings for me.

Anyway, the 'date' went on OK but with several glitches. First of all, he was an hour late! So OK, we were supposed to meet for breakfast, but he ain't a morning person, so he overslept. Nasib baik I dah beli 2 newspapers, so spent the hour reading the news in my car.

We had a late breakfast at an Indian restaurant in Brickfields, delicious! Him being about 75% indian descent (betul ke aku kira nih) of course loves Indian food. Unfortunately as we were eating, ada la plak abang dbkl datang letak surat cinta kat my car's windscreen !@?!#@??

Then we spent the next few hours just chatting. Much as I hate pretending to be shy (Jie is definitely NOT a gigly 20-yrs old virgin on her first date) but memang ada shy sket la, not pretense but it's just how I am. I think he (despite him NOT a gigly 20-yrs old virgin on his first date either hehehe) was a little bit 'segan' also, so the chat was mostly not so merapu la. But there you have it, people are generally more berani in the cyberworld or on the phone rather than when face to face, biasalah tu. But I had fun anyway.

It's been too long since I'd been on a real date. I like talking to him, and I'd like to get to know him better, even only as a friend, because I simply find him interesting & passionate (he's a Leo) about stuff. Well, with a lifestory like his, tujuh hari tujuh malam bercerita pun tak bosan haha :-)

On another note, I hope he's 'settled' the dbkl surat cinta with his friend, as he'd promised to do the other day...

Sunday, September 04, 2005

FAMILY DAY

Aha, this is a trademark in all gomen offices. Hari Keluarga! Objektif - supaya warga Bahagian dan ahli keluarga dapat berkumpul, berkenalan dan mengeratkan silaturrahim sambil berriadah dan bergembira.

This year, my dept's Hari Keluarga will be held at a holiday resort in Bentong in September, an overnighter which I hope will turn out well and without any mishaps hehehe.

Since I joined in in 1998, we have held FDs in the nature park in Bukit Cerakah, Sungai Congkak near Kajang, Desa Waterpark, and one year (the year our previous boss retired) we had it at a hotel as part of her retirement celebration dinner.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel that lately there is less camaraderie among members of our staff, and less eagerness to attend FD. Since the last FD in 2003, some senior staff had been transferred and some new blood were acquired. Population used to be 27, then 31, and now it's 41. Could this be the underlaying factor?

The best attended FD was the one in Desa Waterpark in 2003, where everyone was there except one staff who had gout attack and couldn't walk, and medem. Him I can understand, but her, she had earlier promised to come but later said 'saya sesat jalan'. Helloooo.... Desa Waterpark is right beside the highway, not in the boondocks, okay. We had even given you their official map just in case, plus you had everyone's handphone numbers in case you needed to ask for directions. How lame can you get???

This year when we presented our FD programme to medem, her first response was "OK, enjoy yourselves." I don't know what's wrong, but she simply refuses to attend our FDs! Sans malice, I personally say I can't understand her attitude at all. That's not good conduct for the management, I say. Are we lowly mortals not good enough to be granted your company? JazakaLlah. Perhaps she has other problems (family?) which makes her uncomfortable to attend our FD. What the hey anyway lah.

Anyway, this year's FD is suffering a bit of a controversy. Some of the more senior staff will not be attending. I kinda blew my top (just a little lah) one day, when I was going around confirming attendance. Chetun will only be attending it on the second day, tapi ni memang dah jangka la because of her tight daily schedule in taking care of her invalid mom. Cheda mulanya dah confirm nak pegi, then canceled because 'nak attend husband punya function'. I half-jokingly said in a loud voice, which other staff also heard "ha ni la, bila kita tak buat FD (last year tak buat) dia bising suruh buat, bila kita dah penat-penat organize, dia plak taknak pegi".

Among excuses given were :-
'Nak attend husband punya function' - even though invitation to that other function (same date) came much later.
'Nak attend husband punya FD, lagi besar' - even though hubby's FD is on different date, but probably coz hubby's in the procurement dept and so their lucky draw gifts (don't ask if/who sponsors 'em) are much more in value and numbers.
'Nak attend wife punya, depa buat kat Pangkor' - Pangkor is more glamorous than Bentong eh? lame!
'Malas nak bermalam la' - lame excuse!
'Malas la, takde geng' - lame lame excuse!
'Anak taknak ikut, malas la nak gi berdua ngan husband je' - lame lame lame!
'Dulu pernah panjat Kinabalu, takkan sekarang nak panjat bukit je' - whaa...? {Jie raises one eye-brow, wah berkias nampaknya!}
'Aku ni ada tahi lalat kat pinggang, tak boleh dengar cakap orang' - {Jie raises both eye-brows, then quietly goes to the wall and bangs her head} whaddafookyoumean haa..?

Activities lined up are :-
First day petang - sesi berkenalan & minum petang
First day malam - barbecue dinner, karaoke contest, lucky draw, fancy dress contest for kids.
Second day morning - morning exercise/aerobics session, then telematch, after which we are free to go mandi sungai at the riverside picnic area in front of the resort. FD ends after lunch.
Hope everyone have fun!

That's it, this is the last year I'll be in the Badan Kebajikan, which organizes pretty much all the events for the dept (even those that's beyond our duty, like sambutan Hari Q and Majlis Hari Raya, which are the responsibilities of the administration unit) We're an eager lot full of ideas and don't mind having extra 'duties' or even using our own personal time & pocket money to do these stuff, but no one appreciates all that, least of all medem! Next year we're gonna pass the reins to the new blood, maybe they'll have even better ideas & more energy for this kind of stuff.

Will post about the FD turnout soon!

KURSUS, KURSUS, KURSUS

Dunno why but lately at the office banyak betul kena pi kursus. Maybe the organizers are cramming all the courses in the few months short from bulan puasa & Aidilfitri. Weh, bajet kursus dah dapat, kena belanja jugak! Sebab apa-apa lebihan tak boleh dibawa ke tahun hadapan pun. For the past 3 months, I've twice been to different courses held in Hotel Nikko, one on Syariah Banking (penceramah quite good but not all contents of the course are applicable to my work) and another on Land Law (very good course!). Then there was this Enforcement course in Ampang (penceramah good), and another one in Kundasang, Sabah (penceramah sucked!), which I attended as an observer. Similarly, all my colleagues also attended different courses all over the state.

Last year, I attended the Friendship Programme in Japan. This year, Chetun gets to attend a slightly different course in Korea. Rezeki masing-masing la tu. Attending a course away from home is an eye opener at all levels be it personal, career or nationalism. Can't wait for her return on Sept 16th to hear about all her experiences there! Tapi lupa plak nak kirim beli kimchi kat dia aritu :-)

MERDEKA!

Came across quite a few blogs with posts about Merdeka, so here goes... what is the meaning of Merdeka to you?

I am an Anak Merdeka - born during the good years after Malaysia obtained her Independence. I am ashamed to admit, that although I appreciate lots of what I enjoy (and take for granted) these days, but the pain & sufferings of those who fought for Merdeka back then are kinda lost on me {Jie hangs her head in shame}.

Arwah Nenek used to tell us about her experiences during the war. How people had been beheaded for the slightest mistakes like not bowing their heads towards the Japanese army yang melintas depan mereka. How they had to survive on boiled tapioca when there was shortage of rice during the war. How the village folks blacken their young daughters' faces with soot & hid them away from the preying eyes of askar Jepun, lest their daughters get raped and killed by 'em.

Arwah Nenek lost her fiancee (an army officer) during the war. She was quickly married off to Arwah Atuk, so that she'd be safe with a man looking after her. Life was still tough, but slightly improved after Ibu was born, when Arwah Atuk was engaged as a personal driver to a Jap army officer then stationed in Klang. Hate was rampant against the Japs, but the kampung folks liked this officer because personally he was a nice & kind person. He did his duties (as an army loyal to his flag) quietly & didn't take advantage over the kampung folks. He gave away part of his food ration to the kampung folks. One little luxury he shared only with my family, that was his daily ration of eggs which he gave to Arwah Atuk to 'feed it to your baby daughter so she will grow strong & healthy'. See, even in the face of war & adversity, kindness of the heart will always persevere.

Other than that, I'm afraid I have no personal contact to the process of Merdeka. Sure, we all went through the history lessons in school. I've read books, both facts & fictions, about Malaysia's treacherous journey towards independence. But what is lacking is the Semangat (passion). I see this in many people of my generation, and I don't know how to rectify this.

As time goes by, there is less and less of the passion for remembering Merdeka. Instead the M-Day is now celebrated by having fireworks at midnight & holding concerts with artistes some of whom can't even be bothered to memorize the lyrics of the patriotic songs they're supposed to sing on stage. After the concerts' are over, we find discarded trash including used condoms, strewn all over the grass. The next morning, we have the parades and fancy floats made with fresh flowers which must've costed puluhan ribu RM to the sponsors - good money which had it been donated to charity organizations, could sustain their operation costs for at least 3 months.

Wither art thou, Anak Merdeka?
Wither art thou, Kerajaan Merdeka?
Wither art thou, the future of Malaysia?