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Archive for the ‘Service’ Category

To Feel No More

Posted in Hurt, Monchies, Service, tagged on July 14, 2014| 2 Comments »

What hurts the most...Enida:
Jatuh kat sekolah. But there are two stories that cut deeper than her wounds. One is about her class teacher that has been calling her names, like ‘Blur’. And the other is about Daddy who has just ‘disappeared’. Well, not just disappeared disappeared. She said Daddy is just gone now. And she doesn’t have that feeling of how a daughter would feel for her dad anymore. It’s gone, she said. She cried for many kilometers. But she’s okay.

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KaCher:
Oh dear. She will be okay.

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Enida:
Oh she will. Sedih sangat for her. It feels like losing our Mom all over again for me. But it makes me more determined.

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KaCher:
Those people who don’t add to our value in life don’t matter anyway. They just make it easier to choose just who we can’t live without, instead.

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Enida:
Sangat! And I think Kitreena is learning to let go. That’s what hurts the most. Letting go tu. I asked her specifically if she wants to spend some time with Daddy this summer. I can let her go and visit Daddy. But she said no. She just doesn’t want to see Daddy anymore. Sebab dia kata it was painful the last time he was here. She realized that she has grown and Daddy stays the same. And every time Daddy sent an email, everything was about him. He never asked how she was doing and what was going on in her life. And now Daddy doesn’t write or call anymore.

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At this point, saya yang nangis berkilometer-kilometer kadalla. That is so her Daddy. It is always about him.

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I continued driving through the mountains with Monchies feeling that luka lama that I thought I could feel no more.

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Say What?

Posted in Bebel, Language, Sense, Service, Travel on February 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Mal Info

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Listen to this.

And the purpose of making an announcement is … ?

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Tam’s Down

Posted in Malaysiana, Sense, Service on September 13, 2013| 2 Comments »

Haa, ni Pak Tam ni.

Ya Pak Tam. Apa khabar?

Ni ada projek besaq ai nak bagi yu.

Oh, terima kasih banyak-banyak.

Ni… ada satu group nak buat baju.

Okay, boleh. Baju macam mana tu Pak Tam?

Baju elok la sikit. Tak mau la buat baju hat kualiti tak berapa elok.

Of course! Baju kami mana ada kualiti tak berapa elok Pak Tam.

Mana la tau kan. Depa nak baju berkolar hat elok la.

Pak Tam tak pernah tengok baju Airwings yang kat kelab tu kot?

Tengok dah. Tapi hangpa takdak bagi ai dua tiga lai pun.

Hah? Bagi?

Ya la. Cuba bagi kat ai dua tiga lai tengok. Hahaha.

Kami berniaga tak macam tu Pak Tam. Kami selalunya bagi free untuk anak-anak yatim saja.

Hah, tak kisah la. Ni projek besaq ni. 150 pack. Bajet depa RM50.00 satu pack. Tapi ai ambik RM3.00. So nanti ai bagi yu RM47.00 saja la.

Oh? Ooookaaaayyy… (?)

Depa nak topi sekali. Topi hat elok jugak la.

Iya lah Pak Tam. Takkan bagi baju elok, tiba-tiba topi buat hat buruk pulak!

So satni ai bagi yu the contact person punya email, yu discuss dengan dia la. Tapi tu la… ai bagitau yu awai-awai, ai nak RM3.00 per pack.

Design dah ada ke Pak Tam?

Depa nak design hat simple-simple saja.

Iya lah. Dah ada ke design simple nya tu?

Ai pun tak tau la. Nanti yu tanya depa sendiri. Okay na.

Hmmm okay.

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I called my partner and told him this, verbatim.
Airwings is NOT taking up the project.

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Kami buat baju hat elok saja, okay.

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Sad Movies Make You Cry?

Posted in Sense, Service on September 10, 2012| 1 Comment »

Semua orang ada cerita sedih masing-masing.

Everybody has their own sad stories.

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And my sad story last week was… my under-the-staircase storage room doorknob broke. Bibik was going in to check on the t-shirt stock, she turned the knob, it came off and the knob on the inside fell off the door! Sad, wasn’t it? But the sadder part was… it was Friday evening, the Mesra Terrace’s technician had just been fired by the management, and Enida the Questa è Enida had NO tools to open any sesame, let alone to open doors.

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Today, almost three days later, I, Enida the Questa è Enida broke the door open with a piece of shoelace. Thanks to the McGuyver in me. As sad as it could be, no one was crying. Including the owner of the shoelace. And hey, who needs a technician to figure out how to open a broken-knob door?

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The other sad story was, last week… the propane tank regulator (for the kitchen stove) broke. I was just about to boil some eggs to make breakfast and prepare the lunch box for Monchies. Yes, the regulator broke. Sad, wasn’t it? But the sadder part was, I had no time to go to any hardware store to get it replaced. For the whole week, Bibik and I cooked using the Electrolux induction cooker I bought almost two years ago. It is, ya know, one of those ‘just-in-case’ gadgets.

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Yesterday, almost a week after the regulator was about to make its way to the garburator, I went to Sia Thai Yew Hardware at Solaris Dutamas to get a replacement. Yes, I could have gone to ACE Hardware first. But I always like small kampung-style hardware shops as the service is almost always personalized. But the sad thing was, it was closed.

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Okay, I lied! I didn’t go to ACE Hardware Store first not because I like small kampung-style hardware shops and their personalized service. But because I knew… if I went to ACE Hardware first, I was going to be tempted to look at regulators and every little tool, gadget, electrical appliance, detergent, spray paint, pot, barbecue stuff and everything visible at all aisles and all corners of the whole store! It would be really sad if I found something that I wasn’t looking for.

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I did come home with a regulator.

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However, in my ACE Hardware shopping bag, there were two other things… a bottle of thinner and a Goo-Gone Painter’s Pal spray gel to remove the red paint on my favorite kebarung I have been wearing since 1996. Oh yeah, that is another sad story — the red paint on my white-green kebarung. But that is an entire different entry.

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And that was yesterday.

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Today, I, Enida the Questa è Enida, would like to tell my new sad stories… there is a leak in the kids’ bathroom that is coming down to the kitchen ceiling by the pantry wall, all air-conditioners need servicing, plus there is a short circuit that makes the ceiling fan in the living room now unusable.

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In tears, I am calling McJegan on 019 3054215.
(Unless you can give me McGuyver’s number.)

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Chance Mali Chance

Posted in Language, Sense, Service on April 18, 2012| 2 Comments »

Selamat pagi, Puan Rrr…Ro… ssl…errr… xhxzvwqtkdg… errr… Enai… errr… Enai… errr… Eni… da… di mana  saya Saiful Abdul Malik daripada TM Telekom ya puan, di mana saya buat panggilan untuk memaklumkan pihak puan di mana puan telah terpilih kerana puan adalah pelanggan setia kami di mana dengan itu kami di TM Telekom berbesar hati untuk memberikan puan mata ganjaran di mana setiap ringgit yang puan bayar sebagai bil produk dan perkhidmatan kami, puan akan menerima satu mata ganjaran di mana mata ganjaran ini puan boleh redeem dengan pelbagai barangan yang TM tawarkan di mana dengan itu juga melayakkan puan untuk menerima satu lagi tawaran dari TM di mana puan akan dilindungi di bawah plan perlindungan di mana plan ini…

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Encik Saiful Abdul Malik meneruskan penjelasan beliau selama hampir setengah jam. Tapi dalam hati, saya sibuk menyanyi lagu ini:

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“Di mana dia anak kambing saya,
anak kambing saya makan rumput di padang;
di mana dia cinta hati saya,
cinta hati saya yang kuat temberang”.

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Budi Bahasa Budaya Kita?

Posted in Culture, Language, Sense, Service on March 31, 2011| 5 Comments »

As soon as I got to the counter at Istana Budaya to pick up my LAT The Musical tickets this morning, I was not greeted by the lady behind the counter. She did not even look at me when I said my Selamat Pagi. I waited for her to say her Selamat Pagi back, but I would probably have had to wait until I heard a rooster crowing cock-a-doodle-doo the morning of April the first, or I might have to wait a year there – at the counter. So I decided not to bother.

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I asked her if my reservation was still kept since it was a day overdue. And when I showed her the reference number, she just glanced over it. No expression on her face. She still had not turned her face to look at mine. After about 20 seconds of silence and her tapping on her keyboard, she asked for the reference number again. L2C7WN it was. She could only recall the first three (L2C).

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“El dua si… apa tadi?”

So I gave her the full reference number, “El two see, seven double you enn.”

She repeated after me, “El dua si, tujuh… apa?”

I was just about to frown, but I didn’t. “Seven double you enn.”

She looked like she was ready to glance over my face, “Tujuh dabaliu en?”

“Ha’ah, tujuh double you enn. El dua see, tujuh double you en. Ada?”

“Enida Johnson ke?” Only then did she look at me and the bindi on my forehead and my cobalt blue punjabi suit..

“Ya, saya.”

“Enam ratus sembilan puluh sembilan ringgit. Nak bayar cash ke?”

“Ya, ya. Saya bayar tunai.”

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I said my “Thank You” twice. Once when I handed her the seven hundred ringgits, and once more when she handed over the one ringgit change. But today I just learned that at Istana Budaya there is no such thing as “Sama-Sama” or “You’re Welcome”. And oh, smiling is not allowed there too, if you work there.

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Ringgit, Rupiah, Rubel

Posted in Sense, Service, tagged on December 21, 2009| 6 Comments »

When asked by Be what I would like for Christmas, nothing else came to mind when I said, “Bibik, Babe!” Hubby grinned and responded, “Yeah, can we share?” Chuckle chuckle chuckle, and we both fell silent, looking at each other  in a quiet reminiscence of how in order life was when we shared our house with Ms Caskinih Kawi for those five years of our life in Oman and Malaysia.

 

Little that I knew that sharing this on Facebook – as I put my status as: “Enida, when asked what she wants for Christmas, said: “Bibik, please.” – would lead to an interesting discussion on Malaysian economic growth! Yeah, you can drop your jaw like that again! I must admit, the comments I got from an old friend got me rolling about Malaysians as a ‘service nation’, I tell you!

 

It all started when Julia asked if my Bibik was a Filipino, Indonesian or a Russian. And then Amir suggested that I should take a Malaysian domestic helper as they are now available – to which I responded…

 

Julia: I had a Bibik made in heaven for 5 years up until April this year. She’s back in Indramayu now but we keep a good flow of SMS’s between us every month. I would rather spend USD1200 on Bibik full-time than RM1200 on a part-time helper here.
 

Amir: I am not fussy about the nationality of a helper, hehe. I base my preference on the trust and experience dengan my Bibik – who actually was the strongest support system I had when I was in Oman.

 

Amir went on saying that it had been reported that Vietnam is catching up with us in growth and predicted to ‘overtake’ Malaysia just next year. And of course to which I replied:

 

Amir: But does growth determine availability of domestic helpers? Our economic growth has been up there but our people don’t believe in ‘servicing’ people, locally or abroad. Unless, of course, in specific business niche like post-natal services (confinement ladies providers).

 

It was when I saw Amir’s response next that I actually lost the plot of the whole discussion. I mean, I could not quite understand what he meant by: “Enida! i am very sure that you can distiguised services rendered! when you leave abroad!”

 

Well, me being Enida that I am, wrote in response…

 

Amir: Oh I am able to distinguish service that has been rendered for me. That’s why I’m assertive about my preference. Economic growth, I believe – in Malaysian context – is not relative to service availability. In fact, BECAUSE of our economic status among Asean countries, our people refuse to work in the Domestic Help line.

 

But then again, if economic status is an excuse, why don’t we see Malaysian Domestic Helpers in countries that pay them well (like here in Russia, a full-time helper makes between USD1200-1500 per month)?

 

That’s why I said, Malaysians are not a ‘service nation’. Tanyalah walau orang kampung yang hidup susah ambik upah cuci baju (just like any other domestic helpers), tak nak dia gaji RM4500 cuci baju kat Moscow. Excuses wil be: tak pandai cakap omputeh/Russian, susah nak tinggal mak/bapak/suami/anak/cucu, ayam/itik/kucing, sawah/pokok serai/pokok getah, takut susah cari halal food, omputeh/Russians tak suka orang Asia, etc.

 

You ask a Pinoy/Indonesian if they would want to make 70,000 Pesos/14 juta Rupiah… they would leave everything they’ve got. No excuses.

 

Trust me, I can host a talk show on this topic alone if you let me! Kalah Kak Nita, Kak Oprah and Abang Jerry Springer semua. So don’t let me, okay?

 

 

Dah. Enida nak pegi potong kuku. Sebelum adegan berchekau berlanjutan menjadi adegan berchakorrr yang anda ingin sangat lihat sebenornye. Kan?

 

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Do It, Woman!

Posted in Service, tagged on November 5, 2009| 4 Comments »

I just went to darat. Darat is the local term for our tiny towncenter (and that is if you call a place with a population of 500 people a ‘town’). I was there with Edrick to get him a haircut. And he got the best haircut I have ever seen in almost 4 years… all for RM4.00 (that is equivalent to CAD$1.20, Neil)!

 

Now, will I kick, scream, swear, spit and spank when it’s time to get Edrick’s next haircut in Moscow that I know will cost me RM120.00? I suppose the question is not will I, but should I?

 

Duit to me bebeh! Ahah ahah!

 

 

Glossary for Neil:
duit = money
pronounced as [do-it] in Bahasa Malaysia

 

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Outta Pochta

Posted in Service, Write On, tagged on September 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Dear families, friends, foes and foie gras…
This is an apology entry bearing my 2009 + 1430 apologies for not able to mail you Raya cards like I did last year and the year before that and the year before that year. Not only the subcontract of the Raya card-making fell through due to the subcontractor’s health (Kitreena has been unwell since Tuesday September 8th, has been missing school since September 9th, and is now undergoing treatment for strep throat).

 

I also just found out that Russian Post (called Pochta) is not as reliable as I was hoping it would be. But to send out one standard-size, standard-weight card by DHL would cost me 2800 Rubels = RM280. Yes! For one card! After a thorough calculation, I figured that it is cheaper to send myself to Malaysia… overweight and all by DHL than sending 25 cards. Hehehe. But no, I am not coming home by DHL. Not by Singapore Airlines or Thai Airways either.

 

So before most of you head home wherever home is, to be with your loved ones… I am hoping you could catch this 2009 + 1430 apology entry and be reminded that you are in my thoughts and prayers as I carry you in my heart this Aidilfitri. Be blessed, be contented and be safe.

 

Cahaya Aidilfitri

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri
Maaf Zahir & Batin

 

With lots of love from:
Enida
Karl
Kitreena
Edrick

 

Always.

 

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Batik Kemban

Posted in Service, Travel, tagged , on July 25, 2009| 2 Comments »

Between Bidor and Manjung

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This is a picture shot with my Samsung Leather phone on our way from Lumut to Port Dickson traveling on the coastal highway. Among all the events that went very wrong, this picture now, however, softens the frustration of that Cuti-Cuti Malaysia Gone Sour experience.

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It was a planned getaway went kaput because of a misleading online advertisement. This happened some time around late 2007, if my memory serves me fairly. We spent only one night at the Swiss-Garden Damai Laut Lumut even though we had one 2-bedroom apartment reserved for four nights. Very very poor service and very very uncleaned rooms.

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And nobody supervised the swimming pool to say, “Excuse me Ma’am, pelampung batik kemban  is not allowed at this pool, ye.”

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pelampung batik kemban = batik sarong floating device

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