Questa è Enida

I went to One Utama Mall again yesterday. Two days in a row. Is it a good mall or what! This time we parked on the 3rd floor and when we went down the escalator, lo and behold…there was the ARENA store as big as it ever got! So on our way out – I am not going to nyenyenye about shopping at Jusco supercrowdedmarket today – I made a stop just to give my luck another try.

Yes they did have size 24. So I thought I should just go back to Parkson Subang Parade and return the size 22 and try my luck in getting refunded for that. Should come back to that Arena store and purchase a 24. But I got carried away and ternyenyenye to the salesladies there about my very suey experience lah with Parkson OU.

Two three salesladies listened to my nyenyenye and one of them offered to call Parkson (Arena) promoters to get Kitreena’s swimsuit exchanged. I could NOT believe it! I mean, finally, when I got a real customer service at a store I did not even make a purchase at…uh, haaa, er, ummm! What do I do? I was flattered and flabbergasted all at the same time. I forgot I was in Malaysia for a moment.

So, I left Kit’s size 22 swimsuit with those nice ladies yesterday and went back to OU Mall today – to make it three days in a row – to pick up a size 24. I am home now with guess which size 24 the blasted Parkson gave me? The one that had a stain on the sleeve of course! How did you guess eh?

Ah well, I just washed the swimsuit. The stain came off and guess who’s laughing?

This is actually what I wrote on Yahoo Messenger to my lil sis this morning to mengadu domba. But then I thought, hmmm…it is a story in itself, I might as well cut, paste and post. Here:

I went shopping secara solo last week and bought Kitreena an Arena swimsuit kat Parkson Subang Parade. At home, cuba punya cuba, juuuuust fits her now. Pakai pool diaper nampak lah sendat sket. So, saya cuba lah nak tukor kat Parkson OU on Saturday. You’d think all Parksons are Parksons lah kan. Zaapppppp! Wrong!

I went to Arena department Parkson OU, saleslady tu mulanya ok je sebab I didn’t tell her upfront that I bought mine at Parkson SUBANG PARADE. But bila dia siap tanya siapa yang served me…huh? I thought, what difference does it make? Dan apakah the relativity theory nya di sebalik soalan itu? So I told her that I bought it at another Parkson only two days earlier. “Ohhhh!” she said, “Tak leh tukar sini, kena pegi balik Subang Parade sebab the bill is over there.”

I know for sure Subang Parade Parkson tak de size 24 (I bought size 22), while Parkson OU tu did have the size 24. I was even willing to amik yang ada stain kat lengan pun swimsuit tu, and kasik dia my size 22 with all the tags in tact, no stain-stain one. Nope. She said “Cannot lah, can’t help.” So I said not a word more. Gave her a sigh and shook my head, kasik balik dia punya treasured size 24 Arena swimsuit yang ada stain on the sleeve, took back my size 22 and walked away.

The thing is I had expected that to happen. But my problem is I always give these business people here the benefit of the doubt, and I’m always willing to try and see. Sudahnya saya jugak yang kechiwa. But seriously…what is so hard about exchanging an item when it is already paid for? The price-tag and info-tag are all in tact, the receipt is at-hand-in-hand, and we are talking about the same bloody items (only differ in sizes) and the same bloody outlets!

No!
If it’s too easy, it’s impossible! Many Malaysian businesses agaknya just enjoy doing it the hard way. If the consumers’ rights are vague, and the information about these rights are not easily accessible to them…hey, let’s screw them silly consumers lah! If they complain, print on the receipt in the smallest font possible that goods sold are NOT returnable, exchangable, refundable. Muahahahahaa!

And again, seriously…how and where do I get information on my rights as a consumer here ah?

Kitreena’s first day at playschool!

She has been so lah ready to go to school, that last weekend was hell! That much, I tell you. Took her for a ‘tour’ to this Buzzy Bee montessori Thursday last week and she just loved it. The next three days she woke up, went to bed, ate meals, went potty pun thinking about nothing but school.

So today, she went in with Aunty Principal…not even looking back at me to say bye-bye. I stood at the door for about 30 seconds – in AWE! I didn’t know whether to say “Wow!” or “Awwww!” Left the school yard feeling…uh, a bit detached (mind my awe-full lack of better word). My baby don’t need me no more.

It was a good thing that I had a job interview to attend in Damansara. Not knowing how the traffic was going to be like, spare time was definitely not on my wrist-watch. But this post is not about me. Later on that.

I made it right on time for Kitreena’s pick-up (12.30) but…it took me at least 20 minutes before I could get her into the vehicle! She did NOT want to come home! That was how ready she had been, I guess. I took that as a very good sign – my detached feelings aside, that is.

Went to see STOMP performance at Istana Budaya. It was good. I mean it was GREAT! My problem was that, I went in with a very high expectation. My mistake, really. I was hoping that the group would play at least ONE very well known song using whatever they were using. They made good beat, don’t get me wrong. They outdid themselves. But just like I said, I was looking for that something extra-special, or maybe something plainly “ordinary” that the audience could identify with. Playing a beat of ‘Lambada’ or ‘Conga’, for example…using those brooms and trash cans.

One single song would have done it. Or would that be too much? I’m not a very easy gal to please, am I?

Bibik arrived safe and sound tadi sore. My personal gratitude to Mr Helmi – whose assistance in getting Bibik’s papers through the custom check first (in front of the other fifteen domestic helpers standing in line), made it a much shorter wait. By 8pm, after landing quarter to 6, Bibik and Kitreena were already walking hand in hand.

Mine was in Be’s and the other…counting my blessings.

I finally successfully opened a Maybank account today, after a thorough interrogation at the entrance. With my unemployed face, aka muka pompuan tak keje, I ‘replayed’ what happened previously. That was…I used the same script.

Yang bagusnya, the lady at the entrance remembered HER lines as well. She asked me the very same questions I was asked the last time – all in perfect order! Like, whether I was employed, where I stayed, and the works. This time she even improvised her questions, she asked me my PURPOSE of opening a savings account at Maybank.

Well, I proved the adage lah kan. That a stoopid question begets a stoopider answer. My answer was, “Because I have money and I would like to save some in a savings account so that I would not spend it all.” And gave her that ‘now-do-I-pass-the-test-or-not?’ look. She went hehehe not like that lah Ma’am.

I actually had made an online registration to open an account earlier, like I was told to. And I was given the instruction to go to the branch I selected…to finalize the paperwork. And so I did. But the lady at the entrance said that, “Oh, all the online registration data goes to our headquarters and we don’t have it here.” Huh? What was that supposed to mean? That they didn’t have a way to retrieve my data online – from their KLCC Branch? What a crappy system! That was the funniest joke I had ever heard. But, boy! Was I not laughing.

I had the online registration Reference Number right in my hand and she was basically saying that it has no meaning to them. I could not believe I was dealing with THE biggest and the best bank in Malaysia at that moment. Pancung kepala pun sumpah I wouldn’t believe it.

But anyway, the lady asked me if I had my passport with me to open an account – she was going to make a deal lah kiranya so that I could still open an account. Why do I need a PASSPORT to open an account? Not only do I have to have a job, now I have to have a passport? I truly felt like I was going to pengsan in disbelief there and then! I do not haul my passport around, but I do have my ID/IC…I said.

“Oh, are you Malaysian?” she asked. I didn’t know whether to take that as an insult or compliment. I must have looked like a Filipino or Nepalese to her. No offense. Or maybe I simply looked like a maid – a pregnant and unemployed maid. How could that be?

To cut the already long story short, she asked me to come back Monday next week. I said, “No, I am not leaving until I have a savings account opened. Thank you very much.” I refused to be treated like I was going to apply for a loan. Even loan applicants are not treated that way, I am sure. Cakap kasor nyer, bukan aku nak duit engkau! Aku lagi nak menyimpan – which is to their advantage to invest. Lagi mao bising! Bangsat ke haper!

But nah, I was ‘nice’ all the way. The lady gave me the ‘let-me-check-our-customer-appointment-list’ excuse and if the customer who was supposed to come at that hour cancelled his appointment, she would slot me in. “Kita ada customer waiting ni.” To which I gave, “You are not treating me as a potential customer here, lady! For God’s sake, I am about to open an account with this bank.” Sambil saya terkelip-kelip kat situ, still in disbelief lah kan.

I was given a form to fill in and about 20 minutes later the lady came to me asking if I had been at the KLCC branch before.

I showed her the Manager’s letter.

I just realized I wrote over-the-counter in the last part of my last post. I actually meant counter service. Over the counter tu bunyik macam nak beli ubat tak yah prescription je! Muahahaha! Tu lah dia kalau dah terover-over nak mengomplen. Over and out!

I was told by a family member the other day that ever since I came back to Malaysia, all I have done is complaining. Uh! I didn’t realize that, quite frankly. I guess she was right. Itu tak kena, ini tak betul…and I have been nothing but too idealistic. My expectations have been unrealistic. Well, not that I am trying to justify it now, but I guess since I am here – home – I have nothing much to miss. Miss, as in long for.

When I was away, I remembered home the way I wanted to. All rosy, all wangi, all bau bunga. So I longed to come home, I missed all the good things about home, and I forgot all the bunga taik ayam that came in the package. (By the way, my brother-in-law, Neil, educated me that bunga taik ayam’s real name is Lantana when I saw plenty of them in Atlanta and called them Chicken-Poop Flowers. Lantana is a nice name, eh?)

And so I kicked and screamed and complained. And in the same time I tried hard to change things around here. Perhaps because I have seen better things out there and I wanted the best for my home. And perhaps I tried too hard, pushed too strong. I wanted people to look at things the way I see things, I guess. Not that I haven’t been tactful in doing what I did, though. I concsiously tried to be very tactful. I bit around the bush, I asked those ‘mukadimah’ questions, I tried to be pleasing.

Nevertheless, I have come to a painful realization that I am different. I do things differently and I think things through differently. Does that make me less Malaysian? I don’t think so. But Malaysians do things…again, differently. Just because I am home I cannot expect that I can come in without knocking on the door and saying a brief hello or salam and having a small talk at the door and waiting for an invitation to come in. I can NOT.

I am, by all means, an insider who had taken herself outside for years and taken herself back home. But no matter how ‘inside’ I think I am, those years have turned me into an outside insider. It’s okay to stand outside the window looking in, the people inside know me and recognize me as one of them. But I am not allowed to come in.

Maybe not now. Maybe not yet. Maybe not at all. Time will tell.

If I said I am not impressed with Maybank’s response to my nyenyenye, I’d be lying lah. So yeah, on August 25, I received this in my email box:

• Dear Mrs Enida,
  Thank you for your email on the above matter. We appreciate your feedback and have taken this matter into serious attention. We will investigation and revert to you soonest possible. Please allow us to take this opportunity to extend our apology over the experience you had encountered and we assure you that your feedback has assisted us in enhancing our level of service quality.

  Regards,
  Irene Chua
  Public Affairs and Brand Management
  Tel. no. 6 03 20747785
  Fax no. 6 03 20722504

The following two days, I received a PHONE CALL mak ngko! It was Puan Harlina, the assistant manager or KLCC Maybank Branch. Hah, special tak special it made me feel…uh, kinda! She asked if I could come in and identify the two clerks who gave me the so lah very misleading information re opening an account at KLCC branch. What to say, I couldn’t. I guess I should have jotted down their names at the very least, but I could not recall if they were wearing any name tags.

All I could say was that I was there around 3 pm on August 18 and the two ladies were quite young. Harlina asked if they were wearing head covers. Affirmative! Hmmm…more like brain-covers to me sorry to say lah kan. It makes you wonder doesn’t it, of how many potential clients KLCC Maybank has ‘lost’ because of these two misinformants. Isy isy isy! Pepandai je ‘bank procedure’ cik konon. Bank procedure kepala hotak dia!

But then, doesn’t it also make you wonder…of how they came up with such misleading information. That’s why in my feedback I asked if it was just a case of ill-trained staff. Cik Nan, who has also moved back to Malaysia just a week ago had the very same problem at Maybank Subang Jaya. In her case lagi parah, she was advised to open an account nearest to the address in her Identity Card! I would have had to fly to the eastern tip of Borneo lah kalau cenggitu eh?

And then, Thursday last week I received a letter in the MAIL box from Encik Md Yatim, the very Manager of Maybank KLCC Branch. Oiii, did I ever consider leaping with joy. Basically, he recapitulated the actions his people had taken as rectification to what had happened. (Nantilah I scan the letter, so you can have a little sengih of the day.) I was even ‘invited’ to open an account now at KLCC Maybank. Ooooh invited okay!

I’m impressed and I am happy that Maybank did what they did. Good for them. So, will I open an account there now? Oh yes, why not. But do I have confidence in Maybank’s over-the-counter service? I’d say, “Oh me with little faith!”

This is exactly what I wrote to Maybank tonight:

“I was told by two front-desk staff at Maybank KLCC branch on August 18, 2005 at about 3 pm, that I was ‘not allowed‘ to open an account at KLCC Maybank because I was not employed. I could only open one at a branch near my residence (Ukay Heights). That was the ‘bank procedure‘, I was told. My attempt to even make an appointment to open an account there was turned down cold-turkey. I may not be employed conventionally, but I do have an income from rental properties and I do save. Does your ‘bank procedure’ really refuse business from ‘unemployed’ customers, or was it just a case of ill-trained front-desk staff?”

Even twins, triplets and multi-plets are delivered ONE at a time. Sudahnya kita ni karang pun, tak lah sekubur berdua. So, there’s nothing bad about being our age and still single. I mean it. No matter what the reasons are; be it your broken heart, your serik heart, your sexual orientation, your financial situation. Jodoh pertemuan tu kerja Tuhan. Don’t feel bad about not having a husband/wife. You alone, are complete. A spouse enhaces your existence, yes. He/she does not complete you.

Besides, ‘complete’ is a very subjective adjective – a perception, a shared concept. You give the word its meaning. Others may or may not agree with you. Some may even ask why you are not married, and quite a few may offer help, service or advice. Tell them you are single, complete in your own standard, and happily so. If they question you, ask them to question God because you don’t. Ta mim ta.