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Reality Check : So to Speak

January 25, 2005 by Enida

As per using English in titling movies back home. Echeh! As per lah pulak. Writing a surat rasmi, am I? Eh, you don’t play with me. I do know the difference between resmi and rasmi. Resmi ayam berketak, resmi kerbau menguak, resmi padi, makin tunduk makin berisi. Now that’s resmi, whereas rasmi is formal, official; as in…”Minuman rasmi sukan Sekolah Rendah Pagoh tahun ini ialah Milo.” Teringat kat orang Pagoh je lately ni.

Ek termelencong! Well, as per using English in titling movies back home…I couldn’t help but to roll my eyes in disbelief when I read an article on Berita Harian. Apparently somebody at DBP thinks it’s degrading to use English just for the commercial’s sake of movies. And it’s aweless of Malaysian movie-makers not to use full Bahasa Melayu in titles when the movies are mostly in full Bahasa.

I Know What You Did Last Raya and Gerak Khas The Movie, were among those that made it to the slaughter site. Though they weren’t exactly slaughtered, they were grilled, leaving no sunny side up, down and around. So this DBP’s smart cookie with a flipper said something like…kalau tak kita yang mengagungkan bahasa kita, siapa lagi? Bahasa kita indah. (Not the exact words, mind you.) But I couldn’t agree more with her.

But then again, because…

a) I am surrounded by people who are perfectly and comfortably bilingual,

b) English is taught in school, and

c) The last thing I checked, English is still our second language…

I just cannot imagine how unnatural it can be to NOT code-switch. Reality is, that’s what we do everyday. We code-switch. Of course you have to use only one language when writing a surat rasmi. You shouldn’t go rojak as in, “Thank you di atas consideration pihak tuan in this matter.” Neither should you direct-translate between the two. I am sure you get the drift. Anyway, this is not about something as innocent as writing formal letters. Most people make movies to make mulah. Lotsa mulah. What part of movie making that is not commercial? Mengagungkan bahasa? Isyy pogedid. Besides, it’s not even the issue. There are gazillion other ways to mengagungkan bahasa.

The question is, however, what’s not right about speaking or using more than just one language? I know many people who are more than just good in both English and Bahasa. I mean, they have mastered both languages equally. They write poetry in English as well as they do sajak, syair and pantun. And I am not talking about Pak-Ali-pergi-ke-kedai kinda pantuns either.

Campak these people to any ‘Malam Puisi’, they will berpuisi. So good, that you see puisi coming out of their ears. You herd these cows people to any all-English events, I tell you…they will be speaking the London better than most Londonese or Londoners can. Boy, they are that good! And many would eat their own shite before they would say that Bahasa is not indah. The key is to master the languages before you can manipulate them, and know when not to.

Reality check:

Is it true that only people who are mediocre that feel inferior? And people who feel inferior that are more defensive? I hope envy is not the case with that smart ass cookie at DBP, because “Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.” Put the commercial values aside, do I disrespect Bahasa Malaysia if I’m comfortable using both English and Bahasa? (And can be good at both, chewah berlagak!)

Just how do you translate Gerak Khas The Movie, by the way?

a. Gerak Khas Filemnya

b. Gerak Khas Filem Itu

c. Gerak Khas Yang Filemnya Pula

Hah, jawab Kak Esah jangan tak jawab.

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Have You Ever…

January 24, 2005 by Enida

Be made a cake for my birthday less than a month ago. From scratch. Well, scratch that came in a box. And icing that came in a spray can. His first time. Obviously it wasn’t the prettiest cake I had ever seen. But it was surely the sweetest. In all ways. Sugar on top, honey bun.

The same week, my class was doing Present Perfect Simple when we saw a question on Azar: Have you ever made a birthday cake? Naturally I told my class about the cake while trying very hard not to sound overly contented. By the way, I am closer to 40 than I ever will be…to 30. I have lost count of my gray hair probably because I have never actually counted them. Not that I remember them being countable anyway.

My students went ooh and aah over the sweetness of the cake story. One vowed to marry nothing less than an omputeh – specifically Canadian. The other would send out an ad looking for good cooks with good looks. I said, men are men. Just find one that loves you. Amen.

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The Things That Bite Too

January 18, 2005 by Enida

Kitreena’s first visit to the dentist went well, though she didn’t really think opening her mouth to a stranger was a nice thing to do. Dr. Julio Alzate did anything and everything he could to break the ice. And he did. He finally got Kitreena to smile and he could see her teeth – her last two molars are coming along nicely.

Dr. Alzate reminded us that Kitreena should never go to sleep with her bottle. Not that she does, but that was a reminder I actually needed because I do bekalkan Kitreena with a cup of susu every night…just in case. And that is soooo not good! I shoud have known better.

Nevertheless, considering it was Kitreena’s first visit, I think it was great. Of course I am biased, I am her Mommy. Kitreena brought an inflated rubber glove home, with eyes and mouth personally drawn by Dr. Alzate. Can’t get any more special than that, eh?

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Qoribun

January 18, 2005 by Enida

It’s just amazing how my sahabat qoribun can know simply after hearing my calling her name…Cik Naaaaann. She called me today and left a message with the pompuan penjawab talipon on my desk. I called her back as soon as I picit the pompuan’s punat. (If you don’t know by now that the pompuan is the answering machine, your IQ must be minus 64.) Though Cik Nan just said it was urgent and mentioned nothing to the pompuan, I knew it must have been something about her trip down (heretting Zura along) tomorrow.


Anyway, I didn’t think it was going to be a problem for a non-GCC resident to get an Omani visa upon entry…until I saw the information on visa requirement for Oman online. Zura can only be granted a tourist visa if she flies into Muscat tomorrow. Meaning, she will be refused entry at Hatta border-crossing if she travels with Cik Nan. So I called my sahabat qoribun and simply sighed her name…”Cik Naaaaaaan.” Her long apasaaaaaaal was enough to indicate that she almost knew what was coming.

Now, if think I am not blessed enough to have such a friend and such friendship…I don’t know how else would I ever be. I have a great mother, two wonderful sisters and one helluva larger than life best friend. Go girls!

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The Things That Bite

January 17, 2005 by Enida

My baby is going to see Dr. Julio Alzate tomorrow to get her pearly whites checked. Awww…my baby is all grown up and ready to brave the world out there, battling against cavity. I have no clue how she is going to cooperate. But it’s going to be fun to see. Samia, Fauzia and Si Kacak dari Gua Hantu are all pretty excited to see her. Well, forget about them. I am as excited as a chipmunk in a nuts-store if you have to know.

Anyway, reality check:

Where do you position your tongue when you’re laying there nganga-ing for the dentist? Especially when you have a tongue that just refuses to stay still. Aaaa? Aaaa?

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Butterfly Kisses

January 14, 2005 by Enida

Kitreena hasn’t been well. She was constantly fighting the high fever for at least three days, Sunday through Tuesday. At the scorching heat between 39 and 41 degrees Celcius, she was trying to act normal. Playing shiau shiau like usual, watching Pocahontas 12 time a day like always. She was acting so normal that I almost didn’t believe my new infra-red Dotory Dubai-mari thermometer at first. I kept on switching back and forth to the old kepit bawah ketiak type, and kept on taking my own temperature to see if both thermometers were working properly. My baby was burning hot!

Her fever seemed to go away yesterday. So did my worry. Especially because it was also the day Be came home from his desert-shift. He’s my back-to-back, my sidekick. It’s not easy not having him around two weeks at a time. It’s like sitting on a chair that has no back. Kosi yang tak de tempat sandor, gitu. You can’t just get up and leave, yet you can’t sit back and relax either. Yes there’s Bibik, but she can’t do much if there’s an emergency situation. Anyway….

Kitreena wasn’t feverish today, but she sure slept a lot. I could tell that she wasn’t being herself especially when she didn’t even touch her favorite Spaghetti con Pomodoro e Basilico I made especially for her. Trying not to be too dramatic about her not eating for the fifth day now, we took her shopping at Mothercare for some new outfit. Then off to The Sultan Center for groceries. She wasn’t a happy camper. Uh, maybe that is an understatement. Be sure thought so. For the first time Kitreena put her teeth to a mis-use and gigit her Daddy’s shoulder! She can go berserk when she’s angry, I tell you. But she never bites. Today she did.

We came home and she went from angry to berserk to hysterical! And it was no laughing matter. I thought of pompoming her. That usually cools her down. Then there it was. Red spots! There was red spots all over her body! Red alert, red alert! Measles came to mind, but I tepis the thought with all my might. It can’t be measles, it just can’t be! She had her inoculation for measles. Be grabbed the phone for the talian Hayat. Hayat Clinic, here I come. Half an hour and gazillions of mental pictures successfully tepised later, Kitreena was back into Dr. Samuel’s room.

It was a severe respiratory infection. So severe that I could see some black spots near her anak tekak area. The only word I could think of (the way I felt) at that moment is luluh. I don’t know why, and I don’t really know how to explain it. Luluh – I was heaved by guilt and regret for not taking her in much earlier. I thought it was just a fever. Darn! I should’ve known better! A fever is not just a fever. It is an indication that the body is fighting against something else. Why was I so careless? Why did I ignore my instinct?

It wasn’t even a month since Kitreena saw Dr. Gracy Samuel last. My Kitty had been caughing like a sick cat for weeks back then and was given Fenistil. She was allergic to baby (talcum) powder. Bibik seemed to think Kitreena looked tak lengkap without, especially after pompoms. I never thought so much of it. Yeah, I wouldn’t leave home without a puff or two myself. But now, come to think of it…I never put anything on Kitreena right from day one, until Bibik came along. How did I change? Why did I?

Within less than a month, Kitreena had lost one and a half kilos. Correction; within a week actually. She was 14.5 kg on December 19 – coughing or no coughing, she found it fun jumping up and down the scale. She was allright. Tonight she was just beside herself in a misunderstood anger and an unimaginable hunger too, I suppose. Nothing has gone in and out of that little body but liquid. Today, on January 13th…she’s down to 13 kg. Now, how did I miss the signs?

I found an old song the other day – Butterfly Kisses, sung by Bob Carlisle. A song I used to imagine myself about…had I a Dad like so. I don’t. But that doesn’t stop me from keeping on counting my blessings. For my baby girl. For having a Dad as loving as my Be.

There’s two things I know for sure:
She was sent here from heaven
and she’s Daddy’s little girl….

…In all that I’ve done wrong I know
I must have done something right
to deserve a hug every morning
and butterfly kisses at night….

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So Numb Me

January 7, 2005 by Enida

To say that I am not touched by the tsunami…would be a lie. I am hardened, but not numbed. But I find it still hard to believe that the people in this region – whom God sent numerous prophets to, who have been so blessed with wealth and who haven’t seen any musibah in their life – are doing very little, if any at all, to help. It makes me wonder sometimes, they are either not doing anything or it’s CNN that is not reporting.

That’s it! I am switching to BBC.



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Reality Check: An Epigraph

January 7, 2005 by Enida

I have been thinking about so many things. Remembering a lot more than I thought I could. While having a teruja time chatting with my best friend, Cik Nan, recently I recalled this. There used to be this DJ petang-petang on RMKT. Or was it RMIK, tak ingat. Sometime in the late 80’s it was. Very philosophical. He could be downright jiwang at times, but never shallow. You know…the ‘deep’ sort? If it wasn’t Ainol Jamal, it must have been Chuari Selamat. What I remember se’sangat though, was the oh-ha’ah-lah-it’s-so-true kind of pesan he used to say at the end of his slot:


“Sesungguhnya hidup ini…banyak soalan, kurang jawapan.”

Here I was munching away – dengan penuh kelazatan – on kuih Batang Buruk sent to Cik Nan through me by her sister (I got some as an upah. Thanks mate!) And I got thinking. The Batang Buruk is so sedap. But would it leave a bad taste in your mouth if you were to be nice and change its name to uh… Batang Sedap?


The much sought-after batang ever known to humankind.




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I Did It and Am Not Sorry

January 7, 2005 by Enida

I said the word. The forbidden six-million-non-the-poorer word, NO. Not to Kitreena, but to my boss, of all the people. Citernyer gini…she, many weeks ago, asked me if I was interested in teaching an IELTS class. Berkerut gak dahi sebab I didn’t know if I would be interested. Analogically speaking, it’s like asking me if I berminat tak makan kuih Epok-epok when I don’t even know if this kuih epok-epok would be anything like kuih Abuk-abuk or Onde-onde or it would even be like Perogies. In other words, I knew very little about IELTS. Kebetulan a full-time IELTS trainer, Lauren, was leaving a couple of weeks later and my boss asked me if I wanted to take over.


Well, to cut the short story even shorter, I said yes. Between memunggah satu resource room searching for books, modules, materials and what-nots to prepare myself, balik Malaysia to manage my property, and my ma & pa-in-law datang ke Oman for 2 weeks, and siap I gi ikut panjat Jabal Akhdar sumer…I managed to organize some lesson plans for the first week. Padahal weeks sebelum tu lagi dah I harassed my boss mintak the course modules. Three four times she gave me the opocot! She either forgot or didn’t have the modules.

It wasn’t until two three days before Lauren left that I got the chance to get some briefing about IELTS and about the four students yang akan di pass-baton kan to me. Then came the day. There I was, in a five-hour slot with one Danish girl and three Omani guys…looking at the reading practice handouts after handouts – wondering why I ever said yes to Joan.

I never felt more displaced, disorganized and somewhat unprofessional than I did that day. Of course I now know what IELTS is all about. But the given class bukannya IELTS class sangat. Annie yang dari Denmark tu punya English is almost as good as mine, but the guys’…hmm. Day and night. So I was basically teaching two classes in one. Two levels. On top of it I realized it wasn’t like handling a proficiency class. It was all about teaching them the strategies. Practice, practice, practice.

But now, come to think of it…bagus jugak I said yes to Joan. At least now I know what I don’t want to be doing. Teaching IELTS can be fun, I found that much out. But for a person who just read about the exam’s structure and systems…and nak ajar selok belok of it, nah ah! How many strategies can I gather in three days to feed these fighters? It was a battle, indeed.

So I dragged my thick face to my boss and apologized. Short and sweet, I told her that I had to withdraw from the IELTS task. I had to learn a lot more about IELTS before I could even say yes to such a task. My not knowing enough wouldn’t do justice to the students, they deserve an expert (or at least someone who knows about the exam better that I do). I spent many nights bersengkang mata to come up with interesting reading activities. Not to mention many days shooing Kitreena away from my desk whenever she came to play shiau shiau with Mommy.

It was just a little too much for me, a little too dicey for Joan, and a little too unjust for the students. I was confident that that was the best thing for me to do. To say NO. And I was being absolutely honest about it. I wasn’t sorry I said yes, I learned a lot about myself from the whole experience. I was only sorry that I had to put Joan through all the trouble to find a replacement.

Anyway, my boss was very understanding about it. Especially when I told her that I it was hard for me to drill the IELTS students to NOT read every word in the reading passages. Being a word-lover that I am, I appreciate words I read and I analyze the ways they are used. There’s so much one can tell about another by words uttered and written. Plus…just look at me, if I am not wordy…I am nothing!

I am back to teaching evening classes now. Enjoying every bit of it, and enjoying morning hours with Kitreena. Shiau shiau here and shiau shiau there, here a shiau, there a shiau, everywhere a shiau shiau. Old Mek Nida has a Kitty, eyai eyai yoh!





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I Am That I Am

December 29, 2004 by Enida


I Am…

I am hurting
a lil of this
a lil of that
when my flesh does depart

I am shattered
a lil of this
a lil of that
when the love falls apart

I am searching
a lil of this
a lil of that
for the soul that leaves my heart

I wish upon
a lil of this
a lil of that
God…make me one and not odd ?

by LINDT

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