I still missed my cat. It's been 4 years. We could always get a new one but the thought of feeding, cleaning up and worrying after it made me think twice although hubby was all for it. Or course he's all up for it, he didn't have to do the dirty work. He's got the free maid to do everything. All he has to do is "eh, mop this spot" or "come clear this" or "cat food almost finish, buy one on the way home" without so much as a dutiful "Please".
As if the thought of that does not pisses me off, he did something again that made me really mad and scared at the same time. Well, firstly, let me just say that I did something over the weekend that I've never done before and syukur alhamdulillah, we made it in one piece.
The first time when he suggested it, I had this strange feeling of being slapped awake and having stomach indigestion at the same time. I was taken aback by the first bout of challenge thrown directly at me. The indigestion however was the result of having coke with M&Ms for lunch.
I protested to the suggestion so violently that for the first time, the husband actually shut up and wisely did not bring the subject up until the day before our great outing.
You see, hubby and friends decided to meet and visit each other on the last lap of Syawal. They met up with more classmates they had unearthed from Facebook and decided to visit a few more classmates some of whom they have not seen for the past 14 years. We were to go gallivanting across the island again, and this time, it will be much more fun and exciting because there are no in-laws involved.
So the day before the outing, after frenzied rounds of phone calls and SMSs, hubby tentatively suggested (again) that I drove our car while he drove his company's car. There will be a total of 4 cars and I'll be the only wife driving. The thought of it made me sick - literally.
Truth was, I've never had the courage to drive with hubby around. I've driven to work, to workshops and to the supermarket without his supervision. Somehow my parking skills are always flawless to the point of being faultless without his "Left!!..Left!! left no turn some more, no no no too much..right, right.....right lah...turn again!! turn again, lock the wheel!!!!..Where's your right??..Haiyah you ni eh....right also donno!!...
You get the picture. I hate that. I absolutely loathe that. He could kill any good mood and spoil a whole bloody outing just by barking his 'holier than thou' orders at my reverse parking. So I swore to him that I will never drive the car with him around. I forgot the part about him driving within 100 metres from me though and here I am stuck with this decision of driving to Bt Batok, Teck Whye, Punggol, Bedok, Woodlands and then back to Jurong.
Despite all the hooha, I somehow managed to bring everybody to their destinations. It's just a matter of tailgating his car or any of the 3 cars belonging to our convoy. The nervousness disappeared and my parking was once again perfect with almost nil adjustments. I achieved this by parking as far away from my hubby as possible.
The directions? Of course, what with concentrating on the number plates of our convoy and looking out for traffic while trying to switch lanes without getting a heart attack, I did not know where we went and which exit we took. So if you were to ask me again, sorry, i can't remember. Yes, I'm that lousy at directions.
By 6pm, we were already at my place, hubby had to return the company car and I was relegated to passenger position, much to the relieve of Matin who spend his time on my lap enjoying the mother-son moment.
We reached the last house at about 10pm. The husbands watched the second half of a Chelsea-Liverpool match and the wives were forced to watch while battling 'sleeping' mode. The kids were either sleeping or sulking from petty quarrels and becoming best friends in less than 5 minutes.
We reached home around midnight and as usual, yours truly was the last one to hit the bed. For the third night, the kids were sleeping in their own room and I am slowly getting used to them not sleeping on the floor beside my bed. Of course I missed their presence but hey, they're still in the house. One day, they'll went off to school camps and National Service, then what? By then, maybe I'll seriously consider having a cat around the house.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Amazing Raya Race
One Sunday, 12 days into Syawal, I was subjected to a 10-hour roller coaster Hari Raya visits, it left me spinning, not from the overabundance of gassy drinks but the overwhelming realisation that I actually survived the ordeal.
It began as early as 9:30am. I used to scorned at all these never ending raya visits and being embarrased to be seen togged in festival finery after two weeks of Hari Raya. But all that has changed the minute I signed that paper to officially announce me as someone else's property.
Now, we all know that Hari Raya visits are meant to bridge the generation gap and to foster/link/reaffirm relationships with your relatives especially now that you seldom get to meet and gather, what with the hectic work/school/social life. It's the time to reflect and seek forgiveness from each other on past misdeeds bla bla bla. At least, that is what we were taught.
And so, with years of growing up in that environment and managing one or two house visits a day, it no longer came as a surprise after 8 years of marriage that we can squeeze countless house visits in one day. This thing can only happen if it involves my parents-in-law.
After the languid, relaxed, laid back visits on my side of the family on the first week of Hari Raya, the attack came as soon as the obligatory 6 day fast is over for my in-laws. On the first available Sunday morning, while I was lazing over in bed, pondering whether I should pluck the roots of the taugehs in the fridge or to put henna on my toes, the phone shrilled rudely.
From hubby's tone, I knew it's his mom on the other end and before I knew it, found myself spending the next hour frantically tornado-ing around getting ready for the event. By the time hubby came out from his 45 minute shower and dressed, I had washed the clothes, cleaned the kitchen, ironed the baju kurungs, vacuumed and mopped the house, threw out the trash, bathed and dressed the kids and lock up the windows while picking up abandoned toys and straightening the furniture in the process. I am so good at this.
Once hubby said "Let's Go!!", I had barely enough time to put on my crystals laden baju kurung and tudung (I know it's unpractical as the weather is so hot but knowing MIL who would look down her nose at my normal baju kurungs as untasteful and begger-like, I'd rather look like a christmas tree than avoid any confrontations with her). I slapped on my make up in the lift while herding the kids, put on the lipstick while walking towards the car and managed the mascara over two traffic light stops. I should get an award for this.
We spent the whole day practically racing from one relative house to the other and spent an average of 10 minutes in each house. It was becoming more like a precised army drill with with my mother-in-law (MIL) holding the honourable position as the Sergeant Major. Armed with her little grey notebook, she has mapped out every relative's house and which area to visit first. There will be two cars, mine and my brother-in-law (BIL). Since dear BIL could not drive to save his life, his very pregnant wife (SIL) will have to manage.
So there we were, 2 couples, 5 kids (2 of which is mine and the rest belonged to BIL and SIL making it a total of 4 boys and 1 girl), one Sergeant Major and one very old Father-in-law (FIL) who walks like, in the words of Danial, The Undertaker who took forever to reach the ring amidst the dramatic hooha. My FIL is another character altogether. He didn't walk. He shuffles. All thanks to hours of watching TV instead of walking around exercising after his bypass surgery, stubborn, unhealthy diet and the ability to filter out MIL's 70 decibel nagging. The odd thing is, the more my MIL nags, the more he would get on her nerves. This trip was no different. I don't remember hubby switching on the radio that day.
The whole thing was utter madness and since I do not have any say in this, I just smiled and played follow-the-leader. Where the great MIL is involved, it's best to shut up and do not voice out any concerns, doubts or violent objections. Since she's hard of hearing, she might mistook whatever you say, albeit in good intention and think you're being rude.
The most unbelievable and absurdest thing happened at Bedok. My MIL's cousin lived on the 15th floor of a point block. Her first greeting was "Tidor????!" loudly at the person who opened the door. She would do this at every house, assuming that everyone is asleep just because they close the front door. I would be offended by this but maybe her cousins were used to her way of greeting and jested back (well, some of them do). As expected, we stayed for a short while because we have to rush to another cousin's house.
Halfway down the lift, she told us to stop at the 4th floor where the daughter of the earlier cousin lived. That was not in our itinary but she insisted that we "stop for a short while and say hello". Once inside, there were already 2 families there. There were only 2 kids from that family. We sat down and the kids trooped over to the balcony to watch the hamsters on a three deck pedestal. What happened next saw me as the only adult witness to an incident that left the youngest (and plumpest) one and only grandaughter of the Sergeant Major wailing the house down.
One kid pushed another kid and that kid fell on Matin who fell and hit Wiyah. It's like seeing dominoes falling, I tell you. Being the largest, Wiyah's plump legs hit the table where the triple deck cages were and the next thing we knew, the cages toppled, hitting both Matin and Wiyah who screamed as the hamsters were scurrying around. Luckily the cages were intact and no hamsters escaped but sawdust and water flew everywhere. I quickly grabbed Matin and hid him behind the sofa but the wailing of the dearest granddaughter is enough to make sergeant major spring into action. Right there and then, she ordered everyone of us to leave.
The homeowner (very confused with the sudden surge of guests) was going "wait, wait, drink first" and my MIL was like "No need, no need, we're rushing off now. We have to hurry bla bla bla". Her face was tight. There was a lot of commotion. It was totally chaotic and Wiyah was wailing her very own symphony. Utter pandemonium!!
Then she turned, as if she couldn't believe her eyes that we're still sitting there on the sofa goes "What are you all waiting for? We're leaving now!" My exhausted-looking SIL and I apologised profusely to the homeowner feeling rather bad about the whole thing while MIL was going on and on about "rushing somewhere and having to leave immediately". While the other two families stared at our sideshow, I quickly grabbed my two boys and herded them out.
My poor FIL who has just shuffled his way to the front gate (we somehow forgot about him and left him still shuffling on the 15th floor!!!) asked "We're going off already?". Seeing the shocked look on his face and if not for the tense atmosphere, I would have laugh hysterically at the totally ridiculous situation.
Hubby was worried that we might have offended the homeowner. He wasted no time in raising his concerns to his mom. But drill sergeant was so absorbed in her dearest grandaughter's trauma that she snapped "There were too many children in there! I got a headache seeing so many children around" She was so caught up with everything that she failed to realise that the "many children" are actually her own grandchildren.
She mollycoddled the one and only grandaughter to the point of bringing her to sit in our car and banished FIL from our car. FIL shuffled to BIL's car and the very noisy, 3 generation family finally pulled out from the carpark much to the relief of the residents living there.
This did not stop her from gallivanting to more houses. By the time we cleared the last house, it was almost midnight, my poor SIL's feet were swollen from all that driving (her clutch pedal was too tight) and Matin was irritable from the lack of sleep. I was beginning to seriously wonder if Allan Wu and all his camera crew will be waiting at our front door declaring us the $1m winner of this unbelievable race.
At home, I reflected on the day and wondered what was the meaning of these visits anyway. Where is the love after leaving a house in a huff? Where is the silaturrahim? Where is the sincere apologies and forgiveness when you come in, say hi and leave in two minutes? What's the point?Was it to cover all the houses and tell yourself, you've visited all your relatives? If you don't wish to stop at certain houses, why force yourself to go? Why hurt yourselves and others in the process?
I can foresee these events happening again in the years to come and I've come to the conclusion that if they think it's right, then, so be it. If you can't beat them, then you join them, even if you don't really volunteer for it.
As for me, I can think of better ways to spend the 12th day of Syawal and it wouldn't involve any gallivanting across the island. I'd be perfectly happy painting henna on my toenails or plucking a big bowl of taugeh in front of the TV.
It began as early as 9:30am. I used to scorned at all these never ending raya visits and being embarrased to be seen togged in festival finery after two weeks of Hari Raya. But all that has changed the minute I signed that paper to officially announce me as someone else's property.
Now, we all know that Hari Raya visits are meant to bridge the generation gap and to foster/link/reaffirm relationships with your relatives especially now that you seldom get to meet and gather, what with the hectic work/school/social life. It's the time to reflect and seek forgiveness from each other on past misdeeds bla bla bla. At least, that is what we were taught.
And so, with years of growing up in that environment and managing one or two house visits a day, it no longer came as a surprise after 8 years of marriage that we can squeeze countless house visits in one day. This thing can only happen if it involves my parents-in-law.
After the languid, relaxed, laid back visits on my side of the family on the first week of Hari Raya, the attack came as soon as the obligatory 6 day fast is over for my in-laws. On the first available Sunday morning, while I was lazing over in bed, pondering whether I should pluck the roots of the taugehs in the fridge or to put henna on my toes, the phone shrilled rudely.
From hubby's tone, I knew it's his mom on the other end and before I knew it, found myself spending the next hour frantically tornado-ing around getting ready for the event. By the time hubby came out from his 45 minute shower and dressed, I had washed the clothes, cleaned the kitchen, ironed the baju kurungs, vacuumed and mopped the house, threw out the trash, bathed and dressed the kids and lock up the windows while picking up abandoned toys and straightening the furniture in the process. I am so good at this.
Once hubby said "Let's Go!!", I had barely enough time to put on my crystals laden baju kurung and tudung (I know it's unpractical as the weather is so hot but knowing MIL who would look down her nose at my normal baju kurungs as untasteful and begger-like, I'd rather look like a christmas tree than avoid any confrontations with her). I slapped on my make up in the lift while herding the kids, put on the lipstick while walking towards the car and managed the mascara over two traffic light stops. I should get an award for this.
We spent the whole day practically racing from one relative house to the other and spent an average of 10 minutes in each house. It was becoming more like a precised army drill with with my mother-in-law (MIL) holding the honourable position as the Sergeant Major. Armed with her little grey notebook, she has mapped out every relative's house and which area to visit first. There will be two cars, mine and my brother-in-law (BIL). Since dear BIL could not drive to save his life, his very pregnant wife (SIL) will have to manage.
So there we were, 2 couples, 5 kids (2 of which is mine and the rest belonged to BIL and SIL making it a total of 4 boys and 1 girl), one Sergeant Major and one very old Father-in-law (FIL) who walks like, in the words of Danial, The Undertaker who took forever to reach the ring amidst the dramatic hooha. My FIL is another character altogether. He didn't walk. He shuffles. All thanks to hours of watching TV instead of walking around exercising after his bypass surgery, stubborn, unhealthy diet and the ability to filter out MIL's 70 decibel nagging. The odd thing is, the more my MIL nags, the more he would get on her nerves. This trip was no different. I don't remember hubby switching on the radio that day.
The whole thing was utter madness and since I do not have any say in this, I just smiled and played follow-the-leader. Where the great MIL is involved, it's best to shut up and do not voice out any concerns, doubts or violent objections. Since she's hard of hearing, she might mistook whatever you say, albeit in good intention and think you're being rude.
The most unbelievable and absurdest thing happened at Bedok. My MIL's cousin lived on the 15th floor of a point block. Her first greeting was "Tidor????!" loudly at the person who opened the door. She would do this at every house, assuming that everyone is asleep just because they close the front door. I would be offended by this but maybe her cousins were used to her way of greeting and jested back (well, some of them do). As expected, we stayed for a short while because we have to rush to another cousin's house.
Halfway down the lift, she told us to stop at the 4th floor where the daughter of the earlier cousin lived. That was not in our itinary but she insisted that we "stop for a short while and say hello". Once inside, there were already 2 families there. There were only 2 kids from that family. We sat down and the kids trooped over to the balcony to watch the hamsters on a three deck pedestal. What happened next saw me as the only adult witness to an incident that left the youngest (and plumpest) one and only grandaughter of the Sergeant Major wailing the house down.
One kid pushed another kid and that kid fell on Matin who fell and hit Wiyah. It's like seeing dominoes falling, I tell you. Being the largest, Wiyah's plump legs hit the table where the triple deck cages were and the next thing we knew, the cages toppled, hitting both Matin and Wiyah who screamed as the hamsters were scurrying around. Luckily the cages were intact and no hamsters escaped but sawdust and water flew everywhere. I quickly grabbed Matin and hid him behind the sofa but the wailing of the dearest granddaughter is enough to make sergeant major spring into action. Right there and then, she ordered everyone of us to leave.
The homeowner (very confused with the sudden surge of guests) was going "wait, wait, drink first" and my MIL was like "No need, no need, we're rushing off now. We have to hurry bla bla bla". Her face was tight. There was a lot of commotion. It was totally chaotic and Wiyah was wailing her very own symphony. Utter pandemonium!!
Then she turned, as if she couldn't believe her eyes that we're still sitting there on the sofa goes "What are you all waiting for? We're leaving now!" My exhausted-looking SIL and I apologised profusely to the homeowner feeling rather bad about the whole thing while MIL was going on and on about "rushing somewhere and having to leave immediately". While the other two families stared at our sideshow, I quickly grabbed my two boys and herded them out.
My poor FIL who has just shuffled his way to the front gate (we somehow forgot about him and left him still shuffling on the 15th floor!!!) asked "We're going off already?". Seeing the shocked look on his face and if not for the tense atmosphere, I would have laugh hysterically at the totally ridiculous situation.
Hubby was worried that we might have offended the homeowner. He wasted no time in raising his concerns to his mom. But drill sergeant was so absorbed in her dearest grandaughter's trauma that she snapped "There were too many children in there! I got a headache seeing so many children around" She was so caught up with everything that she failed to realise that the "many children" are actually her own grandchildren.
She mollycoddled the one and only grandaughter to the point of bringing her to sit in our car and banished FIL from our car. FIL shuffled to BIL's car and the very noisy, 3 generation family finally pulled out from the carpark much to the relief of the residents living there.
This did not stop her from gallivanting to more houses. By the time we cleared the last house, it was almost midnight, my poor SIL's feet were swollen from all that driving (her clutch pedal was too tight) and Matin was irritable from the lack of sleep. I was beginning to seriously wonder if Allan Wu and all his camera crew will be waiting at our front door declaring us the $1m winner of this unbelievable race.
At home, I reflected on the day and wondered what was the meaning of these visits anyway. Where is the love after leaving a house in a huff? Where is the silaturrahim? Where is the sincere apologies and forgiveness when you come in, say hi and leave in two minutes? What's the point?Was it to cover all the houses and tell yourself, you've visited all your relatives? If you don't wish to stop at certain houses, why force yourself to go? Why hurt yourselves and others in the process?
I can foresee these events happening again in the years to come and I've come to the conclusion that if they think it's right, then, so be it. If you can't beat them, then you join them, even if you don't really volunteer for it.
As for me, I can think of better ways to spend the 12th day of Syawal and it wouldn't involve any gallivanting across the island. I'd be perfectly happy painting henna on my toenails or plucking a big bowl of taugeh in front of the TV.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Super Bitch
Yours truly was in the midst of furiously typing a report this morning when the phone rang. It's the swanky new IP phone and the caller ID reveals that it's the GenY SuperBitch calling (aka the boss). Reluctantly pick up receiver.
"Hi ...what's wrong with you? You sound like you don't want to talk to me"
My reply options were:-
"How do you know I don't want to talk to you?"
"Look, it's too early to start an argument"
"Yes I hate you and I wish you get run over by a camel and disappear forever you fucking bitch!"
Hah!..I wish. Instead, I meekly replied:-
"No, I was typing something"
I can't stand these young officers fresh out of university. They think they're so cool and great and clever with their flashy clothes and flashy degrees. They have ideas as big as their parent's bank accounts and pretend they know everything when there's nothing going on between their ears.
We all talk about changes and moving cheeses and that to survive, we have to find more cheese before our stock depletes. But these people come in and took our stock of cheese without so much as a thank you and expect us to kow tow to them. Stupid bitch. I hate her.
The reason why I stayed is because of the department's lifestyle and everyone's easy going manner, including my head honcho. But this officer assigned to me is a reincarnation of the devil himself. I wish I could just kick her to Pulau Hantu and leave her there to rot.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Syawal 1429H
I was on the way to the office this morning and stopped by the cafeteria to buy something. So while I was on the que, the cashier asked "Eh, how's your new year?"
Time and time again, I have to explain that Hari Raya Aidilfitri is NOT a new year for Muslims. It's so hard to explain when they insists that it is. Which is the case of Annie just now. She was like "Come on, it is your new year" with all the patience of saintly matron in a nursing home talking to a senile old bat who had just asked for the upteenth time what her name was.
The other day, at Old Chang Kee after buying fish cakes for Matin, the cashiers there go "happy new year!!". I explained politely that it is not a new year and that we're actually celebrating the end of Ramadhan. It is a new month no doubt but it's definitely not a new year.
Just because the majority in Singapore is Chinese and that there is a two day public holiday during Chinese New Year, that does not automatically states that Hari Raya is a new year for Muslims.
However, Annie asked something that totally stumped me. "So, when is your new year?".
I blinked once, twice them mumbled, "Our new year is not a public holiday" before grabbing my red bean pau and making a quick getaway.
I hurried up to the office and grabbed a calender that has all the months of the islamic calender year on it. A quick flip and there, 29 December 2008. I deserved to be kicked all the way to Timbaktu.
I was so ashamed to admit that I have no idea when Muharram falls on the gregorian calender. Although I know all the months in the islamic calender, I failed to observe the equivalence sometimes. The gregorian calender ruled our lives. We referred to them every other day and we always fail to know the important dates and events that falls in the islamic calender. We only know the holy month of Ramadhan, because that's our fasting month and as kids, look forward to Syawal, the Hari Raya month.
We're into the third day of Syawal. The next person who tells me "Happy New Year" will get this;- "It's not a new year but a new month to celebrate the end of Ramadhan. Our new year falls on 29 December this year and it won't be a public holiday"
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri - minal 'aidil wal fa idzhin
Time and time again, I have to explain that Hari Raya Aidilfitri is NOT a new year for Muslims. It's so hard to explain when they insists that it is. Which is the case of Annie just now. She was like "Come on, it is your new year" with all the patience of saintly matron in a nursing home talking to a senile old bat who had just asked for the upteenth time what her name was.
The other day, at Old Chang Kee after buying fish cakes for Matin, the cashiers there go "happy new year!!". I explained politely that it is not a new year and that we're actually celebrating the end of Ramadhan. It is a new month no doubt but it's definitely not a new year.
Just because the majority in Singapore is Chinese and that there is a two day public holiday during Chinese New Year, that does not automatically states that Hari Raya is a new year for Muslims.
However, Annie asked something that totally stumped me. "So, when is your new year?".
I blinked once, twice them mumbled, "Our new year is not a public holiday" before grabbing my red bean pau and making a quick getaway.
I hurried up to the office and grabbed a calender that has all the months of the islamic calender year on it. A quick flip and there, 29 December 2008. I deserved to be kicked all the way to Timbaktu.
I was so ashamed to admit that I have no idea when Muharram falls on the gregorian calender. Although I know all the months in the islamic calender, I failed to observe the equivalence sometimes. The gregorian calender ruled our lives. We referred to them every other day and we always fail to know the important dates and events that falls in the islamic calender. We only know the holy month of Ramadhan, because that's our fasting month and as kids, look forward to Syawal, the Hari Raya month.
We're into the third day of Syawal. The next person who tells me "Happy New Year" will get this;- "It's not a new year but a new month to celebrate the end of Ramadhan. Our new year falls on 29 December this year and it won't be a public holiday"
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri - minal 'aidil wal fa idzhin
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Message Overload
I've got this colleague. Sweet but hopelessly clueless. I mean, we all talk about globalisation and the world getting smaller with onsloughts of up to date technology and information slam-banging into us every other week. No, I'm not talking about a dummy who don't know how to use a cellphone because that honour goes to Miss M who insists she hates people calling her (who would?). So far, no one has bothered to teach her how to send messages either.
Ok, let's get back to my hopelessly clueless colleague. Talking to her sometimes is like settling slowly to the bottom of the ocean. Don't get me wrong. She is nice. She also has marital tiffs like all of us (I mean, doesn't everybody?). She's hardworking and she has her own problems too. But it's her text messages that's driving me up the wall. It's not normal SMSs over the weekend like "what's up?" or "eh, how r u? can u teach me how to pound shrimp paste?" or "where do i get the best toilet seats?" No - it's not like that at all. It's always those unoriginal forwarded ones.
Like these..
-The night is black, the stars are bright, Good Nite.
-Time flies and we fly, so together fly, bla bla. Friends are forever, happy Friendship day.
-We are special, you are special bla bla blupp bloop. Happy woman's day.
-In life we must trust, we must bla bla bla...That's why I'm sending this to you..good morning
-Unity we gain, fun we maintain blabbety bla bla...hello, good day.
-Blooming flowers everywhere bla bla bla...happy clothes hangers day...
-Oceans are blue blam bluum bluum...Happy pregnant goldfish day bloop bloop..
Oh wait! I just received another one.
-Life is full of beautiful things, soft sunsets, rainbows, pretty flowers, love and nice people like you, good afternoon. (Hey! I thought I received this two nights ago??!)
The first part was grossly exaggerated but the recent one is real. But still, you get the drift. It's irritating the hell out of me and I didn't have the heart to tell her to stop sending me all these. I know it's free of charge and there's no harm in me receiving all these. But sometimes, the messages would come in the middle of the night and I, already not enough sleep would check out the message thinking it could be something urgent and discovered that it's only one of those messages above. Worse, I couldn't get back to sleep after that.
For Hari Raya, I get an e-card from her and three "Selamat Hari Raya" poems and SMSs. It's not like she couldn't wish me because we were sitting three cubicles apart from each other. Any other day, she'd come in and wished us good morning and barely three minutes later, there will be one message saying something like "Birds are chirping, life is fun, good morning". What the heck??!! I don't mind creative original ones from her but recycled lame ones? Please lah.
One time, she actually forwarded a message about a bomb threat somewhere in HV. I know this is one of those forwarded ones because I received an email about this. The police had sent a warning against those who forwarded such things. I told her about it and she gave me this skeptical look before asking "how you know? sure or not?"
"Of course I know lah!! I don't spend every lunch time sleeping. I have a curious mind. I surfed and googled for information. I read the newspapers and watch the news. My life don't circle around work and home only!!! I don't blindly forward messages that might cause major pandemonium. I think before I act!!!..."
No, I didn't say all those at the risk of sounding what we malays call it "riak". That would be a sin you know. That incident did not put her off. Five minutes later, another message popped up again - from her.
This has been going on for years and so far, no one has told her off. We couldn't. She's so sweet and sincere it's just too difficult. One time, the messages did stop. When she gave birth and throughout that difficult first year when her baby have medical problems. She was too busy with her first child that she totally stopped sending me those forwarded messages. It was a period of peace. The one or two messages which she did sent are those genuine ones like "how r u" and "send my regards to all in the office". I welcomed such messages and responded heartily.
Now that everything has gone back to routine, the messages have started coming again.
Maybe it's high time I give her a pregnant goldfish for her birthday.
Ok, let's get back to my hopelessly clueless colleague. Talking to her sometimes is like settling slowly to the bottom of the ocean. Don't get me wrong. She is nice. She also has marital tiffs like all of us (I mean, doesn't everybody?). She's hardworking and she has her own problems too. But it's her text messages that's driving me up the wall. It's not normal SMSs over the weekend like "what's up?" or "eh, how r u? can u teach me how to pound shrimp paste?" or "where do i get the best toilet seats?" No - it's not like that at all. It's always those unoriginal forwarded ones.
Like these..
-The night is black, the stars are bright, Good Nite.
-Time flies and we fly, so together fly, bla bla. Friends are forever, happy Friendship day.
-We are special, you are special bla bla blupp bloop. Happy woman's day.
-In life we must trust, we must bla bla bla...That's why I'm sending this to you..good morning
-Unity we gain, fun we maintain blabbety bla bla...hello, good day.
-Blooming flowers everywhere bla bla bla...happy clothes hangers day...
-Oceans are blue blam bluum bluum...Happy pregnant goldfish day bloop bloop..
Oh wait! I just received another one.
-Life is full of beautiful things, soft sunsets, rainbows, pretty flowers, love and nice people like you, good afternoon. (Hey! I thought I received this two nights ago??!)
The first part was grossly exaggerated but the recent one is real. But still, you get the drift. It's irritating the hell out of me and I didn't have the heart to tell her to stop sending me all these. I know it's free of charge and there's no harm in me receiving all these. But sometimes, the messages would come in the middle of the night and I, already not enough sleep would check out the message thinking it could be something urgent and discovered that it's only one of those messages above. Worse, I couldn't get back to sleep after that.
For Hari Raya, I get an e-card from her and three "Selamat Hari Raya" poems and SMSs. It's not like she couldn't wish me because we were sitting three cubicles apart from each other. Any other day, she'd come in and wished us good morning and barely three minutes later, there will be one message saying something like "Birds are chirping, life is fun, good morning". What the heck??!! I don't mind creative original ones from her but recycled lame ones? Please lah.
One time, she actually forwarded a message about a bomb threat somewhere in HV. I know this is one of those forwarded ones because I received an email about this. The police had sent a warning against those who forwarded such things. I told her about it and she gave me this skeptical look before asking "how you know? sure or not?"
"Of course I know lah!! I don't spend every lunch time sleeping. I have a curious mind. I surfed and googled for information. I read the newspapers and watch the news. My life don't circle around work and home only!!! I don't blindly forward messages that might cause major pandemonium. I think before I act!!!..."
No, I didn't say all those at the risk of sounding what we malays call it "riak". That would be a sin you know. That incident did not put her off. Five minutes later, another message popped up again - from her.
This has been going on for years and so far, no one has told her off. We couldn't. She's so sweet and sincere it's just too difficult. One time, the messages did stop. When she gave birth and throughout that difficult first year when her baby have medical problems. She was too busy with her first child that she totally stopped sending me those forwarded messages. It was a period of peace. The one or two messages which she did sent are those genuine ones like "how r u" and "send my regards to all in the office". I welcomed such messages and responded heartily.
Now that everything has gone back to routine, the messages have started coming again.
Maybe it's high time I give her a pregnant goldfish for her birthday.
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