Those who know me will know that I have not had very many domestic maids. Reason being I had one who was with us for a long time. Nikka was with us for more than 8 years so I only had one, another Filipino for 2 years before her and maybe another one or two temporary ones in between and along the way.
I did not have many problems with one maid who left last year..my first real Indonesian helper. She was slow in the beginning but she picked things up very fast. With the exception of her very very deep voice, I found her to be totally acceptable and was sorry to see her leave after her 2 yr contract ended.
Then came my latest…good lord, as I write this I suddenly had a thought – am I actually writing an entry that revolves around her…???! Well, yes, looks like that’s exactly what I’m about to do. Hey, isn’t a blog supposed to be cathartic…
She is slow…let me tell you she has been slow ever since she arrived 9 months ago. The odd (or rather infuriating) thing is this – I noticed that she can be quite efficient, yes, you got it – only when she chooses to be so. She hardly has any initiative but never mind all that. She is quite a bit of a Ms Defensive – “taaak, ibu tak beli cheese. Iya, Ani udah check la..” And voila, the cheese is there in the fridge but hey, she will still defend herself.
This week though she has been really - really testing my patience. In the last week –
i. she insisted her bibik wants to come to our house to snap a picture of her – to send back to Indon
ii. my son found a book where she wrote she bought a handphone tapi majikan tak tau
iii. she told my sister’s maid that her boyfriend back home is pressuring her to return to Indonesia
iv. she also told the other maid that she cant stand my two older sons so she wants to leave
So last nite we confronted her.
i. She literally begged that we allow this bibik to come and we said NO.
ii. She told on the boys (weekdays are meant to be PS free) but the boys main ps tadiii
ii. She said her father never really agreed to allow her to come here to work in the first place – DUH…
No mention of boyfriend, no admission of owning a handphone but she did say she has a phone card and borrows the handphone of our neighbor’s maid, which she had told me some time ago.
I have had enough so we said please decide if you want to work - otherwise, feel free to leave. But since she will be in breach of her contract should she decide to leave, she will leave empty handed. She did not seem to mind. My dad’s theory - the bibik may be somebody who’s got some contact that can offer her a new job – thus the need for the picture.
She said she would inform us of her decision this morning but she did not. Hubby said, what if she changes her mind, maybe she wants to stay…Oh please, I would rather have her leave….
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Slowly slow
Recently I found this wonderful CD titled Allah Knows. Ever since Haqim was hooked on I Look, I See, I had always tried to find something similar to Yusuf Islam's CD. Which basically means an Islamic English musical CD that would appeal to children.
And I found it - in Allah Knows. Zain Bhika is just brilliant and his songs are simply awesome! They tackle issues more complex than those in I Look, I See and appeals to youths as well. It's a shame not many people know of him and his songs. His songs deal with greed, drugs, being a Muslim today and many others.
Try google the man, he is a South African who really does make beautiful music. And the vocals are also fantastic!
Everyone has his own favorites now but one that has a special place in my heart is Slowly Slow.
You see, I have a rather complicated realtionship with my first born. I love him no doubt, but perhaps the fact that he is at that 'difficult' age makes things somewhat sticky between him and us sometimes. He gets his foot in his mouth a lot, and he hardly stops to think of the consequence of the things he says and does - May well be what a 14 year old kid does by nature...But I do worry about him so. I worry that he may make rash decisions in life and I worry that he doesn't know that I love him.
Anyhow, I found this song to be perfect. I made him listen to it, with the beautiful lyrics in his hand.
To Shaf, you'll always be the coolness in my eyes...and I love you, more than you'll ever know....
Slowly Slow
Slowly slow my child
The world waits for you
And your window of time
Will come shining through
Slowly slow, don’t rush you know
It’ll all come easy
There’s some things you can’t take back
No regrets for what you wanna get
Needs some thinking down the line
Slowly slow my darling I’m here for you
And every stumble, every fall
Breaks my heart in two
I only want the best for you
And every step makes up the mile
Even though it takes a while
And God will always smile on you my child
Chorus:
So have faith, have faith
Just like the bird who feels the sun
And sings before the dawn has come
Have faith, have faith
Slowly slow my boy
I see you’re strong
And everybody wants to find
A place where they belong
But don’t you find yourself someday
In a cold and dark and lonely place
And you wonder how you got there
I know it gets clouded in your mind
And you wanna move faster
It seems that you’re running out of time
But I love you
Together we’ll get through
Don’t you know
Slowly slow Slowly slow my son
You wanna be a man
And I guess those days are gone
When I used hold your hand
Cause this is the age of winks and smiles
And butterflies deep inside
But you’ll always be the coolness of my eyes
Chorus
Slowly slow my child
The world waits for you
And your window of time
Will come shining through
Slowly slow, don’t rush you know
It’ll all come easy
And I found it - in Allah Knows. Zain Bhika is just brilliant and his songs are simply awesome! They tackle issues more complex than those in I Look, I See and appeals to youths as well. It's a shame not many people know of him and his songs. His songs deal with greed, drugs, being a Muslim today and many others.
Try google the man, he is a South African who really does make beautiful music. And the vocals are also fantastic!
Everyone has his own favorites now but one that has a special place in my heart is Slowly Slow.
You see, I have a rather complicated realtionship with my first born. I love him no doubt, but perhaps the fact that he is at that 'difficult' age makes things somewhat sticky between him and us sometimes. He gets his foot in his mouth a lot, and he hardly stops to think of the consequence of the things he says and does - May well be what a 14 year old kid does by nature...But I do worry about him so. I worry that he may make rash decisions in life and I worry that he doesn't know that I love him.
Anyhow, I found this song to be perfect. I made him listen to it, with the beautiful lyrics in his hand.
To Shaf, you'll always be the coolness in my eyes...and I love you, more than you'll ever know....
Slowly Slow
Slowly slow my child
The world waits for you
And your window of time
Will come shining through
Slowly slow, don’t rush you know
It’ll all come easy
There’s some things you can’t take back
No regrets for what you wanna get
Needs some thinking down the line
Slowly slow my darling I’m here for you
And every stumble, every fall
Breaks my heart in two
I only want the best for you
And every step makes up the mile
Even though it takes a while
And God will always smile on you my child
Chorus:
So have faith, have faith
Just like the bird who feels the sun
And sings before the dawn has come
Have faith, have faith
Slowly slow my boy
I see you’re strong
And everybody wants to find
A place where they belong
But don’t you find yourself someday
In a cold and dark and lonely place
And you wonder how you got there
I know it gets clouded in your mind
And you wanna move faster
It seems that you’re running out of time
But I love you
Together we’ll get through
Don’t you know
Slowly slow Slowly slow my son
You wanna be a man
And I guess those days are gone
When I used hold your hand
Cause this is the age of winks and smiles
And butterflies deep inside
But you’ll always be the coolness of my eyes
Chorus
Slowly slow my child
The world waits for you
And your window of time
Will come shining through
Slowly slow, don’t rush you know
It’ll all come easy
BM, English, BM, English
I would like to comment on the current issue brought up by the good Senator with regards to switching back to Bahasa Malaysia for the subjects of Math and Science in schools.
I disagree that we switch back to Bahasa. As a parent I feel our children are constantly at the losing end. In the long run they do not benefit if we keep changing policies at the whim and fancy of some politician.
Some say we should agree with the Senator’s suggestion quoting that the Japanese and Korean “masih boleh hebat di kacamata dunia walaupun kekal dengan bahasa ibunda masing masing”. All I can say is this - masaalah nya bangsa malaysia tak sama dengan Bangsa Jepun.
The sad fact is the Malaysian mentality – more specifically the Malay mentality is nothing like the Japanese or the Koreans. In general we lack that drive to succeed and that burning passion to reach for the stars. The sooner we are able to admit to that, the quicker we can all truly move forward.
The generation of my parents all studied in English, at a time when they had no tv, much less Astro. They had little access to English books without any large bookstores around other than what they had at the school libraries. Their means of speaking English were generally confined to within school hours where they interacted with their teachers. Now, have they all turned out forgetting how to speak Bahasa Malaysia or God forbid become totally westernized and forgotten their roots? I don’t think so.
If anything, when our children enter universities, local or abroad, they will not be intimated when they suddenly find themselves with learning materials that will be in the English language,. The fact is they will be able to communicate with ease when they join the workforce because when you begin life as a working adult English is widely spoken, whether we like it or not.
One does not abandon one’s culture that easily. We are all proud to be Malaysians – studying Math and Science in English is not going to make these kids any less Malaysians…dear Dato’. We have much bigger issues to fret over, let’s put that energy to better use. Finding capable teachers would be a good start.
I disagree that we switch back to Bahasa. As a parent I feel our children are constantly at the losing end. In the long run they do not benefit if we keep changing policies at the whim and fancy of some politician.
Some say we should agree with the Senator’s suggestion quoting that the Japanese and Korean “masih boleh hebat di kacamata dunia walaupun kekal dengan bahasa ibunda masing masing”. All I can say is this - masaalah nya bangsa malaysia tak sama dengan Bangsa Jepun.
The sad fact is the Malaysian mentality – more specifically the Malay mentality is nothing like the Japanese or the Koreans. In general we lack that drive to succeed and that burning passion to reach for the stars. The sooner we are able to admit to that, the quicker we can all truly move forward.
The generation of my parents all studied in English, at a time when they had no tv, much less Astro. They had little access to English books without any large bookstores around other than what they had at the school libraries. Their means of speaking English were generally confined to within school hours where they interacted with their teachers. Now, have they all turned out forgetting how to speak Bahasa Malaysia or God forbid become totally westernized and forgotten their roots? I don’t think so.
If anything, when our children enter universities, local or abroad, they will not be intimated when they suddenly find themselves with learning materials that will be in the English language,. The fact is they will be able to communicate with ease when they join the workforce because when you begin life as a working adult English is widely spoken, whether we like it or not.
One does not abandon one’s culture that easily. We are all proud to be Malaysians – studying Math and Science in English is not going to make these kids any less Malaysians…dear Dato’. We have much bigger issues to fret over, let’s put that energy to better use. Finding capable teachers would be a good start.
Friday, October 12, 2007
A rose by any other name....
With barely 2 days to go before Aidilfitri, there is plenty of reason to explain the festive mood in the air. At the same time, the entire nation was also consumed with the excitement of the first Malaysian in space. And call him whatever you wish, astronaut, research cosmonaut, space flight participant, Dr Sheikh is still every bit a national hero by now. Young girls, and not so young ones like me have swooned over him for so many months now and when the official announcement was made it was no longer a surprise. After all, most people understood the deal from the beginning, that he was the primary candidate.
Having said that, from the documentaries aired on Ch 588 that featured both of them, I feel Capt Faiz is just as ready and exuded just as much confidence.
Last nite, like hundreds and thousands of Malaysians from all over, we watched the lift-off with much anticipation. I cannot even begin to imagine the thoughts that were running through his parents’ mind at the exact same moment. I am just one out of a million watching and It was nerve wrecking, to say the least. The Challenger disaster occurred when I was in my late teens and although I was not in front of the tv to watch it happen, like many others I remember it well. And as I watched the Soyuz last nite I could not help but feel anxious. Thankfully the space shuttle lifted off into orbit without a glitch as we all witnessed a great moment in history….and made me very proud to be Malaysian.
Our 6 yo was the one who was the most excited. He had been bringing newspaper clippings of the launch to school and was thoroughly excited when watching the space launch last nite. He was glued to the tv from the beginning of the KLCC event and stood up at the star for Negaraku (but of course…) and held his hands up during the doa. He pestered his dad to also perform the solat hajat and was very serious when he said his prayers, “Ya Allah, pls make sure Dr Sheikh Muzaphar is safe..” I could hardly believe my ears, my precious was so into it..! At countdown to liftoff he was really really excited!
We were not entirely surprised by his enthusiasm because after all he had always been fascinated with space and planets. Even a couple years ago, as a 4 plus year old he was able to name all 9 planets and could tell you which planet is the biggest, smallest, with rocks etc. Even I still can’t remember! You think I may have a budding astronaut? God knows. Frankly I would rather he have both feet firmly on the ground – literally..!
In the meantime, my hopes and wishes right now are for a safe mission for our good doctor. Deep inside I wonder what things will be like when my son looks back at this historic day decades from now. Maybe then NASA will no longer have any qualms on the term to be used for our Malaysian rep on space missions.
Having said that, from the documentaries aired on Ch 588 that featured both of them, I feel Capt Faiz is just as ready and exuded just as much confidence.
Last nite, like hundreds and thousands of Malaysians from all over, we watched the lift-off with much anticipation. I cannot even begin to imagine the thoughts that were running through his parents’ mind at the exact same moment. I am just one out of a million watching and It was nerve wrecking, to say the least. The Challenger disaster occurred when I was in my late teens and although I was not in front of the tv to watch it happen, like many others I remember it well. And as I watched the Soyuz last nite I could not help but feel anxious. Thankfully the space shuttle lifted off into orbit without a glitch as we all witnessed a great moment in history….and made me very proud to be Malaysian.
Our 6 yo was the one who was the most excited. He had been bringing newspaper clippings of the launch to school and was thoroughly excited when watching the space launch last nite. He was glued to the tv from the beginning of the KLCC event and stood up at the star for Negaraku (but of course…) and held his hands up during the doa. He pestered his dad to also perform the solat hajat and was very serious when he said his prayers, “Ya Allah, pls make sure Dr Sheikh Muzaphar is safe..” I could hardly believe my ears, my precious was so into it..! At countdown to liftoff he was really really excited!
We were not entirely surprised by his enthusiasm because after all he had always been fascinated with space and planets. Even a couple years ago, as a 4 plus year old he was able to name all 9 planets and could tell you which planet is the biggest, smallest, with rocks etc. Even I still can’t remember! You think I may have a budding astronaut? God knows. Frankly I would rather he have both feet firmly on the ground – literally..!
In the meantime, my hopes and wishes right now are for a safe mission for our good doctor. Deep inside I wonder what things will be like when my son looks back at this historic day decades from now. Maybe then NASA will no longer have any qualms on the term to be used for our Malaysian rep on space missions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)