Happy Teachers' Day... NOT!

Okay, so Little Miss is in primary school. Last year, during Teachers' Day, she didn't get her teacher anything, despite her teachers getting all the kids Happy Mother's Day cards for their moms. I didn't want to force feed something to my kid without them understanding what it's all about, so what I did was explain to her what the day is all about. She didn't look too convinced, so I didn't want to make her do something blindly, not understanding what it means. So, no gifts and what not that year.

This year, I think she kinda got the hang of Teachers' Day. Actually, she caught on kinda quick last year, after seeing her friends and seniors getting gifts for the teachers. She said something to that effect. It might also be peer pressure, and my kid just didn't wanna be left out, so I decided, what the heck, let's just get the teachers something anyways, cos they are doing an awesome job with the kids.

So fast forward to this week. Monday, no school, cos the school had their annual Sports Day over the weekend. Tuesday, Little Miss got fever, so no school for her then either. Wednesday was when she went to school. Coincidentally, Wednesday, 16 June, is Teachers' Day. I've already bought the Teachers' Day gift earlier, so I told Little Miss to bring them to school on Wednesday.

I got back home that Wednesday evening, lo and behold, the whole dang bag of Teachers' Day gifts was at home. I asked Little Miss what happened, she said, the teachers told her to wait until Friday to give the gifts cos that's when the school is having their Teachers' Day celebration.

Oh, okay. 

Wait. Hold up a minute. 

What. The. Fuck?

Really, I don't mind them having the one day celebration thing. To be honest, I actually remember the days when we used to have that at school, where we'll have performances, the teachers will sing the 'Kami Guru Malaysia' song, the HM reading the Education Minister's speech -- all of that and more, so I get it. But never could I understand why is it they feel necessary to tell a 7-year-old girl to take back a bag full of her gifts of appreciation for her teachers because she wanted to give her on the God-damned wrong day? Seriously? SERIOUSLY? WHAT THE FUCK?

Okay fine, hadiah aku beli tak de lah grand sangat. Benda bongok je pun. Mug. The kind yang ada roses tu.  Biasa je. Less than RM5 pun to be honest. But when I showed them to Little Miss, her eyes lit up, like they were the most awesomest thing she could give her teachers. So I decided there and then that money for those mugs were money well spent. Tapi, bila Little Miss nak bagi, dan cikgu kata, eh, tak boleh bagi hari ni, bagi hari lain, kau rasa apa yang aku rasa bila aku dengar dia cerita macam tu? Little Miss looked like she always does when she told me that, but all the while I was thinking, whatthefuck, whatthefuck, whatthefuck? 

Haih. I don't knowlah. Do you think I am overreacting? Rileklah, suruh bagi hari Jumaat, bagi Hari Jumaatlah. What's the big deal kalau kau kena suruh bagi hari Jumaat pun. Thing is, pada aku, tak patut jadi pun benda cam tu. Kalau dia nak bagi hari ni, biaq pi kat dia la. Yang hangpa nak paksa jugak bagi hari Jumaat pasepa. Susah sangat ka kalau dia nak bagi hari Rabu tu?

Seriously. I dunno lah why these people are like this.

What happened to teachers like this lady?

extra prescription. yes, the Teddy Stallard story is fiction, I know. But what's more important is that I actually know of teachers who are like that in real life, so there.

Perogol Button Share dan Like

[Pinjam ayat blogger Lady Rara : I am friggin typin this with my middle finger, yo! Dan warning, aku banyak mencarut lam entry ni]

Aku bukannya pandai sangat. Jauh. Aku ni bodoh sebenarnya. Banyak benda yang aku tak tahu. 

But the thing is, as stupid as I am, I choose not to share my stupidity with everyone. Well, maybe not everyone, maybe with my friends. On Facebook, particularly. 

I am seriously pissed off. There's this one person, trying to act all smart and almost daily, shoving his political crap down every one of his Facebook friends' throats. Thing is, the guy is actually smart. And funny. I like him. He's also nice. But seriously bwoi, bring your friggin lopsided political arguments to someone who cares, dude. 

And then, there's this other girl. Also very opinionated. I like her. She's an old, virtual friend. Since I met hubs online, I kinda have a soft spot for online friends. Again, same thing, lopsided political agenda again and again. Aku pernah dengar, dulu-dululah, ada orang pernah cakap dengan aku, kalau suka jangan semua dipuji, kalau benci jangan semua dikeji. Faham tak? Aku tahu kau pro-belahmanamanaengkauprolahakudulikapa, tapi perlukah kau kongsikan semua propaganda kau dekat wall kau? Keyboard warrior kan? Suka sangat merogol button share dan like? HARAMJADAH. At least, fikir boleh? Ulas boleh? 

I have a few other friends, pun sama, sharing all their different political views. And I like all of their postings. You know why? Because, unlike some people, THEY ADD TO THE DISCUSSION. They actually think and digest and conclude AND THEN SHARE. Not becoming a mindless consumer, consume entah apa-apa, lepas tu share plus merempan sikit-sebanyak. KEJADAH? One of this friend I like happens to be in Dewan Muslimah PAS. Aku orang UMNO, aku mengaku. Tapi aku still respect dia. Aku still follow updates dia. Sebab argument dia membuatkan aku berfikir, bukan membuatkan aku meluat. Lepas tu, we go our separate ways lah. FAHAM TAK? Tak ada issue convert-mengconvert political beliefs di sini.

And another thing, kau dah besar kan? Tengah ambik Masters pun kan? Akai tak boleh guna gak. Kau reti tak research? Reti tak? RETI TAK MADAFAKAR? Kalau tak reti, meh aku ajarkan. Research  sepatutnya ialah mengajar kita untuk tidak mengambil sesuatu pada face value. Kau kena dig a bit deeper. Ini tak, nampak je link yang menarik, terus click share. JADAH WEI? Minah ni, dok share apa kau tahu? Share satu gambar screen-capture Facebook account sorang mak yang gurau-gurau (albeit kasar) pasal nak jual anak dia sebab anak dia kuat nangis. Kau ada inisiatif search ID mak baby tu? Allah, guna search bar kat atas tu je pun, bukan susah mana pun. Kau ada inisiatif nak tahu KENAPA mak tu post macam tu? Tak ada kan? Lebih senang, kau prosecute sekarang (KAU MAK HARAMJADA PEREMPUAN, SEBAB KAU NAK JUAL ANAK KAU) daripada taking the time to find out what's going on. PUKIMAK KAU LAH!

Aku tahulah, benda macam tu tak sepatutnya keluar daripada seorang emak. Aku pun ada anak. Dua orang. Tak menang tangan. Nakal. Berakal. Panjat-memanjat. Pukul-memukul. Gaduh. Bergumpal. Aku jadi tarzan at least sejam sehari. AT LEAST. Does that make me a bad mother? Anak-anak kau angel kan? Bidadari sorga macam Mak Pak dia. Dok diam. Kentut pun bau wangi. Berak pun kua Kentaki. Bila-bila nangis, bukan kua 'uwaaa, uwaaa' tapi keluar lagu InsyaAllah Maher Zain, kan? Patutlah.

Hei bongok, meh sini aku ajar kau the power of research. Thing is, ada satu adat, kalau baby sawan nangis, ubat dia, baby tu kena jual. Bukan jual betul-betul, bahalol. Jual tipu-tipu. Lepas tu, kononnya, baby tu akan elok. Aku tahulah, benda tu khurafat (tapi aku memang ahli neraka pun, ikut kau, kan? Nasib baik Nabi SAW yang kasi syafaat, doh, mungkin jugak aku bau sorga kat akhirat nanti. Kalau engkau?). Mak budak tu usaha. Mana kau tahu, panjang, pendek, kering, basah doa dia pada Allah nak handle anak dia, bodoh? 

Itupun nak kena ajar ke? Suka sangat button share tu kan? BODOH. SHEEP. Ikuttttttttt je apa yang orang share, apa yang orang like. Kalau sekadar ikut, satu hal. Ini yang share seolah-olah benda tu kau tahu fakta luar dalam apa hal? Dahlah tu, share tweets daripada entah sapa-sapa, tapi tak pernah kredit. Aku tahulah, aku follow orang yang sama, bodoh.

DISCLAIMER: Minah yang aku maksudkan ni bukan sworn-enemy aku. Dia tak de hal pun ngan aku, kecuali, benda-benda macam ni lah. Aku dah hide dia dah, so yeah, I know how to set my Facebook status updates displays. Yang benda ni, terkeluar sebab a few mutual friends started commenting, so benda ni pop up again and again. So I thought, let's, once and for all, vent everything I have to say about this, and see how it goes. Kalau lepas ni aku hangen lagi, aku unfriend je lah dia.

Oh, and another thing, mak yang jual anak tu, aku tak kenal pun dia sapa. Dia tak de bayar pun aku. Dan aku tak beli pun anak dia. For all I know, memang dia nak jual pun anak tu. Tapi pada aku, that is not the point. Aku bukan kat sini nak discuss pasal the deterioration of society, sampai nak jual-jual anak. The bigger problem or issue to me, is kenapa, hal-hal macam ni, RAMAI SANGAT BUTTINSKI, JOYAH  DAN YANG SEWAKTU DENGANNYA. Dahlah menyibuk hal orang, lepas tu pandai-pandai nak menghukum. Tapi hal macam Dirang, Sharlinie dan Nurin, TAK DE LA PULAK, melainkan untuk membincangkan macam mana Mak Dirang is a bad mother sebab leka main Facebook dan Bapak Nurin ada masalah itu ini, sebab tu anak dia kena bunuh. 

KENAPA FUCKERS? KENAPA FUCKERY SEBEGINI HIDUP BEGITU MEWAH DAN LUMAYAN KAT MALAYSIA NI?

La Valse d'Amelie

This...



is stolen form God's MP3.

ps. Di manakah DVD Amelie aku?

Ternyata Kita Belum Bersedia untuk Syurga

Dirang dah tak ada, agaknya itulah perkara yang bermain-main di kotak fikiran Roselyn Alan ketika ini. 

Dirang mati, kena bunuh, merintih lagi hati seorang emak.

Dirang mati salah aku, sadis kan? Kau boleh hidup dengan persoalan itu dalam kepala otak kau?

Iye, aku tahu, Roselyn tak patut biarkan anak dia umur lima tahun pergi kedai sorang-sorang sambil dia layan Facebook. Aku tahu. Aku pun rasa benda tu tak patut. 

Tapi, apa yang lebih tak patut ialah masyarakat. TAK ADA LANSUNGKAH nyawa lain yang nampak Dirang hari tu? TAK ADA LANSUNGKAH orang yang perasan a child in distress? TAK ADA? Lagi senang hina Roselyn daripada buat apa-apa, kan?

Dan macam mana pulak si perpetrator? Si pesalah laku? Tak ada sedikit pun naluri kemanusiaan kah? Dah kering atau memang tak ada?

Sedih. Aku sedih bukan sahaja sebab Dirang. Aku sedih sebab we live in a world where this is happening. It is now clear, ternyata bahawa kita semua belum bersedia untuk syurga.

Dirang, mama mintak maaf (iye, aku juga ibu kepada Dirang dan anak-anak lain di sekitarku. Kau pun sama. Jangan culas tanggungjawab Allah ni). I have let you down, sayang. I will work harder to make this world a better place. For everyone of us.

Sampai satu saat nanti, kita semua akan layak untuk syurga. 

Suicide Note

What if things were so bad (or that you think things were so bad) that you feel like there's no way out? Like the only escape route you can see is killing yourself?

Suicide is and always will be a sensitive subject to me. I will not delve further, but let me just say this first. In no way am I condoning suicide. I am not saying that if things go bad, killing yourself is an option. It's just that, I can understand how fragile our state of mind can be, how vulnerable our state of faith can get, that we would consider it. Suicide.

So, what if things were that bad? And you decide to end it all? Please don't think of me as morbid. I am merely thinking about what my last thoughts would be. And inevitably, the writer in me, pondered about what I would write on my suicide note.

Should I be apologetic? Should I justify my actions? Or should I just tell everyone I love them but this is just too big for me to handle?

What would you say?

Is this truly food for thought, or am I being morbid and emotional today?

ps. Iye, aku tahulah murtad seorang muslim yang bunuh diri. Apa yang aku cakapkan ni bukan pasal bunuh diri per se, I am talking about that note. About the thoughts that's running through one's mind when contemplating and even committing the act.

You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry

I think it's fair to say that most Malaysians, especially those well-connected to social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube (which is what, easily 60% of Malaysians? :P), are now aware of the brouhaha surrounding a certain customer who got punched by a KFC worker. 

Apa? Semua dah tahu dan dah blogged all about it? I am slowpoke indeed. Oh well. 

Due to this incident, cliched, vomit-inducing, unimaginative writings galore ensued. Gems such as "Instead of getting his fried chicken, the customer got a zinger instead. TO HIS FACE" or "the hot and spicy situation was witnessed by no less than 20 patrons who were also queuing up for their food" cropped up, oh, here and there (nope, not gonna give them the pageviews). My question is, really writer, did you go to school for them shit? -__-

Okay, les get back to the story at hand, shall we?

Here's my recap. KFC. Minimum wage workers. Long queue. Night time. Ciken finis. Kastemer anggeri. Kastemer shout (?). Worker responds. Shout some more. Worker came out from behind the counter and punched kastemer in the face. Shout some more. Ah, malas lah recap (padahal dah habis recap pun). This is what I am talking about.

As per normal in Malaysia, APA-APA HAL sekalipun, kalau ada terkena-mengena dua kaum berbeza, mesti ada yang sedikit shallow melabel isu tersebut sebagai isu perkauman. Akan ada yang judgmental dan cakap orang tu racist dan kita-perlu-memperjuangkan-maruah-bangsa-kita.

Sebenarnya, aku tak nak 'kupas' pasal isu ni dari perspektif itu. I believe there are two sides to a story. So far, we have heard the kastemer's side. I have a strong hunch that the KFC guy(s) will not have his (their) 15 minutes, not because they don't wanna share their story, but if KFC hires any sort of PR or communication unit worth their salt, a gag order on the worker is probably in place, in accordance with Crisis Management 101. KFC will (and should?) assume responsibility and apologise and let the vouchers the kastemer wanted to redeem to still be usable even after the vouchers have passed their expiry date (oh, didn't you know? The customer wanted to redeem some vouchers that was expiring on that particular date. No wonderlah sentap ciken finis. Kire burnlah voucher diorang tu kalau tak dapat ciken malam tu jugak -___-). Oh, tapi mungkin tak guna jugak, sebab kastemer tersebut sudah 'emotionally distressed' dan mahu menyaman KFC. Oh well.

Thing is, we hear a lot of  'budak KFC tu kena provoke.' This is here-say. Unless there's another video floating around showing what happened prior to the fist fight. Unless we can find the smug-faced guy in the blue t-shirt or the Mat Saleh or any other patrons in the i-City KFC that night who can give the down-low of what happened, we won't know for sure. Even then, diorang boleh tipu kata diorang ada kat situ sedangkan saja je, nak jugak tumpang 15 minit tersebut.

Kembali kepada 'tapi, budak KFC tu kena provoke, customer tu maki hamun family budak tu.' Now, let me be clear (and be a parent). A fist fight is not gonna solve anything, son. Aku faham, emosi (dan syaiton) mungkin menguasai budak tu. Tak termasuk penat ngadap ayam (boleh tahan lagi) dan orang  (yang INI hehehe, Allahu'alam) satu hari. Tak termasuk faktor-faktor lain yang mungkin ada di sekeliling mamat tu. But I am telling you this. Violence is never the answer. 

Aku tahu, easier said than done. Kalau aku dalam situation tu pun, tak tentu lagi aku tak react dengan cara yang sama. So, it is with a heavy heart that I must say, budak KFC tu sepatutnya, personally, minta maaf. Gag order or not. Kalau betullah customer tu maki hamun keluarga awak, then that stands as a bigger reason for you to apologise. I mean, you don't want what the customer allegedly say about your family turn out to be true, right? Be the bigger person. Be a better man. Minta maaf. It won't solve anything, I know, dan customer tu mungkin akan terus dengan keputusan beliau untuk menyaman anda dan KFC but believe me when I say yang meminta maaf tu bukan untuk customer tu, meminta maaf ni untuk diri awak sendiri. 

Minta maaf di sini bukanlah admission of fault or guilt. Apologies are not about whose fault it is or feelings of guilt. Apologies is actually about moving on. Like it or not, we're humans and guess what? We make mistakes. Some mistakes are costlier than other. Some mistakes are sillier. Some mistakes are... well, you get the idea. Thing is, apologies are not about making things right, even. Apologies are about acknowledging our flaws and being responsible about it. Apologies is about moving on by learning from the mistakes we've made. Dalam kes ni, like I said earlier, I doubt it will deter any 'legal' actions that are probably already underway. Apologies might even be damaging (financially and even physically, in cases where the other party wants to exact revenge). But what it takes away in cash and in terms of physical harm, it gives and molds into character (<;-- Ini, anak-anak, baru cliche namanya. Learn while there's still time, you fools!)

Thing is here, aku sebenarnya kesian kepada frontliners. Kepada orang yang perlu deal dengan customers face to face. You think your desk job is hard? Imagine having to deal with hundreds of people day in and day out. Hubs kerja frontline and it never ceases to amaze me how incredibly dense some people can be. True story. Pernah ada DUA kes assault di tempat kerja hubs (yang dia pernah ceritalah). Not by the staff. So far, staff tempat kerja hubs belum pernah assault customer (that we know of). Salah satu kes assault ni, melibatkan staff (perempuan) yang kena tampar oleh seorang customer (lelaki) bilamana staff tersebut meminta customer mengembalikan sesuatu yang customer perlu letak balik kat tempat sepatutnya. Fact 1: Sesuatu tu memang diketahui PERLU dikembalikan ke tempat sepatutnya. Fact 2: 'Tempat sepatutnya' cuma beberapa depa daripada customer sahaja, customer tidak perlu ke Felda Taib Andak atau Kerteh untuk mengembalikan 'sesuatu' tersebut. Campak pun boleh. 

Jadi kenapa tampar? Entahlah. Food for thought kan? Apalah yang customer tu fikirkan agaknya? Emosi? Syaiton? External factors? Tapi kita jarang sekali dengar cerita seperti apa yang staff tadi alami. Kan? Pernah dengar cerita Call Centre Exec kena maki bila diorang call client? (ni akulah yang buat. Bukan maki, tapi aku pernah marah sorang mamat telecentre ni. Dia carik laki aku, aku cakap, laki aku kerja retail hours, malam tu balik pukul 12. Yes, mamat telecentre tu call nombor phone RUMAH pada MALAM hari. You know what he said bila aku cakap hubs habis kerja pukul 12 malam? "Eh ye ke, Puan? Mana ada orang habis kerja pukul 12 malam..." Logik tak kalau aku amukan puaka di situ?)

Okay, dah cukup, aku dah banyak cakap dan digress. In short, I just wanna say that in reality, there are horror story from both sides, in this incident, in many incidents before and even after this one. Capiche?

Hijrah Resolution

The list. OMG. I am making a list for 2012. Not so much the whole 'new-year-resolution' and all that, and you should now that I started this list way before December 2011. I think this simple list is just a reminder for me, of the things that I should focus on more (not 'achieve', achieve is an overrated word in this sense) this year and the years to come.

Yeah, yeah, lambat sangat buat list, ni dah masuk bulan February 2012, bla bla bla, yadda yadda yadda. So what? List aku kan? Target aku kan? Suka hati akulah nak start bila and nak end bila (eh, napa tiba-tiba sentap entah).  

So here it goes...

1. To be more involved in Little Miss' school work

I was involved, like, the night before her exam. Seriously. I am teaching my 7-year-old how to study last minute. How to burn the midnight oil. How to cram. Amazingly, she got number 1 in her class last year (proud mummy, sniffs) and she's now moved up one class for Standard 2. Understably, the competition is stiffer (like any Standard 2 class in any primary school in the whole wide world should be *___*) so being a kiasu mummy, I will make sure that Little Princess will spend at least 4 hours a day studying for her end of year exams. 

OH. MY. GOD. 

Yeah right.

I can't do that, can I? I can't, in good conscience, let my child go through all that. Hantar tuisyen? Paksa buat latih-tubi ala Kumon? It goes against all the rules I set out as being a parent (ceh, macam lah ada black and white set of rules pun, selama hari ni aku pakai formula redah je pun...). 

But one thing for sure, I want to be more involved in her learning process. I will try to enrich her learning experience. And so, to this end, 1433H/2012 will see more of:

• Trips to Petrosains
• Trips to Pusat Sains
• Trips to Planetarium Negara
• Trips to Zoo Negara
• Trips to Muzium Negara

I am also contemplating enrolling Little Miss in Math/Science classes, not the kind where you listen to lectures, but the kinds where she gets to do the experiments on her own. But so far, the ones I've come across quite the bomb, so we'll see about that. Susah-susah, aku google je, pastu carik tutorial via youtube and just have it DIY-style at home. Welcome to 21st Century parenting, yo!

2. To teach my kids how to ride a bicycle

Little Miss is 7. Little Hero will be 4 in February. Little Miss have yet to learn how to ride a bicycle without training wheels. Little Hero rides his cousin's hand-me-down Zebra Little Tykes rider-thingie. I don't want my kids to be fat, bratty kids who cannot even ride a bike. Come on lah, nama pun duduk kampung (walaupun tak berapa nak kampung). Takkan tak pandai naik basikal?

Ironically, this (hmmm.. apa ye? point ke? resolution ke? ape?) activity is actually also for me. Teach my kids to ride a bike = me being more active = me losing weight. Huhu. tak sah new year resolution kalau tak de lose weight somewhere in the mix. Cliche, I know, but dammit, I do wanna lose some!

3. To travel to 2 more SEA destinations

Before getting married, I had this grand idea of backpacking through SEA. How hubs and I would take train rides and boat rides to explore our neighbouring countries. I only get to visit a handful of them. Sedih. Been to Medan a twices ages ago. 2010 off to Vietnam. 2011 was Thailand's turn. So for 2012, I am aiming for Singapore (been there, but AAAAGES ago) and maybe, Cambodia? Or the Philippines? Singapore's a definite, the rest is still unwritten. 

4. To introduce ABC and 123 to Little Hero

As I mentioned before, Little Hero will be 4 soon. He's yet to hafal his ABCs and 123s (*gasps*). Actually, he does know the numbers at least, because he knows (as in, can say out loud) the numbers of the TV channels he's changing to. For example, I'll be watching Law and Order: SVU, he'll come scurrying into the room, grabbed the remote and say, "Umar nak tengok... anam... satu... three" while pressing the remote. The right numbers with the right sequence. Maknanya dia tahulah nombornya, just that dia malas nak kira bila-bila mama dia suruh dia kira 123. 

Okay, so this year, I want him to be able to relate that one = *, two = ** etc. Tahu nombor dan tahu bilangan adalah dua benda berbeza. And I think I'll also introduce him to colours, since he seems to really love colouring. 

some of you might go, eh, dah empat tahun baru nak introduce number, letters and colours? Well, I am not gonna lie. Sebelum ni, whatever concept of numbers or letters and names of colours that my kids learnt are all learned from thei daily interactions. I have never sat them down in a teaching and learning session, lepas tu tunjuk flash cards one after the other of "F for Frog" and "G for Gargamel."

Click for image source

Seriously, that's the first example I can think of when I think of words starting with G. Sadis. What kind of a mom am I?

Yes, please berate me all you want, because I didn't start teaching my kids the alphabets since they were 1 month old. Yes, I am a borderline negligent parent for not exposing my kids to all these early childhood education thingie-majiggie. Thing is, I believe kids should learn from playing. And even then, learning should not be the main outcome of their play sessions. Kalau belajar, it's great, kalau tak, then it's still great, cos they're just playing. 

So okay, enough with the ranting. Umar, pas ni kena belajar ABC, okay? Kenapa? Saja, sebab Mama nak dengar Umar nyanyi... ;)

--

Okay, that's it for now. Maybe I'll go through with all of them, maybe I'll follow through only one of them, maybe I won't go out and do ANY of them. But one thing's for sure, I will TRY.

Wish me luck, and please doa for me as well.

The Worst Clinic Visit EVER!

Little Hero was unwell. He's been having fever on and off since the past 2 weeks. The other night, he coughed so bad that he threw up his dinner. He has mild asthma (thanks to his Papa) but he wasn't wheezing or anything like that. Yesterday, hubs was on leave, so he was home the whole day. Hubs said that Little Hero was practically sleeping the whole day. Lethargic. Was not his usual playful self.

I got home and decided to take both Littles to the clinic, since Little Miss also has a cough on and off.

Since the new year, my company has changed our insurance carrier. We are now under ING Insure (or something). Unfortunately, the clinic we usually go to does not take the ING card. Sadness. So we had to go to another clinic, namely Klinik Idzham to see the doctor and take the meds. Major Sadness.

I don't like Klinik Idzham. It's usually full. It gives lame-o meds. It has some of the shittiest doctors I have ever had the misfortune to meet (one time, I had a 39 degrees celcius fever - I know 'cos I stole a peek at the doc's thermometer, but  she didn't give me an MC. Reason being, 'Your type of fever will go down soon, you can go to the office later, I kasi you timeslip je, okay?'). I went on EL that day. 

Anyways, we (as in hubs and I) decided against our better judgment and went to Klinik Idzham anyways because a) it's the nearest and b) it's been ages since we been there, surely they've bucked up. SURELY.

Image source

YEAH RIGHT. FAT CHANCE.

First off, coming in, I saw about 20 or so people in the clinic. Okay, so this is Malaysia, I thought, and that is kinda expected. [APA? Mak nak pegi Giant beli groceries? SEMUA ORANG NAK IKUT, termasuk tok, nenek, bibik, pak teh, mak teh, pak anjang dan Comel the cat. SEMUA, okay?] Doesn't matter that it's only ONE child who's sick, most parents here think it's okay to haul their WHOLE healthy line of offsprings to a place where germs and all sorts of icky illnesses are all around (it's a friggin clinic, people! And you wonder why your third daughter is now coughing as well? AND have a fever? AND have those rashes?)

But I was still like, okay, tak pe, pergi je kat kaunter. The nurse at the counter was nice enough albeit a bit confused

Nurse: Puan pernah datang?
Me: Pernah. Tapi dulu under PM Care
Nurse: Oh, sekarang dah tukar?
Me: Yes, company tukar insurance carrier.
Nurse: Oh... tukar career.
Me: *holds breath* *bites tongue*
Nurse: Tapi nama Umar (Little Hero) ni dulu, lain ke?
Me: (Was about to say, 'I haven't changed my son's name yet so whatchu talkin about fu?')[In reality, looks over to her computer monitor] His second name is spelled with 2 As.
Nurse: (Sheepish) Oh, a'ah

Okay fine, sesudahnya drama di kaunter tersebut, maka duduklah kami anak-beranak di kerusi menunggu. It was only then that I glanced at my number, as in angka giliran berjumpa doctor. It's 2112, and the patient the doctor is seeing right now is only number 2101. Okay, so ada dalam 11 orang lagi, roughly 20 minutes per person, I have almost 2 hours to wait for my turn. Oka.... WHATTTT??? TIGA JAM? Klinik ni hire specialist ke ape kena tunggu lama tu? But still, I gave them benefit of the doubt, and thought that maybe the doctor can speed things up with patients like; "Patient: Doktor, saya rasa saya selsema lah. Doktor: Nah, amik piriton, main jauh-jauh." BUT NO.... I have to hand it to the doctor. That night, she was the consummate professional and saw each one of the 11 patients before us for no less than 20 minutes. Melanguk aku tunggu tak de apa nak buat.

But, that's still okay. Because bored as I may be and sick as the Littles may be, at least ada TV. Dan walaupun TV tu tunjuk cerita Nilapura yang aku tak pernah tengok/dengar selama hari ni, aku boleh follow gak la... Episod malam tersebut mengisahkan ada sorang mamat kena bunuh dek bapak dia yang gila kuasa nak jadi raja pastu bapak dia kata kat anak perempuan dia (bini anak dia yang dia bunuh tu) yang suami dia kena baham dek rimau. Anak perempuan dia tengah ngandung, pastu masa tu, anak perempuan dia tengah jahit-jahit baju baby (Oh ya, Nilapura ni cerita jaman dahulu kala tau, jadi semua old-fashioned lah kononnya, ala-ala Laksamana Do Re Mi etc). Pastu sebenarnya suami tu tak mati pun, dia diselamatkan oleh seorang disfigured mysterious figure, dum dum dummmm (music horror sendiri buat). Kesimpulan cerita, cerita bengong tah kenapa dapat slot prime time, Kak Jah pun tak tahu. APA PUN TAK BOLEH.

Baiklah, mari kembali ke cerita asal. 

Dah lah aku kena tunggu lama. Pastu ramai orang. Pastu cerita ntah apa-apa, BUT the worst is yet to come. Sepanjang kehidupan aku sebagai orang dan jugak mak orang, inilah pengalaman ke klinik yang paling teruk pernah aku lalui. You know what was the worst part? Not too long after we got in, registered and all that, in came these two guys carrying these drills. You know what they were about to do? THEY WERE ABOUT TO DRILL HOLES IN THE FRIGGIN CLINIC (oooo, big surprise, I know, what else would you be doing if you walked into a clinic with a drill, right?) Whaddafak weiiii? BISING and BINGIT and OMG!!! I cannot even begin to describe the ordeal. Dahlah anak-anak sakit, merengek tak selesa. Dengan penat tunggu turn. Dengan ramai orang lalu lalang. Dengan terpaksa tengok cerita bodoh Nilapura tu kat TV sebab remote tak de kat aku! TAMBAH LAGI SATU MASALAH, drill tengah-tengah keributan tu.

I mean, come on lah. Drill tu soal hidup dan mati ke? Pentadbir klinik tu tak boleh nak kenalpasti ke, which day and which hour that they have the least amount of patients? Aku tahulah klinik kau tu laku, tapi agak-agaklah der, aku jotos kau nanti baru kau tahu. COME ON LAH. Orang sakit makin jadi sakit tahu tak?

Okay, so some of you might wonder, kenapa tak walk out aje? Kenapa tak keluar je dari klinik tu? Bukan bayar pun kan? The thing is, by that time (by the time they started drilling and all), patient #2109 was up, so that means our turn was not that far away. Plus we've waited so long already! Tapi sementara nak tunggu turun kitorang tu, HAZAB lah kan.

So now, needless to say, I will never, unless under extreme emergency or circumstances, EVER, go to Klinik Idzham lagi.

extra prescription. Anybody knows any good clinic area Gombak yang carry ING Insurance?

additional prescription. Doctor kasi anak-anak aku antibiotik, sebab dia kata dah lama sangat batuk. Aku tak kasi pun antibiotik tu kat the Littles. Heh. MOTHER KNOWS BEST. Pastu Little Hero dapat ubat batuk (asthma - 'thanks' Papa! ) + demam as well and Little Miss dapat ubat batuk (non-asthma). Ubat bongok2. AKU MARAH. Pernah nampak naga taip blog?

extra-additional prescription. Did I mention that we only saw the doctor for less than 15 minutes? HARAMJADAH!!!