Of A Maid & An Asthma Attack

My maid Aton who has been taking care of my Haziq and my Husna will be leaving soon. We’ve extended her visa for another month so that Aton could teach the new maid for at least a month before she leaves us for good.

However, the new maid somehow arrived 2 weeks late, which was last Tuesday. She was 25, married with one kid. Nani came from a very poor family – money was the reason why she came to work here. 4D3N on a ship from Tanjung Priok to Tanjung Pinang. 3 hours on a boat from Tanjung Pinang to JB. And another 4-5 hours on a bus from JB to Shah Alam, where we picked her up on Tuesday. She arrived looking tired, but happy to start working.

On Wednesday when we arrived home from work, we saw that she looked kinda weird. I asked Aton and Tina (my other maid who comes from a rich family – my subject in my upcoming post..hehe) what was wrong with her. They said they didn’t know, but Aton said Nani was ok in my Haziq & my Husna’s school that day. In fact the teacher texted me earlier that Nani was eager to learn new things and given time, she’d be a better helper than Aton.

Dear Hubby asked her to sit on the carpet in the living room. She obviously had difficulties in breathing and she was gasping for air. I asked her whether she was ok, she managed to say “asma”. Suddenly her body then came to a curve, it was like she was hunching over. Since I’ve never seen an asthma attack before, I didn’t know that those were danger signs. Dear Hubby quickly said that he’d bring her to the nearby clinic to find out what was wrong with her. Tina helped her to the car, with great effort since by this time, Nani already had trouble walking.

She was lucky to be brought to the clinic juz in the nick of time. “Or it might be fatal”, the doc said. Doc also told Dear Hubby that Nani was a liability to keep since she has acute asthma, gastritis and Tick Typhus (ohmy ..I have no idea what this is). Apparently Nani accidentally left her medications in Tanjung Pinang and by the time she realized, she was already on her way to JB.

As much as I wanted to give her a chance to work with me, I had to think about my Haziq and my Husna. Since my Haziq himself is on Epilim 200, and taking care of both my special ones requires swimming twice a week, air-conditioned rooms with carpets etc etc (and she said she couldn’t sleep in air-conditioned room), I juz have to let her go.

Lucky that she was on JP Visa (usually to apply for a working visa within a month), so she was sent back to the agent in Kluang yesterday. She cried while salam-ing me. Somehow I wonder how in the world did she pass her medical tests prior to coming here?

But whatever it is, I believe it was a blessing in disguise. Allah loves us more. Perhaps there will be unfortunate incidents if she were to work with us. Only Allah knows. And Allah knows best.

Now I’m playing the waiting-for-the-maid game again.
Hopefully this time I'll win :)

 

**Sigh**

I’ve been an unofficial counselor to my friends since my high school days... And during those days it would forever be about relationships with boyfriends, bestfriends, boyfriends, bestfriends, studies, boyfriends and boyfriends... Talking about varieties :P

University days – not so much counseling there. My high school and AAD friends were scattered all around the globe and in those days only snail mails and telephones were the means of communications. Once in a while, I’d be getting late night phone calls and letters in my mailbox. Some sob stories here and there… which were mostly manageable.

Last night my maid Nani confided in me about the problem she’s having with her eldest son. Idul is 21 and has a girlfriend around his age. And very pregnant. With his child.

Since they’re from different religions, the girl’s willing to convert. Nani’s families & relatives in Indon have been trying to marry them off .. but the girl’s parents hated the idea. Despite umpteenth persuasions made, they still didn’t yield.

Nani was afraid they’d abort the baby. She warned the couple not to commit another sin.

I’ll take care of my grandchild. Just don’t kill the baby.

And now she’s uncertain about the fate of the unborn child. What if they decide to end the pregnancy?

Frankly, I didn’t know what to say to her. I just told her to ask her relatives to keep on pressuring the parents to allow the couple to get married. At least, for the sake of the baby.

Nani was worried, that I know. But it would’ve affected her even more if the girl were to be her daughter. Then the whole thing would be different. Chaos would only be used to describe it mildly...

Then I thought about GIRLS. My girls and other parents’ daughters. There’s only so much you can do with your children. Education - worldly or spiritually – love, protection and all kinds of supports can be served to them on the platter, but in the end, it’s still up to them to decide for themselves.

Teringat pepatah Melayu ”Menjaga lembu sekandang lebih mudah dari menjaga seorang anak perempuan..”

....sigh....

My Maid, a Thief - Part II

I still had a bad feeling about Tini. I knew she didn’t tell me the whole truth. I went to Haziq & Husna’s school straight from the office on Friday. The principal wasn’t there, so I just talked to the school maid instead.

Can you tell me about Tini when she’s at school? Does she eat here? She didn’t bring food from home, and she eats only in the evenings... so I guess you give her lunch here.

Tidak, Ibu. Tini selalu keluar kedai beli makanan..

With whose money?

Dia kata duitnya sendiri..

So that was the reason why she refused to bring food from home. Everyday there are food for breakfast on the table. The children eat before going to school. Even Ayah eats breakfast at home. Only Tini doesn’t. Why? Because she likes to spend my money (by stealing) to buy her own food at the stall and kedai mamaks near the school.

I left there fuming.

I was mad at her. So she didn’t tell the whole truth on Thursday night.

I told Ayah about it at 11 pm. And Ayah said we had to settle it right there and then.

The stolen amount doesn’t matter. Whether it’s RM1, RM100 or even RM1000. A thief is a thief. When there’s no trust, it’s hard to live with that person.

Ibu went to Haziq’s school and they told her you always go out to buy food. Last night you told us you only went out ONCE. You lied to us last night Tini. Who gives you the permission to leave the school compound? You’re to take care of Haziq and Husna, not enjoying yourself with friends. And whose money did you use to buy things. Tell us the truth Tini!!!!

Tidak, Bapak.

Don’t lie!! We trusted you last night. You think we’re fools?? Whose money did you use??? CAKAP!!

Tini ambil sedikit-sedikit...

What?? How many times???

Sikit-sikit la... seringgit sana, sepuluh ringgit sini...

Ya Allah... you’ve been stealing from us Tini… You just worked here only like 3 months... but you’ve been taking money from us... How could you Tini?? I don’t think we can live with you anymore. Hati kamu jahat!

Saya janji tak buat lagi...

We can’t trust you anymore! We’ll send you back to the agency – rather than having you around for another 2 years..

Tini janji, Bapak, Ibu.. Tini tak buat lagi...

Ja, we gotta bring her to the police station. We gotta turn her in. Before she steals again, we might as well get rid of her and apply for a new maid…

Tolong Bapak, Ibu... (now she started crying..)

I went upstairs and changed into my jeans and wore my tudung. By this time she cried harder..

Tolong Tini Ibu!!

Ja, I think we’ve to call the police here. I don’t think we can get her into the car...

I called the police and passed the phone to Ayah to do the talking. I could hear her running up the stairs to me, so I ran into the master bedroom. And locked the door. My five girls were in there watching the DVD. The volume was turned up so that my girls couldn’t hear her cryings and pleadings.

Tolong Tini Ibu, jangan hantar Tini ke polisi... Tini janji tak buat lagi...

She kept a vigil outside my door and keep on pleading .. Ibu... Tolong Tini Ibu... Ibu...

A real life drama.

It was like half an hour later the policemen came. Her sobbing became harder. She grabbed my leg when I opened the door to go down. I ignored her... be strong Ja, you have to do this. It’s for our own good..

The two men in blue were in the main living room when I came down. Tini - who was sobbing – was asked to sit on the carpet. Q&A took place. The nice policemen weren’t harsh at all.

They then informed us that it was up to us whether or not to make a report.

Pulling them aside - Can’t you put her one-night in the lockup – that would teach her a lesson. For her to repent.

We can’t do that. We can’t simply put one in the lockup without you filing a report.

We want to scare her. To prove that we’re not bluffing. Take her for a ride, maybe?

So Tini was brought into the car... Follow us, or we’ll use the gari (acah saja tu..) The three of them left. It was nearly 1 am.

We waited for her to come back. And when she did, she was wailing.... She grabbed Ayah’s hands and apologized profusely.... Maaf Tini Bapak.. And came running to me and took my hands.... Maaf Tini Ibu... Beri Tini peluang sekali lagi...

No wonder she was bawling. Tuan HXXXXXXX and Tuan HXXXX told us that Tini was brought to the police station and the lockup. What she saw there made her scared. Really, really scared.

So mission accomplished. I hope that experience taught her a lesson. We’ll see how she’s going to better herself from now on.

After all, everybody deserves a second chance, right?

My Maid, a Thief - Part I

Thursday morning (19 June) when I was wearing my tudung to go to the office, my maid Nani told me that the gas cylinder was empty and she’d used the spared cylinder to cook breakfast earlier. I had given her RM50 a few weeks ago to pay for the gas when the gasman delivers. But when she checked the container in the display cabinet, the money was not there!

I called my other maids Tini and Sunik… Sunik quickly said that she didn’t take it. Tini, the youngest and the latest addition to the household didn’t say anything.

It was that easy to know who was the culprit.

I trusted my guts whenever I dealt with my maids then and I trusted my instinct now as well. I had all experiences regarding Pembantu Rumah Indonesia. You name it, I’ve been thru it.

Both the other two maids have been working with me for over a year. Tini just came about 3 months ago.

I kept saying to them that they have to find the money no matter what. I don’t allow thieves in my house. You’re my family and you steal from me and that’s a wicked thing to do.

While driving Tini and dear Haziq and Husna to school (Tini accompanies them at school), I kept on repeating my disappointment with the ‘thief’. She didn’t say anything. She cracked her fingers all the way to school. That was odd. Somebody was nervous obviously…

I called Nani up and asked her to check Tini’s belongings. She called later to tell me that she found RM8 in her drawer. She shouldn’t be having the money, I’ve paid her 6-months salary to the agency, so it will be a while when she’ll be getting her salary from me.

But the RM50 was nowhere in sight.

So I told Nani to watch her closely when she came back from school.

And later I got another call from Nani saying that the money was in the display cabinet, but in another container, way at the bottom! Just as I expected!

Urrghh…I just couldn’t wait to get home and confront her.

Reached home that evening and I summoned her to the main living room. Went straight to the point and told her I knew she took my money… She said she didn’t do it. I screamed at her ( I think I could hear broken glasses somewhere) but she didn’t budge.

When I cooled down a bit, I said to her that once she stepped foot in my home, she became my family... Saya dan Bapak pengganti ibubapa kamu Tini...tapi kenapa kamu mencuri dari saya?

She cried – but still no confession.

I told her that this was my wrath, you haven’t seen Bapak’s.

But there was no screaming when Ayah came home. He simply called the three maids. And he asked Hanna to bring the Al-Quran. Saya mahu ketiga-tiga kamu bersumpah dengan Al-Quran ini.. tapi bermula dengan kamu Tini.

As simple as that – no screaming, no threatening words.

Tini confessed .. Saya yang curi, Pak.

And he left her at that.

After having our dinner, we called her again and asked her why did she take the money.
You have everything, Tini, You eat what we eat. We bought your bras, panties and even your Kotex. You wanted Rexona, we obliged. The whole pantry is full of food and you may take whatever you want... So, isn’t that enough for you?

Entah, saya cuma ambil...

Is there anything else you’ve taken from us?

Tidak, Cuma RM50 itu... itupun saya sudah pulangkan...

Any more confessions to make?

Tidak, itu aja.

So we believed her. Although we didn’t know how can we live with her another 2 years knowing that she’s a thief.

From now on, we have to watch our belongings. Hanna and Hasya have to change their habit of littering their rooms with coins and RM1 notes.

And I couldn't help the feeling of uncertainties ...