It was already 3 pm when I finished running some errands around town yesterday and so I thought I might as well go straight to the bus-station to wait for Lin. I told her earlier that I should be free after 2.30 pm and Lin promised she’d inform me once she reaches the bus station. Although she didn’t call yet by then, I didn’t want to get back into town. There’s always traffic jam in Ipoh town centre whenever it’s nearing Chinese New Year and the past few days were no exception.
So I just went straight to where we promised to meet up, got myself a parking space and waited in the car. Lin sent me a text message about 3.20 pm. I got down and walked to the nearby taxi stand where she promised to wait for me. Lin was surprised when I came from behind her as she was actually looking elsewhere expecting to see my car.
As I said, I didn’t want to get caught in the traffic jam in town, so we just walked to a nearby restaurant. Just like the first time we met, Lin simply ordered exactly what I ordered. So yesterday we had rojak pasembur and milo ais kurang manis…
This time Lin was even more relaxed than the first time she met me. I felt more relaxed too… we got along really well like we were old friends whereas we only got to know each other a month ago and this was just our second meet.
Lin works as a helper at a restaurant. She has never worked before this but this time she simply had to work because her ex-husband, Mr. Romeo Darling, is not consistent in giving money for the children who are staying with Lin. At the most he’d give the 4 children a total of RM300 for the whole month. Sometimes when they ask from him, he’d give only RM50. He always complained about not having enough money to give them. Hmmm… wonder where his salary usually goes to...
Now that he knows Lin is working, I bet it’ll even be harder to get any money from him. But as of yesterday, Lin had not got her salary yet. Hopefully by today she’d get it.
Actually originally it was Lin’s eldest daughter who applied for and got this job. But right when she got the job, the offer to continue her studies in a nursing college came. When she asked the employer if someone else could replace her, the taukeh simply said yes although Lin was initially not too confident about it… the person who got the job in the first place was a young lady half her age. Frankly I think Lin was the better person for the job… she had to wash the dishes, clean the kitchen, etc so she’d probably stick to the job longer. A younger person would probably quit soon enough to find another job. Lin may not be as young and energetic as her daughter, but at the same time she’s not too old either. Heck, she’s just 2 or 3 years younger than me and I am NOT OLD! Mature maybe, but not old. (Sebut betul-betul… MATURE… not MORE-TUA!)
As we were gossiping… oops… I mean chatting… naturally the topic of Mr. Darling came up. Recently Mr. Darling got ill and you know lah how some people can become so manja whenever they’re ill. Mr. D was no exception. He called his children asking them to take care of him at his mother’s house. Lin’s 3 older daughters are actually angry with their father for causing the mother to be infected with HIV, but Lin managed to convince them that no matter what happens, they still need to respect their father. And so yes, her eldest and 3rd daughter went to take care of him (her 2nd daughter is overseas). But these girls, who are so supportive of their mother, went back (after their father got better) and were giggling away telling their mother what their father told them. And what did their father tell them?
“Sebenarnya bukan tak ada orang nakkan abah ni, tapi abah masih sayangkan mak kamu.”
Haha… yah, right… I know the person who wants him so much but he’s the one who’s trying to avoid her… I’m sure you readers know who too, yah? ;)
Anyway, somehow Lin and I did end up talking about “this other woman” Mr. Darling had been seeing. Lin knows I know about her ex-husband and since she heard this other woman also has HIV, she figured I knew this other woman as well. But she’s not at all bothered. Except for the financial problems, Lin actually feels a lot better without Mr. Darling in her life. When I suggested to her that this other woman (I didn’t mention Yah’s name) was probably feeling lonely and enjoyed the attention given to her by Mr. Darling (at first lah), Lin agreed that her ex-husband is a soft-spoken person and THAT was probably his strong point in winning women’s hearts.
After some time, I decided to send Lin home so that next time I know how to get to her house on my own. The town she’s staying in is not that far from Mr. K’s place, so the next time I visit Mr. K’s family, I may visit Lin’s family too.
Lin and her children stay at her father’s house in a nice kampong environment. So at least she doesn’t have to worry about paying rental. Her only problem is that the house was transferred to her eldest brother’s name some time ago by their father (who now stays elsewhere with his new wife). Their father thought it was best to transfer the house to his eldest son whom he thought would be the best person to handle the family’s properties. Although the brother did not say it openly, he did confess to another sibling that he’d sell the house once his father dies.
Lin simply didn’t want to think that far ahead. To her, if need be, she’d just have to move out and look for another place to live in. Hopefully, if that ever happens, by then Lin would be more stable financially.
Judging from her character, I’m not worried about Lin’s reaction if she ever gets to meet Yah. I’m not sure how Yah would react though… apparently she’s still heads over heels over Mr. Romeo Darling…
Yep, I do have some updates on Yah after all… she has got herself a job too. Yah works as a helper at a restaurant.
JANGAN BETULKAN COMPUTER SCREEN ANDA.
You read that right. Lin works as a helper at a restaurant. Yah works as a helper at a restaurant. BOTH Lin and Yah work as helpers at restaurants. How much more coincidental can things get?!
But thank goodness they’re not working at the same restaurant. Lin works at a restaurant near her house while Yah works at a restaurant in Ipoh.
Yah actually have not told me yet that she found herself a job in Ipoh. I guess earlier on when she called me to talk about her problems with Mr. Darling, she was probably expecting me to advice her on how to find ways to get hold of him. I instead gave her a short lecture. I told her that if Mr. D changed his phone number he probably wasn’t interested in her. I told her she must think about her children’s well being. When she started going out for karaoke sessions and taking taxis instead of buses to travel out of town, and then sent me text messages telling me that she ran out of milk powder and diapers for her toddler, I decided to put the onus back on her.
I know for a fact that other than the monthly welfare aid she gets, an anonymous donor has also been banking in a fixed amount into her account every month. And since her 2 older daughters had gone to an orphanage since the beginning of this year, she has 2 less dependents. So I told her that the money banked in by the anonymous donor is meant to buy her children’s necessities and as such she should use the money to buy milk powder and diapers instead of asking from me.
The good thing that came out of it is that Yah has now found herself a job. But why did she specifically look for a job in Ipoh? Further away from her children? Her 2 older children had already gone to an orphanage and now she left her 2 younger children to stay with their grandparents?
As I said earlier, Yah had not told me about her new job. Ever since the lecture I gave her, she did not call or SMS as often as before. She knew I was upset with her. So how did I know about her latest development? Well, she started to call/SMS a male colleague of mine instead. This colleague of mine is the person in charge of our clients’ welfare and so he had been helping Yah with her welfare application earlier.
Recently Yah said she needed some help from this colleague of mine and so she wanted to meet up with him. And guess what? She somehow managed to get Mr. Darling’s new number (hendak seribu daya!) and when she met my colleague she gave him Mr. D’s new number and asked my colleague to call him to ask how he was. Mr. D had met my colleague before during one HIV clinic and so they knew each other.
Mr. D didn’t know that Yah was right beside my colleague when they were talking over the phone. My colleague just pretended like he didn’t know anything. Mr. D did ask if my colleague had met Yah. With Yah right beside him, my colleague just answered with either yes, no or I see…
No, Mr. D did not ask about Yah because he missed her. He actually told my colleague that he didn’t like Yah and asked my colleague if he could arrange to introduce him to other HIV positive women. He really needs a wife but Yah has been blacklisted!!!! Ooh la la… isn’t this the same guy who told his daughters he didn’t remarry because he still loves their mother? Oh boy! Now he wants my colleague to introduce him to other HIV positive women?
My colleague didn’t say anything much then, but when he related the story to me later, he said no way he was going to play match-maker!
Not long after my colleague’s call, Yah herself called Mr. D direct. I guess our romeo simply didn’t know how else to avoid her. Changed his phone number, she somehow managed to find ways and means to get the new number. Don’t ask me how. Maybe she hired a private investigator? Haha!
Initially it was Mr. Darling who proposed to Yah before even attempting to get to know her better. He called her in the middle of the night… calling her darling… bringing her for karaoke sessions… spoiling her rotten! Now that he realized he didn’t like Yah, it is Yah’s turn to stalk him! Should I just say PADAN MUKA? Muahahaha…
Whatever it is, I am still upset about the negative changes in Yah. Now that she’s staying alone in Ipoh, and all her children are being taken care of by other people, she’d probably be enjoying herself more. There’s a reason she specifically looked for a job in Ipoh without even attempting to look for a job at her hometown. I suspect she wants to get nearer to Mr. Da…da…da… daarrliiing!
Aiyo… apa mau jadi?!
So I just went straight to where we promised to meet up, got myself a parking space and waited in the car. Lin sent me a text message about 3.20 pm. I got down and walked to the nearby taxi stand where she promised to wait for me. Lin was surprised when I came from behind her as she was actually looking elsewhere expecting to see my car.
As I said, I didn’t want to get caught in the traffic jam in town, so we just walked to a nearby restaurant. Just like the first time we met, Lin simply ordered exactly what I ordered. So yesterday we had rojak pasembur and milo ais kurang manis…
This time Lin was even more relaxed than the first time she met me. I felt more relaxed too… we got along really well like we were old friends whereas we only got to know each other a month ago and this was just our second meet.
Lin works as a helper at a restaurant. She has never worked before this but this time she simply had to work because her ex-husband, Mr. Romeo Darling, is not consistent in giving money for the children who are staying with Lin. At the most he’d give the 4 children a total of RM300 for the whole month. Sometimes when they ask from him, he’d give only RM50. He always complained about not having enough money to give them. Hmmm… wonder where his salary usually goes to...
Now that he knows Lin is working, I bet it’ll even be harder to get any money from him. But as of yesterday, Lin had not got her salary yet. Hopefully by today she’d get it.
Actually originally it was Lin’s eldest daughter who applied for and got this job. But right when she got the job, the offer to continue her studies in a nursing college came. When she asked the employer if someone else could replace her, the taukeh simply said yes although Lin was initially not too confident about it… the person who got the job in the first place was a young lady half her age. Frankly I think Lin was the better person for the job… she had to wash the dishes, clean the kitchen, etc so she’d probably stick to the job longer. A younger person would probably quit soon enough to find another job. Lin may not be as young and energetic as her daughter, but at the same time she’s not too old either. Heck, she’s just 2 or 3 years younger than me and I am NOT OLD! Mature maybe, but not old. (Sebut betul-betul… MATURE… not MORE-TUA!)
As we were gossiping… oops… I mean chatting… naturally the topic of Mr. Darling came up. Recently Mr. Darling got ill and you know lah how some people can become so manja whenever they’re ill. Mr. D was no exception. He called his children asking them to take care of him at his mother’s house. Lin’s 3 older daughters are actually angry with their father for causing the mother to be infected with HIV, but Lin managed to convince them that no matter what happens, they still need to respect their father. And so yes, her eldest and 3rd daughter went to take care of him (her 2nd daughter is overseas). But these girls, who are so supportive of their mother, went back (after their father got better) and were giggling away telling their mother what their father told them. And what did their father tell them?
“Sebenarnya bukan tak ada orang nakkan abah ni, tapi abah masih sayangkan mak kamu.”
Haha… yah, right… I know the person who wants him so much but he’s the one who’s trying to avoid her… I’m sure you readers know who too, yah? ;)
Anyway, somehow Lin and I did end up talking about “this other woman” Mr. Darling had been seeing. Lin knows I know about her ex-husband and since she heard this other woman also has HIV, she figured I knew this other woman as well. But she’s not at all bothered. Except for the financial problems, Lin actually feels a lot better without Mr. Darling in her life. When I suggested to her that this other woman (I didn’t mention Yah’s name) was probably feeling lonely and enjoyed the attention given to her by Mr. Darling (at first lah), Lin agreed that her ex-husband is a soft-spoken person and THAT was probably his strong point in winning women’s hearts.
After some time, I decided to send Lin home so that next time I know how to get to her house on my own. The town she’s staying in is not that far from Mr. K’s place, so the next time I visit Mr. K’s family, I may visit Lin’s family too.
Lin and her children stay at her father’s house in a nice kampong environment. So at least she doesn’t have to worry about paying rental. Her only problem is that the house was transferred to her eldest brother’s name some time ago by their father (who now stays elsewhere with his new wife). Their father thought it was best to transfer the house to his eldest son whom he thought would be the best person to handle the family’s properties. Although the brother did not say it openly, he did confess to another sibling that he’d sell the house once his father dies.
Lin simply didn’t want to think that far ahead. To her, if need be, she’d just have to move out and look for another place to live in. Hopefully, if that ever happens, by then Lin would be more stable financially.
Judging from her character, I’m not worried about Lin’s reaction if she ever gets to meet Yah. I’m not sure how Yah would react though… apparently she’s still heads over heels over Mr. Romeo Darling…
Yep, I do have some updates on Yah after all… she has got herself a job too. Yah works as a helper at a restaurant.
JANGAN BETULKAN COMPUTER SCREEN ANDA.
You read that right. Lin works as a helper at a restaurant. Yah works as a helper at a restaurant. BOTH Lin and Yah work as helpers at restaurants. How much more coincidental can things get?!
But thank goodness they’re not working at the same restaurant. Lin works at a restaurant near her house while Yah works at a restaurant in Ipoh.
Yah actually have not told me yet that she found herself a job in Ipoh. I guess earlier on when she called me to talk about her problems with Mr. Darling, she was probably expecting me to advice her on how to find ways to get hold of him. I instead gave her a short lecture. I told her that if Mr. D changed his phone number he probably wasn’t interested in her. I told her she must think about her children’s well being. When she started going out for karaoke sessions and taking taxis instead of buses to travel out of town, and then sent me text messages telling me that she ran out of milk powder and diapers for her toddler, I decided to put the onus back on her.
I know for a fact that other than the monthly welfare aid she gets, an anonymous donor has also been banking in a fixed amount into her account every month. And since her 2 older daughters had gone to an orphanage since the beginning of this year, she has 2 less dependents. So I told her that the money banked in by the anonymous donor is meant to buy her children’s necessities and as such she should use the money to buy milk powder and diapers instead of asking from me.
The good thing that came out of it is that Yah has now found herself a job. But why did she specifically look for a job in Ipoh? Further away from her children? Her 2 older children had already gone to an orphanage and now she left her 2 younger children to stay with their grandparents?
As I said earlier, Yah had not told me about her new job. Ever since the lecture I gave her, she did not call or SMS as often as before. She knew I was upset with her. So how did I know about her latest development? Well, she started to call/SMS a male colleague of mine instead. This colleague of mine is the person in charge of our clients’ welfare and so he had been helping Yah with her welfare application earlier.
Recently Yah said she needed some help from this colleague of mine and so she wanted to meet up with him. And guess what? She somehow managed to get Mr. Darling’s new number (hendak seribu daya!) and when she met my colleague she gave him Mr. D’s new number and asked my colleague to call him to ask how he was. Mr. D had met my colleague before during one HIV clinic and so they knew each other.
Mr. D didn’t know that Yah was right beside my colleague when they were talking over the phone. My colleague just pretended like he didn’t know anything. Mr. D did ask if my colleague had met Yah. With Yah right beside him, my colleague just answered with either yes, no or I see…
No, Mr. D did not ask about Yah because he missed her. He actually told my colleague that he didn’t like Yah and asked my colleague if he could arrange to introduce him to other HIV positive women. He really needs a wife but Yah has been blacklisted!!!! Ooh la la… isn’t this the same guy who told his daughters he didn’t remarry because he still loves their mother? Oh boy! Now he wants my colleague to introduce him to other HIV positive women?
My colleague didn’t say anything much then, but when he related the story to me later, he said no way he was going to play match-maker!
Not long after my colleague’s call, Yah herself called Mr. D direct. I guess our romeo simply didn’t know how else to avoid her. Changed his phone number, she somehow managed to find ways and means to get the new number. Don’t ask me how. Maybe she hired a private investigator? Haha!
Initially it was Mr. Darling who proposed to Yah before even attempting to get to know her better. He called her in the middle of the night… calling her darling… bringing her for karaoke sessions… spoiling her rotten! Now that he realized he didn’t like Yah, it is Yah’s turn to stalk him! Should I just say PADAN MUKA? Muahahaha…
Whatever it is, I am still upset about the negative changes in Yah. Now that she’s staying alone in Ipoh, and all her children are being taken care of by other people, she’d probably be enjoying herself more. There’s a reason she specifically looked for a job in Ipoh without even attempting to look for a job at her hometown. I suspect she wants to get nearer to Mr. Da…da…da… daarrliiing!
Aiyo… apa mau jadi?!
22 comments:
Aye curamba!
I’m having a tough time here of where to begin with. Ok, maybe I’ll start with Yah since she’s the main cast. Seriously, Kak Pi, don’t you think she deserve to be told off from any of your colleagues for being ungrateful to you? just becos you ticked her off doesn’t mean she can simply ditch you, both as a friend and volunteer.
And this Mr D fellow, he can really melt a girl’s heart I see. I guess you don’t call him mr darling for nothing. He can even afford to be fussy in choosing a woman. Not that we can ever tell him to repent and shits like that but really, GET REAL!!
We can basically figure who’s who in this soap opera-esque twist. Yah the runaway girl, Mr D the bandit cum Casanova and Lin the goody-goody heroine.…hehehe…oh and Pi the narrator.
Apa mau jadi?? Still not a faintest of clue.
speechless ...
Kerp:
Don't even know where to begin, eh?
Actually my colleague did tell Yah to call me and inform me of her new job. I'll just wait and see. Meanwhile at least I can still get to know of her latest development from my colleague.
As for our Mr Darling, I guess once a romeo always a romeo? Hahaha! I sure hope he will not try to tackle any of my other clients. Many single HIV positive women I know of - Ifa, Fuzi, Zana, Nuri, Jah, Shila, Hana... hopefully Mr D will never get the chance to "tackle" them at the HIV clinic like he did Yah.
If he starts having affairs with these women, adoii... teruklah I jadi pusat aduan for HIV+ women yang tidur tak lena, mandi tak basah, ubat tak makan, anak tak jaga... ;)
Ninuk:
Not thinking of telenovela series this time? ;)
K.Pi...gelak besar i baca part 'More-Tua' tu .....kelakar habis....hehehehe.....
-niasualaiman-
Adui la Kak Pi,
It is sad to hear that Yah left the younger kids to be taken care of my the parents, kesian depa (both the kids and the parents!)
Yah ni tgh Mid-life crisis kot?
As for Mr Romeo, i dun know what to say lah, konon macam all the women in the world is after him...piiirrraahhhh!!
Sabo je la...
Next episode...
niasulaiman:
If you're in your office, baik-baik sikit kalau tergelak sorang-sorang tu. Nanti orang ingat something wrong upstairs pulak...
Kina:
Tak taulah mid-life crisis ke apa ke. She is just about Lin's age actually. Agaknya selama ni tak pernah merasa enjoy semua tu so bila merasa sekali naik syok jadinya. She probably thinks as long as she sends back some money for the children, her responsibility is carried out already.
I can understand if she couldn't get a job back at her hometown, but she purposely looked for a job in Ipoh, away from her hometown... runsing dok rumah as she always claimed.
i dont mean to look down on Yah but maybe because of her HIV status, she thought no guys would even go near her and mr D was her only saviour to pull her out of the abyss of loneliness.
Kerp:
I agree she probably feels lonely, but I don't think HIV has much to do with it. Cara hidup dia selama ni memang tak berapa bercampur dengan orang...
Kak Pi,
First of all I would like to congrats u on what u r doing. It takes a lot of courages and determination to be able to do what u doing. Tabik spring nih!!!!
I've just came across ur blog last week and find myself addicted to stories in ur blog.Ur blog is really an eye opener to me on HIV issues and voluntary works. I've involved with some voluntary works few years ago when I was still single but when I compare what I have done an what u r doing, mcm langit ngan bumi. I'm so impressed with u Kak Pi and hope I will not giving myself any excuses anymore to do voluntary works.
So sad to read about Yah's changes in attitude. Coz the previous stories of her shows she's one strong lady and responsible mother. Just becoz of Mr. D, she has changed. I do hope Kak Pi, u be able to help her back on the right track.
Helo Kak Pi,
So the plot thickens.
One lady cares for her children.
While another became the opposite what she was before.
Geram with the guy who has the nerves to ask ppl to introduce ladies for him.
Pi ... This is no longer a twist but a tornado as Yah has been physically uprooted! I feel sorry for her futile pursuit of Mr D. Now that she has called him, he'll probably tukar nombor again. Love can be truly blind at times.
The good part in the story is things look to be getting brighter for Lin and she has her two feet firmly planted on the ground where Mr D is concerned.
Again, kudos to you and your colleagues, Pi for making life better for the unfortunate.
Neny:
Welcome to my blog.
So you have been involved in voluntary works before, eh? No need to make comparisons lah what we do. Nama pun VOLUNTARY kan, so buatlah sekadar yang mampu. I ni pun dah masuk umur 40-an baru mula ligat.
Yes, it's so frustrating to see the negative changes in Yah. I'm not sure if I'd be able to put her back on track, but insyaAllah I will still try.
Nightwing:
Yeah, the plot thickens.
One lady I really like her attitude, while the other lady is getting on my nerves.
And the romeo guy? I wonder what he's thinking!
Rita:
I don't know how else to put it to Yah that Mr Darling isn't interested in her. After the episode when she slept over at Mr D's mother's house, she can't seem to get the romeo out of her head. I wonder what really happened that night. Frankly I'm not sure if Yah had told me the whole truth.
But yes, while I was upset with Yah, it's great seeing Lin moving on the right track.
Hi Kak Pi,
Yeeeeee...This Mr Romeo-Darling ah...
Oh, suddenly he is knight-in-shining armour hor, still loving the 3 children's mother hor?
Yeeeee...
And yeah, very big coincidence! Seriously, lar, this is straight outta the Bollywood script...
And all this time when I watch dramas like this, I go, where got such coincidence one?
Duh!
Pi,
Yah ni macam orang kata "hidung tak mancung, pipi tersorong-sorong." Mr Darling dah tak mau, masih tergila-gilakan dia. Cish!!And she's quite irresponsible and an ingrate.
This Mr Darling the romeo, hansem sangat ke? Ahh, he's soft spoken dan pandai memikat hati? Lol!
Glad to know that Lin has moved on. Good for her, at least she is more focussed than Yah.
Now for the next episode...
Daphne:
It's like watching a bollywood movie and getting so geram with the villain hero eh? Haha!
If I never got to know Lin and Yah, I probably wouldn't have believed such a coincidence too. I think if I make a script out of this real life situation, people would probably say my story tak masuk akal kan?
Kak Ton:
Aik? Tengah geram nampak? Ni belum tengok cerita kat layar perak lagi... hahaha!
I've never met Mr Darling personally, so I don't now whether he's handsome or not. Tak taulah kot muka dia macam Mel Gibson ke... macam Mr Bean ke... what I know is Yah bukan cair sikit-sikit dah... memang cair terus!!
Next episode? Sabor le... ok lah my next posting ada sikiiiiit update on Yah. TUNGGUUUUU!!!
Salam Pi,
I was just pondering/wondering about volunteering with this group but your stories are waayyy too exciting la...My heart/blood pessure cannot tahan la.
I think i'll stick to the young orphans..
fernns:
Yeah, if you can't take it, stick to the young orphans. They may still have problems, but not of the angau type, I think... ;)
Post a Comment