Remember in my earlier posting here during fasting month, I mentioned about Mrs K trying to borrow money from me? I suspect she wanted to use the money for Raya.
Guess what? Last Saturday, while I was enjoying my lazy weekend, a text message came in from Mrs K -
"Kak, mintak tolong nak pakai 200 nak bayar duit air hari isnin nak kena potong. Saya bayar balik dapat duit kutu."
The last time she wanted to borrow money, while she didn't give specific reasons, her last sentence was the same - "saya bayar balik dapat duit kutu". If she has been using the same sentence to every person she has borrowed money from, by the time she really gets her duit *kutu, she'd finish them all just by paying off her loans.
(*Kutu is a practice where a group of people contributes a certain amount of money every month and each month they will get their turn in getting the whole lump sum collected. Say, there are 20 of them and each of them give RM50 each month, the total collected each month will be RM1,000. So each month someone will get his/her turn in getting a lump sum of RM1,000. Mrs K's turn is supposed to be in April next year.)
Although I didn't lend her any money the last time, she's still trying again, only this time the excuse is to pay for her water bill. But RM200 for her water bill? How much water do they use each month? And how long haven't they been paying their bills?
I am assuming she really wants the money to pay for her water bill. It has happened before. When the amount was small, they postponed paying, wanting to use the money to buy other things. Then the amount grew and by then they wouldn't have enough money to pay the full amount needed to avoid water supply from being cut off.
I suppose the last time she tried to borrow money from me, even though I said no, maybe I sounded too polite (or as some people say, cakap berlapik). I said, "Maaf, saya tak dapat tolong." To me, it was a clear enough indication that I wouldn't lend them any money. I guess she didn't read between the lines then and so she thought I'd still help later on if she can come up with a desperate enough excuse. So, she's trying again this time.
Well, this time I told her that I will not entertain any requests from her to borrow any money, that she should have spent wisely when she had the money, that she must spend according to her means and prioritize her necessities. And I told her Astro is something we can live without.
Some of you may remember how, last year, although I had reminded them before that they must use their money wisely and save some money for rainy days, when they did manage to get their hands on Mr K's EPF drawings, one of the first things they did was to install Astro at home. Then, during last year's Raya, they had a mini open house - almaklum, masa tu jadi orang kaya baru.
The last time I went to visit them at home, the TV programme they were watching was from an Astro channel still. Meaning they must have paid for their Astro subscription but failed to pay their water bill. Not that I have anything against Astro, but please lah, we can still live without Astro but we cannot live without water - so set your priorities right lah!
I wish Mrs K was more like Nuri whom we helped initially and with our help she started her own food stall and after that never bothered us anymore. I wish Mrs K was more like Ani and her husband whom we helped with their EPF drawings and with the money they built their own house. I wish Mrs K was more like Fuzi who would only spend according to her means. I wish Mrs K was more like Shila who is always thankful with whatever that she gets and never goes around asking for more.
Ah, but it takes all kinds to make this world. I can't expect everyone to behave the way I want them to. Likewise, I'm sure there are people out there who aren't too pleased with my attitude and wish they could change me into someone else more to their liking.
But still, cases like Mrs K's and Yah's always manage to make my blood go upstairs lah!
Well, you win some, you lose some...
10 comments:
Komen Pak Malim, kucing ray yg alim.
Saya fikir anda adalah seorang yg penyabar, kata Pak Malim sambil duduk dalam gebar. Saya paling tak suka ialah orang yg suka minta duit pada orang lain, kata Pak Malim sambil memakai kain. And yet, (kata monyet), anda boleh tolerate tanpa rasa marah, kata Pak Malim yg cedera parah.
Pak Malim:
Dah nak hilang sabar lah ni! kata Pi anak Pak Bani. Bukan saya tak marah, kata Pi Bani yg pakai baju merah, namun saya rasa macam nak give up, tambahnya lagi sambil minum 7-Up.
Tapi saya tak boleh give up, kata Pi Bani yg telinga dah berasap, kerana masih perlu tolong orang lain, katanya lagi sambil melipat kain.
Pi, jgn bagi pinjam duit kat dia. If not pun, go to her house and ask her to show the water bill and pay the bill only. Orang macam ni kalau di bagi duit, diorang akan spend on what they want first instead of what they need.
Farina:
Memang I takkan bagi pinjam even if she shows me the bill. Masalahnya, dia tak serik-serik and they don't seem to learn from their mistakes. Bukannya tak pernah kena macam ni. Nanti I bagi pinjam, they will assume there will always be someone helping them out whenever they get into a similar situation in future. I will only help those who uses our help to improve themselves and their future. Otherwise, sorrylah. I sendiri nak makan kena kerja, bukan duit jatuh dari langit...
Bravo Kak Pi!
Tabib your stand. They can't always be asking people to solve their problems. And RM 200 is a lot of money to be lending. If all your clients minta RM 200 from you, can die oh...
Maybe if the water gets cut off (kesian the anak-anak only), they will learn a lesson and there will be no more next-time's...And agreed, Astro is not a neccesity...
I am a little confused with the whole 'kutu' thingy. Does it means that say 20 people contribute the money monthly, and the same 20 people will get their turn to get the lump-sum?
OR, some generous group of people contribute the money monthly, and a group of 'earmarked' people get a turn in getting a lump-sum of money from the contributors?
Daph:
Yes, the same 20 people get their turn to get the lump sum money. In other words, it's their own money they're getting - some get it early, some get it late. To me, might as well save the money in the bank, in 20 months time we still get the same amount. (provided we're not tempted to use it earlier lah).
p/s
The correct word you should use is tabik, not tabib. Tabik means salute while tabib is... emmm... macam doktor lah...
Bil air RM 200??? Apakebenda la gamaknya yang dia pakai banyak sangat air ni...ish ish ish...
Akmal:
I pun tak taulah berapa bulan punya bil dia tak bayar. Tapi my own water bill kalau RM200 lebih dari cukup untuk setahun...
apparently one of your readers cant live without astro, esp its sport channels. teruk, kan?
on a more serious note, orang kata, kalau bagi betis nak peha. not exactly the case with Mrs K but lebih kurang la. if you had helped her the last time out, chances are she'll come back for more.
Kerp:
That particular blog reader doesn't have to choose between astro subscription and water bill, so lantak dia lah nak tengok astro 24 hrs a day pun...
As for Mrs K, I didn't lend her money the last time, yet she still tried her luck this time. If I did lend her money then, mau tiap-tiap bulan dia mintak agaknya!
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