Boys in uniforms…

Having promised Saiful and Azman that I’d be fetching them after 2 pm yesterday to bring them to Ipoh to buy their cadet uniforms, I left my house right after my zohor prayer.

This time when I got to Sofie’s house, I didn’t go in. I just honked and waved to Saiful and Azman to get into the car. No need to waste any time, I’d only go in later when we come back.

It was very hot yesterday. Even with the aircond at full blast, I could feel the heat from outside. When we got to Ipoh city center, Azman commented about the traffic jam. Obviously he had never seen KL traffic.

Anyway, there is one particular shop which sells all the uniforms not only for the co-curriculum activities, but for all the uniformed bodies like the police and army. But having been there a few times, I was concerned there may not be any suitable size for Saiful, who is extra small. Even for his school uniform, we bought his shirt at the primary school department, while his green school trousers had to be specifically ordered to his size. He may be in form one, but his standard 3 sister looks bigger than him.

So first I brought them to another shop selling clothes including uniforms in bulk. I had passed by the place before and had seen them hanging cadet uniforms at their shop. Only problem was, the salesgirl there had to be told which one was the cadet uniforms we were looking for. When I went in and asked for the “uniform cadet remaja sekolah”, she showed me the scout’s uniform. I thought she misheard me, so I said again, “Bukan, saya mau uniform cadet remaja.” “Ya la, ini la!” she insisted. Duh! I ended up showing the cadet uniform hung in front of the shop.

Finding the right size for Azman wasn’t a problem. As a matter of fact, when he was trying out the trousers, I heard Azman calling for me, “Makcik, boleh mintak yang saiz besar sikit tak? Yang ni boleh masuk tapi tak boleh kancing.” Hehehe… perut boroi! As for Saiful, the salesgirl just took out the smallest size available. Not too bad for the shirt, although it was still big for Saiful, it just looked slightly big. Some people like their clothes a size or two bigger anyway. But the trousers had to be folded up at least 6 or 7 inches. I asked the salesgirl, “you ingat dia punya umur berapa?” And she answered, “6 tahun?” Adoi… kalau 6 tahun beli baju kadet remaja buat apa?!!! But that just shows how small Saiful is…

We still took the smallest uniform available for Saiful. Sofie can sew, so maybe she can just adjust the uniforms a bit so that it will not look too big on Saiful. The salesgirl then took out all the accessories… badges etc. They were short of one badge so the girl said she’d just walk over to their store just across the road. “Sekejap saja”, so she said.

We waited… and waited… and waited. And mind you, the weather was hot. After almost 20 minutes, the girl finally came back, saying they didn’t have the stock. Duh! So we just paid for whatever was available. We then moved on to the other shop where I usually bring “my children” to buy their co-curriculum uniforms, to buy the cadet boots, which were not available at the first shop we went to.

Ahh, at least this second shop was cooler with closed door and aircond! Bliss! Again, there was no problem getting a pair of boots for Azman, but Saiful had to settle for the smallest one available. Why lah did the teacher tell him to join the cadets in the first place?!

We got whatever else needed at this second shop. This time the salesgirl knew her stuff well, so not much explaining was needed.

Once we got back to their home, I told Saiful to try out his uniform. Had a good laugh seeing him putting on his uniform, but after he wore the complete set, it didn’t look too bad after all. Sofie just needed to adjust the trousers a bit. I told her not to cut anything… hopefully the uniform can last a few years to come even if he grows bigger.

Ika, their youngest sister, who had been watching all the while, then said to me, “Makcik, nanti saya ingat nak bagitau cikgu saya tak naklah masuk Puteri Islam. Saya nak masuk kadet polis.”

Hehehe…. ada orang jealous tengok abang-abangnya dapat uniforms…