Ahhh…bliss! Life is finally not so hectic for me now.
At the office, deadlines for the filing of annual reports and financial statements for our business clients with June year end, ended yesterday with a few betul-betul last minute cases. When I say betul-betul last minute, it includes injury time.
Huh? Submission of annual returns also got injury time ka? Well, actually those with June financial year-end, must have their AGM by end of December, and all the documents need to be filed by end of January. And there is this 7 days grace period given before a late-lodgement fee is charged. My officemates and I call the 7 days grace period “injury time”.
As for my NGO reports, I’ve already submitted all my reports to the assistant secretary to be compiled together with reports from the other coordinators.
So yep, I’ve got a little more breathing space now. But that only means it is time to resume the things I’ve been postponing to do – like the house visits to the homes of those who applied for the Education Sponsorship Programme for assessment purposes. I hope to do so next weekend.
Speaking of sponsorship, I’ve also already submitted my reports to the individual sponsors for last year’s sponsored children. There were 9 sponsored children for last year. 3 were Fuzi’s children – the eldest is doing considerably well in her studies, the second one is just so-so while the third has some disciplinary problems (if you remember one of my earlier postings, he was the “hisap k*m*l**n” boy).
Shila’s daughter Laila is another average case. As for Pushpa, the HIV+ child who took UPSR last year, her results slip showed a string of B’s, C’s and D’s.
In contrast, Valli’s 2 boys are doing quite well in school. Her younger son, who, like Pushpa, also took his UPSR last year, scored 5A’s. Ah, I always love it when children from financially challenged families do well in their studies.
As for Hana’s children, I must say I am quite impressed. Hana herself is rather “slow” and “blur” most of the time. But her eldest daughter managed second position in class (so the amount paid for her tuition definitely didn’t go to waste). Her younger daughter, who was 5th in class the year before, only managed 22nd position last year. The drop, I’m sure has nothing to do with their financial constraints, but more because of the “teasing” she has been facing in school ever since her father (or step-father, I’m not sure because the girl doesn’t have a binti if based on her birth cert) died. I have yet to find out the real reason behind the teasing – it is so difficult to get information from Hana while the little girl herself didn’t want to say why she was teased. I can only suspect that it is either one or both of the following reasons:
- Her school-mates found out that the father died of AIDS. And maybe that her mother too may have been infected.
- Her birth cert indicating “Maklumat bapa: Tidak diketahui.”
I do hope the girl will get over it soon and that her friends in school will get bored of teasing her. I did try to suggest that she change to another school but the mother just said, “Tak payahlah.” Ah well, if the teasing was due to the second reason, she may still face the same problem if she changes to another school.
On another note, tonight I will be attending a wedding reception at a hotel. The parents of the bride are both volunteers of Buddies. Yesterday I was SMS-ing my fellow volunteers asking if anyone would like to chip in to buy a wedding present.
One of the volunteers asked what kind of presents we should buy – the bride and groom come from well-to-do families, he said. Somebody suggested maybe we should just buy something useless but nice to look at. :) I told him it doesn’t matter… it’s the thought that counts.
Anyway, based on the responses, I got a rough idea of the budget, so this morning off I went to buy a present. And since my colleague brought it up, I was kinda in a dilemma if I should go for something practical or something useless but nice to look at. If I go for practicality, then what should I be looking for? Electrical goods? It may not end up being too practical if the newlyweds end up with say 2 rice-cookers, or 5 dinner sets, or 3 gas stoves. Oh, you get the drift.
So I ended up buying something the couple can use even if they get 6 of the same thing. Something that needs to be changed and washed from time to time. No-lah, not underwears - they'd need more than 6 of those I'm sure. Muahaha!
I bought them a queen comforter set. OK or not?
At the office, deadlines for the filing of annual reports and financial statements for our business clients with June year end, ended yesterday with a few betul-betul last minute cases. When I say betul-betul last minute, it includes injury time.
Huh? Submission of annual returns also got injury time ka? Well, actually those with June financial year-end, must have their AGM by end of December, and all the documents need to be filed by end of January. And there is this 7 days grace period given before a late-lodgement fee is charged. My officemates and I call the 7 days grace period “injury time”.
As for my NGO reports, I’ve already submitted all my reports to the assistant secretary to be compiled together with reports from the other coordinators.
So yep, I’ve got a little more breathing space now. But that only means it is time to resume the things I’ve been postponing to do – like the house visits to the homes of those who applied for the Education Sponsorship Programme for assessment purposes. I hope to do so next weekend.
Speaking of sponsorship, I’ve also already submitted my reports to the individual sponsors for last year’s sponsored children. There were 9 sponsored children for last year. 3 were Fuzi’s children – the eldest is doing considerably well in her studies, the second one is just so-so while the third has some disciplinary problems (if you remember one of my earlier postings, he was the “hisap k*m*l**n” boy).
Shila’s daughter Laila is another average case. As for Pushpa, the HIV+ child who took UPSR last year, her results slip showed a string of B’s, C’s and D’s.
In contrast, Valli’s 2 boys are doing quite well in school. Her younger son, who, like Pushpa, also took his UPSR last year, scored 5A’s. Ah, I always love it when children from financially challenged families do well in their studies.
As for Hana’s children, I must say I am quite impressed. Hana herself is rather “slow” and “blur” most of the time. But her eldest daughter managed second position in class (so the amount paid for her tuition definitely didn’t go to waste). Her younger daughter, who was 5th in class the year before, only managed 22nd position last year. The drop, I’m sure has nothing to do with their financial constraints, but more because of the “teasing” she has been facing in school ever since her father (or step-father, I’m not sure because the girl doesn’t have a binti if based on her birth cert) died. I have yet to find out the real reason behind the teasing – it is so difficult to get information from Hana while the little girl herself didn’t want to say why she was teased. I can only suspect that it is either one or both of the following reasons:
- Her school-mates found out that the father died of AIDS. And maybe that her mother too may have been infected.
- Her birth cert indicating “Maklumat bapa: Tidak diketahui.”
I do hope the girl will get over it soon and that her friends in school will get bored of teasing her. I did try to suggest that she change to another school but the mother just said, “Tak payahlah.” Ah well, if the teasing was due to the second reason, she may still face the same problem if she changes to another school.
On another note, tonight I will be attending a wedding reception at a hotel. The parents of the bride are both volunteers of Buddies. Yesterday I was SMS-ing my fellow volunteers asking if anyone would like to chip in to buy a wedding present.
One of the volunteers asked what kind of presents we should buy – the bride and groom come from well-to-do families, he said. Somebody suggested maybe we should just buy something useless but nice to look at. :) I told him it doesn’t matter… it’s the thought that counts.
Anyway, based on the responses, I got a rough idea of the budget, so this morning off I went to buy a present. And since my colleague brought it up, I was kinda in a dilemma if I should go for something practical or something useless but nice to look at. If I go for practicality, then what should I be looking for? Electrical goods? It may not end up being too practical if the newlyweds end up with say 2 rice-cookers, or 5 dinner sets, or 3 gas stoves. Oh, you get the drift.
So I ended up buying something the couple can use even if they get 6 of the same thing. Something that needs to be changed and washed from time to time. No-lah, not underwears - they'd need more than 6 of those I'm sure. Muahaha!
I bought them a queen comforter set. OK or not?
6 comments:
Komen Pak Malim kucing ray yg alim.
Queen Comforter tu okay jugak, kata Pak Malim sambil menembak gagak. When U come to KL, can U bring one for me, too? kata Pak Malim sambil menggaru kutu.
Aik, Pak Malim pun nak wedding prezen juga... kata Pi Bani sambil makan burger. Bini nombor berapa? tanya Pi Bani lagi sambil memarut kelapa. :)
Queen comfortoer? of course can...pucuk dicita, comforter mendatang! sungguh sesuai.
Kak Teh,
Errr... pucuk apa yang dicita tu? :) Tapi comforter memang sesuailah kan? Tambah pulak kalau tengah snowing macam kat London nun...
Hi Pi
I feel so sorry for that girl who is getting teased. I can only imagine how that is affecting her concentration in school. I too hope the teasing stops someday. When the kids find someone else to pick on, they will move on. Wrong hope (cos another child becomes a victim) but teasing someone excessively is just brutal to me.
As for that gift, I think comforter is a good idea. It is true that some people do need more than one set. One of my practical wedding gifts from Mitch's aunt was a set of bath and hand towels. Loved them cos' we always need towels and they need to be changed constantly. :)
Hi JT!
That teasing is a form of bullying too, isn't it? Only difference is that it doesn't involve anything physical. Poor girl.
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