24 July 2015

Malam Kita Bentang Langit Permata

“Apa yang silapnya kita?” dia bertanya.

“Takde apa. Takde apa yang silap.” Saya mengelak.

“Tak, tak, tak. Aku tahu ada something wrong. Boleh tak kau tak payah pretentious. Kita jujur. Hati ke hati. Kalau kau respect aku sebagai kawan kau, kau kena jujur dengan aku.” Dia berkalih menghadap saya dari pembaringan.

“Hm?” dia berdengung sepatah, sebagai ekstensi pertanyannya sebentar tadi.

“Kalau kau respect aku sebagai kawan kau, kau takkan push aku. Kalau aku cakap aku taknak cakap, maka kau tak payah paksa aku bercakap.” Saya bertingkah.

Dia terdiam kelat. “Fine.”

“Ok, sorry sorry.” Saya mula mengendur. “Kau tanya apa tadi? Meh aku jawab.”

“Dah tak payahlah. Malas cakap dengan kau.”

“Weh janganlah macam ni. Ok aku salah. Aku admit.”

“Dah. Aku takde mood. Aku nak tidur.”

“Eleh tak payah. Bukan aku tak tahu kejap lagi kau layan whatsapp mesej gadis-gadis kan.”

“Ok, jawab. Apa silapnya kita?”

“Takde apa silap.”

“Kenapa kau mengelak dari aku? Kenapa kau taknak jujur dengan aku? Kenapa most of the time aku rasa macam aku ada buat silap dengan kau tapi kau taknak bagitahu aku? Dan bila aku cuba tanya, kau diam.”

“Apa kau mengarut ni gila. Kau nak emosi ni kenapa? Tenang saja. Kau ingat kalau aku tak puas hati dengan kau, aku diam? Kau lah orang paling aku maki kalau aku ada benda tak puas hati.”


“Kau ingat aku bodoh ke? Aku tahu ada benda kau mengelak nak cakap dari aku.” Dia membentak keras, separuh kecewa.

Saya menyelak selimut yang membaluti batang tubuh, kemudian berdiri. Saya berjalan ke peti sejuk dan mengeluarkan sebotol air mineral. Perlahan-lahan saya meneguk air dari botol itu.

“Boleh aku jujur dengan kau?” saya bertanya sambil masih membelakanginya.

“Baik.” Jawabnya, pendek tapi yakin.

“Entah. Aku sebenarnya ada cita-cita. Bukan cita-citalah, mungkin mimpi. Aku nak jelajah dunia dengan kau. Aku nak teroka hidup dengan kau. Backpacking satu dunia, panjant gunung, navigate laut. Sebab despite the fact yang kau dengan aku selalu gaduh, aku sedar kau je yang faham aku. Kau je yang aku ada"

Saya berbaring semula di atas katil.

"Tapi tiap kali aku rasa macam aku dengan kau macam sangat rapat, kau buat aku rasa yang benda tu takde apa-apa. Kau macam tarik diri."

Saya menyarung selimut semula.

"Dan bila aku sedar masalah ni mungkin sebab aku yang expect terlalu tinggi daripada kau, yang aku tahu kau takkan balas balik, aku sedar yang benda ni semua masalah aku. Jadi aku takde sebab nak marah kau. Aku mengelak daripada kau sebab kalau kau yang pergi dulu, aku kena bersedia. Sebab aku tahu, dan aku tahu yang kau tahu; yang aku takkan tinggalkan kau, tapi kau yang akan tinggalkan aku dulu."

Saya memandangnya, menantikan jawapan.

“Kau kena sedar, tak semua orang akan stay dalam hidup kita. Kau dengan aku pun, rapat macam mana pun kena move on. Takkan selama-lamanya nak bersama. Betul tak?” dia membidas.

“Kan?” saya membalas sepatah, dengan soalan retorikal, skeptik.

Kami berdua terdiam. Dia mendengus, seperti marah. Atau mungkin juga keletihan.

“Kau marah aku ke?” dia bertanya, seperti mencari penilaian saya terhadap pendapatnya.

“Tak.”

“Kejap, jadi kau expect apa sebenarnya?” dia bertanya, ketagih penjelasan.

“Aku sedar yang expect tu satu perkataan yang terlalu besar. Aku dah lama berhenti expect. Aku dah lama sedar expectation aku tak mungkin dapat dipenuhi. Mungkin sebenarnya aku berharap. Yap, berharap. Itu je. Aku berharap yang apapun berlaku, kau dengan aku macam sekarang. Takde apa yang berubah. Aku tak expect – aku harap.”

“Maksud kau tak berubah macam mana?”

“Macam nilah. Macam sekarang. Bila aku balik bilik, aku tahu ada orang yang tinggal dalam bilik yang sama. Yang selamanya sahabat aku, bila aku ada benda nak bercerita dia boleh dengar. Kalau aku kecewa dia tahu. Kalau aku sedih dia boleh kata “Wey rilekslah, takkan sedih kot?” yang boleh buat aku gelak balik walaupun aku memang tengah down. Aku nak kawan yang tiap masa boleh aku cari, yang aku tahu apa pun jadi, bila-bila pun jadi dekat aku, dia akan datang tolong aku.”

“Tak, aku sedar benda kau cakap ni benda yang betul. Aku sendiri pun pernah je lalui, berpisah dengan member-member. Tapi aku cuma cakap dekat diri aku, takpe, ini semua perjalanan kau. Deorang semua ni macam persinggahan kau, dan setiap persinggahan ni deorang kasik bekal dekat kau, supaya kau boleh maju lagi teruskan perjalanan. Faham aku cakap?” Dia pantas meningkah.

“Hm, faham.”


“Memang sedih pun, berpisah. Aku faham perasaan kau. Tapi kau kena bersedia berdepan realiti.”



“Tengok, kau yang akan cakap dulu. Kau yang akan mention dulu pasal kena bersedia berpisah apa semua. Macam memang betul kau yang akan tinggalkan aku dulu.”



Dia gelak kecil. Separuh mengejek. Separuh geli hati.



“Mungkin sebab kau belum nampak lagi, benda apa kau kena hadapi dekat depan kau. Yang nanti bila kau lalui, kau tengok balik baru kau sedar semua orang yang kau jumpa ni adalah sebahagian dari perjalanan kau. Mungkin sekarang kau tak nampak, tapi satu hari nanti kau akan nampak. Dah kalau kata namanya perjalanan, memang keep on moving. Bukan permanent. Sentiasa bergerak. Semua orang ni sifatnya sementara.”

Saya terus diam memandang kipis siling yang berpusing ligat, sebelum bersuara semula.


“Memang betul. Aku tak pernah deny. Sebab tu aku kata aku berharap. Aku berharap yang aku tak perlu jadi macam semua orang. Aku harap perjalanan hidup kita boleh jadi berbeza. Kau tahu, kita tak perlu sama dengan orang lain. Aku harap aku dengan kau kawan sampai bila-bila.”

“Boleh jadi. Tapi…”


“Tapi?”



Dia mengenyeh-ngenyeh hidungnya kegatalan. Resdung menyerang barangkali.


“Entah.”


Kemudiannya kami sama terdiam, merenung kipas yang berpusing ligat, tanpa henti. Malam masih dingin di luar sedang kami sudah kehabisan kata-kata. Tapi pada saat kami menemui kebuntuan dalam berbicara, anehnya perasaan dan pemikiran kami mencapai satu persefahaman. Dia mengerti maksud saya dan saya mengerti maksudnya.


“Weh.” Saya memanggilnya.

“Apa?”

“Kau tahu tak. Aku tak tahu kalau ada makna ke apa. Dan aku tak tahu kalau benda ni kau perlu tahu. Tapi ada sesuatu aku nak bagitahu kau.”

“Apa dia?”


“Malam pertama dekat Mekah masa aku pergi umrah haritu kan, sebelum bangun Subuh aku mimpi kau. Dan benda tu seolah-olah satu petanda yang buat aku rasa bahagia.”


Dia tersenyum gembira. “Yeke?”

Saya mengangguk.

23 July 2015

The Doctor Who Quits Medic School and Becomes an Engineer (2)

“And, and hear me. You either have a good voice, or you can learn languages easily.” I stared in wonder.

“Why can’t I have both?” I asked him, stuffing yet another skewer of sate into my mouth, just to water down the weight of words I just uttered. It was out of disappointment, or perhaps out of an angst emancipated from the failure to fulfil the destiny despite the assurance he provided me. “Why can’t I have both – or at least a decent voice?” I asked myself in full inferiority complex.

“This is not what I thought of you. This is what the numbers tell. It’s either; or or.” He told me, still his eyes trying to search mine, imploring for my confidence. I was not in comfort.

“Well, I don’t believe you. I’m sorry I’m a sceptic though.”

“I just lay it all on the table. This is what the numbers tell. And this numbers rarely make mistakes.” He stood his ground and the conviction he tried to pass as the naked truth.

Ancient fortune-telling

This whole point of simplifying me down into a set of numbers, and deciphering the numbers as my personality is a notion that I am not comfortable with. Worse yet, it did make me nervous. I’m afraid that somehow, all my secrets are actually within those numbers and he can really tell, or worse yet, I was predestined to have a certain personality, and this personality is actually signified, and can be understood physically from these outward traits – between the numbers, on the numbers and locations of my moles, the lines on my face and palms.


“You know what, if this is just another type of reading somebody’s fortune like the zodiacs, I’m totally not buying. I don’t believe in zodiacs.”

“This is different than the zodiacs. This is actually an ancient fortune-telling technique by the Egyptians. In fact, the zodiacs were based on this knowledge.”

“How would you know if it’s the truth?”

“I don’t know. Nobody knows for sure. But if you think this exactly is your personality, you would have the chance to rectify yourself.” I know that he was lying. He knows that this is the truth, that he was 100% confident in this method of fortune-telling, no doubts on his part.

“Epy, you are eccentric.”

He smirked playfully, as if he had me in his hands. As if I’m completely his subject. That, now, seemed like his initial intention, now culminating into this moment. He’s the magician, and I’m the mesmerized audience. He captured me in his moment of wonder; his act of magic. He wants to capsize me with his little parlour trick.

The Truth

“And do you think I have a good voice?” I asked, quite taken aback by my own words.

“It’s not like that. It means you have a voice for story telling; a voice that people would want to listen to. A voice that is so powerful it can change people’s heart. And, either that, or you are a good language learner. It’s either one.”

“I don’t think I have that voice. Maybe I am a fast language learner; but not the one with the good voice.”

“Well, I don’t know, I cannot tell.” Says Epy. “But now, you listen to me. You have to break through your bubble. Your primary numbers show that you are a leader; your leadership is so strong the numbers are repeating themselves. But unluckily, your secondary personality is what dragging your leadership. You are not confident.”

Those words weaken me. I could literally feel my heart sank. Confidence – always a personal issue for me.

“What you can do now – number 1: mingle around with people. Don’t be judgmental, be friends with everybody. This will help boost your confidence by time.”

Epy’s words made me think, always. There’s always some peculiarity in his words, so earnest and simple, yet was unspoken by other people. He was the only one who dared to tell me this.

3 years of our age gap proves that there are indeed, lots of incomputable differences.

I am now trying as much as I could to be a sponge, absorbing people’s wits and wisdom. These people will help guide me towards my destiny, albeit indirectly.

Good Bye

“People like you need people like me. You have leadership, while I have the social skills. I could help polish your leadership skills.” Epy exclaimed.

That sounded like a good plan, 2 months before, until he decided to leave too – just like Fahim.

Epy got so much going in his head that he worried so much. I tried comforting him, alleviating his fears, but he remains anxious all the time, always in an anticipatory unease, as if waiting for disaster to unravel.


“You could do nothing much, unless if we swap places.” He would tell me in a childish jester.

“It’s unfair; don’t leave me. We’ve still got things to do – together.” I would beg, and he would shake his head slowly in disapproval.

If he was really telling me the truth about my numbers, then why won't he listen to my pleas? Why won't my voice change his heart? Perhaps, it's the latter. I might be a fast language learner, but I don't have the quality of a good voice.

As much as I want it, I don’t understand him. I don’t understand his situation, his thoughts processes and his actions. I don’t get him, as much as I don’t get his Egyptian fortune telling skills.

The doctor who quits medic school and becomes an engineer – he is as unfathomable as his title. And now, another goodbye to bid.

Previous post: The Doctor Who Quits Medic School and Becomes an Engineer

06 July 2015

Alan and I


I met Mr Alan the other day, talking about his marriage, about him furthering his studies and about generally our service-provider-and-client professional relationship. 

Mr Alan is one of the best clients I’ve worked for, who honours practicality over formality and is a realist who sees the best way to do things without having to go through the unnecessary processes. 

“Orang Malaysia ni kan, dalam kontrak tulis punya bombastic. But tell me, can you achieve all those you write in the contract within 3 years? I don’t think so. The contract needs to be revised.”

That was his first comment on our contract that I received from him; the first time we met personally in his office. 

“If you ask somebody to prepare you a report, you should justify why you would need the document. Tapi orang kita suka suruh buat laporan, tapi bila you hantar laporan tu dia bukan nak baca pun. What for?”

Mr Alan’s wisdom is appealing to me. His thoughts virtually reflect mine, and I could tell that we follow the same thinking process.

Me, the lazy procrastinator who would only lift my finger when I could justify lifting it. And Mr Alan, the realist who minimizes tasks and selects the one he loved doing. Mr Alan is a well respected leader, who is loved and respected by his subordinates, the one with the most compassion yet with the highest level of commitment and drive.

I always condemn our clients for demanding this report and that report, which are rejected even when we had done them right and for small reasons that are too ridiculous to comprehend. 

Mr Alan hates that kind of bureaucracy and so do I. Everything should be simplified, according to him.

He’s going to further his studies means losing another great client who would back you up in meetings aka our very own warfare.
  
“Mr Alan, kenapa sambung belajar?” I asked him on our last meeting, anticipating some predictable answer from him. 

“I tak suka bekerja.” He replied instantaneously, without hesitation, and casually, without any sign of remorse. 

HAH! So do I!

“Cuba you fikir, benda apa yang seronok dibuat dan free? Belajar saja. I dah pening bekerja, dah 11 tahun 1 dekat sini. I memang tak suka bekerja.”

Mr Alan indifferently elaborated. And so do I – I agreed silently.

There is this childish manner of truth-telling in Mr Alan, and I’m glad he was comfortable to open up to me this side of him. You know, everyone in the working industry behaves like an adult; that they no longer laugh and think simple. Mr Alan is an exception. Always with a big smile, doesn’t give a damn on what people think, and yet, still loved by many. His naivety and childishness make me believe that him and me, (and Fahim too!) can work as a team. With those years of experience behind him, he is still that simple minded kid who dislikes being a slave of this crazy system. 

Sadly, people like us would forever be cast into the background; we would only be subjects of people who stood firmly by the system - the crazy, the workaholic, the bossy boss, the fussy clients.  Those who had lost their own childhood and now attempting to rob ours. 
I remember asking him about tying the knot: 

“Seronok tak kahwin Mr Alan?”

“Kalau tak seronok, buat apa kahwin?” he replied, with the same degree of childlike truthfulness. 

Truly, I simply love this guy. I could even imagine sharing a childhood together with him, playing congkak and tuju tin in the evening until our mothers call for us. 

But alas, the circumstances and the time we met are not right. He's the client and I am the service provider. We could not be friends outside this rigged system, because...complicated things. 





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