My Sister is a Badass

 
Last week hari Jumaat saya balik kampung dengan my big sister with her husband and two kids and also my parents.
Lepas Maghrib I took a train to Sungai Buloh from Serdang. Masa tu my mom dah bising-bising sebab she said they would pick me up on the way back from the hospital. Sebab they wanted to pick my sister up also who was detained at Hospital Sungai Buloh since she had a high blood pressure and she is 9 months pregnant and she will deliver her baby anytime soon. Since I was late, then they have to pick us up on separate occasions.
Nevertheless, I reached Sungai Buloh station at about 9.30 pm, and like after 10 minutes of waiting, my bro-in-law with my parents and nephew and niece came to pick me up. My sister was already home, and she was packing up her things to send back to kampung that night, which includes her baby kit and stuffs like that, and also her children’s clothes since they would be staying at my mom’s during her maternity leave.
So after we went back to her house, she was still packing. We headed home to Temerloh at about 11.00 that night, with quite a stuffed car. It was seven people altogether in the car, including my parents and the two toddlers (my sis’s kids - aside from the baby in the belly).
We reached Tol Gombak at about 11.15, and it was when it happened. Masa nak masuk that Tol lane, we were in our own lane. And there were a few other vehicles tried to cut the queue to enter into our lane. Simply put, the lanes are merging into one. My bro-in-law aka driver let one of the vehicles, particularly a Toyota Hiace van to slip in in front of us. However, right behind the Hiace van, a Genting Highlands taxi closely tailing it, and the taxi driver made a furious attempt to cut the queue right behind the Hiace.
My bro-in-law didn’t let him to slip in, but the driver; a Chinese in his middle-age fiercely revving his accelerator everytime the Hiace closing in. When the Hiace almost made it into the line, my bro-in-law quickly seal the gap with his car, leaving the Chinese driver frustrated.
But that stupid mother-f**king Chinese uncle dengan penuh selamba merapatkan teksi dia dekat our car, lepas tu dengan satu goresan panjang, he drove his car rubbing ours; scratching our car in the process from back to front. Satu kereta bergegar. Oh, and he did one final touch; dengan selambanya dia langgar side mirror kami dengan side mirror dia.
DENGAN PENUH SELAMBA. WITHOUT ANY SIGN OF REMORSE.
My sister exclaimed in anger: “Did he scratch our car? No you don’t! That bastard!”
My bro-in-law quickly took over the taxi; pulled over and he opened his door, looking at our newly scratched car; result of the collision. My bro-in-law looked at the driver with his angriest eyes, and giving him signs saying “I’m watching you!”
But then my sister said: “Apa lagi! Nak gaduh gaduh betullah! Kereta ni aku yang bayar!”
And she passed her child on her lap to my mom: “Adik duduk dengan Wan! Mama nak pergi bergaduh!” Then dia keluar dari pintu, in sync with my bro-in-law. Depan-depan tollgate kami berhenti. Semua kereta terhalang. Apalagi, terus my bro-in-law dengan my sis serang Uncle Driver tu. (I tell you, my sis is the biggest badass. Mind you, she’s 9 months pregnant with a high blood pressure.)
I wanted to come out, but my mother stopped me. Considering that I will leave two grandparents and two children if I have to come out, I stayed inside the car to stay guard, while my bro-in-law and my sis launched an all-out two-pronged attack on that reckless stupid Uncle Driver. My mother exclaimed her worries for my sister’s health for she was just discharged from the hospital.
They quarreled for a good few minutes, before they decided to ‘bawak dekat tepi’ since we were blocking every other vehicle from entering the tollgate. (Miraculously, nobody honked us. I suspected they enjoyed the drama so much they decided not to make a noise)
Then my bro-in-law and my sis came back into the car; paid the toll fee and sped cross the road to the roadside. The taxi Uncle Driver followed behind, with another MyVi car following. It turned out that the MyVi driver was the prime witness since he was right behind us and he had already given the permission for the stupid Uncle to cut the queue in front of him, but the Uncle decided to make a long scratch on our car instead, just for his pride’s sake.
So while they were on the roadside, my sis and bro-in-law, together with the MyVi driver were ‘discussing like adults’ on how the stupid driver drove irresponsibly and recklessly and stupidly.
And to my shock, the Uncle did not, at all, admitted that he was wrong. He said things like:
“Dua lane jadi satu ma! Dua-dua kereta nak masuk! Lepas tu berlaga! Bukan salah saya ma!”
“Lu cakap lu betul, saya cakap saya betul! Takde siapa tau siapa yang betul punya!”
“U punya kereta takde apa pun! Calar sikit je!”
“Cincai-cincailah! Saya takda duit punya!”
And my sister went all like “Pala hotak lu! Memang la dua lane jadi satu, tapi lu yang masuk lane kitorang!”
“Calar sikit apa! Cuba lu tengok!”
“Dah tau takde duit, buat apa langgar kereta orang lagi?”
“Lu nak bayar dekat kita ke lu nak bayar saman RM300?”
“Saya tengah sarat mengandung, baru keluar dari hospital. Kalau apa-apa jadi dekat saya lu nak tanggung ke?”
Then my sister attacked the taxi passengers as well. “Dia bawak tak senonoh pun you all buat diam ke?”
Then the taxi driver said: “Deorang tak tau apa-apa ma. Semua ni pelancong Cina!” Oh yeah. Now you have to make all the passengers your puppets.
The witness aka the MyVi driver also stated everything that he saw. He said he gave enough space already for the stupid Uncle to chip in, but that Uncle persisted on fighting with us.
And since now my parents and the kids safely sat in the car, I took the liberty to take the pictures of that moron and his taxi, together with the plate number and the passengers. My only regrets are my phone camera was not HD enough to take that Uncle’s face in high resolution pictures; and also I didn’t take out my phone when that Uncle scratched our car. Man, that would be epic. And I’ll make sure the video go viral.
My sis asked him compensation to repair the damage he had done, about RM150 to repaint the long scratch. But he kept saying that it’s not his fault and he blamed the whole ‘two lanes merging into one’ stuff. Even with the witness’ testimony, he kept denying that he did anything wrong. Lastly, he gave my bro-in-law RM100 and drove away quickly from us. We were convinced that he would ask more money from his passengers for what happened tonight. We could see that he didn’t care much about money; he could always charge his gullible passengers more. It’s his ego that he must nurture and protect. We all can see how cunning he was; like a fox. That tongue-twisted, lying bastard.
There are reasons why I would say that this driver is one hell of a retarded, idiot human being…
1- It is crystal clear that our car not only had youngsters, we also had little kids and old folks on board. We did not hide the kids in the boot; we put them on display while they are on our laps. For God’s sake, we have two children who were just 3 years and 2 years old. It means that we have very vulnerable and fragile passengers; both physically and emotionally. Why in the hell he must think that we are a threat to his taxi in any way? Why he wanted to ‘cari gaduh’ with kids and old folks?
2- My sister was just admitted and discharged to and from a hospital for high blood pressure that can affect her baby. Can’t the taxi driver even think that there are possibilities that one of the passengers is in an unstable condition? Can’t he be, in his old age, more sensible?
3- It is surely because of his ego that he purposely scratched our car. His pride was hurt when my bro-in-law never gave him chance to cut our queue, so he decided he must do something to hurt our feelings. Proof; he did never care to cut our queue once he did the damage. He just let us go after he did his business.
4- He never showed any sign of remorse even after it happened. He handled us like a professional. From his way of talking, I daresay that he had been in this situation many times before. And I daresay that it was his fault if this thing did ever happen at the first place with other vehicles. With his invincible Nissan Sentra, he surely won’t hesitate to run over other car since his car won’t take as much damage as it inflicts.
After thanking our prime witness, we too hit the road once more, feeling angry and restless. My brother called several times afterwards after my mother informed him of what had happened. He too would come if it took longer than it was. We cursed that stupid Uncle again and again, for his stupidity and egoism. No wonder we had so many people killed on road every year, if every driver in Malaysia have this sort of egoism. They never want to lose, even just with a car.
Since that Uncle never did ask for forgiveness, I’m sure he would soon do the same thing to other people and he won’t change his bad attitude on road. For safety purposes, I enclose these pictures for your viewing. So peeps, be careful and never drive near this creature and his car that still roam the earth freely:
 

No need to censor any part of this life threatening idiot
 

That crazy driver, please repent or rot in hell. Choose whatever easier


My camera failed me miserably! Anyhow, this is him.

After paying us a small fraction of his revenue, he ran away. Presumably sending his passengers to Genting

Our prime witness. We could not thank you enough for standing up for justice. Thanks, man!


If there are things that I learnt tonight, they are:
1- Having an expensive phone is OK. As long as it can come in handy when you face this kind of situation. When you’re in this sort of circumstances, having a decent camera is a must!
2- Acting on impulse is important. Sometimes you have to let loose some of your devil inside to fight the real devil (like the crazy uncle). If not, you’ll fall victim to this type of road bully.
3- My sister is a total badass. I’m so proud of you, Kak Long! OMG, she was my inspiration. I think I have to be more like her. Brave and protective. I was always a man of reason, but being impulsive sometimes might save my sorry ass. (The day after this day, she screamed at our Burmese neighbour for riding his bike noisily in front of our house. That neighbour never use the street anymore)
4- (WARNING: Superstition. Don’t take it seriously…) Don’t ever discuss about selling your car in YOUR CAR. It would jinx your car soon afterwards. Shortly before the incident, my sister was contemplating (and saying it out loud!) selling the car to me. That was when that moron went scratching our car. <Superstition ends>
So peeps. It’s time to pen off. I only have one thing left to say; please be careful on road. Sometimes it’s not our fault we got involved in accidents. It’s some morons like the taxi driver that don’t care about others’ safety and well being that can harm you while you yourself did whatever possible to remain safe.
Assalamualaikum and bye. Have a safe journey. =D

LiveJournal Tags: taxi driver,pemandu teksi,pemandu teksi biadab

Seorang Pemandu Bas (2)

 
Hari ni kali kedua saya nak cerita pasal pemandu bas. Pagi tadi seperti biasa, naik bas nak pergi fakulti. Tapi disebabkan bas semua pintu tertutup tak boleh nak masuk, saya pun tunggu lah pak cik bas tu dekat food court. Sambil tunggu tu beli air teh ais sebungkus, lepas tu duduk dekat situ tunggu. Ramai dah orang tunggu pak cik tu datang, tapi deorang tunggu dekat bustop.
Tiba-tiba sampailah drebar bas tu. Abang lagi rupanya, bukan pak cik. Dia pun bawak bas ke depan sikit, lepas tu dia bukak pintu bas. Budak-budak ni berbondong-bondong naik. Memasing macam nak pergi fak je konon-konon nak study la time study week ni.
Saya pun pergilah dekat bas tu bawak teh ais yang tak habis lagi. Bila nak naik tangga bas, abang drebar tu nampak saya bawak air. Lepas tu dia tunjuk dekat air tu; saya pun faham la dia tak bagi bawak air tu masuk. Saya pun cakap “OK2!” dengan penuh pemahaman dan sopan dan dengan tangan yang diangkat begini:
 

Abang drebar itu sungguh badass…

 
Saya pun turun dari tangga cepat-cepat sebab nampak abang tu cabut earphone dia and macam nak cakap something.
Saya dah sampai dekat tanah je abang tu jerit “KAU NAK BAWAK AIR KAU HABISKAN SEBELUM NAIK BAS ATAU KAU NAIK BAS BELAKANG!”
Kuat gila tau tak. Kuat macam nak marah kucing berak dekat kasut dia.
To be fair, mungkin abang ni bervokal mantap. Ataupun abang ni ada masalah pendengaran dan dia tak tau suara dia tu boleh diklasifikasikan sebagai menjerit.
Tapi yang penting suara dia memang tahap buat announcement la, satu bas boleh dengar. Saya pun duduk dekat bustop sambil menghirup sisa-sisa terakhir teh ais bungkus, and satu bas pandang-pandang. Apedehal korang semua? Rileks udah.
OK, saya tau tujuan abang tu memang nak menjaga kebersihan bas dia. Dia taknak budak-budak buang sampah dalam bas dia. To be honest, saya pun pernah jugak tertinggal sampah dalam bas (tak ngaku buang sampah...). Tapi malula weh kalau nak maki-maki camtu kan. Semua orang ada air muka (selain air bungkus...).
Lagipun, lepas dia tunjuk air bungkus saya tu pun saya dah cepat-cepat turun, kenapa dia rasa perlu jugak nak maki? OK, kalau saya taknak turun jugak walaupun dia dah tunjuk air bungkus tu, boleh jugak dia nak marah. Tapi saya dah turun dah masa tu. Kenapa dia nak jugak malukan saya?
Obviously, dalam otak abang ni dah ada this type of idea: “Sesiapa naik bas aku lepas ni bawak air bungkus, aku maki terus!” Dengan mempunyai pemikiran begini, abang tu tak kisah siapa kita dan walaupun kita dah nak turun, selagi dia tak maki kita seperti dalam pemikiran dia, dia takkan lepaskan kita.
Mari kita buat simulasi arahan lain yang abang ni boleh buat:
Simulasi 1
Abang drebar: (Tunjuk air bungkus)
Saya: Oh, Ok2! (cepat-cepat turun)
Abang drebar: (Cabut earphone). Ha, kalau dah faham bagusla! Tak payah nak explain dah! (Gelak kecil)
 
Simulasi 2
Abang drebar: (Tunjuk air bungkus)
Saya: Oh, Ok2 (cepat-cepat turun)
Abang drebar: (Cabut earphone). Dik, kalau nak bawak air bungkus habiskan dulu ye sebelum naik bas. (Senyum)
 
Simulasi 3
Abang drebar: (Tunjuk air bungkus)
Saya: Oh, Ok2! (cepat-cepat turun)
Abang drebar: (Angguk in recognition)
 
See? Banyak lagi kaedah lebih sopan dia boleh gunakan instead of maki. Kenapa bila dengan maki orang baru dia dapat kepuasan?
Anyway, lepas habis habiskan air bungkus tu saya pun buat poker face naik bas dia. masa naik tu dia tengah sembang dengan abang drebar lain. Nampak masa tu mood dia happy pulak. Saya pergi dekat kerusi belakang sebab kerusi depan dah penuh, and semua orang macam pandang-pandang. Geram betul rasanya. Kalau ikutkan ego saya naik je bas belakang, tapi sebab malas nak layan sangat benda-benda remeh macam ni saya naik je bas ni.
Sekarang baru faham kenapa tegur orang kena berhemah. Kalau tegur orang macam nak marah akan merosakkan mood orang tu. Orang tu akan berdendam, akan hold resentment sebab dimalukan. Dan sekarang saya faham kenapa senyum tu sedekah. Bila kita senyum, mood orang yang senyum dengan kita jadi OK, lepas tu dia pun akan layan orang lain dengan baik bila mood dia baik. It’s really a chain reaction.
And saya jugak nampak satu lagi pengajaran penting. Bila abang drebar tu sembang dengan kawan dia, dia dah jadi loose balik. Maksudnya, bila kita tengah tension, walaupun kita tak luahkan dekat orang pun, tapi asalkan kita ada orang untuk bercakap dengan kita masa tu kita akan OK.
Masa dalam bas tu, saya ingat balik janji saya pada diri sendiri. Saya akan maafkan orang lain setiap kali ada orang menyakitkan hati saya. Ambik pengajaran je, tapi jangan berdendam. Lepas tu barulah saya cool down sikit.
Heck, yelah, cuba imagine. Saya dibesarkan dalam persekitaran yang tak menggunakan perkataan ‘aku kau’, apatah lagi nak bagi nasihat. Kalau cikgu-cikgu marah pun cakap ‘Kenapa kamu ni malas sangat?’ takdelah cikgu kata ‘Kenapa KAU malas sangat?’ Dekat rumah,kampung, sekolah, negeri,mana ada ‘aku kau’. ‘Koi (saya) aok (awak)’ adalah.
And imagine, adakah abang ni suka kalau orang nak tegur dia dengan maki-maki macam tu? Mesti dia pun hangen kalau orang maki dia kan? So kalau tak suka orang maki kita kenapa kita maki orang?
Bila abang tu tak address saya dengan gelaran yang sopan macam ‘adik,’ masa nak maki, kita rasa macam tersentak jugaklah. Kalau sesama kawan takpe marah ‘aku kau’.
Back to the story, masa sampai dekat fac, saya pun turun. Semua orang yang cakap ‘terima kasih’ dekat dia dia angguk. Bila saya cakap ‘terima kasih’ dia buat bodoh je. Saya tak kisah pun. Ikut suka dia la.
Then ada 3 orang perempuan nak naik bas tu masa saya turun. Pastu dengar abang tu cakap dekat budak tu
“Dik, kalau nak bawak air naik bas habiskan dulu atau naik bas belakang!”
Amboi, boleh pulak panggil ‘dik’ dekat budak perempuan? Kalau dengan perempuan boleh pulak cakap lembut? Apsal kalau student laki nak maki?
Takpelah abang drebar. Saya dah maafkan abang pun. Lagipun ramai lagi pak cik driver yang baik kalau nak compare dengan abang. Just remember, what you give you get back.

LiveJournal Tags: pemandu bas,bas UPM

The Night When It All Ends

This night is the night. THE NIGHT. I am not going to contain anything; I am not going to restrain myself from saying it anymore. This is it.

I waited for him in front of our favourite diner in my blue winter coat and my matching turquoise hijab. They said that a girl wearing a hijab in a foreign country is the girl with the strongest identity; strongest sense of home. I minced at the thought. I doubt that it’s the truth. For me it was just another generalisation or stereotype people have. It’s not necessarily true.

It was past 9 o’clock, and the chill from the freezing winter breeze sends shivers down my spine. The crowd is dispersing away; the streets are getting lonelier. I am not entirely sure if it’s the right time to say it, but I knew it’s the right thing to say. The clock tower with the colourful lights was still flooding the place with its rays. I’m getting more nervous with each passing second.

I always knew what I had done was so wrong, but I did never think twice back then. I was young and wild. And plus, I have repented since. But sins never failed to put that one last punch in your face to remind you of how wrong you were in living life. At least that was my thought when I saw Hakimi from across the street.
He waved his hand; a wide grin on his face now turned into a full-fledged smile. And that smile reminded me of how much I loved him. I almost choked myself with sadness when he ran from across the street. I held back my tears.

“Assalamualaikum, Malina. How are you? Dah lama tunggu?” he asked me in his usual boy-next-door tone. “Waalaikummussalam. Fine. Baru sampai!” I forced myself to sound as cheerful as I could, for I knew at the end of the night, two hearts are going to be broken.

He wore his usual winter coat, with his usual blue jeans. I always teased him on how predictable and boring he is, how he could never surprise me in any ways. And I realised now that I’m going to miss him for that.

“Apa tunggu lagi. Masuk jom?”

“Ah, I forgot to tell you. I have eaten. Let’s just have a walk, shall we? Lepas tu kita grab some kebab ke tengah jalan?” I forced myself again, this time to smile.
“Anything is fine by me. Jomlah kita! I pun tak lapar pun!” and he smiled again. My heart skipped a beat. And we started to walk away from the diner.

“Ah Malina, you ingat tak housemate I orang Iran tu?”
“Ali Reza?”
“Yup. He’s going back to Iran next month. For good! So now he’s selling me his things. His MacBook yang baru 3 bulan pakai pun dia nak jual! Imagine that! And he asked me kalau-kalau you nak beli novel-novel dia. Dia tak larat nak bawak balik semua!” I can see Hakimi was unusually talkative tonight. I can’t help but feeling sorry for him.

“Ah I see. That’s a good suggestion. Tapi I tak rasa nak beli novel dialah. I pun tak larat dah nak baca novel-novel ni semua. Banyak sangat! By the way, dia dah habis belajar ke? Thought he still have another semester?”

“Eh, berapa kali dah another semester. Dah final dah la!”

We suddenly felt into a terrible, awkward silence. Hakimi must have thought that he said something wrong, because I could see his worried face. I didn’t feel like talking happy things with Hakimi tonight. So I stopped when we finally reached a bench.

“Hey, duduk dulu nak? I have things to say to you.” I suggested with a cold voice. “Sure.”
So there we were, sitting side by side. Only a few inches apart.

“Hey, you know how I always wanted to backpack worldwide after I graduate kan? Ingat tak I told you few times before yang I nak backpack dekat Europe, then Australia sebelum pergi India, and then balik Malaysia by road? Ingat tak?”

“Of course I do. Kenapa tiba-tiba you mention pulak? Wait, you missed one part. WE are backpacking together, not just you! After our akad nikah of course. When we are married. So kita honeymoon satu dunia sama-sama! That’s our dream!”

“Maybe I can never achieve that dream. Now, cut me off from that dream. I am not backpacking with you.” I didn’t even stop to gauge his reaction. I did not even see his face when I say it.

“ Hakimi, let’s just get straight to the point. I’m breaking up with you. And I no longer want to marry you...”
“What? But why? Why so sudden? I don’t understand!” Hakimi looked so perplexed and frustrated, his voice didn’t sound solid. I was ready for this moment. From the day I knew it.

We were getting married next summer break in Malaysia. It was just a few months away. But now that marriage is no longer possible.

“Hakimi, in my life, I did bad things that I was never proud of. Things too bad I’m ashamed to admit even to myself. And this hijab; this is just a disguise to cover the wrongdoings I have committed.” I spoke as calm as I could.

“Can’t we just go past your history? Malina, I am ready to accept you no matter who you are. When I said I want to marry you, I am ready to accept you for yourself. Your history, your bad deeds; your strengths; your weaknesses. I am ready for all that. I just want us to be together...”

“Hakimi, you tak faham. I have bigger issues than just my past. It’s my future!”

“Malina, kalau you dah ada orang lain, just say it straight to my face! Tak payah nak bagi alasan bodoh macam lembu! I pun ada otak nak fikir! Tak payah nak pura-pura macam it’s all your fault and pretend like you are the cause!”

I could not mutter any word for now my emotions had taken control over my whole body and thoughts. We went faster to a fight than I thought we would. I wasn’t ready. Hakimi can be short tempered at times. I was planning to take a step-by-step approach.

“Heh, so you mengaku ada orang lain? I dah agak, patutlah dua tiga minggu ni you’re giving me the cold shoulder! I tried to think positive, maybe sebab finals dah dekat you acting out! Tak sangka you’re such a bitch!”

It was a bad word. But I knew I am. Or at least I was.
“Malina I’m sorry. I, I didn’t mean it...”

Words had completely failed me. I did not respond, so the conversation almost died out. And I knew I was crying when I felt warm waters rolling down my cheeks. And maybe that’s why Hakimi did suddenly toning down his voice.

“Hakimi...” I called his name with a croaking voice. I mustered all my strength to say the last words.
“...I’m HIV positive...”

And I stood up, and ran away from Hakimi as fast as I could, sobbing uncontrollably. My chest was clogged with a heavy feeling that made breathing was thousand times harder than it is. I didn’t know if Hakimi was chasing after me, but I hoped he won’t.

Then I say it for a few more times in my head like echoes in a cave: “I’m HIV positive, I’m HIV positive, I’m HIV positive....”