Hal Bibik Lagi

So… nak cerita apa hari ni ?

I want to talk about my maid because I am al-tension and also al-kesian.

I got a temporary maid. 2 weeks after Neti left, this lady wanted to leave her 1 month employer. Tak tahan katanya. Aku malas nak nilai mau percaya ke tidak apa dia kata kan because I only heard from one party only.

So she is only temporary while Kak M proses kan her niece punya papers at the other side. Mahal kan, ada maid ni ? Itu aku baru bayar RM 3 500… Kalau yang bayar premium price sampai RM 7-9 k, pengsan agaknya.

Nak dijadikan cerita, when Kak M's niece’s bio and passport arrived before Christmas we found that she is underage at 18. Calling and begging Immigration kat Malaysia came to naught as they insisted that maids should be at least 21.

Anyway, when the bio came, Dan was a bit disinclined. “I suka Bibik yang ada ni….”

Pulak. I don’t mind her really but the only problem is dia rajin bersembang. And aku tak reti sangat. I know susah nak percaya considering the length of my entries kan, but if I have nothing to say, why should I find something to talk about ? Memadailah dengan senyuman ku menandakan aku diam bukan kerna marah, but because I just have nothing to say.

Kalau dia cakap aku layan le, tapi nak cakap lama-lama, aku tak reti. Last-last aku sengih aje sambil angguk2 kepala.

In a way she is better than Neti. She worked in Kedah before for 2 years so she adopted her previous boss’ ways into my household. Aku tak kisah sangat. Asal ada orang teman budak-budak.

With Neti, if Kamil and I ever wake up late, memang budak-budak will be late for school or paling senang, tak pegi sekolah langsung, as we are the ones who prepare the kids for school kan. We passed them to Neti for breakfast aje while we prepare for work.

With her, the second day of school Kamil and I both terlajak (baru second day… hancuss betul…). When Kamil tore down the door to wake the kids, their beds were empty and after a mad dash looking for them upstairs and screaming for his kids, he found them eating breakfast in the kitchen.

“Tadi Bibik dah ketok pintu, tapi Kamil tak bangun….”

He he…..

So now, our mornings are easy because she made sure the kids prayed and clothed and eaten. A bit sad jugak because I am used to doing that. I do not get to see the kids much kan so I actually quite like spending the wee hours of the morning with them.

Where Neti is better is well.. she can read. So I can always sms her to thaw chicken lah, apalah. Bibik ni tak reti baca pulak. To swicth on the telly pun jenuh aku ajar. Siap tulis channel Oasis, lah TV3 lah and stick it to the fridge supaya senang dia tengok tv.

Kamil proclaimed that the house is cleaner. I have not formed any opinion on that so far. But all in all she is quite all right.. until last weekend that is.

Well… no biggie kot but ….. I don’t know her and Kak M also doesn’t know her as she is from a different kampong. Same town but Kak M doesn’t know everybody does she now, so this lady is a stranger to her. I had no trust issues with Neti because Kak M ada sebagai cagaran kan… Ha ha ... so from the very beginning I was a bit guarded, a bit wary with Bibik...

Anyway, Mum called to say that Kak M heard her talking on the phone to her son last week, telling him the whereabouts of Kak M’s house. And Kak M doesn’t like it one bit. First, Kak M doesn’t know her so she cannot vouch for her characters.

Therefore neither can she vouch for Bibik’s son’s characters too. When she first came here, her daughter who is working for a family in Shah Alam also came for a visit. Kak M is okay with that. But apparently Kak M is a bit suspicious of the the male species of her countrymen and she is a bit nervous to let the son to know where she lives.

“Kalau datang sorang tak apa, tapi kalau dia bawak kawan susah. Saya pun takut…”

Pulak. Kalau dia takut, aku apa lagi. So mum said if she wants to go and visit Kak M this weekend, say no.

Hmm…. I really hate this sort of thing.

Kebetulan I had lunch with Amelia last Saturday so I only came home close to 4. Seeing her expectant look when she saw me made me wanna hide. But foolishly I didn’t and therefore she approached me when I was reading my very much loved Harian Metro in the living room.

“Mintak tolong Mera (Kak M, nenek aku and ramai lagi orang pronounce my name as such… terima jelah dengan hati yang rela…) hantor kan (she speaks like orang Minang for some reason..I could understand if she adopted the northern accent since she was there for 2 years, but to speak like orang Nogori… well I couldn’t find the connection..) Bibik poie rumah M. Anak Bibik yang jantan nak datang….”

Here we go.

“Kak M bagi ke anak Bibik datang ?”

“Bagi….”

Hmm… aku adalah tidak suka. Janganlah cakap macam tu dengan saya Bik…. Please do not kelentong… I know I do kelentong my boss from time to time but aku tak duduk rumah dia… But to have somebody who lives in your house buat macam ni is a bit off-putting and frightening…

Err... so aku counter kelentong, saying my PIL are expected so I can’t go out.

Malam tu, I sent her to mum’s for mum and Kak Idah to have a bit of talk with her. Rupanya, apart from not trusting Bibik’son, Kak M’s worst fear is if the son whisked Bibik away. Since Bibik do not want to work for her real employer, and had taken salary advances before she even came to our shores, Bibik has to pay the advance and the cost of getting her here, meaning the RM 3 500 to the agent.

Plus, the agent yang garang macam singa tu has to find replacement for the employer she absconded kan so Bibik definitely have to find either a new employer or berhutang dengan agent tu.

So if I decided to take her then pay the RM 3 500, then the agent can use that money to find a replacement for her previous employer. But if she ran away from me to be with her son, then I have to fork out about RM 1 500 – RM 2 000 to get another maid.

That is why, kata agent itu pada mak aku satu hari bila mak aku berperang dengan dia on Kak M’s behalf, agent kat Malaysia sepatutnya charge RM 7 k so that bila maid lari ada “uang untuk dicari ganti…”

Itu yang Kak M beria benar tak bagi anak lelaki dia datang rumah… sebab takut dia bawak mak dia lari and things will be messy.

Hmmmm…

I got a bit takut lah of course when I hear all this. Takut anak dia datang buat kacau… Yelah, we don’t know him kan. I also takut if she runs away after I paid for her. Itu more aku takut kepada si Kamil lah. I am sure it will be my fault walaupun dia yang beria suka Bibik ni..

But, of course aku kesian. Anak kan… Rupanya dah lama dia tak jumpa anak dia yang ini.

Mum pun kesian jugak and when she suggested for the anak to visit just once pun Kak M tak bagi. “Saya tak mahu rumah ini jadi tempat perjumpaan lah, buk… Nanti jiran-jiran marah. Kalau di panggil Immigresen dan ada yang tak ada permit, ibuk jugak yang kena saman..”

Hmm… betul jugak. Ntah-ntah anak dia illegal.

So sekarang macamana ?

Mum said, let her talk to the son lah once in a while. Itu I have no problem, as Neti has her own phone tapi aku takut lak dia nak bagi alamat rumah pulak.

But…. she doesn’t know how to read kan…

I took the easy road and told mum that I do not want her services as I cannot handle these uncertainties. But mum said she likes working with me. Plus, since Kak M’s niece is only 18, I have to wait 2 more years for her to come.

Hmm…

This is hard. I am afraid that she would run, that her son could be a problem, like being perampok instead of kerja kilang etc. etc.

But then, how can I deny her seeing and hugging and kissing her little boy ? Buatnya sekarang aku serba salah nak peluk Abang and Adik kat rumah.

Dilemma. Dilemma.