My Childhood in Kuching III

Mommy said the four fundamental forces will be fully functioned in hyperspace; she said I will be fully functioned if I end up in a right place too!



Nagged by Little Money’s Mommy

Mommy nagged that we merely get stuck like long neglected, starving and unloved poor caged pets in Kuching due to my Chinaman daddy’s “great” idea of family reunion, which she regretted of being too trustful, naive and obedient as a stereo-type good demure Chinese wife but resulted in “surrendering herself directly to a jail” on both her professional career and very interesting past life. Let me tell you something that you may not know: During those good old baby to toddler days, I was always entertained by many pretty girls, not like these days in my school, all those girls ran away from me, they would scream, 'Yu..ck! Grasshoppers!' when they saw me approaching them.

   Since last year, daddy’s new subcontracted project caused him absented from home 28 out of 30 days, mommy sadly told me how bad fate begins to increasingly shower upon her after she got married but especially after she moves to this strange new meow city, she said ridiculous enough her marriage could make everyone in the family happy, and also my EEs (aunties) could tell her the best thing she ever done was to beget me and my sister, mommy said even up to these days she still never could fathom “Chinawomen’s silly mentality”!

   ‘ ….. If a man can bring back sufficient cash money to his helpless jobless wife if he is always not around in town, at least she can managed the family alone easier.’ Mommy lamented she neither has enough money to spend nor physically presented husband; she said what she has is just a 4th dimensional husband. I think I know what she said; she also hinted that I have a 4th dimensional daddy too!

After we moved to Kuching since four years ago, this morning mommy finally decided we don’t belong to this city, ‘ ….. Neither this city belongs to us’, she gave a cold chuckle before continued, ‘we persevere here may be just because we all adore this city named as Kuching, (Cat in Malay) as cat is our favorite animal!’ Mommy said 4 fundamental forces will be fully functioned in hyperspace, she said I will be fully functioned if I end up in a right place!

   Since the day she stepped in here, odd enough this meow city doesn’t bring my mom any good luck, fame or money. She said if we end up in a new city without any backup, without much money in our pocket, we will be very lonely, as nobody will want to befriend with us when we are not able to give anyone any benefit. She said people will feel proud to befriend with doctors and Datuks, as those titles also initialed in many snobbish peoples’ minds as “can be helpful!”

   Mommy said during her most desperate time here in meow city, she tried to approach a youth director to propose a program to help Sarawakiens in raising standard of a certain rare skill, but she was advised by the youth director to help orphans instead. Mommy said that’s exactly like the four fundamental forces being under used on earth; otherwise these forces would be powerful like “tiger, dragon, phoenix and serpent” in hyperspace.

   Mommy said that’s the altitude of a lot of less cultivated people where they always want to push another person down to drain, but they will think they are the only best and the most eminent, she said as an innate educator she tried to foster every potential person but most of the time uncooperative parents and authorities were the hindrance for her to foster talents so she is thinking to give up completely now, she wonders if the youth director can also condescend himself to work part time as a youth director to give counseling to children, mommy said he was also embarrassing her indirectly in front of all her friends that accompanied her.

   Mom then warned me whenever a big corporation CEO, MD or someone in a high authority position that I due to meet, ' …. Don’t bring anybody, just a lawyer who is experienced and encountered enough insults, humiliations and accusation cases, he won’t look at you oddly if any proposal and discussion ends up not successful.’

   ‘Why?’ I asked

   Mommy said about 10 years ago she also encountered a similar situation, she was invited for a brain storming meeting invited by a crustacean corporation Datuk MD and his executive officers, a whole group of mommy’s friends accompanied her as they all shared the same interest on an activity of what mommy was organizing, but mommy said it turned up not a brain storming session, instead she was insulted and questioned directly of her inability in registering a pro tem committee to become a charitable organization in a short period of time.

   It was due to one of their own aggressive young crustacean geologist employee fed them wrong information, in actual facts, this crustacean geologist wanted to kick mommy out of the activity, so he could take over her job temporary just for his good friend’s benefit, as his good friend was interested in such activity’s future $$$ earning opportunity.

   Mommy mentioned that yet the crustacean corporation had never extended any monetary help other then condemning and suspicious of her abilities. She told me those oil business executives just know how to bark loudly on her yet never gave her a hand to expedite anything, as it was not the time yet they could use this pro tem organization as a tool to promote their community outreach service plan. She said after the meeting, her supporters used a different kind of pathetic and sympathized glances at her, she said that made her felt very uneasy, insulted and humiliated.

   She said she spent a lot of money from her own pocket to help sponsoring the pro tem activities and tolerated everything just because she did it for that oil city sake! Someone even told her that an ex-YB even mentioned that she was using the activities to promote her own business, she got so angry even up to these days, she told me, ‘When you did something good, DON’T ever expect a good return!’

   She said that’s real life, so far she experienced decades with this kind of inhuman treatment, she said same thing happens to her marriage life as well. She said if she thought a negative way, she would think she was born in this world to be used for a purpose by somebody and would be discarded just like any of the obsolete electronic appliances.

Mom said besides her career may be gone forever (I think due to mommy encountered many unfaithful disciples! When they wanted to use mommy, I heard with my own ears that how they flattered mommy, including how pretty she was even she was so fat! But the minute they turned their backs, they actually never trusted and cooperated with mommy, when they found another big trunk to hug, they soon forget mommy, they began to defame her and acted like mommy’s rival!) , she also felt very sad, frustrated and disappointed at my sister and I, as we both do terribly in studies at local Chinese primary school, but can you believe it …… that seemingly pleased my Chinaman dad as long as my sister and I can speak and write Mandarin even I scored the lowest mark in all four classes.

   Mommy said that in this case I should be glad that her thought was ahead of anyone including overrode daddy's stereo-type Chinaman family plan, mommy as usual with her big tummy went alone to overseas for our better future sake, thus my sister and I both were not born in Malaysia, here she said as a Chinese I never have any opportunity to become a prime minister. Can you believe what mommy said …. She said when she begot me in a country where more lazy youngsters live, then later days I may have a higher chance to become successful!

   She said “someone looks like me” thought too optimistic, if he can’t do well in a small country like Malaysia, he shouldn’t expect his children will do well in China. Mommy said one of the later day if my sister and I end in mainland China, she said China got so many geniuses, mediocre people like my sister and I will just end up as nobodies there.

   She said don’t expect luck falls on us, she said waiting for the luck falls on her and us is better then, to wait for another big bang to occur.

This early morning mommy got up early hissing and cursing a Datuk, because dad can’t afford to buy us even cheapest Air Asia tickets to go for any local trip during Hari Raya, mommy hissed angrily that she is “god damn tired of the ducking monotonous family routine life, for the god damn past ducking boring years!” I heard that big shot’s surname sounded the same with a famous Malaysian canned foods manufacturer or same sound of the Mandarin goat’s name, mommy said only certain kind of engineer has to work and monitor his workers under the hot sun by himself, then she told me never to become a third class engineer. Wasn’t that she hint me that my dad is a kind of rejected third class engineer?

   She then continued with her personal opinion, “Third class engineer working as a subcontractor, second class engineer works as a consultant, first class engineer works as an inventor.” For example, she told me how much patent bonus my youngest EE (aunty) would receive every time when she invented or created something new and this smart EE would change herself a brand new posh car in every three years.

   Mommy said she has been day-dreaming both my sister and I to earn our first degree in law before pursuing our chief interest to become an inventing scientist and plastic surgeon. Her reason is later days if I really have invented something new like for an example a most feasible powerful solar energy generator; at least I know how to protect my own rights legally instead of consulting a wrong crooked lawyer.

   BUT she said these are just dreams not something realistic, to get real we have to act mature, become self-motivated to study very hard besides having entrepreneur good spirits that always care for better living standard for everyone, she said that’s why she doesn’t like to stay in a place where most rich people think that they are the only king and all the rest of the people who work for them are slaves.

   Mommy said that’s why this could happen to an arrogant big shot when he or his wife saw a figure of half million ringgit that would be going to a subcontractor’s pocket, the figure would be soon cut off to 60%, ‘They only like to see big figures go into their own bank account not others'.’ Mommy said some rich businessmen also asked their “slaves” to evade tax for them indirectly, mommy said lousy, useless and powerless government is also like an unable fisherman as he was only keen in catching small fishes but all big fish would escape unharmed.

   Mommy told me now she also felt like an indirect slave being pinched under daddy big boss’s thumb, mommy said when daddy couldn't claim enough money from his big boss, daddy won’t be able to give a lot of money to her, then she won’t have enough money for household expenses, she said that’s the reason we don’t have kitchen cabinets since 4 years ago we moved in to Kuching. She said everyday she hopes that tomorrow will be better and richer but she and daddy’s luck actually are both betting zero since I was born.

   In this world she said "only a particular third class engineer’s big takau boss and his immediate family" entitle to have 6-stars kind of living standard, we are just slaves spared under their mercies. Mommy said when a main contractor holds the work-done money not releasing reasonably to the subcontractors, a poor subcontractor like my dad will suffer, and his immediate family will also suffer, mommy said worst is she feels she is worst than an Indonesian maid because even an Indonesian maid at least will eventually saves some cash money in bank, but mommy said due to dad’s unstable financial income incurred by his contractor, she doesn’t have any saving now, she said as long as she can pay off her monthly credit card, she should thank God’s grace on her, she told me anything can happen to a person when he works for a filthy rich lawyer, as laws can be modified by a sly lawyer.

Mommy loves to nag at us to study hard as she always said she is not optimistic of my dad’s current prospect, she said anytime we may end up sleeping on the street if something turns wrong with my daddy’s work as she is jobless now, worst very recently when she thought of reviving her career she suffers unavoided defamation by someone whom she helped greatly before.  

    

   She said she heard many Malaysian lawyers these days not really doing their legal jobs chiefly but mostly they are very successful businessmen as well, they know how to bribe contracts from the authority, and then employed subcontractors like my daddy to work on their awarded civil works, worst mommy said these lawyers don’t know anything about civil works or engineers’ job, as they sit in the air-conditioned room all the time, they thought that rainy days also could do earth works, build roads and do constructions, thus when subcontractors asked their big Datuk-contractors for money to pay their civil site workers and other expenses, usually the money released was merely 60% of work done being released.

   Mommy said now is coming to Malay new year, she questioned me, ‘How about those native workers working for your daddy, if they deserve RM1000 after sweating under hot sun, due to your daddy big boss only released 60% of work-done payment, and how about if your daddy also acted the same like his big boss, give the workers 60% payment of their work-done, i.e. RM600 for their Malay new Year?’

   Mommy said, 'These native workers will KILL your daddy BUT they won’t go killing daddy’s big boss, but actually he was the one who didn’t want to release the whole sum of work done money!' Mommy added that filthy rich people sometimes can be very very very insensitive, mommy said they don't know they are actually the worst bullies on the whole earth.

I think mommy said that we are so poor all because daddy was never able to find a good understanding big boss, we are suffering, that’s why she said for years we can’t return visiting our birth place, even RM8000 air ticket daddy can’t afford to give mommy as daddy has to use the limited money to pay his workers’ salaries in the work site, or else nobody will work for him anymore, and when a project is not progressed, there won’t have any money released by his boss who always sits in the air-conditioned room, travels in first class and who only cares if he has enough cash money to invest a new venture. Mommy said, ‘Never choose a job like daddy that depend on the sky, sunny day and someone’s mercy to earn money, that’s why we are half starving, we are staying in rainy Malaysia not the arid dessert!’

   I asked mommy what is called bribe an authority, she said this happened almost in every third world countries, ‘It means when there is a tender of multi-million ringgit released to the public, but after 7 days, contractors will receive another notice notifying that there was a cancellation of such tender or some tenders even never sees “the light” as they would directly go to someone who gave “undertable” money to the authority. ’

   'I wondered if they used a big bag-pack to carry the cash money to someone they bribed?' I said, mommy was so surprised how I know it! All because long time ago when I went to a bank with mommy, I saw a businessman walked into a special room, then I saw they were counting stacks of cash money, actually I had never seemed so much money like that in my life, later he walked out with a heavy bag-pack, I asked mommy what he was carrying, mommy said that I was stupid,

   ‘Don’t you see that’s $$$$$, the money is not belonged to the man, but I swear my head that he gives those kinds of $$$ notes to a politician, especially now is the election time!’

   Mommy said people being filthy rich but selfish, greedy and unkind usually happened to English educated British ex-colonies’ Asians with bad family background, they have no religion, with limited moral and ethical standard, she said actually they are many of this kind of mean businessmen around the globe, even in Taiwan, Korea and China there are many of this kind of filthy rich businessmen where they have many mistresses and when their wives felt neglected, usually these wives would go for plastic surgeries to make them look prettier and younger and some would end up in Buddhist monasteries to do meditations yet the minutes they walked out of the monasteries, these rich wives would act as mean, as greedy and selfish like their husbands.

   She said these filthy rich wives will be the potential clients for my sister if one later day she really can become a plastic surgeon, mommy said these rich tai tai got money, they are unhappy thus they are usually very nasty, hypocrite and mean to poorer people too, when they did charity, mommy said most of them acted like hens’ clucked when they laid eggs, and we could see that in the newspapers all the time! Mommy said, if my sister will not able turning someone to look like a famous film star Angelina Jolie as requested, she will be sued by the rich tai tai, that’s why mommy insisted that mei mei to study her first degree in law.

One day I heard our gardener complained very angrily to my mom, he said he and his son blasted off the old paint job and then painted a Datuk’s mansion for two months but ended the Datuk only gave them RM500 and even accused them of stealing, can you believe that it happened right here in Kuching city?! He said he didn’t dare to ask anymore because this Datuk has gangsters’ backup.

   Mommy told me even we are poor; at least we never bullied people like this Datuk did to our poor gardener. Obviously to me, most Datuks only carried money to “the authorities” to exchanged for contracts after contracts, they look up but never look down, like I heard someone said they hold big shot’s ball (I think that’s the right word?). But bully and rid-off poorer people and those they think who are inferior beings than them is really horrible, mommy said when I grow up if I become filthy rich too, I should act like Bill Gate donates most of his money for charity works.

   Mommy said that’s why she kept nagging me and mei mei (sister) to study hard, she said just in case one day daddy’s business goes to drain due to his hard work was not fully paid, 20 years later I still can help to straighten it if I end up as a powerful lawyer aided by another engineering degree, but she said if we don’t study hard and don’t think high and far, then we will forever “step by someone under his toes!”