Courtesy is Free

It was a beautiful Wednesday morning as always yesterday, until I checked my inbox to read e-mails from friends, near and far. Among the many mails, there was a mail for a comment sent to this humble blog of mine. How sweet…. Someone had dropped by and left me a note. What a beautiful Wednesday indeed.

Eagerly, I read through the lines and how astonished I was with the tone of it. At the beginning, that was how it was; but later it amused me that I just decided to reject and ignore the comment.

Later in the evening, over a pile of creased clothes, while doing the normal homemaker’s dreaded chore of ironing, I decided to give my two cents. (Don’t know whether it was either the heat and steam from the iron or the adrenaline rush from being challenged by a stranger that had affected this change of decision!) Nevertheless, I was and still am happy to have the following constructive critic for my effort to shift the paradigm of the normal typical Malay SAHM population. You may be asking, "How can this help?", right?.... Well, put it this way…. Blogging may be a new therapy for women to release their stress and let their frustration out. Therefore, there will be a lower percentage of nagging wives and mothers at home! Make any sense?

Anyway, the mail wrote:

abdul has left a new comment on your post "Here We Go!!":

hehe.. wat blog plak ek..jom kita tgk berapa lama bertahan.. saya dulu just 1 month only, pastu malaih dah.. wakakaka

So, Encik Abdul, whoever and wherever you may be, younger or older than me, I must say, “From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

That’s the least I can do considering that it is just what I was taught to do, back in my school days. My headmistress, Sister Aidan, a well-built and strict Irish nun, had taught me well. So did my Ustaz Ahmad of the Penang State Mosque. And of course, so did my very particular and disciplined parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles and the whole tribesmen!

Then, we were taught to be polite, well mannered, ethical et cetera. The simplest thing as greetings such as “Assalamu’alaikum” or “Good Morning” or “Hello” was essential to portray our traits, personality and teachings. It was also a very important indicator of how refined our family’s principles and background were. We owe it to our forefathers (or even our ancestors!) to uphold what had been taught and brought down the line of the family tree.

Nowadays, I find that most children lack these values. I don’t really know what they are teaching in school these days, but I see very unsatisfactory products out of it. (Speaking from the experience as a mother to two hyperactive boys, trust me, I know what I am talking about!) There are no more ‘Sister Aidans’ or ‘Ustaz Ahmads’ around to assist these kids in schools. Schools are now more exam-oriented. (And it is beginning to sound more like the manufacturing term of “result-oriented” each year!). That’s why more mothers, like me, are staying at home; to make sure that these values be inculcated in our children. (And in case you are wondering…..Nope, my Mum had worked two shifts daily throughout the whole 35 years of her life and now happily enjoying her pension! Thanks to teachers like Sister Aidan and Ustaz Ahmad, she can have it all...)

In short, Encik Abdul, if you may have any difficulty digesting my humble English Language (not that I belittle your ability and skills!; sincerely, I do apologise if you feel offended in any manner), I’ll just translate it in these two Malay sentences that my grandmother used to nag at her grandchildren, “Kalau masuk rumah orang, bagi salam dulu, jangan tau serbu saja! Dah masuk, duduk diam-diam kat depan, jangan meronda satu rumah!”….. Another thing, I extend my sympathy for your failure to continue what you had started that lasted just a month, after being stung by the typical Malay ‘bug’ i.e. laziness.

At least, I am in my second month!… And still going, InsyaAllah….;)