New Rules for Indonesian Maids

Nowadays, the cost to hire an Indonesian maid to this country is around MYR 10,000- MYR 12,000. With a wage ranging from MYR 700 and above. That's an arm and leg innit?

My grandmother has been living on her own in Ampang Jaya. The premise is a big ass double storey semi-D. Every now and then she has to climb up and down the stairs for the purpose of going to the kitchen and back to her master bedroom.

She is a very healthy woman, eats well and takes care of her body. I don't quite recall how old she is, but i think she is around her late 60's. At this point of age, she tends to be very concern about her ability to do the house chores and climbing the fold back stairs herself. If I remember correctly, she started having problems with her knees not being strong anymore and so she went to physiotherapy sessions at a gym in Taman Melawati twice a week.

On so many occasions she highlighted to my beloved mother on how she desperately need a maid to help out around the house. I recently acquire the service of a maid that used to take care my wife's grandmother, we took her in to look after of our kid. Recommended and trusted by my father in law. When I brought her to my family house in Bandar Baru Bangi, my mother asked the maid whether she got connections in Indonesia who supply maids.

Being a very business minded maid, she then took the offer to contact her counterparts in Indonesia to bring in one girl to work for my grandmother and so the story goes.

The point I am writing this is simply to share my experience with the processes on taking foreign maids from Indonesia. In fact, I just got to know this today after my father had a trip to the Immigration to resolve the matter.

Before October 1st 2013, there are two ways to import an Indonesian maid to work for you. Its either through an Agent or direct contact through individuals in Indonesia which sometimes called "Ibu" or "Tekong". The reason why most of the people here opt to choose the 2nd option is merely because the cost saving factor. That's a total chunk of almost MYR 8,000 savings.

Well, it cost us MYR 2,300 for this new maid to reach on our front door. This excludes the processing costs for the Working Permit application which is about MYR 2000++. Still worth it for me. And so the new maid reached our house last Monday with a visiting pass for 30 days. So all we got to do after is to take her to immigration, fill in the forms, and make sure she is medically OK to apply for the working permit.

I came across an interesting blog that provides the full details on how to apply your maid's working permit yourself without going through an Agent but all of this is considered obsolete after 1st October 2013.

The new rules states that Application for Indonesian Maid must go through Registered Agents only. It means you have to get a large chunk of paper ready if you're hiring one.

Haiiihhhh..what saddens me the most is the fact that the new maid is already here at my grandmothers. She is so called a freshie to this country, she got two kids back home. She use to earn around IDR 100,000 per month which is equivalent to MYR 30 here and that was the reason why she took the leap of faith coming here. Now we got to send her back to her country because of the new rules and she didn't know about it yet.  Poor lass.

Y U TEST DADDY?

My son Muhammad Fahyim Syakir has this peculiar habit of not being a "Ceremony Man". Through these 14 months observing him, I came to a conclusion that he possesses this need to be the center of attraction.

Last Friday my sister in law got hitched. Congratulations to her and her husband. The solemnization was held at my in laws house in Shah Alam. Through out the course of the event, the boy went berserk. He cried and shouted like nobodies business. 

I forecasted this to happen earlier in the evening,  whenever a ceremony is around the corner,he will refuse to sleep. Once the ceremony started, he then decides to sleep which means a lot of whining will occur. At 8:30 p.m, the guests started flowing into the house to occupy the front living hall. I have noticed his edgy gestures and immediately hand him to the maid. 

Once the "Akad Nikah" started commencing, I heard a blaring shout from my room. On normal days, he has no issues with the maid. He even played hide and seek with the maid. But on ceremony days, suddenly he hates the maid. Arghhh! So he shouted and cried like he was in tremendous pain, tears pouring out of his eyes like Niagara Falls asking me to pick him up. So I brought him in front to join the function and I regretted. He saw his mother and now he wants milk although he just had a few ounces of formula 20 minutes before. Aiyoyo thambi!

The next day we hosted the reception at De Palma Inn Shah Alam. As usual, we tried putting him to sleep earlier that day but he just wouldn't. And so we said to ourselves, "nevermind him, maybe tonight he'll behave".  We thought it will be a good circumstance to snap a few pictures of him. Suit him up with vest, bow tie and all aaaaaaannnddddd he fell asleep. Phuiiii!!Whyy?! .

Family members gathered in front of the ball room with a sound instruction to greet the invitees. We were all suited and "Baju Melayu-ed" up when suddenly a loud thundering baby scream came out from the ballroom, there goes my maid running out with Fahyim. I was told he was disturbed with the sound of waiters banging on the ballrooms door. What?! He didn't even bothered with the blistering sound of high-revved VTEC engine launching on the main road opposite of my condo. Haiyaa..his eyes was half opened signalling me that he still wants to sleep and so I dispatch him and the maid to the hotel room which situated on the neighboring block. Being a sweaty pig, only God knows how much liquid was flowing out through my sweat pores. Haha!

 The whole pack including me and my wife were supposed to escort the newlyweds to the Pelamin". Once I got back to the hall, the bride and groom is already walking down the red carpet and I saw my wife awkwardly walking alone.  I went to the table with a hunch of regret and decided to call the maid. I thought that cheeky baby is already sound asleep, aaaaaaannnnddd I was wrong. He is wide awake crying behind the room door signalling a gesture that he dislike being left there.

Superdaddy went back to the hotel room in a flash, speedily walking through the corridors with crying armpits to inspect on his superbaby. Brought him back to ball room and the boy settled down. Laughing here and there like nothing happened. The only thing is both of us missed most of the compulsory moments on that wedding including a few family pictures, rehearsed activities and some appetite. But we did managed to get in some after party images though.

Adulahai Mamat Payim.

Anyway..here's to the memories..

Pengantin Lama (credit to binatang pondang)

 

Perenting : Sir Fahyim Shitalot Improvements

There has never come a day in my post-Fahyim's life where I did not rush climbing to the eighth floor of my condo to see that attentive lad after work.

Every passing day was like a tuition to him and experimenting and violating rules is his favorite traits. He is now in his 14 months era. The era of learning!

Every now and then, whenever I ring the bell and push the front door, he will stand there and smile like this..and say " de deh!!". 

If there is such instant cure for exhaustion, then this kind of feeling definitely should be it..This dude is really showing off his talent in materialising his motto " What I want, I get". But, it is a normal thing in toddlers world basing on what i read.

If his desires are not granted, he'll instantly squat and bang the floor with his hands while yelling " Erghhhh!!" He will pull my hand and direct me to that particular unreachable object. 

Pronouncing the word "Hello" will prompt him to put his hands to his ears. Hahaha! As if he knows how to talk. He can only converse the language of minions nowadays which is " Bababa". Not to say he can't detect our language. He will try his level best by imitating the sounds that came out of our mouth such as " Tssst" which means "Keys". A very intelligent young man he is and a very observant too.

I always thought when he was born, what talent will he inherit? A few days ago, i saw a glimpse of the flair that he might possess. 

You be the judge, its just raw materials .Haha !

Being a toddler of this age, the pulse of curiosity looms inside his minuscule brain.  There is limited sense of logic going on in there. Last week, because of this, he took his leap of faith by nosediving from the top of the bed straight to the parquets. Luckily it was just a wee bit of a blue bump on his forehead. Right after that incident, he now cautiously use his legs first.

Nowadays, a trip to shopping malls is a tough one. If you are looking to blaze some calories, chasing a small dude with a sudden change of direction in a shopping mall is definitely a good sport!

I mentioned in my earlier post, I will try my best on not raising a "Brat", and how hard it is not to let others spoil the kid. But look at his first walking shoes..this was given to him by my sisters as a gift for being a newbie in the walking industry.

A pair of Vans at 1 year old?! I remember the last time i had Vans was back in college. That one also is the Ciplak one in Sungei Wang Plaza which costs around Rm 50. Anyway, still a long journey to come. I still have some time to groom the kid to be somebody who knows how to appreciate things and to respect the elderly .

Given the nature of my work as a trader, I seldom have the time to spend with the kid. I will try to constantly pour my outlines in this blog whenever I was presented with the favorable circumstances to be with this little lad. More improvements to come! Cheers.

"Come at me bruv!"

Old and wise?

I was blessed with a tremendous circles of friends throughout my life. Last Saturday 9th of November 2013, I was cleverly tricked by my wife who had arranged a beautiful birthday party for me. It was held at a seafood restaurant near Dengkil called "Restoran Tasik Idaman" . For those of you plan to eat good seafood by the lake, this is the place to go.

When you're getting old and fat like me, You will never smell the scent of a cunning plan orchestrated by your beloved wife and friends. I was made to believe that my wife and her friends are going to have a get together on that Saturday after our bazaar in Rasta TTDI. So i drove to the restaurant and found my good friends there waiting to celebrate me although it was not yet my birthday. It was a splendid surprise.Thank you lads! And Thanks to you also my beloved wifey.

" There is no sincere love than the love of food" - George Bernard Shaw

Fate

I have been thinking about topics to address to this blog for these past few weeks. The last post was narrations about my frantic infant. This post shall be about how i met his mother or in other words my wife. Bear in mind that she is also the chief financial officer, logistic planner, chef de partie, fund manager, chief janitor and also alarm clock of the house.

I met my other half Nik Nurul Diyanah for the first time waaaayyyy back in 2004 in Kolej Yayasan Pelajaran Mara (KYPM)*. I was in year two and she was a freshie. I was so reluctant to enroll with that college during that time because of my unenthusiasm to further study after all. To think about all this, to see how the dots interconnected to each other clarifies the enigmatic ways of God's work.

I know most of you have heard or read or even watched in movies where the actor says " I knew it when I first laid eyes on her". Well, if i were to rephrase it to my own context, i would say " I don't quite understand this, but why is my tummy ticklish? ". A sensation, an aura and abundance of need to be asked questions surrounds this specky long haired cute chinese looking girl. I must get know this female.

Things got better when I was forced to repeat my year two due to my lousy results and also a few mischievous acts in accounts class. I grieved a little but then I saw an opening. Repeating the year will move me closer to the target. Remember when I state that God works in mysterious ways? Well, this time the Almighty put me and her on the same tutorial group. From then on, things started to appear translucent. Series of events guided me to her.

I was still unsure of what I felt about her that time. The only problem was that she got a boyfriend but my naughty eyes can't seem to stop gazing at her. From then on, I plant my glance on the price , I observed in perseverance. I scouted like dessert eagle, waiting for the right moment to pounce until that perfect time came when I managed to get her number from a female accomplice.

So I did what every other charmer would do, texted her plentiful time, vomiting passionate words and altercations in form of short messaging system. Those were the glory days of Nokia 3210,3310 and the most advanced cellular was the 8250 a.k.a the"Butterfly". People can text without even looking at the keypad. I texted her everyday without miss, most of the conversations was empty, just plain gibberish. Each and every end of a long conversation will be concluded with my personal weapon of choice "The Spear of Bombastic and Amusing words"!!. I hinted and hinted my feelings towards her and I thought I worked my magic, but I was altogether wrong, an utter shame!. She does not seem to understand. I thought maybe because she had a boyfriend that time, or maybe she is just plain slow. Haha.

I have never got the chance to meet her face to face. The nearest I got to her is when i surprised her with an acoustic show at her apartment balcony during her birthday. Without the help of her housemates, I would not be able to work my charm. I thought i scored but once again, it is not sufficient to lure her away from her "soulmate". I was not too bothered with her reluctance because I too was seeing two other different girls. Haha! Things went sour, the volumes of sms's gone down and slowly fade.

In the year of 2006, a bunch of us pursued studies in Dublin, Ireland. Well, actually a whole load of us went to Dublin. Its like the same class in KL teleported to Dublin. The only difference was our lecturer's were fairer and the weather was fricking cold.

In Dublin, I adopted a different lifestyle, I was culture shocked with the distance that I have to walk to college and the coldness there. This factors effected my attendance to the class. I seldom go, so i rarely meet people. Plus, i got two housemates who share the same traits as I. Therefore, I don't get that much chance to meet Nik Nurul. I was too happy spending time with the lads rather than socializing with the lasses until one day I was fed with a news that she BROKE UP! Finally!

I was mentally planning for a way to approach her until God concluded it for me again! This time, he paired my roommate to her best friend. I was speechless. It cant go any better than that . We went dating for the first time at a restaurant called Madina. Awkwardness surrounded the four walls around us. It was by far the greatest time of my life. In 23 years of life, I have never experienced any sublimer feeling in my heart. I handed her a tissue made flower in admiration to her immense physical attractiveness. I have never looked back since then.

We went through tick and thin during our relationship. The experience that we share during the hard times and the happy times was priceless. There was a sense of completion when I married her in 11/11/11, similar to the feeling when you get to kill the castle dragon in order to save the princess in Super Mario Bros last level.

Today is the 4th of November 2013, a week to our anniversary,  two ecstatic years since we got hitched. I am contented that I took this path, no matter what the road will present us, it can be bumpy, it can be flat, we'll ride through it! Ailebeyu bebeh..:)

* Presently known as Kolej Poly-Tech Mara