Lockdown!

It's day 40 of the MCO (Movement Control Order) when Malaysians have been home bound except for essential trips for groceries and medical services.  Nothing much to do except read, watch Netflix, surf social media and, of course EAT!

Much to my surprise I've found interest in cooking and have been trying some dishes that I have never before cooked. Since hubs died 30 years ago, mum and maid had taken over kitchen activities.  I was not encouraged to participate as I was deemed more a hindrance than a help.  Which suited me fine cause I was never the domesticated kind anyhow.  I'd much rather be out in the sun golfing with friends to keep in touch socially or catching up over lunch/tea....lunch can really stretch into tea....if you know what I mean!

But with limited eateries open for business (for takeaways, not dine in) one is left with no choice but to cook. With the help of recipes online and those from friends I have been able to whip up a few dishes most of which I thought turned out quite nicely. There were a couple of bloopers but not disastrous enough to warrant a place in the fb page "Masak Apa Tak Jadi Official" (loosely translated: Cooking That Did Not Turn Out Well Official)!

What we citizens have to endure cannot even compare to what our frontliners are facing daily.  Donned in PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) suits that are virtually saunas, they have toiled day and night to fight the scourge of Covid-19 and some, sadly, have lost their lives in trying to save others. The economic impact too is going to be grave as many small/medium sized businesses have folded resulting in job losses. No one knows for sure how bad it will be as this pandemic is something the world has not experienced.  All we can do is follow government's orders and pray that the MCO will be lifted gradully, as experience in other countries have shown that those who celebrated success too early have had to re-implement lockdown. 

On Honorifics

Malaysia is a country where Honorifics (titles such as Tan Sri, Datuk Seri, Datuk, etc.) have become a fixation. I am always nervous when meeting “titled” people because I cannot keep up with who has what title. Many former colleagues of mine have moved on and are now “Datuks” and I don’t want to offend “Datuk Ahmad” by greeting him with a “how are you, Mat?”

If that is not bad enough, we also have to deal with some wives (not all) who are very particular that they are addressed correctly too, even when socialising with friends.

I remember an incident when I attended an engagement ceremony with my mum. The person who invited us was a relative with a title…..so, many ladies amongst the guests had titles too. As in any Malay engagement ceremony, we were seated on the carpet and my mum was getting restless as the ceremony had not started. A group of well-dressed ladies were heard chatting about their family. Each of the ladies had a title as they addressed each other as either Puan Sri or Datin. My mum then whispered to me…”these ladies appear to be good friends but they are addressing each other by title...why can't they address each other by name?”

A friend once told me she was in an elevator in an upscale hotel and a smartly-dressed lady walked in. My friend, being the ever friendly person that she is, thought the lady looked like she was a Datin and greeted her with a “Good morning, Datin”…to which the latter scowled at her and announced “I’m a Puan Sri”! Ooooops!

In yet another situation, a Datuk had three wives and all use the title Datin. Wife No. 2 was divorced but she continued to use the title. One day, a friend of mine, who happened to know both Wife No. 1 and No. 2, received a call from No. 1 advising her not to address No. 2 as Datin as she was no longer married to the Datuk. My friend then decided that she would stop addressing Wife No. 1 and No. 2 by title but explained herself before doing so. Her reason? As an outsider it was impossible for her to know who's been divorced so to be safe and since they went back a long way, she would prefer to address them by name.

Go to any golf club and you will find a large number of the ladies have titles. In one particular club, the Indonesian lady manning the half-way hut addressed all lady golfers (including yours truly) as “Tin” (short for Datin). I told her that I was not one and that she should be careful when addressing all ladies as Datins because a Puan Sri might be offended if she is being addressed as Datin. Looking worried, she said she could not tell who is a Puan Sri….poor lady, she was obviously terrified that a Puan Sri might take offence and report her to the management!

Now Every Mak Cik, Ah Soh and Aci Can Fly

Our back-and-forth decision on the use of the English language have put us in a position where, if we want to be a global player, we seriously need to do something about it...SOON!

On a recent trip to Ho Chih Minh City proudly flying on our made-in-Malaysia low-cost carrier, Air Asia, it was announced on arrival that the ground temperature was 11 degrees celsius but because the announcement was so poorly enunciated, not many passengers understood the message as they were just interested to push their way through to disembark...Malaysian-style!

A shocked leader of a group of boisterous tourists from Mumbai, seated on a window-side seat, peered into the distance and exclaimed (Peter Sellers-style)...."Oh my God...vhere are vhee"???

And I quietly thought to myself "mano tompek sojuk ni...dah tibo neghori omputeh ko?? Tapi kojap bonar dah tibo...baju paneh eden tak bawak eh...!!!!!"

To my fellow Malaysians, to understand what I was thinking about, ask someone from Negeri Sembilan or, even certain parts of Malacca!

My heartiest congratulations to Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes on being conferred the prestigious Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) award from HRH Queen Elizabeth II today. We Malaysians are proud of you!!