Bibik-less in Shah Alam - Part 1

It’s day 4 today, the house is quiet and less buzzing. Reason to this is, WE now have no Bibik fussing over the dirty laundry or pacing up down in the kitchen to prepare our daily meals. Thus, stamping us with the bibik-less status.

Last Wednesday, we sent Bibik off at the airport for her slightly more than a month leave, her much needed tour of duty leave. That was also the reason why we had to rush all the relevant papers to get her work permit done. Without the renewed passport and work permit, she wouldn’t be able to go and come back to work after her leave.

If my memory serves me well, Bibik Kasmiatun is our 12th maid. She first came to work with us when Nissa was about a year old. After a series of lousy and nerve wrecking maids, she was like heaven sent to us. I was apprehensive when she first walked into our home. The previous one before her stayed for only a little longer than a month. One day back from work, I found a letter in the mail box, with these words written on the envelope – “Adinda ku……”

I was furious upon seeing the mail, all sealed in floral envelope. I could have sworn that the letter was written on scented writing tablets. (Cheh…pandai je maid ni nak main cinta, dia tak tau majikan dia ni DUA tahun dok menulis surat chenta., segala cards and scented writing paper kita tau…so tak payah lah nak cover line!!)

I know it’s bad to read letters which are not ours. But in this case I just had to do it, for the best interest of my family. True enough my guess wasn’t wrong, it was a letter sent by her husband who was in Indonesia. In that letter, he had told her that he was coming to Malacca to work in a farm and she was run away when he gave her the cue to do so. I shivered upon reading the last line. Just imagine, if I had passed the letter to her and she would have been able to plan for her escape!!! And what was to happen to my children? Left home alone to fend for themselves. Ohh…tidak…no way you are going to get to do this!! Over my dead body, woman!!

In just two days I sent her packing, cancelled all her papers and put her in a boat back to Dumai. I called the maid agent there and told him to collect her at the Dumai ferry terminal. And that was the end of maid number 11.

Since number 11 didn’t serve the two years contract, I demanded that my agent give me a replacement. He told me I had to wait a little while as he didn’t have any candidates at that time. Okay…but you’d better have one coming my way soon, and that was an order.

We chose this old lady from the rest of the candidates showed to us. In her passport, her age was written as 39 years old. Nahh..I knew it wasn’t her real age. These agents can be unscrupulous at times and the age they put in the form is usually not the “asli” one.

When Bibik Kasmiaton first started work, I had to teach her a lot of things. She didn’t have much working experience as previously she was only a farmer back home in Lampung, Sumatera. She told us that her ladang was destroyed when the crickets ate all her cash crop. It wasn’t easy for her to switch from a farmer to a domestic maid. I had to show her how to mop the house, clean the bathroom, use the washing machine, and the other electrical appliances. It was a trying time for me too. At times I’d call up my Mom and tell her how slow my maid is. But Mom said to just be patient, InshaAllah, this woman will work out for me.

And there I was, a very patient maid trainer. At one point I almost gave up, the Bibik just wasn’t learning as fast as I had wanted her to. She still missed that one spot that needed extra scrubbing in the bathroom. Even after telling her many times, she still didn’t get my message.

Fuhh….apalagi hangat lah Ibuk ni. I remember one morning when I told her off.

I said, “Kalau Bibik tak boleh kerja ikut cara saya, hah boleh balik Indon. Siapa majikan sini? Saya atau Bibik? Kalau saya majikan, saya mau pembantu rumah ikut yang saya cakap!!”

And I did raise my voice at her that time, iyer lah…dah hangat kan.

I thought that was it, I’d soon see her packing her bags and wailing to have us send her home. I observed her in the following days. Very much to my surprise, she changed!!! She began to do things the way I asked her to and she even apologized for what all her kesilapan. What a relief it was for me. And Moi, the garang majikan, learned a few good lessons myself, one of it was that I am to be less fussy, and definitely to be more patient – lots and loads of the honorable trait.

And that was the new beginning of Bibik Kasmiatun's long tenure with us.