Good riddance...

Her name was Anis.

She was the replacement maid whom we got after four months of me being maidless in Sri Damansara. There was no contract between us. The deal was - we had to pay the introducer some RMxxx, and we pay Anis RMxxx every month. No strings attached.

Apparently she had been working on this modus operandi since 1997. She could go anytime she wanted, and we could terminate her service anytime we wanted.

We got her on 13 March 2010, and within a day of working with us, I got to know the A to Z of all her previous employers. Why she didn't like or liked working with them, why she left the job(s), etc.

The first two days, I found her to be too talkative, and as if she was laying down HER terms with me indirectly.

Example 1 - she told me that she once worked with a Chinese family who lived in a BIG house, but her job was easy because rumah "tu tak bersepah". And I felt that she was hinting at me that my house WAS bersepah! And I remember cursing underneath my breath - "Of courselah rumah aku bersepah, mangkuk! I had been maidless for nearly 4 months then. What do you expect?! It is YOUR job to unsepah my house, woman!!!

Example 2 - she told me that she once worked whereby she had to take care of an elderly couple, and she hated it.

Example 3 - she told me that she once worked with a family but, she didn't like the mother-in-law whom she said always "interfered" in her job. My take on this was that the MIL was not happy with the way the job was done by the maid around the house and was merely telling her on how to do things right. And she didn't like that. Indirectly telling me NOT to tell her what to do.

Example 4 - she told me that she once worked with a certain "Tan Sri", and the Tan Sri was really nice, but, she didn't like the Puan Sri because the Puan Sri was really fussy. Hinting to me that I should not be fussy like the Puan Sri (?!)

And the list goes on and on. You got my drift?

And on the second day, after telling me all her working experiences, while at the same time subtly "laying down all her terms" etc., she suddenly became very quiet and non-responsive! It was just so damn hard to get her to react or respond to any of our requests, etc.

She never uttered a word whenever I asked her or give her instructions on what to do and how to do things around the house.

Example - "Anis, bawang ini nanti, kamu tolong potong dadu, okay?"

And she would continue doing whatever she was doing (washing dishes, etc) without acknowledging what I had said to her. And I would then repeat myself again until I was sure that she actually heard me, and she then responded, "Iya, iya, kakak! Saya dengar tadi!" Sounding annoyed with me!

Many a times when my kids asked her for help, she would raise her voice and asked them to do the things themselves!

Example - Hilman would ask her where his baju sukan and seluar sukan were (as the maid would be the one who either washed/ironed/folded and kept them), and she would just tell him at the top of her voice, "Carilah sendiri dalam bilik!" And Hilman would come to me and tell me that he had tried looking for them at the normal places but he could not find them anywhere. And we then found his baju sukan and seluar sukan kept in his baju tidur drawers.

She would also tengking my kids if they put the cushions on the carpet while watching TV in the living room! What the...??!! My kids couldn't even lepak and enjoy watching TV at home! She even pushed Hasya's head once! Pantang nenek moyang I!!

And the third day she was with us, our ASTRO decoder ranap. We came back one evening and found the channel set/fixed at the "Pay Per View" Menu and we could not access any of the regular channels! The decoder ranap. The remote control also ranap!

And since she came, my microwave has also rosak and whatever mode we now use, it can never go beyond 59 seconds. So, if I need to cook something for 10 minutes, I would have to wait in front of the microwave and re-start it everytime it hits 59 seconds. So, that means 9 times of re-starting the damn thing over 10 minutes!

And I once found the blender LEAKING while she was using it!

I know some would say that I should understand that some of the maids had never used all the elctrical appliances, etc., and that is why we have to be patient with them while they learn how to use them.

But, this Anis surely could not use the same excuse as she had been working in Malaysia for the last 15 years!

And lagi satu pantang nenek moyang I - she suka sangat buang makanan!

Many a times I found rice and leftover lauk in the bin. And once I caught her pouring the Chicken Korma which I just cooked a couple of hours before that, into the sink. Mind you, there were still 4-5 chicken pieces left, with some potatoes and carrots in it! And when I asked her why she was throwing the korma which was still good, she said "Saya tak suka lauk ini!"

WTF?! I didn't cook the dish for you, you *&%$#!!*!! Even if you didn't like it, my family could still eat it, you *%^$#@!*!!!

Menggelegak hati I!! But, me being me - I just tegur with a slightly raised voice.

I guess, tu yang dia naik kepala tu!

She slept at 9:30p.m or latest - at 10:00p.m, irrespective of whether Ayah dah balik from work or not, or whether Ayah has had his dinner or not! So, Ayah being Ayah, he would normally come back after 10:00p.m, and I would set the table and prepare his dinner and later tidied up the kitchen, etc. A few times Ayah had asked me to just leave everything for the maid to do in the morning when she woke up. Sometimes I would do that. But, sometimes, if I larat, I would just clean everything up myself. Malas nak tengok sink with dirty dishes. But, if I was not up to it - I would just leave everything as it was. And the next morning you could see the maid tarik muka when she saw the dirty dishes.

She woke up at 5:30a.m every morning - the same time as me. And if you do your maths right, that would be EIGHT hours of sleep every night, whereas yours truly only got an average of 4 1/2 or 5 hours of sleep! Siapa yang boss sebenarnya, kan?

The only thing she did when she woke up would be to set the breakfast table, and dump the washing into the washing machine, while I do the cooking. She would then sweep and mop the floor while waiting for the washing cycle to finish, after which she would hang everything in the backyard.

I would leave for work around 9:00a.m, and most of the times the kids and I would only come home after 7:00p.m. That would be TEN hours of being left alone. TEN long hours alone at home while I was at work.

Apart from folding and ironing the clothes, you tell me what else would she be doing in that TEN hours...

She really got it easy working with us.

I also found her very rude and she had no respect for us.

But, I kept my patience as I fikir and bersyukur that at least she was helping me out around the house, and more importantly, she was doing the damn laundry for me - the whole package of washing, drying, folding and ironing for me! So, I tutup sebelah mata aje to some of the things which would have driven me up against the wall in a different circumstances.

It's true what they say - beggars can't be choosers...

Many a times I felt like firing her and sending her back to her SIL's place in Kg Sungai Kayu Ara (which is just sepelaung from our house!), but, selalu tak sampai hati coz' I pitied her as I knew that she needed the job and money. (And of course, I needed her to do my laundry, too ;)Hehehe!)

The kids didn't like her. They called her "The Wicked Witch" as she had this really shrieking high-pitched voice. Ayah didn't like her, too, simply because he felt that I was doing things around the house more than the maid did! But, he kept quiet as he knew that whatever it was, at least I had some help around the house.

The arrangement was for the maid to have cuti once in one or two months, so, I was not surprised when she suddenly told me last Friday that she wanted to go back to her SIL's place on Saturday, and that I could then fetch her on Sunday night. She TOLD me to send her at 1:00p.m on Saturday.

Came Saturday, Ayah and I and the kids took our time in the afternoon as we wanted to wait for Edisi 7 on NTV7 which was airing an interview I did on some current issues. We were just waiting in front of the telly when the maid suddenly came down the stairs and halfway down she just asked me "Kakak! Bila mau hantar saya balik?!"

Tak ke kurang ajar?! Why couldn't she come down and ask nicely instead of literally shouting at me from the staircase?!

Ayah masa tu dah meluap-luap dah, and if I hadn't been there, mau dah kena penampar Minah tu there and then!

We sengaja took our time after that because we were so bengang with the maid, and we only left the house at 2:15p.m after solat Zohor.

On the way, I asked her how much money she wanted for belanja. I offered to give her only RM400 and she insisted that I gave her her full gaji. Ayah was reluctant as he was afraid that the maid would run away and not come back.

But, for me, I'd rather pay her whatever wages she had earned, and if she decided to not come back, at least I didn't owe her anything. So, I gave her her one month pay (FYI, we had already given her half a month pay at the end of March, i.e exactly 2 weeks after she started working with us as she claimed that she needed to give the money to her brother who had to go back to Indonesia to berubat kena buatan orang, etc. Ladida dida... They can really come up with most amazing tales, kan?) But, well...

Anyway, we dropped her off at Kg Sg Kayu Ara on Saturday afternoon.

And on Sunday afternoon, I got this SMS from her -

"Assalamualikum! Kak saya anis, saya tak mau kerja lagi dg kakak. Saya tak dikasi sama kakak ipar...saya mau kerja restron"

And I tell you, I had never felt so relieved hearing the news that my maid was not coming back as I had felt then!

And when I told the kids the news, all of them gave a BIG "YEAYYYYYY!!!! Makcik Anis is not coming back ever!!! YEAAAAYYYY!!!"

The kids REALLY, REALLY, REALLY didn't like her. And mind you, our kids are not those type who are that particular about maids before this.

It feels so peaceful around the house now.

Bersepah a bit. But, VERY peaceful :)

GOOD RIDDANCE, I tell you :)