Of Work, Courses and Life

“Be prepared always” – This is the motto of the Girl Guides, which is very important in our everyday lives. Last Thursday, this motto once again became a guiding source as I was asked to attend a meeting/ workshop on behalf of my director.

I was initially told to attend a course on examination invigilation on Thursday in Johor Bahru, but was informed just the day before that I has to go to Bukit Bendara, Mentakab instead. Anyway, I was going to be fetched by a Pajero, accompanied by my assistant, who is in his retirement age, so no worries. This meeting/workshop was on the evaluation of development project. I was told that since I’m going to be the Development Officer, this meeting should be given priority over the other course, and indeed it was very beneficial to me. However, I was so ill-prepared due to just a day’s notice. Participants of the workshop were asked to bring along sample projects to present and I didn’t know anything at all about it. Nevertheless, I managed to find one, which my clerk handed me, just an hour before departing to Mentakab.

The opening ceremony was at 2.00 pm on Thursday, and I had another meeting to attend at 9am till 12 noon. My assistant assured me that we could reach in a hour and a half, but apparently it was not accurate information. The Pajero left Kuantan and 12.30 and we reached in at 2.30pm. My assistant and I had wanted to skip the opening ceremony, as we were late, but the facilitators persuaded us to attend, saying that it was ok – which was a very bad idea. We had just taken our seats when the speech was concluded with “ Sekian, terima kasih” (Thank You), marking the end of the opening ceremony. How embarassing! Anyway, we later found out that we were not the latest…feels a little better to know that.

After the opening ceremony, we were served tea. Only after that did my assistant and I get the keys to our respective rooms in the Bukit Bendera Resort, Mentakab. It was a nice place, very green, and comfortable. My room number was 413- it felt very quiet and lonely, having a room to myself, on the fourth floor, in the far end of the block. At nights, I switched on the television, on a low volume and had it set on ‘sleep 60’ so that I would have fallen asleep before the dead silence (or rather little sounds in the dead silence) could bother me.

The workshop went well and the sample project that I had found in the last minute did prove useful as my group used it for our presentation. I managed to get an overview on how to evaluate a project in that brief 2 ½ days worshop. The worshop was over on Saturday morning and I headed back to Kuantan. I enjoyed the journey back though it was rather long…the scenery along the way was refreshing…rainforests and rivers….I just love green.

Upon reaching Kuantan, I requested the driver’s help in helping me move, to which he kindly obliged. The aunty that I was staying with temporary had found me another room not too far from my office. It’s not near by foot, but less than a 5-minutes drive. It’s a strategic place as I can get a ride from others on the main road (just across the house) and there a number of eating places within walking distance. The house is small but cosy, consists of two rooms, but only one bathroom and a toilet, fully furnished and very nicely renovated. I can use the fridge, television, radio, kitchen etc, so it’s quite a good deal. The landlady is a single parent who lives alone. She’s very active doing social services and is always out, so I get to enjoy the privacy of having the house to myself (not that I have a lot of private things to do, but it’s just a nice feeling of freedom). I feel comfortable in this house. Thank God for that! Besides, this house is near a church members’ house and she fetched me to church on Sunday.

Then on Monday, I went to Karak and Bentong to audit the work of two enforcement stations. It was a very interesting experience to ‘investigate’ if they were doing things right, as in following the standardized rules, and taking precautionary measures to prevent corruption. Karak is about 3 hours from Kuantan, while Bentong is about half an hour from Karak. It took the whole day to complete the audit. I only reached home around 7.30 p.m. The whole journey was amusing too. I sat in the front seat of the department’s Pajero, driven by a uniformed officer and accompanied by two other uniformed officers in the back seat. I was dressed in plain office clothes – a black long skirt and a a 3 ¼ sleeves cream coloured blouse with thin green and red stripes. Everywhere we stopped, people stared at us as if they had never seen other humans before.

Another interesting thing about being with enforcement officers is to see them in action. While on our way home, our Pajero was behind a Kancil going at very low speed, on the right lane, thus obstructing traffic. The enforcement officer honked a few times at the driver but the latter continued to maintain that speed and made no attempts to overtake another vehicle, nor change lanes. The officer beside me then took the microphone and said ‘testing, testing…’ A good thing the driver then had enough sense to switch lanes. The officer then just gave a warning through the window as we drove past the car. It was a good thing for the driver of that Kancil that the officers were not conducting an operation at that time, or else she would not have been let off so easily.

Throughout my day in Karak and Bentong, I had plenty to eat…in fact, in many courses and meetings, food is served generously, at many intervals. So much, that my bowel system is getting accustomed to eating more…I get hungry every few hours now, so I have to keep a stock of not so sweet biscuits…Hopefully I have gained some weight. However, the food here is oily, and extremely sweet - even the ‘kari’ (curry) and ’ kuah’(gravy) which are supposed to be ‘pedas’ (spicy) have sweetness in them…thus, I think it’s time for me to bring ‘bekal’ from home to have more healthy food.

The one thing I like most about the journey back was the sight of a beautiful rainbow over the Pahang River. It was exceptionally breathtaking…I have never seen a rainbow so clear, so wide, so thick, with each colour so disctinct from each other, against the dimly lit sky the lush greenery around. It felt like we were driving right through the rainbow as its curve formed a perfect arch from the left of the river to its right, with the highway dividing it in half. The four of us in the Pajero were just marvelling at its beauty until it was finally, and sadly our of sight. The song playing in my head was the all time favourite, ‘How Great Thou Art”…. It’s during times like this that I wish I had a camera phone to capture magical moments. Shall get one upon my first paycheck.

That’s about it for now. Thank you for all your prayers, and for being there. Miss you all. Take care and God bless you :)