Sunday, September 04, 2005
We all have our own little secrets. I, for one, have a quite a few ... about myself, my friends and even my own family members. Believe me ... I could start my own little war if I revealed those secrets. Sometimes I say to myself, "Damn, I feel powerful!" Then again, you know what they say - "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Piss me off and there is no telling whether I might just regurgitate the earth shattering facts. But being the sane and somewhat rational person that I am, all the little, and some not-so-little secrets will remain in my mental vault, despite the fact that my sanity sometimes hangs from a thread, waiting to snap.
Speaking about secrets, (I know the paragraph above looks like a narration of Mary Alice Young in Desperate Housewives) my recent trip to Melaka during the week-long break was very intriguing, albeit slightly boring, because the family I stayed with had a bag full of secrets, ala "Bold and Beautiful". Me, my mom and our close family friend, who I will refer to as Aunty G, set off on a bus ride to Melaka to stay with Aunty G's cousin, who has a bungalow on a beach (I was sold when I heard the words "bungalow" and "beach"). We took the 4pm bus from the Pudu bus station and arrived at Melaka Sentral about 6.15pm and proceeded to take a cab to the house, which was about 15 minutes away. Since the last time I set foot in Melaka was when I was nine, I couldn't recall the changes in the city. The cab driver was very courteous and friendly which made the ride all the more pleasant considering the scorching weather and that we felt as if we hadn't bathed in days.
I noticed that we were passing by some quaint villages, surrounded by a lot of lush greenery and small fishing villages when Aunty G told the cab driver to slow down as we were nearing our destination. Two things came to mind - "Heh?" and "Where the hell is the bungalow?". As we got out of the cab, I took note that there was definitely gonna be some walking to do to reach this "bungalow", so I asked Aunty G, "So where is her house?" and then she replied, "Oh, we have to walk inside a little coz it will be difficult for the cab to drive through the narrow road." Hmm ... ok. So we walked. All I saw were dilapidated and run-down wooden shacks with poor drainage systems. I thought to myself "Oh God, I hope we will soon enter a parallel universe with a "bungalow on a beach". After about two minutes of walking on the muddy dirt road, I finally saw it. The bungalow (followed by a string of Hellelujah and angel white light), an oasis nestled amidst the surrounding eye-sore of poorly maintained wooden houses, obviously a result of the lackadaisical and corrupted wakil rakyat.
We were greeted by the maid, who gave us a very warm welcome, actually. Then I finally met Aunty G's cousin, who I will call S. On the surface, S, who is married to an ex-cop-cum- fishing enthusiast and has a daughter and son who are both successful, is a very friendly, pleasant and generous lady. But on the inside, this was a woman living in hell. Within a few hours of our visit, Aunty G had revealed the dark family secrets, in the privacy of our room, of course.
Apparently when S and her husband were posted in East Malaysia about seven years ago, S had "adopted" an uneducated homeless 11-year-old girl. Being the good samaritan that she is, S offered the girl, now 18, food and shelter till today. Unfortunately, S did take into consideration the responsibilities and parenting factors it took to raise a child, who did not even know her ABCs at the age of 11. At present, the girl is now three-months pregnant, as a result of a one-night-stand with some young punk at a karaoke bar from where she had been working. Yes ... this 18-year-old girl, who has had her share of "servicing" random men in bars, has no education of any sort. She can't get married to the father of the baby because according to Syariah Law, the baby is still an illegitimate child. She would have to go to Thailand to get married, but not before being fined or jailed at the Syariah Court and the baby would have to be given up for adoption.
So, what's the big secret? Among the men that the girl was "servicing" was the man of the house! Oh, yes. Satan's minions have struck again. Talk about looking through rose-tinted glasses. Within a few minutes of talking to the couple, I thought here is a happy and stable family. Nice house on the beach, children, a Lassie-lookalike Collie dog, a grandson (oh yeah, who is this fat, spoilt brat who does nothing all day except, eat, sleep and plays PS2 (SERIOUSLY!) and is pampered to the max by his grandmother) and people who have interesting hobbies (she is into arts and crafts and he has his own boat house and fishes everyday). But, no. Like I always say, life is too cruel.
Well, it was a very interesting two-day holiday. I'm sure I will remeber it for the rest of my life.
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