Disgrace & glory (part I)


Disgrace and glory are only chapters in your diary. It’s true both acronyms molded mindset. But they can’t change who you are right now. Thought the past predicts the future, only you could make the difference.


The Reason is Money

one year, I was very desperate searching a way to make money. I was washing dishes mounting inside the kitchen sink at my ground floor hostel room. My mind was wandering outside an empty space seeking for a solution. Money is the ends to a mean. The contract of my study loan just finished the previous semester. Here I am, decided to extend 2 more semesters to finish a few subject I’ve not yet taken. My parents were not in a good financial condition at that time and I don’t have the heart to ask them for money.

Business premises around the neighbourhood turned down on me. They prefer a permanent worker rather than part-timer undergraduate. Or they want a night-shift waiter to work until 2-3am. Or its too far away I seemingly will be spending half of my wages on transportation alone. For 2 weeks, I’ve been searching for a job, high and low.

The thought of working as an interpreter suddenly arise. That is one of the skills I can be very good at (and you might say I’m not so bad J). At that time, I see that I have only few talents, few things I can do. My self confidence was at a very low par. I was recovering from a long heartache.
To be an interpreter, I don’t even have a clue where to start. Suddenly, Anita, my senior appeared behind the kitchen’s window and sent me good news.

“I have a friend who is currently looking for a translator,” she said.

Immediately I thought that god must have heard me.

“If she’s not in a hurry, I can help,” goes my reply.

“Apparently, she is in a hurry. That is why she needed help. And she is willing to pay. I’m not very good in English, so I’m not suitable for the task. So I thought you might be interested,” Anita said.

I immediately agreed, and we went back to her hostel room. There, her friend, a lady around late thirty sitting on her bed and was holding a paperwork.

She quickly expressed her relief, “thank you very much. Frankly, I can do this by myself, but I have 2 individual assignments due in a few days. My teammates return early to Johor for mid semester breaks and we have to submit this group assignment in a week. I just can’t focus on three things at once,” she said innocently.

I was nodding slightly. Trying to catch every detail she mentioned. Her name is Janice, a school teacher from Johor Bharu, Johor. We were in the same faculty, I took chemistry and she took biotechnology. Both Kak Jane (sis Jane, that is what I address her) and Puan Nita (Nita and I were both military reserved officers, so I address her as Puan: ma’am) are Johorians. They must have met each other in Johorians community club.

After agreeing on a few details, she immediately took out RM50 from her purse. I said she could wait until I have finished the job in the first place. However, she insisted. She look quite desperate and needed a confirmation that it will be done just like promised. I felt pity for her and assured her it will be completed like we agreed. So from the day onward, I decided to become an interpreter, translating BM to English and vice versa. Other than that, I am also a freelance typist.

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