I’m sure you have gone through this before. You were sitting down having dinner outside and then two persons approached you. One of them is either blind (most of the time blind) or sick from some disease but both could be errm.. healthy. They will produce a letter, from Welfare Department, or a school or a mosque from a district you never heard of.
So, will you give? Whether its just some loose change, will you give? Or did you just give merely to shoo them away? Or because you don’t have the heart to say no?
I’m not proud to say this, but I don’t give. The reasons are:
1. If I come again a year after at that exact place, he’ll still be begging. I never came across with anyone who started a business to improve his life standard after begging for some time.
2. Some of them are managed by ‘agents’ who bring them around town to beg. They took some (hopefully not all) of the money the beggars so-called earn. In different view, if let’s say they you pity the beggers and give them RM1. They might only get 60 cents. Another 40 cents go to their agent, who was sitting back and chilling and might be watching porn and waiting for the money came to him. Does that mean you pity their agent too? That’s why you gave another 40 cents to them.
3. Some of them are not real. So how can you tell? If they are really blind, walking using shooter cane (the white stick), they should be using it the correct way.
Furthermore, knowing that there are slick easy-money people begging for my money, it makes me less kesian. These are real incidents encountered by me and my friends.
- IrIs once gave some cash to a blind man. I can’t remember where, but I think somewhere in Damansara Uptown. On her way back, she saw that blind man, sneaking behind an empty hawker stall, counting bank notes. Hehe. Blind eh?
- This one ‘blind’ man came to me and asked for money. And I saw he was wearing a wrist watch, the one with hands and dials. Chrono pulak tu. There are special wrist watches for the blinds. I’ve seen it. It has a button when pressed, will tell the time. Ni kalau dah pakai jam siap ada jarum semua, nampak aper wei?
- There is one particular beggar I notice always hanging around nearby my office building. On few occasions I saw him smoking cigarretes. Man, you don’t have enough money that you have to beg, how can you use what you already had in hands to buy cigarettes?
- Bigg told me about this one guy, normally wearing sarung, always begging in Ampang Point area. On one fateful day, maybe after he finished collecting his earnings for the day, he took out car keys from his pocket, *toik! toik!*, and quickly drove away in his brand new Iswara. Hehe. Too good to be true kan? But it happened.
I didn’t say it’s wrong for you to give, and I didn’t say it’s right for me to not give either. But if I feel like giving, I’d rather give it to someone who deserved it. But then those who are sick and obviously ‘deserved’ to beg, might work under an agent. So to make things less doubtful for me, if I feel like showing my empathy, I’d rather give them food or drinks, but not cash. Buy them roti krim or air kotak.
Few years ago The Star newspaper has done a research on beggars. One journalist was assigned to be a beggar and dressed like one. But they decided on one thing. That journalist is not going to say anything. Not a word. He will just show his hand to beg. For 10 hours, he got RM40+. Easy isn’t it. Tu belum yang walk around from table to table. One day RM40, how about one month? And one year? Considering RM1200 a month is not enough for me and most of my friends whom I assume degree holders, but RM1200 is certainly easy-money for someone who did nothing but hulur tangan je.
So what makes you give? Or don’t?
First of all, the comment link is *up there*. Not down below.
Day 1
Bigg sent me and the Boyfriend to ERL station Bandar Tasik Selatan. Took the 2.20pm ERL and arrived late. ‘Late’ because i was ngada-ngada asking them guys to be at the KLIA paling lambat pukul 2.30pm hohoho. Everyone was there, checked-in. Masa ni dah start sexcited. Woohooo.
We had lunch at McDonald’s. I have to say that was my 4th or 5th Prosperity Burger of the week. Ergh. Can never get enough of Prosperity Burger.
Leave KLIA around 4.50pm. It was dreadfully slow. Maybe sebab sexcited sangat kot? Arrived at Ngurah Rai Airport Denpasar around 8pm. Whepeee.
Urusan transportasi telah di settle kan oleh Pak Phyruzze. Sampai hotel, letak bag, terus keluar jalan-jalan. Keji giler.
Ring a bell?
The street was filled with locals and foreigners in high spirits to celebrate the new year. Almost everyone of them had these ‘paper trumpets’ and whistles, which makes me terkejut badak every now and then.We had dinner at KFC Plaza Kartika. Yeay KFC halal. They have more varieties than KFC in Malaysia. Ada begedil, ada sup, ada nasik and spaghetti. Biar betik? Tapi best la pasal boleh testing kan. I have to say most of the thing are cheaper than KFC here. 2 pieces of chicken baru RM2+. Tapi fries lagi mahal dari ayam, RM4+. Apsal entah tattau plak.After referring to the map, we had some idea where we were.
The Boyfriend already been there in November 2004 so things were quite easier.We walked towards Kuta tapi tetiba there was this short but heavy shower. Since we were with the SLRs and videocam, and it was almost 12 midnight, dan kami adalah anak-anak yang mendengar kata, kami menjauhkan diri dari kelab kelab malam yang ‘laghaa’ and headed back to the hotel.Before that we stopped at this convenient shop and
the Boyfriend bought a new Wall’s ice-cream - Moo.
Moooo~
Yummy nyum nyumTak penah jumpa kat Malaysia tapi 3-4 hari lepas kitorang balik KL aiskrim tu baru masuk Malaysian market. Nyeh.
Phyruzze suggested for tomorrow’s activity that we ’survey tempat’ first. Pastu, wished each other new year and sleeeeeep.
Day 2
Woke up early. 9am dah breakfast. Kitorang panggil breakfast babi, not that we consumed them but they had pork in their selections. ‘Telur nya mau diletak babi pak?’ They all looked like malays but most of them are hindus.
Yummy?
10am we started walking towards Kuta. ‘Survey tempat’ turned into ‘aktiviti merompak’. We stopped at almost every shop. Especially those boutiques yang ada nama Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong. Selang 4-5 kedai jer ader lagi. Merompak macam haram tak ingat. Hard Rock store pun best. Barang-barang dia after convert, lagi murah dari KL. Pastu barang-barang rompakan pun tak letak dalam paper bags tapi diorang bagi bag yang made from cloth tu. Sangat la best.Cuma frust sikit because I was looking for Stussy stuff, but diorangnyer saiz ‘S’ is ‘L’ for me.Lunch at McD Kuta, facing the beach. More varieties than Malaysia. Ada tempat ‘parking’ surfboard. Jakun cam aper je aku nih.Sambung merompak dan merompak lagi. And we found a DVD shop. Rompak DVD plak. 10,000 rupiah each. That equals to RM3.80!
Buy 5 free 1.
Buy 10 free 3.
Buy 20 free 7.
Pastu tak ingat lagi dah.They have more varieties (isk tolong la baper kali dah aku sebut ‘more varieties’ nih?) of DVD boxsets. I Love Lucy, Dawson Creek, Nanny, ER, Chicago Hope, FRIENDS, Apprentice, SATC, The L Word (ehem!), Desperate Housewives, and segala artist mak nenek nyer concert.
Sambung merompak lagi. This time at Legian Street. By this time kaki pun dah sakit. Jalan pun dah kengkang. Shopping bag pun dah makin banyak. Thankfully I wore flip-flop but not others. So diorang pun ‘rompak’ la flip-flop Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy and Mooks sorang sepasang. I should’ve wore the walking shoes lah, so takde la rasa guilty sangat beli flip-flop walopun dah ada flip-flop. Tapi
the Boyfriend gave me this Mooks and most importantly pink Mooks shopping bag. Ngeeee..By the way, at this point, two out of five of us dah bankrupt. And they were not me and
Mysara. Lelaki shopping sampai bankrupt eh? Camner tu. Went to money changer. Tukar duit, had dinner at A&W, then sambung merompak lagi. Memang tak serik.
It was 10.30pm and the shops were almost closed. On our way back to the hotel, found an all 50% off Billabong shop which was still opened untuk dirompak. Back at the hotel, freshen-up and then ‘eksyen’ dengan hasil rompakan masing-masing. 11 freaking hours of shopping. Hohoho.Sangat puas hati. Ada yang sedih pasal duit dah tinggal sikit, tapi apakan daya, jangan susah hati, esok pergi la tukar duit lagi.Haha.Letak kepala kat bantal terus tertido.
Day 3
Woke up around 10. Breakfast babi lagi. Called a driver to bring us around for sight-seeing. While waiting for the driver to come, we went to ermm, well.. merompak again. Started to buy souviners for everyone at home. Dah puas hati beli barang sendiri, baru nak beli barang kat orang lain. Boleh?
Went for 2 hour drive towards Mount Kintamani, gunung berapi yang masih berasap. But it was very high and the fog was thick. Didn’t see much of the peak. Then went to see sawah padi bertingkat. Then off to Pasar Ubud for ermm.. merompak. This time for art and craft stuff. The place was quite stuffy. But they have lots of things and if you can bargain, you’ll get a good price.
We had a problem to communicate and discuss among us on the price in front of the seller. Kalau cakap melayu ke english ke memang diorang faham. So what we did, we spoke the F languange. Kafalaufau kofo pahahamfam afapafa afakufu cafakafap nifi, mefemangfang tefererfer.
Paham?
Then we went to Pasar Sukawati, about half an hour from Pasar Ubud. It was more stuffier and hotter there. But on the other hand, things were getting more cheaper. Tapi me and Mysara were sneezing like hell macam nak tercabut hidung.
It was like the whole community are doing arts and crafts for living. Even during the trip towards Mount Kintamani and the ‘Pasars’, the roadsides were filled with endless craft shops and workshops. I bought more souviners for the ones at home. Hehe. I hope that makes me sound like an angel. Dah habis millions rupiah for own stuff, baru pikir orang lain. Kejis habis lahs.
After that, we went for seafood dinner (our one and only non-fast-food) at Jimbaran beach. The tables were placed on the sand facing the beach. I swear I saw the biggest wave of my life, dalam TV tak kira la. Sangat la besar.
Lepas dah kenyang, around 10, went back to hotel, count the damage, played UNO then sleep.
Day 4
It was raining the whole morning till noon. Woke up late, penat tak hilang 3 hari berjalan non-stop. I didn’t go to breakfast babi. Had brunch later with the Boyfriend at the hotel cafe, while the others went skinny dipping at the pool.
Our hotel.
Right after the rain stopped, and since we found merompak was far more interesting than sight-seeing, we changed more cash so we can continue merompak :(Now I know why my parents kept reminding me to bring extra bag but be cafeful NOT TO OVERSPENT. Agaknya mak aku pun overspent kot dulu? Hehe.We went shopping around Kuta for another round, and since stuff at the Hard Rock store is cheap, we went there again. Somebody slap me please.
Then we had dinner at Pizza Hut Kuta Beach. Pizza Hut kat Malaysia tak berapa layan. Tapi kat sana layan giler, and I would like to repeat it again, ‘more varieties’. And most importantly, cheaper from Malaysia. Starters and pastas sangat la layan. And as
Mysara said, they have drinks yang boleh membuatkan anda rasa menggelitik! Hiks! Memang menggelitik habis, sampai
Phyruzze punya gelas menggelitik di atas meja, air tumpah lalu menitik di bawah meja. Hahahahha.
Menggelitik!
I ordered a pasta ‘yang boleh membuatkan lidah anda bergoyang!’. Waddduh! Kencang ya pak!
Bergoyang ah!
It was 10pm, on our way back to the hotel, we passed more shops and we had no choice but to merompak more :(And I bought more DVDs
Rows of DVDs
The last victim was that all 50% off Billabong boutique near our hotel. Again.Went back to hotel, started packing. Tomorrow we’re going home
Uwaaaaa.
Day 5
Woke up around 10.30am. Sempat gak bangun for our final breakfast babi. 12.30pm, checked-out. Left our bags and extra bags and boxes at the reception counter. Yeah you can guess what we did next. MEROMPAK. This is the final one, I promise.First stop, the all 50% off Billabong boutique. Isk. Memang kena jampi agaknya kedai nih.
The all 50% off Billabong shop.
Then merompak more DVDs. Then to Plaza Kartika and bought more souviners.
By this time we were trying to finish up our rupiah. Bawak balik pun tak guna. Lagipun aku tak pernah lagi jumpa orang Indon mintak sedekah. Asyik² orang Malaysia jer. Berangan jadi buta tapi pegang shooter cane pun tak tahu.
Okay la back to our story. Around 5pm, we chartered a van, picked up our stuff in hotel and headed to the airport. Balik tu semua senyap je. Bankrupt ke penat ke sedih ke I also don’t have any idea
Those are our bags, including the boxes.
Sampai airport, check-in counter tak bukak lagi. Sat down with our bags and boxes and played UNO. By the way, kalau korang nak tau, kitorang punya barang OVERLOAD 9kg. Hehe, hampeh. But it was free. Passengers pun acquired about half of the seats anyway.The journey home was short. The plane took off, I slept, I woke up, I ate, then dah sampai KLIA around 11pm. Kastam pulak tak tahan. Fuhhh. Nasib baik
Selamat DVD aku.That’s about it la kot. Respect la if you understand what was I yapping. But some of not-so-important notes:
- They are very religious, they believe in God and give offerings everyday.
- The roads are narrow, but I didn’t see anyone driving wrecklessly over there. Sangat berhemah la compare ngan u ols.
- Some of the people selling handicrafts (on foot) could be quite annoying.
- I want their fastfoods restaurants here!All in all, WE HAD FUN! FUN! FUN!
Happy faces.
I have more pictures coming up. Sabar ya pak! Note: Comment link is at the top.
Hello 2006 and everyone.
I’ve been missing for the passed 2 months. Work tied both of my hands, and I’m talking about going back 8pm onwards everyday.
Right after the heavy workload was over, me, the Boyfriend, Mysara, Phyruzze and far1z treated ourselves with a ‘lavish’ new year vacation in Bali. Lavish - where else can you walk around having millions bucks in your wallet? Bali was a blast. It was suppose to be a photography trip (kunuunnn) but it turns out to be a shopping trip. You should see how the boys shopped, memang kalah le aku ngan Mysara.
I’m gonna provide the details and of course the pictures when we were in Bali in later postings. As for now, this is just an introductory entry for a brand new blog. I’ve moved from b2 to wordpress, if I missed your link on the right column, please tell me so. I have no idea how to link to the archive, but will work on that very very soon.
Since the work will be greatly reduced by January 2006, I hope to blog more, read more (blogs and books), and love more.
Cheers.
Depart: Kuala Lumpur, Arrive: Denpasar. woohoo! *belly dancing*Â Â
Me and Mysara in front of Bali Hard Rock Hotel.
