To Ah Fatt

Yey.. finally the last day of school before RAYA.
It is a good day today, I managed to get many things completed.  Not like yesterday.

Yesterday I got home at 4, after a long long meeting at school.  Tired and hungry ( I only got to eat a small plate of nasi lemak in between classes and nothing else until 9pm!).  Once at home, I carried the giant basket full of dirty laundry down the stairs, only to find that the door knob to my laundry room is jammed stuck.  Argghhh.. Why do things ALWAYS get broken at the wrong times (read: at times when Daddy is not home!!)?

The first thing I did was call my friend Ah Fatt, the locksmith.

Me:        Hello Ah Fatt. Ini Lily.

Ah Fatt: Hello, ciggu ah?  Ada apa hal?

Me:       Ah Fatt, boleh datang rumah saya? Itu lock pintu bilik saya rosak lah.. boleh repair?

Ah Fatt:  Aiiyaa ciggu.. sikalang ahh.. tatak sinang lorr.. aku ada kija luar Ipoh oo..

Me:       Ah Fatt ada kawan boleh rekemen datang repair?  Banyak susah la.. macam ni, saya tak boleh buka ini bilik..

Ah Fatt:  Aiyaa.. ciggu ahh.. lu pigi kedai hardware beli lock, suruh dia datang pasang lorr..

Me:       Ohh.. boleh ahh??

Ah Fatt:  Bolehhh.. ok ahh ciggu..

The second thing I did was start the Kembara engine and went out to search a hardware store, in a heavy stormy rain, mind you. (Honest.. I'm not trying to dramatize the situation!)

The hardware store owner was having drinks (Tiger beer on the table) with his friend. Both their faces were red from the drinking.  Their breath reeked. He showed me a a knob with horizontal handle. Not what I had in mind.  He asked me to follow him to the back to show me another "quality door knob".  I followed (really, what was I thinking?).  True to his words, the knob was quite pretty. Altogether he wanted to charge me RM 120.  Sounded reasonable - for a panicking husbandless lady with a basketful of dirty laundry at home.  But just to be sure, I need to get Daddy's OK first.

So the third thing I did was to call Daddy.

Me:        Hello bang, you otw oredi kan?

Daddy:  Yes.. dah sampai KL dah.. dalam 2-3 jam lagi sampailah. Why?

Me:       Pintu bilik laundry jam.. tak boleh bukak.. dah try banging.. lock dah rosak.

Daddy:  Laa.. call lah Ah Fatt.. suruh dia tukar lock tu!

Me:       Ly dah call dah.. Ah Fatt outstation, Ah Fatt suruh Ly gi cari sendiri kat hardware store.  Ni kat   hardware laa.. towkey ni nak charge RM120 untuk tukar satu lock.  Nak tanya abang lah ni.. ok tak? Should I let this guy do it?

Daddy:  Hmm.. Ah Fatt tak de?.. tunggu abang balik lah.  Kejap je lagi.

Me:      Oh.. ok then..

So when Daddy is finally home from his Terengganu stint, he tried unjamming the door with no luck.  By then it was already late and no sane hardware store owner would open his door, even to a desperate couple with a basketful of dirty laudry waiting to be processed.

Today, I finished my work at school precisely at 12 (TGIF).  And the first thing I did at home was.. call Ah Fatt of course!

Me:  Hello Ah Fatt.. hari ni ada senang?

Ah Fatt:  Ciggu ahh... aa.. ok ok ada sinang sikalang..

Me: Boleh datang repair pintu?

Ah Fatt: Boleh.. sikalang datang..

Me:  Ah Fatt.. tolong tukar lock itu main door oso lahh..

Ah Fatt: ok ok.. dua lock ahh..

Me: Thank you Ah Fatt.

In the end, Ah Fatt changed the lock to our laundry room and the main entrance door, for a mere RM100.  (I would have to fork out RM240 if I were to go with the HW store guy).  And the best part is Ah Fatt also fixed the little gate at the bottom of our stairs to hinder Ryan from walking up the stairs on his own - very much to Ryan's annoyance!

May Allah bless all the Ah Fatts of the world.  (and the world will be a much better place when there is Ah Fattisme in each and every one of us - reminding myself, especially).