Personal touch

I used to work in a family bank in Sibu.It was the oldest in Sarawak, well known among the Hokkien peoples because the founder was a Hokkien.And eighty years ago, many Hokkiens and Teochews" owned the shophouses in Sibu town.These china born men traveled by ships through rough sea,finally set foot on Sibu, Sarawak.They were humble sole proprietors,mainly engaged in groceries trading,imports of china goods, textiles,hardware, and coffee shops(otherwise known as kopi tiam). Nevertheless,proud of their hard fought achievements ,they were known as "taukays" or "taulows".Comparatively, there were fewer Foochows business men then, most of them were farmers or rubber tappers living in the "san pa"(meaning village in Foochow )
As majority of the bank customers and staffs were Hokkiens,naturally,almost everybody spoke in Hokkien dialect, even during our loan committee meetings.I am blessed to be able to speak Hokkien fairly fluently as I grew up in Mukah, and that was the common dialect that most peoples used in town as well.Thus,when I joined the bank, I fitted in very well, as most of the staffs were friendly, with the exception of a few.
I remembered seeing the customers pouring in ,everyone knew exactly where they were heading, but there were no queuing system.Somehow, there was never any argument on who was being served first, which was amazing.Then , I realized there were mutual understandings between customers and bank staffs.So, there was no need to fight for whom to be serve first, because some customers would not wait at all.They just quietly slipped their cheques and application forms to the staffs, and swiftly left the bank ,only to collect their documents later, usually taking their sweet time.Sometimes, it was late in the afternoon, when the bank nearly closed shop, at 5pm.I was with remittance department at that time, I noticed that the application forms were left blank, only the cheques weren't.And the staffs knew exactly what they wanted, they would readily and automatically filled up the details and prepared the bankdrafts or mail transfers or telex telegrams for the customers.Indeed, it was so personal that they even knew which customers were special, that certain charges had to be waived.For new staffs this was a "landmine" area, because if they were not careful, they could step on it and got themselves bombarded either by the customers or our big boss.Our customers were pampered to such an extent that they could walked right up to our boss's room and filed in their complaints in person.Now, this was the testing time for the new staffs, they had to be observant and studied their customers background well.If in doubt, asked the senior staffs, they were not under any obligation to tell you every thing.Besides, they were so busy sometimes they stood up and typed!
And we had customers who thought that the bank was their second home.When they came to collect their documents or drafts, they would stretched out their hands and grabbed any pen,then briskly started to write on their envelopes.Next, searched around for glue, and almost without failing, they could found it and happily sealed up the envelope before the last touch of pasted the stamps on .Sometimes, they would look for staplers and paper clips too.One day, one of the clerk was so impressed by their manner that she asked, "Do you want us to post it for you?" No offense, of course.No joke no fun.One of the customer happened to be a self made millionaire.So humble in his look that one would thought he was a poor hawker,(judging by his worn out shirt and trouser), and true enough he started his business as a hawker.The lesson? looks can be deceiving.
Our bank premise had a few doors, though closed and sometimes not, were easily accessible by outsiders.I must say, security, zero.One day, I was engrossed in my work , but somehow, I sensed that there was a presence of a being . When I turned around,my customer was standing behind me, almost breathing down my neck.Goodness! I nearly jumped up form my seat.But how could I lost temper when he said he needed my help? And don't forget the golden rule : "customers are always right."
The trust between customers and cashiers were just unbelievable.Can you imagine a customer passing a black plastic bag to a cashier,mumbling something and hurriedly walked away? It was actually bundles of XXXXX cash , wrapped in old newspapers,handed to the cashier in good faith. And our good old cashiers would never dare to refuse to accept .Golden rule number 2: Service above all.Again, there was a mutual trust here, the customers left without waiting for the cashiers to count, and the cashiers took their words for the correct amount.During my 17 years banking life, I had only seen once or twice miscalculations.Otherwise, all went pretty well.
Donkey years ago, Bank Negara auditors seldom called at our bank .Later, the audit became a yearly event.There was once this "rude"comment made by the Bank Negara chief auditor." Your Bank is a kampung bank, but solid as a rock."No insult here, take it as a compliment.
Whatever it was, the bank was once a very solid bank in Sarawak.And I must say,the personal touch that the bank staffs could furnish, none others could compare.

Working in the Bank

When I walked into the Bank, I could sense that many eyes were following me around. That made me totally uneasy, but I could not run away, could I?It was my first day at work.
I looked around the premise,the building was really old, it was situated at Bank road, near to the Chinese Tua Pek Gong temple, which must had been at least one hundred years old.Our Bank premise was in fact a block of 4 and half stories shop house, it was in the middle of a row of coffee shops,hardware shop and grocery shops, typical type of china men building. The office furniture and fittings matched the building perfectly well, not surprisingly.I could remembered vividly some of the chairs were really ancient, brown in color, round seats,nevertheless quite comfortable to sit on.(Many years later, I saw the same type of chairs in the museum of Singapore) We did not grumble about the old looking office furniture,but initially I did feel a bit difficult to adapt in this run down environment. As I just came back from London, England was still fresh in my mind.We were using computers in the College ,but back home in Sibu,even banks were using manual and electrical typewriters only.Computer was not even heard of. Undoubtedly,we were many years behind the Western world .But life went on, and everyone was quite happy because we were rather complacent.
Every now and then, we would hear the pin point typewriters and manual typewriters clinging forward and back again.Our business was good,as this was the oldest bank in Sarawak. Quite often, the clerks just stood up and flashed their fingers over the typewriters, busy preparing bankdrafts while attending the customers at the same time.They were efficient workers I must say,as I was the remittances and loan office then.Junior officer, to be exact. I was given a probation period of 6 months, then, the management would confirm whether they would take me in as a class 3 officer.Luckily I was confirmed after 6 months and not longer,some officers were confirmed only after one year, which meant that they had to bear with low pay for 6 more months.
There were a lot of senior clerks at that time, most of them were form 5 school leavers.Many of them were proud of themselves,because to be able to secure a job in the bank was like striking a golden rice bowl,at least, it was, at that time.When I joined the Bank they were at least 10 or 15 years my senior, in term of age and experience.May be it was only natural that they were apprehensive towards us, their officers, whom in their eyes were "green and hopelessly useless", since they were far better than us in hands on experience .One day, while I was typing the telex message, one lady clerk was talking bad about us.She purposely raised her voice so that we could hear her remark.It went like this: "those peoples hold higher positions because they had "pan sai chua", (In Hokkien it means toilet paper).All the new graduate officers heard the remark, but none dare to stand up for ourselves.We were insulted but we had to keep low because their "gang" was powerful.At that time three words floated in my mind, humiliation and office politics.
However, I am glad that I had survived all those criticisms and sometimes unkindly gossips.It makes me see the different faces of peoples and learn to be more patient and forgiving.

Facebook

I started to sign up with facebook when my son Adrain impressed on me that it is something new and is gaining tremendous popularity among the undergraduates in his Uni.Now, this popularity has spilled over to all levels of peoples, even kids are using it.
However, I still have some reservations to reveal too much of myself.It makes me feel like "very exposed" and fear of certain degree of being invaded if some strangers suddenly popped up and wanted to become my friends.The uncharted territory gives me creeps.Perhaps I have been reading too much of negative stories about "strangers" who can prove to be malicious and deadly sometimes.
But, I must say it is fun when other known friends join in and chat about the same topics.It makes the world so much closer and smaller.My heart just warm up whenever I see that someone is sending me a message.It is good to have friends and be remembered as one.Thanks to the wonder of science and technology.

贪污

最近看报纸，每天都有陈水扁的新闻。一个堂堂的前总统，落到如此落魄卑贱的地步，真的可悲又可惜。常言道，‘’权利带来腐败‘’，而贪污是很多从政者的最爱，虽然他们都知道犯罪的下场是可怕的，除了身败名裂还要赔上宝贵的黄金岁月。所以就是拥有数不尽的黑钱，到底还是见不得光,身在监牢，能想不能用。猜想，阿扁一定恨死那些揭发他的人，这可也是报应吧！
最让我痛心的是阿扁自称是个基督徒，不懂得反省，认罪悔改，反要怪罪于别人，包括他老婆在内。这认我想到了在伊甸园里，亚当跟上帝说,"你所赐给我，和我在一起的那女人，她把树上的果子给我吃，我就吃了。“ 换句话说，都是夏娃惹的祸，他，亚当，只是听老婆的话而已。同样的，阿扁是台湾当年的杰出律师，照理，智商一定比老婆高，但他却知法犯法，不肯认罪，一再狡辩，真是令人反感之极。倒是吴淑珍，虽然是个非常贪心的女人，最终知道大势已去，干脆认罪算了。两者比起来，阿扁真的显得太愚蠢了。据报导，他每天还费尽心思，想尽办法，研究如何上诉，难道他还会咸鱼翻生？
很多人认为，阿扁如果是在大马就不会落到这么悲惨的地步，因为贪污的政治家在这里比比皆是，阿扁洗黑钱算不了什么，他应该可以消遥法外，只是他命不好而已。贪污已经成了我们社会的风气。肃贪局的表现差强人意，能将犯罪者绳之以法的寥寥无几，虽然前首相曾经定下要消除贪污的宏愿，但没有具体的规划和高效率的推动，宏愿变成了政治口号，贪污依然是社会上的沉重包袱。
我曾经在银行担任过分行经理，每逢华人新年，有些客户就会包红包或送贺年卡（当然里面是钱）给我，我都一一退回。我总觉得，这不是我所应该得到的，因为，为客户服务是我的工作。工资老板已经付给我了，再向外人拿额外的，就是贪心，也就是接受贿赂。那我岂非成了贪污者？ 以后我怎么向上帝交账？
圣经里十诫里的最后一诫里就是吩咐世人不可贪心。（出埃及二十章十七节）
我想陈水扁一定没有好好读圣经。希望他在狱中多研读上帝的宝贵话语，多多思考十诫，和十字架的真义。当他看到上帝的圣洁和公义时，他一定也要俯伏在上帝面前说，”主啊，求你怜悯我。“

老来多病

每天致电给妈妈是我的惯例。因为我总觉得妈妈会想念孩子，让她知道我很好会使她少点牵挂，甚至多了份期待。不敢说自己是个孝顺的女儿，只是因为自己是孩子的妈妈，所以能体会妈妈的感受，妈妈对孩子的思念。
妈的身体本来是蛮壮的，生了八个孩子，任怨任劳。是个典型的贤妻良母。在我印象中，妈妈好像很少生病，就是很常吃止痛药，因为偏头痛是她的惯病，所以我们也不以为然。当我在读大学时，偏头痛也找上了我，从此我才知道什么是遗传。
有一天，当我跟妈妈谈话时，突然发觉她口齿不清，答非所问，而且双腿无力，头痛欲裂。我告诉大哥妈似乎有中风的现象，要赶快看医生。果然，医生诊断和我的猜测吻合，她的血压偏高，身体太瘦弱，又加上失眠，随时都有可能中风，所以必需服食血压和心脏的药，另外加安眠药，让她好好休息。但接下来的日子，她却真的病倒了。大哥抱着她瘦小又虚弱的身子，喂她食物时汤汁却从她嘴角旁流出来，她已经不能好好进食。大哥和二哥对我说，他们同时都想起了小时妈喂养他们，而现在她似乎是风中残烛。亲爱的妈妈，抱在怀里，只感觉到生命的溜失，脾气向来屈强的大哥不忍再多望着妈妈，怕他自己会心酸掉泪。二哥平时总爱跟妈妈说笑，竟也心事重重，沉默了起来。大嫂忍着脚痛，全时间照顾妈妈。我们这些远在外地的孩子们，不能尽孝，幸亏有哥嫂们在家乡照料年老体弱的父母亲。
当时，我家里亲人到访，又没有女佣帮忙，所以走不开，虽然我已是归心似箭，牵挂着妈妈的病情和安危。除了祷告，只有祷告。一星期后，客人才离开。第二天，我就搭凌晨五点的巴士赶回木加。等待中，时间过得特别慢，巴士翻山越岭，跑了四个钟头才到家。带着沉重的心情，走进妈的卧房。她弯曲着身子躺在床上。疲累和病痛的折磨尽刻画在她苍白的脸上。她瘦小的身躯只有三十多公斤，轻得我都能够抱得起来。我只觉得一阵心酸。
“妈！”，我轻轻叫了声，她张开眼，眼神里闪过一丝熟悉和喜悦。但她叫的却是姐的名字。眼泪在我眼眶里打转。我知道她是在叫我，她认得我，只是叫错名字了。妈的记忆怎么会差到这样？她真的是老了。一种无助感突然紧紧捉着我，让我的心隐隐作痛。
大嫂是个非常孝顺的媳妇，每天燉参汤给妈妈喝。虽然妈的味口不好，但孩子们哄着，连印尼女佣也为她打气，她就一口，两口的吃下去了。第一天，我们都待在睡房里，看着她入睡，她是很累了，爸爸病了五年，她所承担的终于必需放下。她睡得很沉，似乎很安心的休息。感谢主，爸爸在妈妈生病期间，竟然还好。不然谁能在晚上照顾他呢？
第二天，她能在房间里走动，我们扶她到楼下进食，她吃得比前天多，可能因为比较热闹，她的曾孙围着她，一家大小又说又笑，她也被感染了那份喜乐，心情大好，脸上也焕发出燦烂的笑容。我们心想，妈应该没事了。
第三天，我对妈说，到楼下走走，空气比较好，作些脚步运动对身体有益。妈是个很有自律也爱保健的人，顺着我们的建议，她多四处走动，多谈天，精神了起来。有时候会疲倦，就躺下休息。然后很感叹的说，“我以前是打天下的，怎么现在会变成这样？听妈的“大姐大”的语气，我猜测她很快会恢复健康了。晚上，我祈求上帝医治妈妈，赐她有足够的体力。明天，可以的话，带她去咖啡店吃早餐。
果然，她能够跟我们一起去享用早餐，而且味口还不错。之后大哥还载我们去兜风。爸爸看到妈妈渐渐好起来，心里也轻松多了。我们真的很感恩。爸一生爱上帝，所以我真的看到了，耶和华不曾留下一样好处，不给行为正直和敬畏他的人。当天晚上，我们一家人去饭店吃平安宴，父母吃得开心，我们看着高兴。只是想起明天又得离开父母，回夫家了，心里又惆怅了起来。
剪不断，理还乱，是离愁？
挥别双亲的那一刻，是不舍和无奈。珍重了，爸，妈。愿上帝赐福于你们。

端午节

端午节总是认我想起粽子。屈原似乎离我们那么远，赛龙舟在这儿也不常有。不信问任何一个人，端午节是什么节日？大多数的人会回答：“吃棕子。”记念谁？他们才会说：“屈原。”一个有伟大爱国情操的从政者，却因太过悲观，投江自杀，为自己的生命划上句号，让后人深深为他感叹！
在诗巫，每一天都可以在食摊买到粽子，肉粽，花生粽，红豆砂粽，白粽，林林种种，任我们选择。但随着物价高涨，以前一粒花生粽只卖五毛钱，现在非要一零吉不可。所以，就有了要学包粽子的冲动。一天，买了糯米，花生，猪肉，粽叶，还有咸草。特地请嫂嫂来教我。糯米的料我早就预备好了，用蒜头加油爆香，连米一起炒，加酱油，真是香味朴鼻而来。嫂嫂是个包粽专家，一公斤的米，三两下就包完了。我却是手忙脚乱，折腾了半小时才裹了十粒可怜兮兮的小棕子。还好老妈没在场，不然面子都给我丢光了，她可是包粽高手，而我，不只笨手笨脚，怎么会有如此丑陋的创作？真恨不得把不成形的粽子悄悄藏起来，还好嫂嫂一直安慰我，让我重拾信心。等了两个钟头，心里竟紧张起来。当我打开热騰腾的肉粽，品尝着一口又一口美味的粽子时，那股成就感，真让我感动！我的粽子虽然很丑，但很好吃。
第二次，信心满满，又有了想尝试的念头。这次不敢劳烦嫂嫂，就自己动手吧。当时心里就有点发毛的感觉，望着一大盆炒好的米，却不知从何下手。漫漫然，只好硬着头皮，以蜗牛般的速度埋头苦干。包了几粒已满头大汗，看着一根根断咸草，真的很泄气。粽叶在我手里特别容易破，米粒故意跟我作对，时不时就从粽角溜出来，害我又得重包过，重复了几遍，粽叶怎么会不破？我心想，考大学的税务考卷都比包粽子容易。天！我好后悔。终于，我也不知道我是怎么包完那几十粒的粽子。把它们统统放进大锅里煮的时候，我明白了什么叫“收拾残局”。
等了两个小时，该会熟了吧。小心翼翼的翻开锅盖，水气迎面扑来，不是我眼花吧？我看到的是整锅的肉粥，加上片片粽叶，随着翻滚的粥，翩翩起舞。我的天！还好只有老公知道我学包粽子，他从不取笑我的。这次没跟嫂嫂提起，可以省了向她报告”令我难堪的成绩“。不然她一定很失望，名师却出了一位不成器的徒弟。
现在想起来还是不服气。煮饭作蛋糕料理家务是我习以为常之事，念书时大学的学分也修得不错，打工时曾经还是经理级人物。怎么就被这雕虫小技难倒？虽然说上帝给人不一样的恩赐，但圣经也告诉我们,“我靠着那加给我力量的，凡事都能作。”我会再接再励，请祝我成功。

小病是福

前阵子，应该有三个星期了吧？外子去中国，我得替他打点店里的一切，整天待在店里，午餐马马虎虎，似乎是为了生存而吃。当时口腔就已经开始溃烂，喉咙痒痒的，有时咳了几声，感觉舒服点，但胸口总是很郁闷，有点喘不过气的感觉。晚上咳得更凶，睡不好，精神也差。但我可不以为意，小病嘛，不值一提，何必让家人担心。
接下来的三天，药也服了，不只病情没有好转，伤风也来报到，鼻子里真象有虫在开派对。第五天早上，头痛欲裂，整身热滚滚的，又咳嗽，又打喷涕，泪眼汪汪，非常难受。开了店，只好让员工去打理，自己跑回家，躺在床上，懒散的骨头，迷迷糊糊的脑子，多么想不用爬起来。无奈工人的下班时间到了，拖着沉重的身躯，轻浮的脑子，驾车的似乎不是我。撑到工人回来，我迫不及待的又赶回家休息。待到关店时才又逼不得已的带着散慢的脚步。。。
外子当晚的斑机是八点半抵达，就只有让家公去接机了。当我躺在床上时，我有个预感，我是真的生病了，而且至少会病几天，但我终于可以好好休息了。突然，我想起前一天曾经跟小儿子说，”伟，妈咪快要生病了，就等你爸爸回来。“想不到吧？有时候我的预言是很灵的。那是星期六，五月二号。
第二天是礼拜天，起不了身，崇拜是免谈了，主日学只有请假了。躺在床上，喉咙像发火似的，身上热腾腾的感觉，喝了一杯又一杯的水，开了冷气，还是又渴又热。但咳嗽却显著的减少。心中存着感恩，若每一天能减少一样病痛，几天后，又是生龙活虎了。
星期一，伤风也不见了。虽然还是发着烧，但是喉咙没有火辣辣的感觉。只是，身体和骨头开始疼痛，连转动身子都难，一想到上厕所，心里负担就来了。不上厕所又不行，不是说生病要多喝水吗？那几天，拖着疼痛的身子，拉着酸硬的脚步，我突然明白了，老年人为什么总是用脚板拖地而走，原来他们的脚没有力气，提不起来。我竟然也衰弱到这样子！
当天晚上，我们“门徒”的弟兄姐妹本来在“知音老地方”有联系会，因卧病在床，不能出席。想着不能和这群可爱的朋友相聚，不禁有点遗憾。我们在一起，总是一片欢笑声，有时好像屋顶会塌下来似的。
星期二，烧完全退了，但身子痛得好像体无完肤。我跟外子说，“我得看医生了。”外子开始担心，因为我是很逞强很耐痛的人，竟然自愿看医生？他答应下午带我去，早上有事走不开。躺在床上，我唯一能作的只有向上帝祷告，并向他感恩，因为我只剩下身体痛，其他病症都好了。只是病了这么多天，大肠未畅通，大概吃太少的缘故吧。我想如果有萍果吃就好了！但不想麻烦别人，还是算了。
下午，外子回来吃午餐，先来看我，问我要吃水果吗？“你的朋友送了很多水果给你，有萍果，橙子。。。。”我跟他说，太好了，我本来就是想吃萍果，想不到上帝这么爱我，藉爱珠姐送来我心所想的。这决不是偶然的。吃着萍果，心里甜丝丝的。
结果，也不用看医生了，身体的疼痛已经减轻一半，再多休息几天，应该没事。果然，星期四我可以上班了，虽然会有点头晕，噁心，力不从心的感觉。每个清晨，灵修之前，我都喝一瓶鸡精，另加一杯营养餐。外子说我像是縮水了，让我心里不禁沾沾自喜，看来减肥成功了，但是有点元气伤损，所以还得好好调理身体才是。
差不多有一个星期没跟在英国的小儿子谈话，还有大儿子克俊和二儿子克彦也因为学业忙没和我联络。当他们知道我的近况时，问我为什么没有人告诉他们？我不想让所有的人担心，没有这个必要，反正有上帝看顾我。说真的，我曾经猜测是否患上A型流感，但并不害怕，是因为上帝把平安放在我心里。
在病痛的时候，其实有太多要感恩的。家人的爱心，朋友的问候和关心及带代祷。上帝的带领和医治，甚至还以一篮礼物来肯定他对我的爱，不然有谁知道我想吃的是什么？
小病是福，就像约伯说的，从前我风闻有你，现在我经历到你。感谢你，我的上帝。你真是耶和华以勒！