panda baby boom
!
remind me of my time in kindergarten when we all have milk before nap time.
oh, and true to my prediction, the stupid uncle called at 8 freakin’ A.M!
so i was merely moaning and groaning on the phone when he started repeating himself stupidly over and over again, "are you sel ? are you sel? i am your uncle? i am your uncle? from jkt, indo? are you still sleeping? are you still sleeping?"
cut the yelling will you, you’re already disturbing my much-needed sleep.
unfortunately my phone doesn’t have call-barring mode.
fuck.
if you’ve read desai’s "inheritance of loss" you’d probably remember the part where the cook’s son – who’s working in NYC as illegal part-timer – lamented about relatives who kept bugging him and his father in india for help. of course it’s sort of inevitable: people heard the news about the cook’s son and assumed he got to "live the life" in america, the land of freedom. so they all wanted to be elevated to the same status and asked him for favor, even if the only bond that joined them was nothing more than being the milkman’s customers.
it’s all the same everywhere. people see success or perceive a glimpse of success and they all run towards that fella wanting to get a piece of it.
the fact that the cook kept on flaunting his son in front of everyone doesn’t help either.
i know my parents don’t really flaunt. but come on, let’s admit it. imagine a gathering and the inevitable question will come up: "so, what does your kids do?"
it’s not hard to come up with an image where my mom proudly replies, "oh. my son has a computer store in yogya, one of my daughters is a doctor in singapore, and my other daughter got a scholarship to study in the US."
i can imagine her swelling pride as people complimented her on her obvious success as a mother. plus, i don’t come from a rich family and my family history has a somewhat tainted glow to it. so i bet they relish every moment of this imagined conversation.
luckily most of our family friends are either (a) too rich to need such scholarship or (b) too intelllectually-challenged to even think they can get the scholarship. (toldcha i’m mean), so i never have problems with relatives asking for favor. (or worse still, relatives asking me to talk to the admission officer ).
this is my first time having to deal with one ambitious relative.
you guys must be thinking, "aiyo… what’s so hard about giving this dude a piece of advice. why are you so selfish and petty?"
let me give you some background story:
1. they "BARGED IN" into my cocktail party, the time when i had my interview.
god knows how they knew about it (ok, my big-mouthed mom told them) and they plopped themselves there and sulked when i didn’t entertain them.
hellooooo… i was there for a goal, okay. i didn’t put on my tight dress and wear my high heels for nothing. i had to talk to other people, socialize with admission officers, where got time for you????
2. they called my mom every other day after that party to ask her how to up the boy’s IQ test. (note: for asean scholarship, you have a screening test, which consists of iq, math & science, and english).
and this is the one with three pictures and you figure out which one is the odd one out. or which one comes after these three pictures.
totally laughable. and btw, he didn’t get the scholarship.
3. he reeks too much of ambitious parents. i don’t recall ever talking to my cousin at all. it’s always his dad who says how good he is, how smart he is, how talented he is.. yada yada yada… and hey, it’s the dad again who called me this morning.
ahem.. hello.. even if you think it’s awkward to call your own cousin – granted she’s the one you’ve never bloody spoken to because you’re too fucking awkward!! – there’s such thing as email.
why must everything be done by the dad huh?
either you’re freakishly introverted you can’t communicate to people, or you want to pressure me by using the "uncle" authority figure, or it’s just the dad who’s fucking ambitious.
i think it’s the latter.
so, as long as i remain in contact only with the father and not the son, i am NOT going to lend a help. not just because i’m mean, but it’s also a matter of principle.
nobody ever told me how to get this scholarship. i found it on my own when i was in sec3 and i worked towards it for at least half of my entire JC career. i didn’t ask anyone about the interview (mainly because the last indo RJ scholars had graduated from wes long time ago) and i had to field tough questions like "prove to us that you’re still indonesian, after spending five yrs in spore" on my own.
i am fucking full of pride and i know that’s bad, because i tend to rely on my own resources, when i could’ve asked for help. (i’m working on it, though) so i’m not expecting others to act like me.
i fully understand the use of social networking and how important it is in life.
thing is: i’ve had my juniors, those i never talked to for years, emailed me to ask for advice, and i’m happy to dispense them freely, because they have the initiatives.
this boy, does not have the initiative and simply depends on daddy. either that, or he actually doesn’t want the scholarship that bad.
either way, i don’t see why i need to help them.
i miss them.
ok. i’m just getting waaaaaay ahead of myself.
i’m freakin out
