Last night’s dinner was a fundraising event organized by the Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia organization. Held at the KL Chinese Assembly Hall, it was well attended by members of the legal fraternity as well as people who are aware of the importance of such movements like SABM in our bid to improve the country’s political (and racial) landscape. However, like many other dinners I’ve attended, I couldn’t help but notice a few things.
First, Malaysians are somehow built with an inherent time system known as the oft-quoted Malaysian time. Regardless of the time stated on the invitation card/ticket, Malaysians couldn’t care less. Yesterday’s function was slated to start at 7.30 p.m yet by the time I arrived around 7.10 p.m., the hall was barely filled. Even when the MC had announced that the event had to start given that the time was already 8.15 p.m. (and this was already a half an hour delay from the original programme) and the comedian Jit Murad was already on the stage for the night’s first performance, there was a stream of Malaysian guests casually strolling into the hall. One can call it as ‘fashionably late’ but in my book (and considering that the ticket specifically stated 7.30 p.m.), it is just plain rudeness. Let us be frank here. The later the programme starts, the later the dishes are served. And growling stomachs will not translate into a happy atmosphere.
Second, Malaysians’ inability to stick to the dress code. The question that begs to be asked is this. If Malaysians are not exactly known to follow the dress code, why bother putting on a dress code in the first place? The dress code for SABM’s dinner was ‘Malaysiana (the cultural diversity)’ but judging from most who were present, it was as if the guests were trying to send a message i.e. Malaysians are really a ‘selekeh’ or sloppy, carefree lot. I had thought that when one talks about ‘Malaysiana’, it is to reflect the various races in this country of ours. So there would be many choices of wear to pick from. Ladies can opt for the baju kurung, kebaya, cheongsam or saree just to name a few. Guys would have a tougher time but then again, their ensemble couldn’t run far from the standard collared Batik shirts and pants. Unfortunately, many must have construed ‘Malaysiana’ as a casual mamak outing because most were wearing jeans, tees and one gentleman even came in shorts! I was too stunned by the sight of him that I couldn’t resist commenting to my neighbor that we must have gate-crashed a beach party instead. While we followed the dress code like guests are expected to, seeing these casually dressed guests did make me feel as if I’m over-dressed. And that should not happen because if everyone had come dressed in the same manner, thoughts of over-dressed or under-dressed will not arise. Perhaps I would get the drift if the next dinner comes with a dress code of ‘casual’ and I’ll easily come attired in my tattered Bermudas and faded tee.
Below are pictures with my colleagues -
Anyway, the theme of the night was to reflect the various discriminations, polarizations that exist in our country today despite the ruling party’s 1 Malaysia campaign. Whether it was coincidental or not, the dinner was also held on the same date as the Sarawak Elections. So it was inevitable that throughout the night, we would rejoice upon hearing that Kuching and other urban areas had been successfully taken by the Opposition or lamented upon receiving news that the rural folks continue to fall for BN’s election tricks and inducements. Sarawak Elections aside (and I don’t like to be reminded that the cries of Ngap Sayop have been silenced by the greater temptations of greed and stupidity), the dinner was generally an entertaining way to spend one’s Saturday night. As I’ve mentioned in this entry earlier, the first performance was by Jit Murad. Honestly, I’ve never had the opportunity to attend any of his shows. So yesterday was a sort of eye-opener to his style of comedy. While I did generally enjoy his quips and digs at certain personalities (who can resist the short, plump and evil look combination attack), I do find some of the contents were quite risqué and hardly age-appropriate considering there were young guests present. It may have been a thoroughly acceptable performance if the guests were all 21 and above. That is, unless parents are perfectly fine with their kids suddenly showing gestures and uttering words which would attract widened eyes and dropped jaws.
Jit Murad before the transformation
During the transformation as 'Renee'
The second performance was by the MyConstitution members. Having heard the song ‘My Constitution’ played on a friend’s car radio during a road trip to Malacca, I could recognize the song immediately. Yet, for most of my colleagues, the extremely loud singing and mediocre PA system resulted in them not being able to appreciate the lyrics. That was a pity because I found the lyrics to be very meaningful as it referred to many of the country’s darkest moments (Ops Lalang, Memali etc) which happened because Malaysians are just not brave enough to stop the M regime. Similarly, the PA system robbed me of enjoying the performance by Dr. Azmi Sharom (who happens to be my faculty’s Associate Professor) who was featured together with Streetsblues.
Dr. Azmi Sharom in his element
If not for the bunting behind us, this could be a picture of a Raya gathering
As it was already 10.30 p.m., I soon made my move along with three of my university friends who were seated at the MyConsti table. My friends attended the SABM dinner after I was informed by another friend that there were seats available for the aforesaid table. As the table was already paid for and there were no takers for the 5 remaining seats, that was why I had asked my friends to come along. Before the night progressed, I had dropped by the table to ensure that they had taken their seats. During this time, I introduced myself to the rest seated at the table. Apart from one lawyer whom I know quite well thanks to a matter which we had together and the Malay gentleman who had given me the tickets earlier, I remembered three other ladies seated across my friends. Once the ‘hi’ session has taken place, I moved back to my table.
Unknown to me, I had unwittingly subjected my friends to embarrassment and possibly humiliation. How I had found out was because one of my friends updated her facebook status as ‘Mode: Offended. Screw you!’. As the status was barely minutes after we had left the hall, I had the sinking feeling that it must have something to do with the dinner. I immediately wrote on her wall, asking what’s up with her status and hoping that it was not the dinner. She did not exactly reply yes or no but she did say that it had nothing to do with me. She had asked me to get the information from another friend. Sensing something was definitely wrong, I spent the night sms-ing to my other friend. It was then that I discovered what had happened.
Apparently, the three other ladies were being bitchy at the expense of my friends. They were talking among themselves (but unsurprisingly, at a volume loud enough which could only mean they wanted the conversation to be heard by all and sundry) and according to my friend, these ladies remarked that –
(a) my friends were at the wrong table;
(b) they don’t understand why my friends are seated at the MyConsti table when my friends do not know anything about the committee; and
(c) it’s incomprehensible why the committee is paying for my friends to be there.
I became raging mad at this point. Had I known this earlier or during the dinner itself, nothing would have stopped me from marching to that table and give them a piece of my mind. Obviously, my friends are not members of the committee and neither was I. But that fact was already known to the person who gave me the tickets and he didn’t have any problem with that. So who died and made these biatches the authority to b!tch about who gets to sit at the table?? What probably was not made known to these biatches could possibly be that –
(a) my friends are all practicing lawyers and in-house counsel. They are not some Tom, Dick or Harry who just happened to walk into the hall;
(b) the committee has already paid for the table. Regardless of who turned up for the night, the bill would still have been for 10 people. If my friends did not turn up or ffk-ed, there would be at the very least, wasted food for 3 guests; and
(c) most importantly, basic dinner etiquette and protocol dictate that while you may not like certain people who formed part of the table-of-ten, you would have to engage in some small talk in getting to know your neighbours before keeping silent for the rest of the night. Nowhere does it say that you get talk with your friends in a loud manner intending to humiliate the others. If you’re feeling discontented and want to air your grouses, nothing would stop you from bitching about it after the whole dinner was over and done with.
And since these three biatches could be presumed to be MyConsti members, let me state my point clearly. For any committee to work, you would always need new members. And new members are not just recruited through the organized recruitment drives. If these bloody biatches know how the game is played, every opportunity must be used to attract potential new members and not turning the potential interest off by displaying your lack of tact. It doesn’t matter if my friends and I are not part of the MyConsti committee. What matters is that we’re there and you have the opportunity to speak to us and persuade us why we can help the country by joining your committee! Instead, by being unnecessarily bitchy to my friends, any interest which I have in joining the committee is severely dampened by the thought that I have to work with these holier-than-thou biatches who look down on others just because they happened to be members. The last time I heard, MyConsti is a commendable initiative which strives to educate Malaysians about our Constitution. Somehow along the line, it must have transformed itself into some sort of clique where outsiders are not welcomed. That is a pity especially since we’re condemning the many forms of discrimination in Malaysia today, the very fact that my friends are humiliated during last night’s dinner because they don’t know anything about MyConsti drives home a point -NGAPA HARUS BEZA?
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