3 Maids In 2 Years

We have had 3 maids in the past 2 years that we have been staying here in Palembang. It seems like the people here change jobs quite frequently despite the global economic crisis. Below are some interesting facts about the maids that we have had so far.

1st maid:

• 25 years old - supposedly have been working in Malaysia before for a couple of years.
• always had to go home during the weekend to attend to her sick mother.
• always sleeping in the bathroom (just woken up face everytime we see her coming out from the bathroom).
• 1/2 a day's work always take more than 1 day to finish.
• lousy cook.
• duration working for us: 1 year.

2nd maid:

• 17 years old - dropped out from school as family could not afford.
• we helped her go back to school to study on alternate day's afternoons.
• worked for us for 9 months.
• good in cooking and has the initiative to learn.
• got married to one of our complex's security guards within 2 weeks and never returned to work anymore - claiming husband and in-laws prohibited her from working after she got pregnant!

3rd and current maid:

• 17 years old - just got her in last week.
• sister works 2 houses away from us.
• so far so good, hopefully she will be able to last longer than the other 2 maids as she does not have any handphone access!

Cycling In Palembang

For the past few weeks my toddler always asked to go cycling in his tri-cycle outdoors. He used to cycle only in-doors in our limited living room area but since the day we brought him out to the field with his bike, he never wanted to cycle indoors any more.

This made it a bit difficult for us because in Palembang there are no bike paths. He had to cycle on the bumpy concrete block paved roads to this open area here in the photo to cycle properly.

He insisted to cycle on the road but under supervision. We had to carry his bike home sometimes when he gets tired and his bike also "overturned" one time when he rode too near to the side of the road (sandy part).

The design of his tri-cycle is also a bit weird. I think the position of the pedals obstructs the movement of his feet. Maybe it is the angle of the frame? I hate pushing him uphill on the road (too much of a backache for me because of my height - having to bend down like a prawn)!

Wished we had more gardens and bike tracks here in Palembang for little kids to ride their bikes.

Toddlers & Accidents

Perhaps when you first read the title of this post, you might be thinking of a post about accidents that could happen to toddlers?... well, it is not.



Since my kid started to watch "Thomas & Friends" the train series, he has learnt a lot about accidents because the stories often have lots of eventful things happening, including accidents. They even have a song called, "Accidents Can Happen"!

At first, he loved accidents because he thought it was part of life to have accidents (well, he was right in a certain sense anyway). After some explanations, he gradually understood that people do get hurt during accidents and everyone should try to prevent accidents from happening.



However, as a kid full of imagination he still likes to "create his own accident scenes" and gets his "friends" to come and save the victim. This photo shows you his story about a train that fell off a collapsed bridge.

So when I asked him, "Did anyone get hurt?" he just answered "no" and continued playing while singing his Accident song," Accidents happen, sometimes just like that". His made-belief accident scene will always come with stories containing the following words:

1. Crashed
2. Smashed
3. Tumbled
4. Collapsed
5. Bent
6. Surprised
7. Saved
8. Oh, No!
9. Help!
10. Cinders & Ashes! (I don't think I even know how to say that word when I was in primary school)
    

What Do You Do In A Fertilizer Factory?

Working in a fertilizer factory is a niche job. There are many types of fertilizer factories in the world. Mine in Palembang happens to be a chemical compound or NPK fertilizer factory.

Basically we blend the different raw materials such as Urea (Nitrogen source), Phosphate Rock (Phosphate source) & Potash (Kalium source) plus other elements like Magnesite, Copper & Zinc Sulphates to the appropriate proportions, then we add water and heat to make them into granular form (oval shaped) then screen them, coat them and eventually pack them.

Below are some most common questions coming from people who are not from the fertilizer or agricultural industry:

1. What do you do at work? - ensure the people carry out instructions!! If you pay peanuts, who would you get?
2. How is the working environment? - it is a "sweat shop" because the environment is hot. Air is limited inside the plant because it will cause the fertilizers to "melt" (hygroscopic in nature when in contact with high humidity). The condition in the plant is often "muddy" as when teh products fall off the belts/chutes/leakages, they will become hygroscopic. I should say that it is quite similar to a muddy construction site which is indoors.
3. Does it smell? - yes, when water comes into contact with urea, ammonia gas will be emitted. so you think you would ever fall asleep at work?
4. Will it explode? - Ha ha, no....only ammonium nitrate plants in Europe has potential of explosions.
5. Do you like working there? - It has been 5 years since I changed my career from the semiconductor industry (clean) to the fertilizer industry (dirty). I should say that I am contented with what I have at the moment in PLM, except for the long working hours (5.5 days week), power limitation of my company sponsored house and the mosquitoes (I get bitten almost everyday)!
6. Would you like to work there forever? - I am entering my 3rd year in Palembang and throughout the 2 years here I have learnt a lot about the Indonesian culture, language and people. If opportunity calls, I might need to make another career change? Life is unpredictable!
7. How many staff do you have? - 86 permanent plus 100 contractors (forklifts, packers, loaders)
8. What do you like best about your job now? - expat life. No need to pay for rent, driver or maid.... making me a lazy bum. Sucks when maid is sick or away.....getting too dependent on others to do household chores!

The Best Way To Break Your Daughter's Heart

We were shell-shocked last weekend when our maid told us that her father had arranged for her to marry someone that she barely knew.

It seems like our maid's father has lots of debts and he was believed to "sell off" his daughter through an arranged marriage with one of the persons who borrowed him money.

Our maid Aini was very depressed when the news was conveyed to her last week. She is dating some guy now but her father does not like her current boyfriend.

After several time-off sessions to go home to discuss with her dad, Aini's boyfriend finally managed to convince her dad to let Aini marry him instead.

Due to too much pride, Aini's dad wanted the wedding to go on at the same date as what was arranged earlier with the other party. Aini said all of her neighbors have known that she will be getting married, therefore her dad would "lose face" and feel embarrassed if the wedding was cancelled. So her dad agreed to swap the groom instead!

As a result, my maid will be getting married in another 2 week's time to her boyfriend. Aini told us that she was not quite ready and would not know what to do as a wife. She is only 18.

I know that I should not interfere with other people's lives but some parents are really so thick-skulled and old fashioned!

When Aini told her dad that she did not want to marry the guy that his dad arranged to marry, her dad threatened to disown her. In western countries I think the daughter would have run away. But in Indonesia, the kids are still very filial towards their parents (even though the parents make silly decisions like this!).