It’s frustrating because just when I was thinking that I’ve got it made, little things start to pop up. Darn it! I’ve really been looking forward to this day for ages. Why are things not turning out as I had imagined?! These itsy-bitsies! Should I leave them as little annoyances? Will they become a whole new problem if I do so? The problem is that these itsy-bitsies are not big enough to flip the situation upside down, yet they are not so small that they are insignificant. These kind of situations, I’m sure you know what I mean! My circumstances frustrate me!!! My PIL, though both living in our house, are mere tenants. My FIL is only concerned about staying alive, my MIL is still unhappy and unmotivated. I am becoming ‘psychologically imbalanced’ because nobody seems to think there is a problem, but me! “I must be psycho then!!!” My helper, well, she thinks that she is only a helper, and that she is not part of a whole!
我感到有点沮丧。 我目前的状况并不和我想象的、 策划的一样！ 不知道为什么每天都出现不同的小事情。 这些小事情， 我应该把它们当成小烦恼， 不去管它们吗？ 如果我这样做，它们会变成一个全新的问题吗？ 这就是我烦恼之处呀！ 这些小事情不足以将情况颠倒过来， 但它们并不是微不足道， 不是无足轻重的。 这种恼人的小事情，我相信你们都知道吧！ 我目前的情况让我感到很困扰。我的家公、 家婆虽然住在我们的房子，但他们仅仅是租户。我的家公痴迷活着，我的家婆仍然不高兴、 没有动力！ 我变得‘心理失衡’，因为家里没有一个人会预先解决问题， 全家人都在玩‘你等我、 我等你’ 游戏。 还有我的女佣，唉！ 她认为她只是一个帮手， 她不知道她其实是整体的一部分！
I woke up this morning, and after the (nowadays) very, very long pep-talk that I have to give my brain, I finally dragged myself out of bed. I saw Siti feeding Alpha1, the old white rabbit, a big bowl of Burgess pellets, and it irritated me because why the heck doesn’t she use the small sauce plates that I had bought for feeding the rabbits? My (nowadays) constant worry about money made me voice out my question to her. She replied in Indonesian (sickening! why doesn’t she learn to speak English? She came to work in Singapore, does she honestly expect us employers to learn Bahasa?!) that the sauce plates were in the other room, and so she did not bother to go get them. “But there are 3 rabbits here, why did you put all the plates in the other room? I don’t like it when you scoop out so much pellets, because a rabbit can’t eat so much for 1 meal, and when you clean the cage later, you will sweep and throw away the uneaten pellets!” She replied in Indonesian again that she did not feed a lot, only half a bowl. She even scooped out half a bowl to demonstrate to me. My irritation turned to annoyance, and I told her that I saw her scoop out the whole bowl and pouring into Alpha1’s cage! Would she like me to pick them all up from the cage, put them into the bowl, and prove it to her?
今天早上我醒了，花了很长， 很长的时间将鼓舞人心的话输入我的脑里后， 终于有一点力气把自己拖出了床。 唉， 我真的变了， 为什么连起床的力气都没有？ 我看到西蒂喂养Alpha1 – 我家里的那只老白兔 – 一大碗的Burgess美国进口的食料。 我感到恼火， 为什么她不用我买的‘小酱汁盘子’喂兔子呢？我应为（现在）不停的担心金钱问题， 所以不知不觉的， 问题就从我的嘴巴溜出来。她用印度尼西亚话（作呕！她为什么不学讲英语？ 她来到新加坡工作，她真的天真期望我们雇主学印度尼西亚话吗？！）回答说酱盘放在隔壁房间，她还没有（懒得！）过去拿。 “但是这个房间有三只兔子，为什么你把所有的酱盘放在隔壁房间？ 我不喜欢你舀出这么多食料， 因为一只兔子不能一餐内把全部吃完，等一下你清理笼子，你一定会把吃剩的食料扫除并丢弃！” 她再次用印度尼西亚话回复说她没有拿很多， 只喂半碗罢了。 她还用动作舀出半个碗的食料给我看。 我的恼火变大，我告诉她，我看到她舀出满满的一碗，倒进Alpha1的笼子里！ 要不要我现在从笼子里把所有食料全部拿起来，放进碗里， 证明给她看？
Of course this is not about this one-time feeding of the pellets! Not really. Ya, of course I feel the pain when I think of all the times I saw her throw away good hay and pellets. Of course! These are imported bunny food, you know! It’s expensive, and nowadays I feel broke! I’m also frustrated because she only does what she likes, and no amount of teaching or explaining or reminding seems to get to her! Why would she suddenly wash the colored clothes with the whites? Why does she buy a big packet of fish balls, when there is already a packet of fuzhou fish balls in the fridge? Why does she buy big tomatoes, where there are cherry tomatoes in the fridge? Why doesn’t she eat up all the food that is on her plate? The whole family does! And her cooking menu is limited to old cucumber soup, blended pumpkin soup and fried bee hoon. She can also cook (1) vegetable plus fish sauce, (2) meat with fish sauce, (3) fish with fish sauce! “Is this what you mean by cooking?” She replied “Ya.” (Yes) “So why are you flipping cook books? Why are you borrowing cook books from the library, if you don’t want to cook new dishes?” “Saya takut memasak, Ah Gong tidak bisa makan.” (I’m afraid to cook, Ah Gong cannot eat) “What about us? Ah Ma, Ser and Mam want to eat good food. You will be working here for at least 16 months more, don’t you want to learn to cook different dishes? We can’t be eating fried bee hoon for 2 years!” She replied “Ini sedang memasak.” (To me, this is cooking) “Look, if you don’t want to improve after reading cook books, then you can’t go to the library to borrow books anymore! Why don’t you try? It is only to your advantage if you learn to cook new dishes. You can cook better food for your family next time, and you can also impress your next employer with your culinary skills!” She announced: “Oke, saya tidak akan pergi di luar.” (Okay, then I won’t go out anymore)
当然这不是关于这一次过多喂养白兔的小事情！并不完全是。。。 每当我看到她丢弃好的干草和食料时，我会感到心痛！ 当然！ 为了给兔子最好的， 我买的可是美国进口的兔子食料， 很贵！我最近成天感觉手头紧、 没钱啦！ 我恼乱西蒂每次只做她想做的事， 我先生和我多少次的教学、 解释或提醒， 她都听不进去！ 不信我吗？ 那么， 她为什么突然之间把白色衣服和彩色衣服放一起洗呢？ 为什么冰箱里明明有一包‘福州鱼丸’，她又买一大包鱼丸呢？ 为什么冰箱里有樱桃番茄， 她又去买大番茄呢？ 为什么她每次吃饭都有剩饭？全家人都把饭吃光， 不过她每次把吃不完的食物丢掉！ 别告诉我她也在练风水呀！ **** 还有， 她的烹饪技巧仅限于： 老黄瓜汤、 南瓜汤和炒米粉。 她还会煮： 蔬菜炒鱼酱、 鱼片炒鱼酱、 肉碎炒鱼酱！ 吃来吃去就是鱼酱、 鱼酱、 鱼酱！！！ “这对你来说是烹饪吗？” 她又用她‘可恶’的印度尼西亚话回答说： “ya. ”（是的） “那你为什么要翻阅烹饪书？ 如果你不想学做新菜， 你为什么要去图书馆借烹饪书呢？” “Saya takut memasak, Ah Gong tidak bisa makan.” (我怕煮了新的菜， 阿公不能吃) “阿公不能吃， 但阿嫲、 先生和我会吃啊， 我们也想吃好吃的食物。 你将会在这里工作至少多十六个月，难道你不想学煮不同的菜肴吗？我们可不想两年都吃炒米粉呀！” 她回答说： “Ini sedang memasak.” （对我来说， 这就是烹饪） “如果你阅读这么多本烹饪书后任然不想改进，那么你以后不能再去图书馆借书了！ 你想一想， 你真的不想进步吗？ 你如果学煮新菜肴， 只对你有益处， 下次你可以煮给你家人吃， 也可以在新的雇主家煮给他们吃呀！” 她大声宣布： “Oke，saya tidak akan pergi di luar！” （好！ 那么我不出去了！）
“Siti, I have already explained to you that in a few years time, we will be taking another maid to look after Ah Gong and Ah Ma. If you are not very strong by then, and the new helper is better than you, then she will be the ‘rumah Bos’ (the Boss of this house). You can’t be the ‘rumah Bos’ if you are not strong!” “Oke, biarkan dia menjadi rumah Bos.” (Okay, then let her be the Boss of this house)
Argh, it’s so frustrating to talk to this helper! She’s so stubborn! Does she know what she is saying?! This proud helper that I have, she says that she will allow the new helper to lord over her. Yah right! Like she won’t retaliate when the new maid bosses her around! No point talking to her now, when she is having a mental block. I escaped to the master bedroom, slamming the door behind me, albeit harder than I would ordinarily have.
“西蒂， 我已经向你解释过， 再过几年，我们将雇请另一个女佣来照顾阿公和阿嫲。 如果到时你做工还不是很强， 新的女佣比你好， 那么她就是’rumah Bos’ （这个家的‘主人’）。 如果你不强，你就不能成为’rumah Bos’！“ “Oke，biarkan dia menjadi rumah Bos.” （好， 那么让她做‘主人’吧）
气死我！ 跟这个女佣说话真的浪费时间！ 她太固执了！ 她知道她在说什么吗？！这位骄傲、 很有自尊的女佣，她说她允许新的女佣主宰她。 如果相信她， 我就是笨蛋！ 我们家西蒂不可能服从新的女佣的啦！ 很显然的， 西蒂有心理障碍， 现在跟她说话是没有意义的。 但， 我还是很生气啦！ 我逃到了主卧室， 砰地关上了主卧室的门，比平时我关门的来的更大声。 榜！！！
