Miscommunication, embarrassment and humility

This morning I was talking to a friend of mine about miscommunication and embarrassment. This friend of mine related to me a story about how a VIP was recently  invited to an event and instead of having the VIP deliver a speech and officiate the event, the VIP was “sidelined” in the sense that he wasn’t the keynote speaker so to speak (no pun intended) and he wasn’t given the honour of cutting the ribbon. Obviously and rightly too, the VIP was upset as the invitation that was communicated to him was that he was the keynote speaker and also to officiate the event the same time. The organising committee was embarrassed and had apologised profusely to the VIP.

I remember some years ago, I was invited to attend a luncheon event organised by the Malaysian Bar Council. The event was a compulsory lunch that marked the end of the Ethics Course for the soon-to-be lawyers. As I was one of the lecturers in the Ethics Course, I was an honoured guest and was shown to my seat which was right in front of the stage - a VVIP treatment if you can consider it that way. I was early, so I decided to take a stroll at the compound of the venue. When I returned a few minutes before the event started, I noticed that my seat was taken by someone else. I didn’t want to make a scene even though I was an honoured guest in the event, so I just stood there and waited for some help. A lady walked up to me and felt really embarrassed. She informed me that they had mixed up the names and thought that I would not be coming. She mentioned to me that all the seats have been taken except for one. She asked whether I would mind if I take that seat. I asked her to show me to the seat. Well, as you can imagine, the only seat available was right at the end of the room where you can hardly see the person on the stage. This was one of those seats which is perfect for slipping away quietly midway during lunch without anyone noticing!

She apologised to me profusely and wasn’t sure I would be offended and walked out of the event. I looked at her and then at the table and said to her, “You know what, this table is full of ladies. At my age, to get this treatment, I would need to pay money for their company but here I am getting them for free! And to boot, they are all going to be lawyers soon! So I should be thanking you for getting me this great seat.” I could see a huge relief appeared in her face. Well, I had good lunch and good company. Sometimes a bit of humility goes a long way.

"Rempeyek kacang" or "Nachos with peanuts" to some people!

Hello everyone, it has been about a week since we returned from Malaysia. Our kids were not too keen to visit Malaysia as they have settled really well here in Sydney. Our youngest gave a list of reasons why he didn’t want to visit Malaysia which include the heat, humidity, haze, etc. I listened to him patiently and refrained from challenging his reasons. At this young age, you want to encourage them to express themselves and not to shut or put them down. I just asked him a thought provoking question, “Who is going to look after you here in Sydney if you don’t want to follow us?”. He gave some thoughts to that question and finally relented.

Looking back, it is amazing to see how the young ones adopted themselves so well to a new country, new home and new culture. However, I do not want them to forget their roots, in other words, being Malaysians. Some of you may wonder how can one change so much especially when the migration to Australia has been less than a year. Well, you will be surprised. As an example, while on our way to Malacca ( a southern state in Peninsular Malaysia), I offered our youngest child some “rempeyek kacang” (a kind of deep fried peanut fritters). Any normal Malaysian would know what a “rempeyek kacang” is or at least has seen one. However, when this was offered to a 10 year old, he merely took a bite and said, “Hmmm.....this taste like nachos with peanuts”. When I heard that, I immediately realised that I need to bring this boy to Malaysia more often. Never in this world could I ever imagine someone equating “rempeyek kacang” to “nachos with peanuts”! Those of you who are familiar with Malay proverbs would know the saying, “jangan jadi seperti kacang lupakan kulit” (meaning in simple terms, do not forget your roots or when you came from). Well, I will make sure this “kacang” will not forget his “kulit”.

Here's wishing you a “nutty” day!