Penguin RushCar Door Empty Promises Festival Cut Short?
First of all, wishing all Muslims a Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin. May we all have a barakah Ramadhan this year and years to come, Insha' Allah. During the 4-day off, a massive exodus of people are leaving the cities, whether to go back hometown or simply, to take advantage of the holidays by going travelling. Due to the large no. of vehicles on the roads, accidents are prone to happen. Other than that, the slow-moving traffic may also cause some of us to make stops at rest areas. This had prompted me to share an experience that I encoutered, to some friends and families. Now to the rest of you, here it is...
"We all have heard this before: how someone's car was stolen after the driver stepped out of the car to open the house gate; or while the driver was taking a leak at a gas station. Such unfortunate events usually occurred when people left their cars with the engines still running. Even more unfortunate if the thugs took the cars with people (usually women and children) still inside.
Sometimes when we hear something like this happen to other people, we might think that it can never happen to us, OR we will always take necessary precautions to avoid such mishaps from ever happening to us.
Now a sensible lesson to learn from all this would be never to leave your car with the engine on and always to lock the car before you leave right?
But for those with families, they may encounter a situation where the children are sleeping inside the car when they need to leave the car for a short while. In such a case, as long as the spouse stays behind to lock from the inside, the engines and air condition will remain on.
So you thought by doing it this way, your family is spared from harm, until an honest mistake almost changed it all.
I could never forget the night when my family and I were heading back to KL from hometown. The traffic was heavy and slow. After reaching a main rest area, I had to stop for a break.
We parked at a well lit area and with people around. Since it was cool inside the car, I decided to turn off the engine and lock it. But just after walking a few metres away, the car alarm went off. Baffled, coupled with the urgent need for me to go to the loo, I turned the engine back on and asked my wife to lock from the inside.
Our little angel was sleeping soundly at the back seat with wife sitting next to him. After I left, she received a phone call. While on the phone, a man came, stood facing the driver's side of the car and tried to open the door.
Thinking it was me, she unlocked the door. Luckily, since she was sitting behind the front passenger's seat and with the phone tucked between her ear and her shoulder, it took her a while to unlock the door, and the man already left just as she managed to.
Realising it could not have been me, she locked it back again. Had she unlocked it a second sooner or the man returned upon hearing her at the door...?
After that incident, my wife and I had agreed on a system. Whoever has to leave, the other needs to lock immediately if the other stays inside the car. The one who leaves also needs to show the face first to get back inside.
Perhaps you could use this system too, if necessary. Show your smiley or cheeky face at the window all you want, if it can ensure your family's safety, then why not. These days, people with bad intentions can be anyone and they will act whenever an opportunity presents itself, where ever that may be.
We ought to protect our loved ones at whatever cost. It is our family who matters the most. Don’t you agree that we may meet different people every day, but it is our own family whom we always go back to. People may throw all sorts of nasty remarks and assumptions about us, but at the end of the day, we know who we are and our family are the ones who will never turn their backs on us.
May you and your family have safe journeys and great health, always..."
Sometimes when we hear something like this happen to other people, we might think that it can never happen to us, OR we will always take necessary precautions to avoid such mishaps from ever happening to us.
Now a sensible lesson to learn from all this would be never to leave your car with the engine on and always to lock the car before you leave right?
But for those with families, they may encounter a situation where the children are sleeping inside the car when they need to leave the car for a short while. In such a case, as long as the spouse stays behind to lock from the inside, the engines and air condition will remain on.
So you thought by doing it this way, your family is spared from harm, until an honest mistake almost changed it all.
I could never forget the night when my family and I were heading back to KL from hometown. The traffic was heavy and slow. After reaching a main rest area, I had to stop for a break.
We parked at a well lit area and with people around. Since it was cool inside the car, I decided to turn off the engine and lock it. But just after walking a few metres away, the car alarm went off. Baffled, coupled with the urgent need for me to go to the loo, I turned the engine back on and asked my wife to lock from the inside.
Our little angel was sleeping soundly at the back seat with wife sitting next to him. After I left, she received a phone call. While on the phone, a man came, stood facing the driver's side of the car and tried to open the door.
Thinking it was me, she unlocked the door. Luckily, since she was sitting behind the front passenger's seat and with the phone tucked between her ear and her shoulder, it took her a while to unlock the door, and the man already left just as she managed to.
Realising it could not have been me, she locked it back again. Had she unlocked it a second sooner or the man returned upon hearing her at the door...?
After that incident, my wife and I had agreed on a system. Whoever has to leave, the other needs to lock immediately if the other stays inside the car. The one who leaves also needs to show the face first to get back inside.
Perhaps you could use this system too, if necessary. Show your smiley or cheeky face at the window all you want, if it can ensure your family's safety, then why not. These days, people with bad intentions can be anyone and they will act whenever an opportunity presents itself, where ever that may be.
We ought to protect our loved ones at whatever cost. It is our family who matters the most. Don’t you agree that we may meet different people every day, but it is our own family whom we always go back to. People may throw all sorts of nasty remarks and assumptions about us, but at the end of the day, we know who we are and our family are the ones who will never turn their backs on us.
May you and your family have safe journeys and great health, always..."
I submitted the 'article' to a major daily and it was published 10th September 2009 (see above). Only the gist of the story was featured, and as expected, the babbling parts were removed :-)
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When I had a 'berbuka puasa' (break fast) with my wife at this one restaurant the other day, the bill came with a short survey, asking for customers' feedback. The survey stated that a gift would be mail delivered to those who completed and returned the survey. I remembered answering the survey the first time we ate there, some months back. I also remembered we never received any gift whatsoever.
This had prompted me to write to the local daily again, and on 18th September 2009, it came out (see above). Many portions had been chopped off, mainly due to make space, instead of for clarity purpose. Personally, I think, the original article serves the meaning better, don't you think? :-)
"The public has been warned not to fall into the trap of some get-rich-quick schemes or dubious lucky draws, since such illegitimate methods are organised by unscrupulous parties in order for them to trick us into parting with our money.
But how about those other presumably 'legal' contests and product surveys which promise gifts and prizes to customers, sometimes by just entering/submitting entries? These companies gain extra profits and sales at the expense of customers' time and money (regardless how small the latter may be).
I remember when a well known brand for baby milk formula had a promotion of giving away free small packs to those who sent in a certain number of the brand's milk spoons. Till date, no free packs ever received by us. The company had called me once to ask for my wife's name and to confirm our address, but only to send an unrelated mail from their partner. How else would they know my phone no. and house address if the spoons hadn't reached them in the first place?
In a parenting magazine, our baby's photo was selected to be among the lucky few to receive product hampers. Two months had passed and still nothing (YES! I'm referring to the Pa&Ma magazine. See previous entry). The mag did not indicate that we have to pick up the hamper ourselves or we need to call them up to arrange for a delivery. If the latter is the case, why is that so? Why should customers care more instead of them?
A couple of surveys that I foolishly volunteered to answer (one to a music distribution company, the other a food outlet), after getting hooked by the promise 'A Mystery Gift Awaits You'. Again, still no gifts - quite a mystery.The public should have proper channels to lodge complaints when incidents such as these happen. Writing a letter directly to those organisers/companies would almost definitely fall on their deaf ears. It is one thing to have bad customer service, and another to trick customers with empty promises."
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Now here's the latest one. I had just sent this 'little' article to a few local papers. I made it as brief and straight to the point as possible and hopefully, it too will be published without under too much scrutiny of the editors' scissors :-)
"Whenever a major festival approaches, departmental stores would greet shoppers with festival decorations. Such decorations attract tourists and locals of all races alike.
Hari Raya may have been given double-standard treatment in the past with flimsy decorations in certain malls. But this year is a different picture. Despite the current economic uncertainty, there were more choices of places that offered Ramadhan buffets and the spirit of Hari Raya can be felt everywhere. Thank you to all shopping malls, departmental stores, specialty shops, hotels and restaurants who have given it all out to decorate their premises. Suria KLCC deserves a special mention for its unique kampong theme with Lat’s cartoons drawn on hard woods, shaped into individual cartoon characters, a kampong house, fences, trees etc.
However, although Hari Raya lasts for a month, the ambience within the malls does not usually last that long. Decorations are taken down, sometimes barely a week into Hari Raya. Can't they wait for at least two weeks?"
© Copyright Abdun Nizar Ahmad
Labels: 'Little', Cartoons, Contest, Creativity, Extras, Life, Parental, Ramadhan, Raya, Writing Portfolio
posted by The Pisces Man @ 10:35 am
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