My Year As A Dishpig

In January when the Malaysian school year for 2012 started, I was stuck at home facing the reality of being someone with a chronic illness. I was diagnosed in December, 2011. I was also prepping myself for a minor procedure done to my eyes to save my sight. Meanwhile, business was real good and everyone was overworked except me. I spent the days trying to get my energy levels up because the medication made me tired. Many an afternoon was spent napping and that invited nicknames like ‘Permaisuri’ and ‘Big Baby’. Eventually I was ‘requested’ to work as a dishpig at a canteen of a private school. Eager to show that I have the spirit to contribute, I went for it with little hesitations. Despite my eagerness, I was blatantly told to show initiatives and ‘to earn my own keep’. That was a few weeks after I started and for the rest of the year, I was made to feel like I didn’t measure up.

Initially my work was dead easy. I washed all the plastic cups used by the students and during recess, I handed drinks from the chiller to the sellers to make things easier for them. Then the other workers began to leave because it was hard getting barked at by 3 ‘Bosses’ and with their departures, I ended up doing their work because it was too hard or ‘expensive’ to hire more people. By late April, I was prepping the counters after the morning rush, topping ice supply and packet/bottled drinks, selling the drinks during the multiple breaks throughout the school day and washing the cups by hand. I wasn’t paid at first but business partners began to question that. Then for the rest of the year, I was paid a small amount every month. My monthly take home pay was less than half of what the state of Sabah has been proposing to be the basic wage from 2013!

There were ‘3 Bosses’ in the drinks dept. Boss 1 is the owner of Canteen X. In his late 40’s, his days were usually spent surfing the net or yelling when things don’t go smoothly. Boss 2 is in her 70’s. Like Boss 1, I think that Boss 2 has ADHD. There was always something to do or whinge about. Because she was always on the go, the rest of us young people were made to feel like we weren’t helpful and that was disrespectful to an old lady. She also had a tendency to muddle up the students’ orders but shhh… She is the Best after Boss 3. This next person is by right just an employee but no one could stop her from believing in fairy tales. I call her the ‘Indon Boss’. She is the scariest crackpot I ever met but she is a hard worker and she knows how to manipulate and keep Boss 2 happy. Boss 3 is super delighted if she had the opportunity to have a go at me, rule any new workers like she is the employer and picking on Boss 1 behind his back. She feels like she is so high and mighty. Everyone was told to put up with her because without her, the business would surely flop. Working with her around was like stepping on a minefield with a sniper hiding somewhere ready to attack at anytime. Just like my wish to explain ADHD to her, I have been yearning all year long to tell her that her aggressive approach does not command real respect. Boss 2 told me to not waste my time & saliva because Boss 3 doesn’t have the intellectual capabilities to digest such information but I thought that she is a genius!

After the workers left, Boss 1 refused to hire more workers for 6 months. His cost cutting measures were so severe that I had to provide my own dishwashing sponges, brush and dishdrops! Most of my co-workers (workers from other depts.) were OK. Most of them were curious about me. Of all the co-workers, Voonie was the most annoying. I suspected that Boss 3 must have fed Voonie + a few other workers the story of how I came to be in KK. That elevated their social positions and changed the pecking order. I became the target of bullying because there is no such thing as a jolly happy spinster. My life should be a miserable one. Late in September, a ‘native’ lady was hired but she turned out to be a Filipina. She learned quickly and was hard working. A month or so later, she began to take sickies. This is a practice I have come to expect to be a norm among locals. This is how workers take revenge on their Bosses by not turning up when they are needed most. The mother of two was full of surprises. After asking her questions, we soon realized that she was pregnant with her 3^rd child and this time she was experiencing bad morning sickness. I feared that she might get sacked but she resigned after disappearing for a week.

Now, I admit that I gained virtually nothing financially from working as a dishpig in 2012 but I have learned a few other important lessons. In the 18 months before I left for Australia more than 20 or so years ago, I was brainwashed into believing that rich people are full of themselves and are almost always arrogant. In the year as a dishpig, I saw that poverty and a lack of education could also churn out arrogant and bitter beings. This is not to say that ‘rich people’ are no longer arrogant or shallow. I especially loved it whenever a ‘rich’ parent (local standards) tried to floor me by speaking in English. After a couple of replies from me, he/she would blink a few times before reverting to a local language/dialect of choice. LOL. Why were they backing away? LOL. I benefitted from such experiences because I need all the opportunities I could get to speak Malay, Mandarin and a couple of Chinese dialects. These languages/dialects need ‘reactivating’ after years of sitting around. In a twisted kind of way, the meanie in me also enjoyed playing the role of a living, talking example of a failed education investment. Parents might think twice or even thrice before investing in an international education for their teens out of fear that the kids might end up as dishpigs – a position worse than flipping burgers at a Macca.

The most important life lesson I have learned in 2012 has something to do with what Einstein once said. I quote him from somewhere: “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else” In a workplace that was so unpredictable, it was an absolute must for me to turn on my ears to constantly survey the comings and goings. People were constantly taking revenge and people’s loyalties were not solid. The rules of the games were forever changing and people’s loyalties changed depending on their own self interests. Innocent people got caught up whether they want to be involved or not. I tried sitting on the fence but it didn’t offer me much protection when the fighting was fierce. In the end, I was not only defensive; I initiated pre-emptive strikes just to enjoy the bloody results. Sometimes I failed. Other times, I caused bigger problems than imagined. It was a matter of trial and error. It definitely wasn’t how I wish to live as a human. It was stressful and it affected my sleep but I was at least getting ample sleep unlike some battlers who slept less than 6 hours per night.

It is Boxing Day and I haven’t much clue as to what challenges await me next year. I know that my work as a dishpig is over. Someone hinted that I could be teaching. It could be a large kindergarten. There, the battle would begin again and I will have new rules to master before I could fight back. Right now, I don’t know the plans. Boss 2 seems to enjoy keeping me in the dark. Cornered, I would have no choice but to fight and do my duties. It was like that when I was little and will be so until I leave again.