Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Telekung Tale

I was refolding a small pile of telekungs (prayer garments for women) this morning when Eli, our parttime maid, casually remarked whilst sweeping the floor:

"The cleaners are not allowed to use those telekungs that they have placed in the surau (on the ground floor) for public use. We have to bring our own."

Jolted by the sudden remark, I stopped folding and shot a look at her. "But why?" I sputtered, suddenly feeling rather cross.

"Sebab kami hanya pencuci dan jugak pendatang, jadi di pandang rendah dan di anggap tidak bersih. AJK surau arah pejabat pengurusan bagitau kami."

["Because we are only cleaners and not locals too. They looked down upon us and considered us unclean. The surau committee asked the management office to relay it to us."]

I was dumbfounded. It had never crossed my mind that anyone living in this condo would stoop so low to issue such a directive. What were they thinking?

At the Royal Lake Club, staff and members use all the telekungs and kain pelikat (men's sarong) provided by the Club for public use, freely.

In fact, my friends and I too had placed brand new telekungs in the ladies' prayer room for common use. An insignificant contribution from us, yet it had somehow made us feel 'useful'.   

Material wealth notwithstanding, we are equal in the eyes of Allah swt. I feel so ashamed for my fellow residents. I know a great majority of them are good, kind and considerate folks.

But now I also know there are rotten apples among them. "Ya Allah, sedarkanlah mereka ini daripada kesombongan mereka. Semulia-mulia manusia ialah mereka yang beriman, bukan mereka yang kaya raya."

Hati ini terasa amat malu sekali...

33 comments:

Iskandar said...

Geram pula saya dengar. :-(

Sejak bila dalam Islam ada kasta?

Grrr....

naniasda said...

Mungkin ada perasaan ujub di kalangan AJK itu. Kalau boleh kita hendak orang lain berfikir mcm kita juga kan..semua manusia ni sama :)

Kak Teh said...

Puteri, somehow I am not surprised. When I was back recently I went to a restaurant which has a room clearly marked "VIP Prayer room"!

Anonymous said...

Siapa pulak yg menentukan status VIP tu?atau tetamu tu yg menentukan sendiri...dunia..dunia..

Iskandar said...

Kak Teh, nanti snapkan gambar VIP Prayer Room tu.Geram saya!

Anonymous said...

VIP sembahyang ke?
:-)

HHalem said...

Kama:-)

Don't you think, it is a one sided story.

You and me know better than that and it is not the only reasons behind the banning.

Jumpa orang surau, you will get the full hidden answer. Good luck.:-)

Kama At-Tarawis said...

tulah, sampai la saya dok rasa bungkam lagi. saya takmau berburuk sangka, walaupun saya boleh 'agak' sapa punya kerenah. ya Allah, pedih sungguh rasa..

halem.. betul tu.. dan saya nak pi tanya kat mgmt office gak nanti.. whatever it is, cleaners & maids kat sini kami kenal depa lama..

Wan Sharif said...

Amin to your prayer

ninotaziz said...

Dear Kak Puteri,
I am saddened to read this. I am proud to recall whenever the question of the prayer room at the Royal Lake Club came up for discussion, Muslims and Non-Muslims alike understood that wrt the prayer room, there is no class, no restriction, no separation. In fact some Members use the prayer room at the staff area too despite the staff area being off-limits to members.

ninotaziz said...

May I add, this was the same thing at the Royal Selangor Golf Club...

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Puteri,
Mama selalu cakap, mati esok jawab ler... but kalau dapat justice kat dunia ni dulu kan bagus? Entah-entah kat Padang Masyhar nanti, hat cleaners tu dulu lepas masuk syurga. Hat AJK surau tak lepas...and akan tanya diri sendiri what went wrong. Ada cadangan nak "basuh" yang berkenaan ke? purrr...meow!

Kama At-Tarawis said...

anon 1.02 - ramai VIP yg saya kenal yang baik, murah hati, sembahyang tak tinggal dan berbuat amal dan berbakti dalam diam. yg support rumah anak yatim dengan berpuluh ribu ringgit setiap bulan without a fuss pun ada. juga yg on the quiet bagi sedekah kat mereka yg memerlukan. jadi tak baik cynical, tau.. nati dapat dosa kering..

Anonymous said...

The ones who dig the hole and put you in the hole is a non-vip okay.

Derebar

Kama At-Tarawis said...

well said, derebar..:D

Kama At-Tarawis said...

is - yup, i share yr sentiment.

nani - nampaknya mcm tula.. entah apayg nak dibanggakan pun taktau..

kakteh & anon - kadang2 saya pun tak paham.. kenapa prayer room pun kena ada VIP and non-VIP.. sheesh

yohwang - kita mintak yg terbaik.. semoga Allah buka pintu hati yg dah mula nak tutup rapat tu..

ninot - indeed, i always feel comfortable solat di LC ..lack of pretensions kat situ..

cat - cadangan nak basuh tu takder..hehehe.. tapi hati kepingin jugak nak tau ahli AJK yg mana punya angkara..

Kak Teh said...

ya lah puteri, yang dipersoalkan ialah bukan VIP atau non VIP, tapi orang yang khususkan penggunaan bilik tu.

HHalem said...

Kama:-)

You tak gi tanya orang surau lagi eehh?

Nak tau apa jawapan standard surau?

Salah satunya,
"Kain telekong selalu hilang.."

Kama At-Tarawis said...

halem - dah tanya dah. fortunately, bukan pasal telekung pernah hilang. depa kata telekung ada only a few, jadi suruh bawak masing2 punya. itu penjelasan yg depa bagi kat saya.

Kama At-Tarawis said...

saya kata kalau tak cukup, tambah ajala, bukan mahal pun. depa diam..

Anonymous said...

Caught one cleaner relieving herself at the surau's wuduk area at my place of work.

Bila ditegur cara baik, dikatanya air mengalir walhal the bathroom is just next door. Adoi, macam-macam perangai.

لف توف™ said...

Crita saya lain skit. Bukan bab telekong sebab saya laki laki.
Saya nie ada la skit-skit cainis-look.
Hajat singgah semejid nak solat.
"Hai, lu apa sini bikin? Ini olang Iselam sembayang sembayang punya tempat!" sergah sorang hamba Allah
Rasa nak sekeh saja Tok Siak ka apa ka dia tu.
Last last dok tergelak sorang2 sampai pi solat di tempat lain.
Kalau betoi aku kapiaq pun tak boleh ka tanya elok2 sikit¿

HHalem said...

:-)
There u are Kama.

Bukannya sbb pendatang ni tak bersih atau kotor. Tak lojik langsung amah tu cakap.Mungkin mngmnt staff tu tambah2.

Telekong tak cukup. Munasabah juga penjelasan.

"saya kata kalau tak cukup, tambah ajala, bukan mahal pun. depa diam.."

Itu ayat bangun membuat,:-)
Kaa ayat bangun kena buat:)

Sebab tu depa diam, krn tak ada sapa nak buat...hehe

Tahniah to u Kama, I would do the same thing.

The only different is, kalau I, dah lama lompat atas meja sambil tanya soalan:-)

Teringat zaman sekolah rendah dulu.
Berdiri atas meja sbb kena denda, sambil tanya soalan.

Sbb tu sampai sekarang, kalau gaduh-gaduh sanggup lompat atas meja, sbb cikgu ajar.

Hava a nice day to you:-)
Definitely a jolly good day.

AnnoyinglyAnonymous-LemanPulut said...

Kak Kama,

Tu baru telekung. Belum cerita Mak Indon nak terberanak kat Hospital Kerajaan lagi. Memang tak kene layan. Word has it that these maids yang ada family dan ibuk-ibuk nak melahirkan anak, they would rather simpan duit dan pergi beranak kat private klinik. Pi spital kerajaan, asik kene cemuh dan tidak kene layan ajer.

Ekcelly, apa yang diorang ni semua ada, hah? Sampaikan diorang ni pikir diorang ni lebih mulia dari orang yang lain. Lesing sekali baru tahu.

Tapi pasal beranak-beranak kat spital kerajaan ni, cerita old wives tales ni best:- kalau sorang tu kan, dah sarat dan nak gi beranak kat spital, so masa tengah sakit-sakit meneran tu, missi tu siap pulak boleh cakap, "Hah! Masa bersedap-sedap dulu tak pulak terasa sakit yer!". Heheheh. selalu cerita lagu tu didengar. Kebanyakkannya missi melayu yang perangai lagu tu.

Kalau Leman lah ... Lepas ajer beranak tu, ambil uri budak baru lahir tu, potong, pas tu pegi lilit kat leher missi tu.

Pantang tak pantang. Leman tak kira.

Leman Pulut.

Kama At-Tarawis said...

hahahaha leman... garang bebenor! tapi betul ler jugak, depa ni pun kekadang banyak kerenah,kan..

Anonymous said...

masalah kita kak..org kita kdg2 pk pelik2

Anonymous said...

Kak Putri,
Love the new header.Did I see another one this morning?

wawa

Kama At-Tarawis said...

wawa - i ni cukup suka 'jalan-jalan cari header' kat Net.. i hv quite a few in my collection.. tu yg kejap tukar tu..

Kama At-Tarawis said...

anon: sometimes i dont understand kenapa orang kita suka buat benda2 mcm ni. my daughter nawwar told me recently dia tumpang solat kat mesjid kg sg pencala sebelum lunch kat sambal hijau sebelah masjid tu, dan was rudely chastised by one of the jemaah (pompuan la ni) sebab dia solat tak pakai telekung.. biasala kan, berjubah or berbaju kurubg labuh pun ok, janji tutup aurat. saya sendiri pun pernah tengok orang solat pakai sari.. kat mesjid at-taqwa, tapi aurat bertutup rapi.. bila orang mulut kurang asam macam tu, budak2 ni tawar hati nak pi mesjid tu dah..

Anonymous said...

x cukup telekung..small matter,I can give that particular surau a few.. new ones lagi x payah discriminate.everyone.. VVIP, VIP, man, women, children solat subuh tetap 2 rakaat..

Kama At-Tarawis said...

anon - sangat betul..!

Unknown said...

SALAM,
SEMOGA YANG TAK BETUL TU TIDAK LAGI BERLAKU !

Kama At-Tarawis said...

LH - ameeen!