Friday 20th July 2007
I wanted to wait it out a bit before I give a blow by blow account of how, why, when Azim and I left Emirates but I think I'll set some things straight now.
Because it has become that necessary. :)
First of all, I don't want anyone's laki but mine. Period. Betol tak bedek.
Moving along, I really don't get how persistent some people are with insisting I've only always hated the ground I was born on and have been "insulting" incessantly Singapore and SIA and anything else to do with the Republic since forever. How did you guys come up with that? If anything, it states clearly on my "profile" one of the things I love are my "Singapore sprees" and its been like that all the time. I don't know whose blog you've been reading but it's damn well not mine. I might wax lyrical about Dubai and all its goodness but I have never said life there was perfect. Nothing and nowhere is perfect. Like anywhere else, there were shortcomings that Dubai had that I never let out publicly because I don't see the need to. Dubai is still an amazing Arabland novelty for everyone, isn't it? I don't want to ruin the perception for other people. I myself, have experienced quite a bit of pain with Dubai's fallacies but I still remain a Dubai fan and am happy I got to stay there for three lovely long years. A good friend of mine and I have even been planning a Dubai holiday next year and yes, we might fly Emirates. Cheap, you know, to go Dubai via EK?! But as I said, I was happy in Dubai and I left Dubai, also still happy.
And I am also very happy now that I'm back home. Azim and I got other things to do, you know, besides "glorify" the sandlands and drive big but cheap cars pumped with cheaper petrol. Babies to make, lessons to learn, things to fly...:)
Anyway, it is also puzzling how persistent some people are with the tall tale that I got forcefully removed from Emirates, the very SLACK airline (I'm sure people flying with EK can attest to how SLACK Emirates is with the crew....we can go for flights sans nail polish or even bits of chipped nail polish, we can rest in passenger seats while on break and we can even get away with NOT having make-up on when on duty -an unofficial luxury some perfect-skinned mat-sallehs take advantage of!). Yes, Emirates is an easy airline to work for and for that, it is a treat to fly Emirates as cabin crew. No stress on grooming, no stress on seniority. ....senang aje! As I say this, take note that I don't mean (and never meant) SIA's not good, okay? SIA's known everywhere for the high standards demanded from its crew and having said that, most Singaporeans LOVE meeting standards right? I, for one, am a Singaporean through and through, who also prefers to be regimented kalau tak I very naik kepala! It's a perverse thing I'd rather keep mum about. So I guess I'd also enjoy myself flying for SIA, if they'd allow me, InsyaAllah. Heh. That being said, please don't be disappointed and start up another campfire story if I don't fly for SIA eventually and end up in Perth or something with my husband. It all still remains to be seen.
Anyway, can someone please come forward to shed some light as to who has been going on and on about this little story of my "termination"? I promise I won't react to that person nor do a complete name-and-shame. I'd just like to know who I should avoid completely now that I'm in Singapore since I am SO naive and easily trusting of people. Why should I avoid the culprit, you ask? Because people like this can slit your throat, smiling. I don't need people like that, I'd prefer to be alive and happy, thank you. Not easy to do that with a gaping wound on my neck.
And I doubt the culprit is anyone from Emirates at all, which was what I suspected initially (for I do have some love lost from one or two of my ex-colleagues!). Crew from Emirates could get access to my rosters and during my last two weeks of serving notice, my roster was exactly the same as Azim's! Why? Because we tendered our resignation together, duh! During that time, my roster and Azim's roster were the same on every day, with a week before our last day being marked RR (meaning removed from roster to facilitate our clearance!) and both our last days, labelled VX (meaning work visa cancellation) on the same day, which was the 13th of May (we tendered on the 13th of April, yes BEFORE kita go for our NY NY HOLIDAY!!).
So if anyone from Emirates could possess such stupidity (not unlikely tau!) to make up a story of Raihan being fired, then that person has to also explain (to herself or, her imaginary friend or whoever who cared to listen!) how come Azim's roster is the same with mine because it absolutely cannot be possible that Azim, with his perfect record, was fired. Yes, I'm not kidding, Azim's record is perfect, unlike mine, with my frequent tardiness (I love/want/need my sleep!!) and my sick days (one pimple equals to one sick day). No, if you must know, I wasn't promoted at all in my three years with Emirates but yes, Azim got promoted. Dapat Mabrouk award somemore, hokay?! If you don't know what exactly is a Mabrouk award, it's okay. Just know that it means he was recognized for handling a pretty serious medical emergency during a flight. Single-handedly, I might add, because the other crew members simply panicked and froze. And this flight drama happened three days before the 20th of April 2005.....yes, three days before our wedding! Hero jugak, my Babushuknya nie tau!
And I proudly digressed.
So.....then maybe Azim was fired, kena fired sama-sama with Raihan, is it!? Fire wife, must fire husband? Why? Did Azim and Raihan try to hijack a plan together? No? Not extremist enough? Perhaps they tried to join the mile-high club? No? Not wanton enough? Then why eh? How come Emirates can anyhow fire people for no reason one!? Aiyooo....nie nak kena sue nie! Mana lawyer aku!? But then, how come Emirates, if they wanted to fire people, can let them go holiday first? Waah..so good right?! Pfft....logic, people, logic!
For the record also, in response to the other "rumour" that my "contract was not renewed", my first contract ended on the 2nd of January 2007 because it started on the 2nd of January 2004. So I had to sign my second contract in January this year, which both Azim and I did, of course. So if it was true my contract was not renewed, I'd be going home to Singapore AGES ago, in January or February, no? I'd stop flying ages ago, no? Yet, I still had flights right up till early May and only arrived in Singapore, with my husband in tow, during the last few days of May, with my cat and my things arriving a while later. Make sense? No? Then I cannot help you. :P You go ahead and make your own story lah, hokay?
So again, I don't think it's any of my un-friends in Emirates and if it is anyone NOT from Emirates or some random takde-kerja person, then that person memang tak tau hal so please jangan buat cerita dongeng just to smellify my name for your own smelly agenda, thanks!
Anyway, I would be REALLY surprised if any Singaporean cabin crew member from Emirates would come up with the deduction of me being "terminated" or my contract not renewed, which also means, in a way, termination. Emirates doesn't fire people easily, if you must know. But when they ACTUALLY do, they do it with pure evil, without concern of the person's wellbeing. Getting fired in Emirates would mean immediate VX and then total name removal. No such thing as removed from roster first or clearance first, like Azim and I had after we tendered our resignation. It's VX on the day they fire you and then you're on your own. It's really scary because someone I knew in Emirates was fired for quite a "serious reason" and it was a terrible thing for me to observe, let alone for that person to experience. They leave you on your own, hold back your pay for a certain number of weeks, your bank accounts get frozen, they don't care how you are going to survive without your pay for the time being and just give you a flight ticket home with a certain amount of repatriation cargo to take your things with you. I remember how badly I cried when I had to see my friend go through such horror. Though my friend was okay with the termination (the reason for termination was already expected, let's just say that) since he/she really wanted to quit ages ago anyway but didn't have to guts to resign , it was the survival bit without money, in a place like Dubai, that made everything like a neverending nightmare. It can really make one go crazy. It can make one almost suicidal. It can reduce one to nothing. :( It's not a laughing matter, this getting terminated thing. It's actually a depressing, horrifying and terrible thing for one to experience, especially when overseas, away from sources of support like friends and family. If any of you hear or know of anyone going through such a thing, whether here or elsewhere, please please please try to have a bit of heart and offer a hand to help, a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen instead of spreading the news to relatives or anything vile like that.
So, anyway, as far and as much as I can, I have clarified some seemingly nasty matters. It is up to anyone who bothers to read, to make their own interpretations. Why did I see the need to do this? Because I think it is not nice of some people to go around with half-truths and insist on making people believe them wholesale. It's also not nice if some random makcik comes up to my mom or my mother-in-law and goes, "Eh...kesian eh, dengar anak/menantu awak Raihan kena buang!" because that'll just stress them out, knowing how easily flustered these two much-loved women are. Which mother likes to hear anything remotely bad about their own children? I don't want them to be unduly stressed and yes, people are cruel like that as well as the world is small like that. Already as it was, they did not really want us to quit but they gave us their full support, nonetheless, when Azim and I explained to them what we planned to do and reassured them that we will be quitting for a greater good. That's why we love them much much, they're superwomen in their own right, they'd let us run and join the circus if we told them it's for our own good! They'd let their hearts step back for our hearts to be full and we would rather not such nasty stories like this to reach them like that, it would be...well....heartbreaking.
So I do my part here, within my limited boundaries as the person herself against the whole world, to tell the truth. I suppose I can expect disbelievers to argue that even if I did get fired or anything unfortunate like that, of course I would not readily want to admit it so publicly kan? It's only natural, no one can admit defeat or failure with nonchalance on such a public display like this. I know I can't and I won't, of course, but things like these are very devastating to a person's mental and physical state so I know I'd rather not bother blogging anymore if such a shitty thing happened to me. I know I'd really just close my blog, keep away from everyone else and lick my wounds till I'm over my depression. As it stands, I am still blogging happily and will continue to blog till I lose my blogging steam one day but if need be, I'll privatise it so I'd receive less hate-tags (now those things are damn scary!!) insulting my family, epspecially my poor late father. But I don't want to remove commenting options now, not yet. I'm still up for the fight, I am!
Now, the question remains, why did we quit? Why did we leave when I supposedly so publicly claimed my salary is THAT much and life there is THAT fantastic? Why why why?
The answer's coming right up, next in line on this Bangsawan blog of mine. I'd like to relate it ALL right here, right now BUT as we have noticed, some people have limited capabilities of processing so much information in one fell swoop, right?
So I'm just being kind. Stay tuned, y'all!
PS: Again, please try and keep in mind the difference between being defensive and defending myself aka setting the record straight. Thanks.
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20 comments:
Hi...its me..the one suka ceroboh your blog...heheh im so sorry ya...im not with any of the ppl saying all that nasty thing...im on my own...myself...I tak ikut org tau, betul like u said tak bedek......
on why im reading your blog as well its fun n good to see our ppl living in a good life, we shld share the happiness and im one of them...ok ok back to what i want to ask...but why resign? so sayang u knw...like ive said on my previous comment, not everybody can get this job u knw...haiyaahhhh...hope the resign decision come from both of you not cause of other ppl ya....emmmm hope to read your next blog on why the resign thing ya....stay cool guys!!!
hey hey..i'm a random reader...if i read between the lines correctly, all i can say, congrats to your hubby and all the best for this journey! This is definitely something worth leaving dubai and emirates for..
hi raihan
i'm a fren of a fren of yours. thus making me yr fren tu, not an enemy, so no worries. anyways, the best thing for u to do now is to close yr blog and shut all these nastiness from your life. you're trying to start a family right, then better to protect them babies from all these. anyways, stress wun help when making babies.. hehe..
if u really wanna blog to stay in contact with yr frens or just to have a place to pen yr thoughts, then do it anonymously. this way nobody will attack you. orang kata, ignorance is bliss. i practice it myself. be aloof to be happy. =)
good luck. i'm busy making babies too.. lols
this is just my honest opinion.
the things that i thought i know about you are based on what you have written on your blog which is read by your friends, detractors and mutual people alike.
i read the comments written under the previous entry by so many of this people and it got me thinking - what is so great about being an air stewardess that it manage to ignite such intense jealousy among other women?
could the story be different if let say, kak raihan, you become a rocket scientist who decided to quit NASA and go back to singapore to head the now new but totally fictional Singapore Aeronautic and Space Association, let's say?
Will all this bimbotic and totally ugly and evidently jealous comments ceased to be replaced by "Wah, Raihan, you so pandai...you naikkan nama Melayu...good work, Raihan," One can only wonder.
but then kak raihan, you are not exactly helping matters by putting up pictures of your cars, latest splurges etc on your blog. this is your blog, of course you can put all those but too much of one thing is a bad thing. it may be that you want to share your happiness around, nothing's wrong with that but as you have seen for yourself, other people chose to interpret all that as you bragging about living the high-life in dubai.
and the article in BH doesn't really help matters, no?
about the fact that some people are calling you traitor for applying for SQ, well, how do they deduce it? i hazarded a guess and it pretty much goes back to your previous entries. see, from how you wrote those entries, a mutual reader will get the impression that you do not like SQ. i thought you do not like SQ as well. can you blame them (your enemies) for dissing you when they found out that you have applied for SQ now? don't asked me to quote those entries. trawling through a person's blog archives ain't my cup of tea and what i wrote here is based on my memories, if my memory serves me right.
same goes for being a patriotic singaporean...or not. from your entries, it is pretty much summed up that you don't like singapore much. *shrugs*
you could say, "so your point actually is to tell me that everything that has happened, it all goes down to me writing those entries?"
from how i look at it, yes.
but you may beg to differ and you can argue back until you are blue in the face but what you have wrote, have been read by many people and for every single thing that you do now, they are going to remember everything that you wrote and will viciously attack you from what you have written so far.
i believe that unless you are God, you should not passed judgement on another person unless you know that person really well.
i believe too that people take on a different persona when they are blogging than when they are in real life.
however, not everyone thinks like that and they chose to deduce the real you based on what you have blogged which is pretty common.
i enjoy reading your blog though i do think you brag a tad too much. but i find no harm in it because i brag too in my blog. doesn't everybody? hah.
so kak raihan, from a mutual reader who actually exclaimed in delight when i saw your picture in BH - 'i know her, i read her blog frequently!', i wish you all the best in your SQ application. don't worry, i know of someone who is in her late 20s who got into SQ so i can't see why not you?
and if you got into SQ, i will be waiting to read about your life as a Singapore Girl.
best of luck!
-one of your silent reader
well said.
best thing ..
keep your best friends close , and your enemies closer.you'll sniff the rat soon.
you'll get wat i mean.
*winks*
=Anna Martina=
Salamz,
Being your avid reader (sori eh, dah kira ceroboh kan?) :)
Just a few things to say
'WELCOME HOME'
hi, i've not been commenting but i hv been reading.
i think some of raihan's glowing references to Dubai in comparison to singapore in her previous posts does make it seem like she preferred dubai over singapore but that's really subjective. i mean, we all don't REALLY love singapore THAT much do we? with the GST hikes and the high standard of living etc etc, we ourselves gripe endlessly about life here and sometimes wish we can just pack up and live elsewhere. so i think raihan's just telling it like it is when she compares certain things in dubai to singapore. i myself have relatives who are PRs in Australia and love Australia to bits but would not hesitate to run back to Singapore if need be. it's only natural.it's our home. we complain EVERYDAY about living in Singapore and wish we can live elsewhere but YET we continue living here because we have no choice or because we just cannot bear to leave this place because of family, friends and whatnots.i don't think raihan is different, she was just lucky to get to stay elsewhere and compare from there but like us, at the end of the day, it's still singapore for all of us.
and i remember a little bit about that very public tiff she had with that SQ blogger girl some time back because of that other blogger.prolly her references to SQ came in line when she was dissing that SQ girl? not SQ actually? again, we all diss the ones we're in a fight with, don't we? althougt its not a nice thing to do and is quite childish, we do it anyway. we make fun, insult and offend those we don't like currently.i do that too. raihan's just doing wat everyone does too, rite? only her's involves an SQ girl and now riahan wants to join SQ so it looks like she contradicted herself although i think its just a matter of coincidence. i don't know, again, i'm just trying to be fair here. this is just my opinion.
but i do want to say raihan does not really brag about her purchases, only maybe her BIG splurges like her cars and her house which i see many people do also. but i don't see her taking pictures of every angle of her bags or watever when she buys something from some designer brand or something or like some bloggers i see, pictures of paperbags of these designers lah.
i do pity you raihan. although u are doing just wat everyone else does but a bit differently, u get a little more shits thrown back at you because u are popular and ur blog is obviously well-read by both those who like and those who hate you.i don't think people are being fair but that's just how human beings are.
i do think u can take it or leave it. take it all and continue blogging or leave it and blog privately wit a password but if like that, i do hope i can still read ur blog. i hope u wont mind giving ur password to me.
:P
watever it is, tebalkan muka, pekakkan terlinga. live ur own life aje,ignore all these rotten heart people
raihan is popular? i don't think so lah. pls lah. she's only a little bit more known than the other bloggers. tu pon only coz she puts up pictures and talks about her " popular celebrity friends" like hetty, nurul, the ria DJs, nura j,rozza. those are really popular so she uses their names in her blog pasal dia gilerr nak popular jugak tapi sib baik suria tak nak dia. mampos muka sampan kena pampang kat tv kiter semua. aku boycott ah kalau gitu! hahahahah.
everyone deserves a lil bragging rights.. and for all those who blogs, surely u muz have done some form of braggings too..
not everything ppl write in their blog are solely true and not all of it are purely lies.. it's matter of how u perceived it & how much of it you choose to believe/not believe.. God gave us the power to think for a reason, kan. read blogs with an open mind and of coz with that couple pinches of salt.
so wat if she has celebrities blog links, don't everyone in the malay communities who blogs, has a "lil celebrity fren" as part of their links?
like i said before, i'm not championing for Raihan here but we are all adults here, some with kids and husband.. so think before you wish anyone harmed..
karma's a bitch i tell ya..
Peace. No war intended.
Kiken
Raihan,
You memang popular, that's why so many people are jealous with you :P If not, takkan I all the way from KL have been following your blog for many many years. Anyway, siapa Nurul, Nura J and Rozza? Tak famous pun kat Msia :P Hetty tu i kenal lah... Follow your heart Raihan and hopefully you'll achieve what dreams!
so babe, are you at block 225 then? - farhana (your neighbour satu block)
"
raihan is popular? i don't think so lah. pls lah. she's only a little bit more known than the other bloggers. tu pon only coz she puts up pictures and talks about her " popular celebrity friends" like hetty, nurul, the ria DJs, nura j,rozza. those are really popular so she uses their names in her blog pasal dia gilerr nak popular jugak tapi sib baik suria tak nak dia. mampos muka sampan kena pampang kat tv kiter semua. aku boycott ah kalau gitu! hahahahah.
# posted by Anonyme : 21/7/07 7:32 AM"
Dear kak raihan,
I have been reading your blog and the "enemy" blog for quite something. Seriously, do you want to take this matter seriously> Our neighbour (Malaysia) dah saman menyaman blogger yang kurang ajar (example kat atas tu). There is a way to track them lepas to sue. If you want to do it,left a msg here, I will help you. Dah nak muntah tgk mangkuk2 bodoh ni, dah tak suka still nak singgah. Bangang gila.
makin dilayan, makin menjadi - jadi.. so the best thing is buat bodoh. let the truth prevails..
btw im an avid reader of yours behind the closet.. and the reason why im here is because ive ALWAYS loved the way you blog.. interesting :-)
Hi Raihan,
I've been reading your blog for months now.Have been reading other stewardesses' blogs as well. And it is a surprise I know a friend of yours from Cresent Girls cos I saw her pic in one of the weddings you attended. We were in the same uni. Pleasant surprise and small world indeed.
As much as I am well-travelled on my own, the only thing I admire abt these stewardesses is that they get to visit the place over and over again. And they will eventually know where to get good deals and find great stuffs.
Nvr bothered their attitudes. But upon reading the komentar-komentar that you have, I was like,"Alamak!! Trina is a bitcher?"
I was like Gawd! I read her blogs often too. It seriously took a 180 degrees turn about what I think of her.
Doesnt matter if people are trying to pull you down. EVERYONE FACE THAT.
Still I admire & respect the lavish wedding you had, the love you have for Azim, the love i can read in btwn the lines that he has for you. Kudos!
Just keep on blogging, ignoring the rest! Keep on entertaining your readers who have been enjoying the entries.
Doesn't matter who you are. All that I see is that you have handled this very diplomatically. No finger pointing. Unlike some!
Cheerios!
honestly speaking..this ppl seriously has nuthin to do raihan not popular huh? then why bother snooping arnd in here.get out! im pretty sure u guys are gd frens with trina n diana.and why the heck are u bringing em up again.
mind ur own blardy busniess!
it doesnt concern u wat raihan n azim's future holds. u guys are really insignificant in their lives.
buzz off ya.
babe take it easy.. guezz ppl are just zealous, jus be yrself & i know that you are a sensible gal.
It may hurts with wat ppl have been saying abt you...sabar je k & be strong
way to go raihan. now you've made your stand, the blog war seems to be over?
all knife-tounged annonymous have cowered, and we all know why.
- the observer
Aiyoh soooo panas your blog!!! Like pisang goreng....(What de hell!! Hahaha, its a rainy day & so all I can think of its food.)
I am only just looking forward to read why you left your job. Why oh why???
Silent avid reader (Good One)
Just bloghopping and glad to read someone so true to her feelings, so much so that I got addicted reading... try writing -for a job change, I would be reading even if I had to pay. Congrats on your job move and have faith that everything will be fine.
Inshallah.www.Stylomom.com
hi...
i guess i should call u "kak raihan". i did go to crescent and if i'm not wrong; when u were in sec. 4, i was in sec. 1 running around like blur sotong and i vaguely remember u around sch.
i used to live in dubai and i do understand the life that u had there. like others have said, pple are jealous that u lead a very blessed life wit ha great husband and job. whatever the reason may be for u to have returned to the motherland, that is your perrogative.
life is always greener on the other side. that's why u talked so highly of dubai. dubai is indeed a GORGEOUS place and can offer someone so much as far as job oppurtunities, lifestyle and SHOPPING. bes giler... i'd do anthing to live there again but tak der rezki yet
i left after sec. 1 in Crescent and came to the US (that's why i was TOTALLY excited to see that u had attended the "I <3 SG" day in NY. maklumlah, i couldn't go because of sch obligations). pple judge and always will. u think i don't get criticized for living overseas and supposedly "bragging" about it? i don't brag abt being in the states but i always talk about the perks of being there. and i always get the "sajer tak sadar dunia". that hurts but what can u do? but u will ALWAYS pple saying shit like that and u will also ALWAYS have friends there to back u up.
but u will always have haters. and i think i know who ur "hater" is...maybe i'm just assuming. but brush them haters off and keep on truckin'. we all have "celebrity" friends. but how big is a celebrity in singapore. they're pretty much confined to the borders of singapore so pple can't give u crap for it. afterall, they're just pple and have their "humanly" duties too.
keep on bloggin. i've been following ur blog for a while and it's nice to know that a fellow crescentian is doing really well in life...congrats on everything u've achieved.
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