Handling Holland.. (and now aidan too!)

It is almost December. Coming to winter. Christmas decorations are up, lights are well lighted. Parades welcoming Christmas are going on. How exciting for me to be able to see all the decorations, i’ve always loved Christmas time, you’ll be amazed with what they can come up with for presents and decorations! Love it!

Well anyway, here, in the Netherlands, Santa Claus is called Sinta Klaus. And his helpers are called Piet, not Elves. they look… hmm.. well.. somewhat different too! Sinta is more ‘Christian’, wearing a tall hat with the cross, a long red robe, somewhat slimmer and his clothes are with a slight ‘kerawang’! to me, he looks more religious then the normal Santa i have seen! You tell me what you think!

As for his helpers, Piet, or known here as Zwart Piet (black pete) hmm.. the kids love black piet. i was quite scared of him to be honestl! Piet was with black curly short hair, a gold earing, dressed in colourful clothes. their pictures, posters are up everywhere and i decided to go on the net to find out more of this Santa, or Sinta and Piet.

Sinta Klaus is a variation of a Dutch folk tale based on the historical figure Saint Nicholas, a bishop from the Myra in Asia Minor (contemporary Turkey), who used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering.

Dutch children get two bites at the annual present of Christmas. On 25 December, they open their parcels with the rest of Europe, but on 6 December they receive a special advance consignment thanks to Sinta Klaus - or Saint Nicholas. The build-up begins a fortnight earlier, when the impersonators of this fourth-century bishop arrive with great civic ceremony in Dutch harbours by boat, laden with goodies.

The origins of the decidedly politically incorrect Zwarte Piet are disputed. Some say his face is black because he used to climb down chimneys to deliver presents. Others have traced a link back to the black Moorish slaves who served the Spanish when they were colonial masters of the Nethedrlands.

Piet normally gives out a type of cookies. Tiny round ones to children. And the children normally bring their own bags to fill them with these cute little cookies!

It is certainly nice to know and learn of other cultures and religion. I am still new in this country, it’ll take a while for me to accept that Piet’s face is black, and not to be scared of him! Interesting ey?

As Aidan is sleeping (well, almost), and Tony’s painting our dining and kitchen (thus i’m not cooking tonight), i can now write my blog!

There’s a lot of paper work and documents to fill during the first few months after having Aidan. insurance, hospital, registering his birth at the Gemente, registering him at the malaysian embassy, applying for his passport…i’ve got my husband to thank for that. ALL was done by him.

Hardy took a day off yesterday. we went up to Den Haag to visit the Malaysian Embassy. it was suppose to be a 2 hour drive up north but the traffic added another hour to our journey. pushed off after aidan’s early morning feeding as the appointment was set at 10am. we called the officer in charge to inform him of our delay due to heavy traffic at Eindhoven, i could tell from his voice that he wasnt happy about it and still ‘pushed’ us to arrive as soon as we could. what could we possibly do having stuck in the morning traffic, its not like we’re coming from Rotterdam or Amsterdam! he could have at least understood and be a little understanding with our situation, travelling from Sittard! well, nevermind. fine!

We arrived an hour late. and he kept us waiting for almost 45 mins in the reception room! can you believe it?!?! the receptionist told us he was having his lunch. fine. we waited. he then came in and WAS NOT welcoming at all to see us. very ‘athoritative’ kind of approach, NOT friendly at all. well, fine.

There were 3 different things we applied for. everything was such straight forward. not much paperwork for him to do, just for us to fill. and we did that in less than 5 mins! he then took our passports and ic to photocopy. and guess how look it took him to copy them. 15 mins. we were left waiting for him, again. i assumed, having gone that long, he would have at least bring back a few paper clips to clip our photos on the documents, but nooooo! it just shows how unorganised he was to me. he handed us back our ic and my passport. and in my heart i was saying - doesnt he need my passport to renew it?!! oh well, i wont bother asking, he should know what he’s doing. well, fine!

He came back and asked hardy "driving licence you driving licence apa?" hardy replied "i have a dutch driving licence". the man said "bila nak balik malaysia macam mana you nak bawak kereta tak ada lesen?" hardy replied "belum nak balik lagi tapi nanti i’ll ask for my malaysian driving licence back". embassy man then asked again, "you dah dapat ke belum?" hardy said "belum, it will be sent here, to the embassy". the man then took a slip of paper together with hardy’s malaysian driving licence. he said "ingatkan dah tak nak. kalau you tak mintak, kita akan hantar balik ke malaysia, bila dah sampai malaysia, lain cerita". and i tought to myself, WHY BOTHER ASKING ALL THAT QUESTION when he can straight away give hardy his malaysian driving licence back?!?! it was with him all the while!!! how sneaky! well, FINE!

He then went back to his office again, calculating what we have to pay. again, it took him quite a while. we waited. FINE!

We were short of cash, and so we headed to the nearest machine. took us only 15 mins. arrived at the embassy, the receptionist told us to just hand him (the receptionist) the money. as that man (whose identity will not be revealed), was praying and he will pray "laaammmmaaa sangat, dengan wirid dia panjang". ok. FINE!!!!! "dia suruh tinggalkan passport lama sekali". I WAS RIGHT! he does not know what he was doing! Goshhhhh!

I feel like writing a letter to the embassador or someone to let them know of this. you have the priviliged to be serving for malaysia, malaysians in a foreign country. YOU ARE HERE TO SERVE, SO SERVE! we are all malaysians afterall, cant we be at least a little bit friendlier with a little bit of efficiency, smile a little at least? or do you serve just the locals? i wonder..

Anyway, i wouldnt want to complain anymore. i hope he doesnt call us and tell us that he had lost our application form, asking us to go up to Den Haag again (not that we dont like Den Haag, we do!). We shall now wait for our passports to come back from London, hopefully in time for our christmas holidays!

While waiting for him, we managed to snap a few photos of Aidan. we introduced him to the items displayed in the 70s room they had there, barang barang tekad, tembaga, some old potteries, kain songket…. hardy played around with the stuff, trying them on on Aidan!

Once done at the embassy, we headed off to the centre. we had a good day just walking and browsing. we sat down, had our hot drinks, me hot cocoa, hardy a latte, aidan his milk, before headed back home, down south.

Wish us luck in getting our passports!

(Picture: Aidan with a background of the malaysian stuff at the embassy, Sultan Aidan, Aidan the Pesawah Padi, Aidan in Den Haag)

People always see that its nice to have a baby, you can buy baby clothes, dress them up, buy them toys and play with them, have company and life would be complete. true. but its what beyond that that is the most crutial thing. and that is what most people fail to see.

Its one thing bringing out a child into this world, bringing him up is another thing.

Everybody knows i had a 24 hour labour (which is not normal). i dealt with the extreme pain, being restless, worried, clueless with whats going as the contractions came one after another. having not enough sleep and rest (went walking here and there, ignoring that i’m due anytime didnt help), i lack of energy to even breathe! i try to focus on the contractions one by one as they come. I was extremely angry with the decisions the doctors made, in keeping me in that situation for too long. i wanted to swear and utter some unpleasant words, i wanted to throw all the things in the room, i felt like kicking something or someone, i even wanted to break my head by banging it on the railings of my bed! but i swore, and i told myself that i am not going to bring out a child out to this world with such violence, let it be physical or verbal. and so yet again, and as in so many cases, i controlled it, and kept it to myself. from my experience, that is bringing out a child to this world.

Now, bringing him up, is another thing. I am now faced with quite a challanging task each mother has - bringing up a child. all aspects of a person’s life- his character, sense of responsibilities, good and bad habits, ability to cope with situations are shaped during his early days of childhood. theres a difference between education and upbringing. no point being successful in your job but all your beliefs are wrong and off no values. the best period to start the so called training is in his early days. his eary days is the most impressionable period in a life of a person. therefore we as parents play a very crucial role. it is not easy. it requires knowledge, experience, determination and perseverance. it requires the same understanding between both parents. therefore it is important to share and be on the same grounds. it is so so easy to ‘contaminate’ someone’s minds in the early part of his/her life. it can lead them to a different path.

I would do anything to bring up my son the right way, or at least that would lead him to the right way. for him to know and belief what is right and what is wrong. for him to understand the reasons why it is right and why it is wrong. i would want my son to have values. orang melayu kita kata sometimes, berbahasa, beradap dan bersopan. i would want him to respect everyone even someone who is younger than him. i would want him to respect the person who collects our garbage. i would want him to learn of different cultures, know of and respect other people’s religion. i would want him to respect people’s boundaries. there’s a time to joke, there’s a time to be serious. there’s a way to talk and behave infront of your elders, there’s a way you talk to your friends. its a lot! and it is the scarriest task i’ve ever been given! we, as parents ourselves have to be their role model. its a huge task, and its daunting.

I would want him to know and feel the real meaning of love. i would want to teach him the real meaning of family, the real meaning of sincerity. the real meaning of friendship, the real meaning of respect.

My parents always stress this to us, before you do something, think. it will reflect on your upbringing. and most people will see that the first time the meet you. i thank them so much for making me what i am today. i can never repay them.

I will try my outmost best, having read, taught and shown the meaning of values and moral myself to raise Aidan. but then again, having said all this, we are humans. therefore i will pray that God will help us in making our son a good person with good upbringing, with good values and with good morals. insyaallah.