Bibik......

Bibik came to work for us four years ago when Billi was two yrs old. We decided to let her go home on the 12th March, three days before I left for Nha Trang. We had a long conversation and decided that if a choice is to be made, she should give priorities to look after her sick mother and her children... and I will always manage to find a replacement. Whether it will be somebody as good and trustworthy as her, is totally a different case altogether.

We have always find it difficult to use the terms *maid*, *orang gaji* or * servante*. It doesn’t sound right so *Bibik* seems ok and acceptable but sometimes i refer her as my DA (domestic assistant) and she would smile after I explained to her what it means! Bik has a good sense of humour and I really love that.

Bik is a part of our family. Wherever we were on family outing/hols, we took her along. Whatever we ate, she ate, but she refused to eat with us in the dining. She has always wanted to eat in the kitchen on her own when everybody else has eaten.  

Glancing at Bik eating alone one day I realized she is more comfortable to eat in the kitchen on her own and from that day onwards I did not nag her anymore. However on Sundays, when everyone in the family are  home, I would insist that we all ate together as a family. Quite a few times, we became the last two to leave the table. As we ate, she would tell me about her family in Bengkulu, about her husband who left her 10 years ago, about her children, her ailing mother and about her future plans for them. In our many talks I realise she very seldom thinks of herself and her well being. 

*Bik... bik nak call anak?* I asked( Do you want to call home)

*Tak payah la Bu'. Duit baru kita hantar*.(No need to call them Bu' I had sent money to them recently)

Sometimes the things that came out from her mouth do not make sense to me immediately but i often understand her line of thoughts later on.

Billi loves her to pieces because she never said NO and she would do everything for him... including those that I ask him to do it himself. Bik annoyed me many times not until I gave a last warning.

“Tanya Mama dulu...Bik takut!”she said when Billi asked for favours. ( Ask your mama first…..I am afraid of her…)

Bik has developed a liking keeping a jar of sweets on the kitchen table. Whenever we go shopping, she would get some of those as part of our household's must-haves. It is Bik's survival kit in a nutshell. 

Billi grumpy......sweets for him.

Billi being good.... sweets for him.

Billi going swimming....sweets for him                                                                                                  (If he refuse to go swimming……. no sweet for him).

...and so on and so forth. In the end, I used my veto power…no more sweets. Before I knew it, she has collected all the sweets and placed them in a jar on top of the kitchen cabinet. That was HER jar ...  So i turned a blind eye to the whole thing. When sometimes she quietly offered sweets to Billi, I pretended not to hear or see. It was THEIR little secrets :)

“Ini bukan perpisahan ya Bu’. Insyaallah panjang umur, murah rejeki kita jumpa lagi”she said. (This is not a farewell...... InsyaAllah we will soon meet again)

I never expected that I would be as sad as I was the day I sent her off at the airport. We both cried and hugged. 

As Billi shouted “Bik! Bik! Kita jumpa lagi, Bik!!!” over and over again, I had trouble holding back my tears.

**This morning I got an email from mama…informing me the passing of Bik’s mother.

Al-Fatihah……