The first time I sat on an aeroplane was when I was 12. Right after my UPSR. A holiday gift from my uncle, Alan. That was also my maiden trip overseas. Destination - Medan, Indonesia. I went with my bro, mom and a few family friends. It was a packaged tour. I remember having a crush on Johan, the tour guide. Such a hunk! Most importantly, he was extremely hospitable. We felt right at home. So, it wasn't a surprise that we had a good time and I enjoyed Indonesia very much.What I remembered most about this guy, was the fact that he is an Indonesian Chinese who is a born Christian. I was confused. First by the name and second by the fact that he spoke in good Bahasa Indonesia, so I assumed that he was Muslim. Then, he shared with me the story about what happened to him and his family during the racial riots in his country. That was my first lesson on unity. It made me realize how lucky I am to be born in Malaysia. Of course at that age, I didn't know about our very own May 13th. I wasn't born yet then. However, from what I have heard, it's good to know that for every man who sowed hatred back then, there were many others who were planting seeds of love.
At 17, I left for Japan as an exchange student under the AFS program. It was an experience of a lifetime. I fell straight away in love with the country and its people. They were amazed to know that I could speak several languages fluently. I never knew how special it is, being a Malaysian till then. I met an old man who was in Malaya during the Japanese occupation and he shared his experiences with me. He was not a soldier, but a clerk working under a fellow countryman living in our country. I could sense his pain and his bitterness..At the same time I knew that he has moved on and did what he had to do out of his love and duty for his country. That was my first lesson on patriotism. I was also not born yet during that era, therefore I didn't know how to hate him or his kind. The ones who took care of me, showered me with lots of love and kindness. I was surrounded by plenty of goodness.
At 19, I joined the Airlines. Best decision I ever made at that time. I went places, I saw things, I experienced stuff and I got to share my adventures with the people I love that no amount of money can replace. I was there at Lady D's funeral. A week later I was there again to mourn the loss of Mother Theresa. I loved New York. Manhattan was a favourite place of mine. I cried when I saw the plane crashed into the twin towers. I have been through a few minor earthquakes and aftershocks. It made me feel lucky to call Malaysia my home. I love to eat. There are times when I am overseas and I reach my hotel hungry and the only place open is China Town which could be at the other end of the world, and I'll be thinking to myself, damn! I wish I could have a Roti Canai and Teh Tarik now. There're just too many wonderful things about Malaysia that we take for granted that sometimes we need to go somewhere else before we realize what we are missing. My work gave me a chance to bring my mom everywhere. She got to relive her childhood dreams through me. Now, I am able to share this joy with my son as well. I have also come to notice that Malaysia is one of the child friendly country ever. You can bring your child anywhere and not get a stare if they were to scream, yell or throw a tantrum. Well, I am sure not many of us can tolerate that but we are just way too polite to not tell the parents off. Being a mother makes me more aware of things like these. Travelling to me, is one of life's greatest lessons and I am lucky that I am able to do this so easily when it takes some others a lifetime to save up for.
I learned that we Malaysians are one of the friendliest and peace loving people around. There are also some psychos living among us but hey! people say, we even have one in every family. So, live with it. When I am out of the country, I am known as a Malaysian. It is when I am back home that some are prone to ask me, what are you? There are of course some nut cases whom I work with that can truly be a pain in the ass but I have learned to ignore them and choose to focus on the good that I see in people. There was once an incident when I first started flying that taught me a few lessons in life. We did a long trip to LA. I got bored of ordering food from the same person who supplies it to us, so I opted to have my meal at the food court in a shopping mall before going back to the hotel instead. One of my supervisor's, who was the person who volunteered to be the middleman to order food for the Muslim crew, was pretty pissed off with me. He made sure I was miserable throughout the whole trip. At the airport on the flight from LAX to Narita, he kept on embarrassing and harassing me for being a " Murtad". All because I chose to eat Sushi instead of "Ayam Masak Merah." The rest of the Muslim crew were afraid to get involved. There was one guy who stood up for me and till today I'll never forget him. Thanks to him, I enjoyed my trip. He took care of me, made me feel accepted and did what he do best. He led by example. A true leader. He might be a Buddhist but he is more a Muslim than many of us. In the Airlines, we have an Elvis look a like. He is known as SUPERMAN. ( He became a father recently and is currently recuperating from a heart surgery ). In the working environment, he was the person who taught me my first lesson on how to stand your ground and not let others bully you.
Now that I am a supervisor myself, I try to be a good one. I enjoy sharing my love for flying. To motivate others, you yourself have got to be motivated. Loving what you do is an art in itself, just like breast feeding. It's based on supply and demand. Go figure! When you know your purpose in life, everything becomes a joy. Others will try to break you or emulate you but no one can be you. I used to serve others. I still do but now I see the wisdom behind it. By 'serving' others, my needs are met. Easy peasy :)
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