When Honesty Backfires

24th Jan 2007 (Wed)

One problem I have since I was small is being too honest at times. Today, this ‘habit’ resulted into two unwanted situations.

The first incident made me sound so dumb that I hesitated to blog about this at first. But if my sister could blog about her silly experience (exchanging currency in Midvalley), why can’t I? I went for my medical check up today in Drs. Catterall, Khoo, Raja Malek Dan Rakan-Rakan, Petaling Jaya. As what other students do, I HONESTLY filled in the form (Part A) before the appointment. I wrote that I have a chest pain averagely once every week for a few months already. (Well, the bad thing is I haven’t seen a doctor regarding this). It was like air stuck at the upper abdomen and I feel relieved each time after burping. I suspect that this is caused by indigestion.

Upon looking at my form, the male doctor went.

“Aiyoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo”

It was literarily long, which reminds me of Russle Peter’s,

“Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, I can’t do thirty dollars.”

And the doctor repeated that “Aiyo” when the nurse was checking my height, weight and eyesight, so many times that I lost count.”

“This doctor is so not positive-minded. Instead of looking for solutions, he keeps on aiyo-ing and aiyo-ing,” I thought to myself.

Doc: How am I going to blank-ko this you tell me?
Me: Er, well, you don’t have to blank-ko it. You can just right an explanation down there saying that it’s not serious.
Doc: (Didn’t respond to my suggestion and his eyes were glued on my form) Aiyo…………………….
Me: Speechless.
Doc: Do you have another copy of this form with you?
Me: (Assuming that he’s going to ask me to go back and print another form but praying that he’s not gonna say that) Yeah, I have it in my email.
Doc: Where to do live?
Me: Shah Alam.
Doc: Aiyo………………

Finally, he wrote a short explanation in the form saying that it was merely indigestion and some other details which indicates that it is not a heart attack/not anything serious.

Doc: You ah..Chou yan em hoh yi kam lou sat keh. Wan em tou seik ka….(“you cannot be so honest. Can’t earn a living one” in Cantonese) Next time, if you don’t know how to feel in a form, just ask the doctor. Don’t simply feel in.
Me: Oh………..

I felt so dumb dumb after that. I bet some of you are laughing at me already. I was merely stating the truth but I guess the chest pain that really needed to be stated is those suffered from heart attack, not something as minor as indigestion.

Oh, the doctor was actually quite nice. He seems like those who complains and sighs a lot but won’t take it into heart. Quite nice to talk too as well. He occasionally included some Cantonese phrases during our conversation. I assume that’s how he keeps to his roots =p

The second incident happened when my uncle called me, saying that he’s going back to Taiping by bus. I recalled that my cousin will be driving, thus, invited my uncle to join us back instead of taking the bus. Again, I took the wrong action as my cousin beih syok (not syok in Hokkein) with this uncle one. But since I’ve invited him, my cousin has no choice but to go along with this new plan.

My cousin: Ah Yau, next if you don’t know anything, don’t simply say things.
Me (monolog): What do you mean I don’t know anything? I know that you’re driving back what. And I also know that this uncle is nice to me (although he has his obvious bad side). So what’s wrong with offering him a place with us wor. One person in the bus all the way back to Taiping very boring one you know. Somemore senior citizen already.

Of course, I felt bad that I offended my cousin by inviting my uncle straight away without asking my cousin first. But I was merely trying to help. Perhaps I should practise the “I dunno” policy.

These two occurrences left me felt disappointed with myself at the end of the day and lost some appetite during dinner. It was also a day of self reflection after what had happened. People keep saying that honest people can’t survive in this world. Well, I’m honest and I’ve survived twenty years in this world. Alright, alright, perhaps I have not really stepped into the ‘real’ world yet.

The real one is where most people lie, cheat, and backstab others to achieve their goal (Cousin 2007).

Uh, it sounds so cruel. And it also made Chean Yeaw’s, “I’m a pawn in this cruel world” sounds practical. But I refuse to believe in this kind of world. I know there’re still good people out there. In fact, everyone is good. It’s just so happen that you see the bad side of them. Moreover, most of the friends I hanged out with (Ipoh Trip, Kedah Trip, Sarawak Trip, Taiping friends) are nice people and to imagine them backstabbing each other in the future is simply too uh indescribable.

To all my friends, I hope you all won’t change. Ok lah, lets be realistic. Everyone will change as time moves own. Just don’t cross the line and kuih ki oh oh hah peng (go to the dark side). I always believe that I can survive by being honest as much as I can and minimizing the lies. No doubt, lying can also be for a good purposes. If I were to lie a bit today, that two things would be avoided. Hence, in the future, if my kid asks me,

“Dad, is it bad to lie?”

“Er… read my blog” (instead of saying “YES”)

And when you look at things from a positive or perhaps a simpler point of view, the world will be a better place, as stated in Sze Huey’s blog, ‘Simplicity Is Life’. I end this entry with a forwarded message from Peifei (Nooi Hoay, I spell correctly =p )

Positive thinking is like this;

A little bird in the sky,
You look up and it shits in your eye,
You don’t mind and you don’t cry,
You just thank God that cows don’t fly.

Thank you for reading!!!