First Job – Berry Picking

For most of my life, I have led a very charmed existence.

Of course, when I was gowing up, I didn’t think so. I felt like I was among the most un-spoiled children out there. I was made to ‘menabung’ my own school money. All the money I had in the bank in Malaysia was a combination of my savings and my raya money. I know how some parents save money for their children in the children’s separate account.

But not our family.My parents monitored how much I spent everyday. When I was seven years old, my mom would give me one ringgit to school…and I was asked to put into my tabung 40 cents of them. Everyday I have to show my parents that I did have 40 cents for my tabung and that left me only 60 cents to spend at school. And as my daily school money increased with the passing years, my tabung requirement also increased. Only when I get to high school did my parents become less rigid in terms of how much I put into my tabung. And once I get to MRSM Langkawi, I pretty much had free rein in terms of how much I want to spend and save.

From a very early age, I felt like it was unfair for my parents to make me use my own money to buy my novels when I saw how my friends’ hobbies were financed by their parents.I felt like I was very disadvantaged.

I was delighted when I get to OZ and received my own monthly salary. It’s payback time! Hahahh.

I generally feel like I am not a ‘boros’ person. I spend on what I need without thinking, though. I mean…until now I have no idea how much do onions, garlic, bread or rice cost…because I don’t always look at the receipt or the price. Because to me, those are basic things that you still need to buy regardless of the price..so why bother knowing the price..it’s not like you are not going to buy them if they are expensive. You still need them, regardless.

But I do watch what I bought in terms of shoes, clothes, and electronic gadgets. Some people think, that these are the things that are worthy of going all out…and that’s why they’d much rather save on food. I am different. I go all out on food. Because I don’t mind wearing cheap unbranded stuff…no one is going to be so rude as to ask “Is that shoes from Big W or is it from some designer store?”  No one is sooo stupid to make their vanity and their arrogance obvious by saying, “Apa jenama baju yang ko pakai ni? Tak der class langsung!”. So, those who go all out on brands hanya syok sendiri sebab orang lain tak heran pun dengan brand itu! At the end of the day, I don’t give a damn about brands.

I was brought up with  these principles :

- Buat apa kasut mahal2, nanti nak letak kat tanah juga. Nanti kotornya sama ja dengan kasut mahal. Lainlah kalau kasut mahal tu kalis kotoran.

-Bras and panties….who are sooo stupid to spend that MUCH money on very small little things. And no one  is going to see those sexy things on you pun!

-Keeping track of technology…is a waste of money! It doesn’t matter that my handset ada camera ka…ada internet ka…or whatever. At the end of the day I use my handset ONLY to call home. And if I want to take pictures, I use my camera. And when I want to access internet, I go straight to my laptop. So, I really don’t need handset that has everything in one because I wouldn’t use them anyway.

So aku selalu perasan yang aku ni tak boros. Aku tak heran pasal jenama, aku tak ada hobi yang melibatkan barang elektronik yang mahal dan aku hidup sederhana dan aku puas hati.

But after working under the barely bearable summer heat and after experiencing how HARD it is to fill up a bucket of berries to get 3 dollars…I know that money is sooo very precious. That I am actually ‘boros’ in my own way.

I knew that no matter how much aku perasan aku ni tak boros tak bertempat, I now knew that I am just as bad with money as the next person.

One glass of Gloria Jeans chillers cost me like 2 buckets of hand-picked berries. So, from now on I will cut down on my coffee.  And there are so many little things that I spend on without thinking…that I might as well just spend them on one branded stuff.

Haih! I need to re-examine how I spend my money now that I know how much effort it worths.

This page is a  record of my experience of the recent summer job I had. My first job ever. And I feel a sense of satisfaction that this time, I really earned the money.