Storm in a Teacup

Last Tuesday, I finally took time to look at the Chinese Chess set which we got as the the 3rd prize in the lucky draw held onboard the coach during our One-Day Tour organised by the CC. I was disgusted at the rubbish that I saw.

So I told Mother about it, and after much discussion, we both agreed that it should be returned to the CC (the CC being the organiser which had sold the tickets to me, mah). But she didn't want to be seen/known doing it, so I was to do it myself. That was fine with me, so I wrote a note (something like this) to accompany the rubbish:

To The Person In Charge
XXXX Community Club

On 17 June 2007, my family and I joined your One-Day Tour...... and was very fortunate to have received the 3rd prize in the lucky draw held onboard the coach during the trip.

However, when we returned home and unwrapped the prize, we were dismayed to see that it was an old and used Chinese Chess set. Not only was its box yellow and mouldy, the wooden chess pawns also had decaying wood and some of them were cracked. The paper chess board was also yellow with patches of mould on it.

Whilst we understand that it is a virtue not to look into the mouth of a gift horse, we find it unacceptable that such an item which is fit only for the recycling bin has been given out to us as a lucky draw prize. This is ridiculous and most insulting!

During the trip, the organiser had emphasized that all the prizes had been sponsored by a very generous Mr Goh, a 'PBM' grassroots leader. Please also convey our feedback to Mr Goh. I would also urge you to be more discerning when accepting sponsored prizes for your activities.

With a very heavy heart full of disappointment (that such an insult has been inflicted on us), we return the Chess set to you unwrapped but otherwise untouched. It is a shame that your goodwill and credibility have been injured by such irresponsible sponsorship.

Resident
Ms Tan

On Saturday morning, I dropped the rubbish and the self-explanatory note off at the CC on our way out.

When I returned home in the afternoon, Mother called to tell me frantically, "你惨了！他们说你控告到人民协会去，他们现在闹得大了！电话一直打来打去！"

Hahahahahaaa...... Well, to cut a long story short, this was what happened:

1) After I spoke to Mother about having received the rubbish, Mother went to sound out the organisers and confirm if they knew the item was an old and used one. Their reply was "Yah, we know. But we don't know what the item was. All the sponsored prizes had been given to us already nicely wrapped."

2) So, even though I was at first a little hesitant as to whether or not to 揭发 this type of despicable practice of handing out rubbish to participants of the CC's activities, I became very determined that this should be done - particularly because sponsoring rubbish was one thing, trying to pass them off as new items by having them wrapped first before giving to the 'innocent' organisers was simply too much! That 'PBM' must be a down-right lowly creature, man! Treat us as his rubbish-bin and yet he gets 好名声as a very generous man, ah?! How can he get away with this, right?!

3) And hence, my note and returning the rubbish to the CC on Saturday.

4) After the bomb has been dropped in the morning, the shocked CC people called up the organisers and reprimanded them for giving out such rubbish to residents. The sheepish organisers called Mother and told her that they had been scolded because of me. And it was only then that they confessed that they had been the ones to receive the rubbish and wrap them up as prizes!!!!!! 原来，他们是罪魁祸首！！ They had been in cahoots with the 'PBM' and not really as innocent as they had at 1st made themselves out to be!!

5) Well, one of the organisers then had the audacity to ask Mother to get me to call her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When Mother told me this, I told Mother that if that woman wanted to talk to me, she should be the one to call me. Why should I call her? I consented to Mother giving her my telephone number.

6) Then, minutes later, that woman really called leh! 她竟敢打电话来兴师问罪！！ I told her off in as nice a way as possible when she demanded to know why I had returned the rubbish to the CC despite her 'instructing' Mother that this must not be done! But I blew my top when she demanded that I must immediately go to the CC to retrieve the rubbish and dispose of it myself! Woah Lao! 我如果是能由你这样差遣来差遣去，我就不是我咯！也不先去打听打听我是谁，竟敢在太岁头上动土！你未免太高估自己了吧！

7) Very soon after, Mother called me to inform me that the other organiser had called her to go and retrieve the rubbish from the CC and to throw it away. And Mother had agreed!!!! And she said she had just called the CC people to dispose of the rubbish!!!! >:0

8) Of course I blew my top (again!) and told Mother that she should have just stayed out of this if she couldn't handle these scums! I called the CC and spoke to the person who had attended to me in the morning. I told her very briefly what the despicable organisers had just pressured Mother to do after failing to pressure me to destroy the evidence. Then I told the staff this, "I forbid the destruction or disposal of the rubbish. If this has been done or is being done as demanded by the organisers, I will not hesitate to escalate this to the PA HQ." The staff reassured me that the rubbish has not been thrown away but has been handed to the senior manager called Ms Choy.

Actually, I did not intend to do more than just let the CC know what despicable practice that 'PBM' + the organisers had been doing behind their back (getting their 好名声at our expense). The purpose of my returning the rubbish to the CC was just that + I want them to know that not every resident/participant in their activities is "hard-up". Not everyone can be trampled on as they like!

And of course, I cannot stand being insulted - that day, we got 2 prizes in that draw - rigged by the organisers at their own volition, none of us requested or even hinted for it. So to those who knew the prizes were rubbish items, we would have been seen as being so 饿鬼（"yao-kui"）; to those who didn't know that the prizes were rubbish items, we would have been seen as being so 贪心　（"tum-sim"）! Either way, it is an insult which cannot go un-redressed.

(But I didn't want to really get the organisers into trouble, hence I had left the rigging and the fact that we also got another prize - another old and used item, unmentioned.)

我就是这样：做人要站得正、坐得稳。敢做就敢承认、敢面对。如果那样奖品真的有如他们所说的，虽然旧可是还可以用、不是不堪入眼，那他们又为什么不敢让联络所的人看一看呢？！为什么会怕联络所的人看呢？！

他们又说，拿到不喜欢的东西，最多不是把它丢了咯。可是，我们就没有感受的吗？我们是收旧货的吗？为什么要拿我们寻开心，让我们觉得被他人看遍了呢？如果东西应该丢，为什么是我们要帮你丢呢？！

他们还说，他们分发了好几十次这样的奖品了，都“没事”，都没人嫌弃！是吗？没听到回应就表示大家开心、满意吗？！

从头到尾，我就是一句话：士可杀，不可辱！！不要仗着自己有些“地位”，就把普通平民的我们践踩在脚底下！

I just told Mother again last night that if these despicable people have any sense (common sense + sense of shame etc) left in them, they should just repent and re-think their action and let this storm blow over. If they choose to go further, pressuring Mother etc, then I also won't hesitate to go along. If the PA HQ and even the MCYS are what they want, then 我就奉陪到底！