Narcissists are amazing
Amazing because their mere existence and mindless behaviour are able to drive a person up the wall. Even the strongest soul feels like ending their life there and then. Narcissists lack empathy. They have poor insight into their actions affect others. All they care about is themselves.
I was looking forward to spending Eid with my MIL and her immediate family. Unfortunately, another character decides to spoil it all. Now I am not even sure if I want to live past Ramadan.
Iftar 2026 with the Powerpuffs
I would have lived my life as a hermit if it weren’t for my sister, who is a social butterfly. She would organise this Iftar session at her home, and I would gladly bring my little family to enjoy the food. The husband would tag along out of obligation. If he had his way, I’d think he would prefer not to go. He is morphing into my dad’s (unfavourable) traits with time.
Since I anticipated that the Iftar session would take some time to enjoy, I booked a room at Zenith Hotel Putrajaya for the night. I wrote about it in my previous post.
My sister ordered Nasi Arab and Shawarma. I gave her some money for it. She also made mi kolok, tauhu begedil and a lovely dessert. Her son was celebrating his birthday as well, so she got a mango cheesecake from Secret Recipe. I brought my Popia Big Mac. It has become a tradition and act of love on my part as I hand the frozen ones to my sibling and my dad. My brother Danial would ration his portion to like 2 pieces a day so that it wouldn’t run out. To be honest, it takes a great deal of labour of love to do it.
I am thinking of hosting for Raya Haji this year. InsyaAllah.
Sahur at Zenith Hotel Putrajaya
A one-night stay is not enough. I booked a room here because my sister was organising an Iftar get together at her place.
Zenith Hotel Putrajaya is a bit far from shopping complexes. The view from the place is great, and it offers some privacy for visitors. Guests may park in the basement. Just bring your Touch and Go card to the reception for validation. Then it would be free. There’s also another huge open-air parking space in front of the hotel. That would be suitable for non-staying visitors who come for weddings or the Ramadan buffet.
I booked a Deluxe Twin room through Agoda for RM 291.27 per night, including tax and fees. It comes with breakfast for 2 and access to its facilities. Since it is Ramadan, breakfast is converted to sahur for muslim travellers. I added another RM38 for my daughter’s sahur fee.
The room was spacious. I was beginning to think that maybe it was an upgrade because it definitely looked different from the pictures I saw. The lake view was majestic as I could see the pink masjid from afar. I really liked that there’s a specific tap for drinking water in the room.
My least favourite feature of the room was the bathroom. It was separated from the sleeping area by a glass window. Although there are additional blinds, I still felt exposed while showering. Of course, this is a great thing if I am staying alone. I could soak in the bathtub and watch TV in the bedroom through the glass. However, when you have kids of an older age, you do feel a bit self-conscious. I could peek at my kids in the bedroom through the blinds. They probably could do the same if they want to.
So I resorted to showering in the dark. To hopefully reduce the silhouette effect that comes through the blinds.
Room services are available. The menu seems good.
Sahur starts at 430AM. The buffet is last served at 530AM, but guests are welcome to continue their meals until Fajar prayers. I did not take any pictures of the spread (because it is just too early for photos), but the options are great. I thought it was acceptable. I had a decent nasi lemak, a cup of strong latte, pastries, yoghurt, and juice. My daughter had noodles, cereal and juice. It was a nice sahur session.
We checked out by 11 am, as we do not want to get caught up in traffic heading towards Melaka. It was a partial experience as I did not check out their gym and pool. Perhaps later, when there is more time.
Complaining is finding faults
It is inevitable that when you deal with human beings, miscommunication is bound to happen. Whenever I get a patient complaint, I am always reminded of this image. Their version of the story is not wrong. I accept that.
But so is mine. And when I want to present my side of the story to the original complainant, I am either stuck with the third person who was not even there in the first place or met with a disregardful response. So, macam mana nak selesaikan masalah or membuat penambahbaikan if you don’t want to meet me face to face? Interestingly, the ones with the ‘loudest voice’ are females, and then they send their men to fight me, another woman. Why don’t you do the deeds yourself?
A few weeks ago, I saw a lady who came in for a fever. To cut things short, in her point of view, I am questioning her request for an MC based on my tone of voice. All of a sudden, I have a 180cm husband barging through my consultation door, demanding to see and asking why I am questioning her sickness.
To be honest, I was a bit puzzled by the accusation. It is because he was not even there in the first place to understand what went on. In my defence, I wanted to help her without knowing that there was a background story of what actually took place before she came to see me. So, it kind of makes sense as to why the husband was angry. However, I did tell the husband to invite the wife to sit together with us, so that we could get to the bottom of the problem properly. Instead, the husband said the wife was stressed and not willing to join in.
I don’t buy that.
Experience tells me that if the original complainant is not willing to sit together, that means the version of their story as told to the third person has been distorted to their advantage. Thus, they are unwilling to face the consequences of the little white lie. That’s when I knew that no matter what I say afterwards, the husband or so-called ‘negotiator’ has made up his mind on how he wishes for the outcome to be. He has no intention to correct the matter. He has no intention to ‘improve on the services’. He just wants to ventilate and blame somebody.
The public loves to threaten government services with SISPAA. Complainants would submit their issues to the platform, but with the intention of wanting the staff to be expelled. To them, that is the only justice that should be served for their problems. When in fact, counselling services, temporary suspension and transfer to another unit are also meant as ‘action taken’ to prevent escalation of the problem.
So, what happens in situations like this? When you are faced with an angry relative or patient?
I let them win. I will apologise. I will say it is my fault. I will feed their ego. I will retreat as the weak side of the party. Then I close the chapter and move on. But before I close the chapter for good, I will make one prayer to Allah. I will pray that they will be bestowed Allah’s blessing. For example, the husband or the original complainant will receive a work promotion with a bigger salary and be transferred to a place further away from where I am working. Let them be other people’s headache, or perhaps they become the receiving end of the headache that they once imposed on others.
I just made a similar prayer today for a different complainant. That this person may find peace and understanding amidst our altercation. I did offer my apologies and reconciliation by calling her back. She hung up mid-conversation. Let’s hope that she’d find a way to see through the problem and see how it was from my shoes.
