Disfiguring declarations.

Two days ago my flickr friend William posted a picture and called in Bamboo Love (see here : http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamnyk/3896263931/in/photostream/). I was quite upset with this picture because it shows the insensitivity of Malaysian. I notice that Malaysian young lovers like to carve their declaration of affections onto perfectly defenceless plants and objects. Look at this photograph. Not an inch of the poor bamboo has been spared. And I wonder where they learn this disgusting habit from?

Not too long ago I was in a garden in Cameron Highland. I was enjoying myself taking photographs of the beautiful flowers when I came across a disfigured cactus. Someone had carved an inane love message on that poor plant. It must have taken years for that cactus to grow to that size. But because of someone foolishness and insensitivity the plant appearance was changed from being bold and majestic to something ugly and hideous. It would be better if he had carved that message on the lover's face instead!

When I was young my grandmother taught us not to deface plants and rocks. She said if you do that then your children will be born with ugly marks on their faces! And I sincerely hope what she said is true.

Taking Advantage?

A couple of months ago a friend decided to give away most of his furniture. He said he needed a new environment for his apartment. His things are in excellent conditions. It would be a shame to just 'campak' (throw) them. I inherited his sofa. His 'others' things and my existing sofa went to another friend's home.

The moving of the furniture was a bit complicated because the delivery man had to move things from one household to another. And we live in different part of the city. To simplify logistic we decided only one person makes payment. The final amount was agreed by all parties. At the very first stop, the delivery man was paid in full. He was fully cognizant of this fact. After my house he had to make one more stop. Our friend, the last recipient was at my house because he needs to lead the delivery man. Before they left for the last leg, I gave my friend RM150.00 I knew my friend did not have any cash, the money was for his own expenses. In the excitement of shifting (things were all over the place), I said 'just give extra like RM30 to the delivery man when he finished at your place'.

The next day I asked my friend about the moving and how much he tipped the delivery man? He said he gave him RM180! I was upset with myself for not making myself clear. Obviously there is a misunderstanding here. My friend thought that the RM150 was the delivery payment and that he should pay an extra RM30 as tip. However he recalled that I did tell him that full payment will be made by someone else. My friend rang up the delivery man and told him the mistake and that he should return RM150.

I recounted the story to my friend who arranged the moving. He said the delivery man is known to him and that he was very disappointed with him. At the first stop he told the delivery man explicitly his payment was for the whole job. Obviously the delivery man should know that no one will give him a RM180 tip!

So did the delivery man took advantage of the situation? And did I unknowingly became the temptation vehicle?