You Learned

It was yesterday. I was assembling my newly bought bookshelf in the living room when I hear familiar footsteps outside. Oh, these bunch of kids, again! For past few days, my “halaman’ becoming a favourite spot for the kids from the neighbourhood for their hide-and-seek games. My rented house is cozily situated on a cul-de-sac lane and I really enjoy the “quietness” of it after work. Thus, the presence of the kids running around lately made me a little bit annoyed.

I was halfway through with the bookshelf I decided to have a little “nice words” with the kids outside my house.

I opened the sliding doors and through the grill I saw 2 or 3 kids with bicycles and I said nicely,

“Adik, boleh tak main kat tempat lain?Kalau apa apa hal tak pun barang hilang dari rumah orang, adik pulak kena tuduh nanti”.

One of the kids, the smallest,

“Ok, ok , kami faham” and they walked away.

For a while I was glad.

A minute later when I returned to finish assembling the shelf, I realized.

“Have I say something wrong? They are just bunch of kids who see my house as their safe place” I reasoned.

“Perhaps, I was too quick to judge them” I quietly said to myself.

“Do they pose problem to me so far?”

The answer is quite clear. I was wrong.

I quickly finished hit the last nails into the bookshelf and prepared myself for my routine walk at Bukit Indah Forest Reserve. As I drove out from the house, I saw the kids again at the junction.

I slowly stopped the van and rolled the window. I said,

“ Dik, bukan saya tak bagi adik main di rumah saya tu. Ada besi tutup lubang tempat kumbah tu pecah”. Yes there is a broken septic tank cover situated in the house compound that has not been replaced for quite sometime.

“Takut nanti kamu main di situ terjatuh.” I reasoned nicely.

The smallest kid replied,

“ Ooo..pakcik tak marah lah kami main kat sana ya?”

“Tak. Tapi pakcik takut awak jatuh dalam lubang tu” I explained.

“ OOo..pakcik risau kat kami lah ya..OK..kami faham” He said.

“Jadi, pakcik tak kisah kami main kat sana?” He cleverly negotiated their terms.

“Tak tapi hati hatilah”. OK..you WIN!

“OK”. Agreed.

Phew. Yesterday, One thing I learned, that it’s better to explain something with care with the young rather than scolding or shouting at them right away without explaining the reasons behind it. You will never get their respect.

Note: And another good lesson, I know I am already old when they called me Pakcik.