Was I to know what was Chat Room, what was Chatting and MBSC, ect., ect., ect? Of course not. When it began years ago, it was MIRC, Yahoo Chat and the long list that came with it.
One day, I tried going into this so called interesting site, the chat room. The next day that followed, I ended up reading emails that someone allowed me to read. Apparently she had started long before me. Anyway, interesting writes were written in between her jobs. What was I doing in her office? Oh, I forgot to tell you. Each morning I became her presidential chauffeur. After sending Diyanah to school, at Bukit Damansara Primary School, which was hardly half a kilometer away from her residence, I turned into her street to fetch her. Whilst on busier days, I just dropped her off in her Jalan Duta office and made way for my own appointments in the city.
Interesting cyber friends were made through chat rooms. During the NAM and OIC meet that took place some time in 2002, a chatter friend came over to Malaysia from New York as one of the representatives for NAM. Local chatters were carefully selected, by my standard of course…..not by your high standards! I met one good guy who used to work in a distinguished IT company along the highway, in Tropicana area. He was a convert and had gotten married to a young lady from the East Coast region. He told us (me and my partner in crime), that he had also paid through the education of his sister-in-law in APIIT. Jokingly, I asked, is there another Amir around today? What a good hearted man he was. I hope and wish that he is happily married.
One very funny incident took place. If this guy were to know, he would surely skin both of us alive. I did not know he was also a chatter friend to my above mentioned partner. One day, while she was in a meeting, I was online with Mr.A who lived not far from Kuantan. Guess how the conversation went on?
A asked “Where do you live?”
I answered “Next to the highway”
“Which highway?”
“The NKVE”.
“Which school you went to last time?”
“One school in Johor Baru”.
Suddenly he went, “ Eh? You two sound similar! The way you write is similar to how she writes”
“Who?”, I asked as though so very surprised.
He went on, “I have one chatter friend whom I have once met in her office that wrote like you do. Just now she told me, she was in a meeting. Could it be you?”
“Of course not, I am not in any meetings. That is why I am now in this chat room”.
“You better tell me the truth”, he continued.
“It is true, I am not in any meetings. And I don’t know who you are talking about.”
“But you two sound the same, you give similar answers, the way you write, the way she writes, similar words used”. Words were repeated by him as though insisting that I admitted his guessing was correct.
That evening, me and my partner were on the phone. We were laughing our hearts out when I related my story to her. Why? Apparently, she has also mentioned living near the highway, went to school in the same vicinity…BUT of course (in reality) her language is much better than mine. Perhaps similar words were written in the chat room by sheer coincidence.
The next day, I met him again.
He could not believe that we both were different people.
So I said, “May be we went to the same school, having similar si fu”.
He was not pleased and insisted that I was the same person he already met.
Anyway several months later, one day we decided to take a break from our work and headed for The Impiana Hotel in Cherating together with our children, minus our husbands who remained in Kuala Lumpur. We were discussing whether we should prove him that we were two different people or not? But of course we did not have the guts to go ahead with the idea. It would mean to insult, embarrass or humiliate him.
What more, when my MPV stalled at the traffic light in Kemaman, in front of Kemaman Kopi Hai Peng, suddenly he was our targeted pal to be called to the rescue. To call or not to call, was the focusing matter discussed between us. Finally we decided to call for assistance. Were we lucky? Yes, he told us he knew one reliable Citreon mechanic living in Kuantan town that could come to our aid. After talking to the mechanic, he then suggested we drove back to the Impiana Hotel and he would come with spare part. Not knowing what really had gone wrong with the vehicle, I did not dare driving in such a long distance. But who might it be, to turn to next? Of course, it was none other than our old friend who was working at one of the estates not far from the town. Unfortunately, he too could not come and help. So, he suggested we should seek help from his cousin, Mr.Sufian.
I have never spoken to Sufian in my life before. But under desperation, I may have to break the ice. Being so helpful, he drove over and he helped to drive us back to Impiana. Thank you Sufian, you made our day. Without your great help, I could not think of any other ways that would give me the strength to overcome my fear in driving . The mechanic arrived almost at the same time as we did. Sufian left without even having any drinks with us. So, after the fault was discovered, its part was changed and we retired in our apartment. We called our chatter friend to say our gratitude…with lots of grinning while talking to him. Only we knew why we were grinning.
A couple of nights later, we managed to have both our rescuers from Kemaman joining us for a sumptuous dinner in Cherating. Thank you dear friends and thank you for paying our dinner too.
One night, a funny and an almost insulting incident took place in the chat room. This young boy was asking me how old was I. After telling him my age, he remarked “ A person of your age, you should not be here, in this chat room. You should be praying, reading the Quran, and do “amal ibadat”. This place is for young people like us”.
So, I replied, “Hello young man, at the very least, I know I am keeping abreast with IT, I know what goes on in this chat room and I could keep an eye on my children. At least I am IT literate and I know for sure, I am better off than your mom or your grandma!”
Suddenly he “disappeared”. He had been barking at a wrong tree. I have never seen him again on other nights that followed.
On another occasion, a literally very intellectual guy joined our chats. He sounded like a professor and insisted I responded to his writes. Of course I was not knowledgeable as he was. When I refused, he became angry but refused to budge from the room. It was funny, indeed a very funny character.
A couple of years later, chat room was no longer an interesting place to be. But people were telling horrifying stories of some unwanted incidences happening as a result of getting close with cyber friends. They dared meeting freely and getting acquainted.
That was some “safe” cyber experience for AH’s grandma.
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