Arrogance (entry from Amsterdam)

Is it a ritual that I need to do an entry every time I stop in Amsterdam? Well, I am bored. I have a bit more credit to go by with. Why not!

After close to 10 hrs of flight, I am not in Amsterdam, on the way to Dublin. I can’t wait to be back, but I won’t be able to have a rest or anything. I will not grab more things; I think I have enough shirts for 2 weeks and all the gears that are deemed necessary to be brought back to Malaysia.

+ Aku jumpa Cik Lembu1 ni kat Amsterdam ni, aku tanya "Cik Lembu1, kenapa meragut rumput di sini. Bukankah lebih hijau dan cantik rumput di luar sana!" Dia membisu!

+ Aku dekati Cik Lembu1, aku tanya lagi "Eh Cik Lembu1, kenapa badanmu penuh dengan mural lukisan? Kenapa?" Dia masih membisu, tapi aku terdengar ada suara...

+ "Eh hang diam boleh tak? Aku ni pun dah kena lukis ni hah, tengah tunggu myk tanah ni, nak padamkan cat-cat kat badan aku nih hah. Hah, kau jangan pulak nak cat bendegho Malaysia kek badan den ni hah!". Aku pun berlalu!

Arrogance – this is the subject today! To cut the story short, I have an Arabic teacher in Sudan who comes to my apartment to teach me Arabic. And then, 2 days ago he came to teach me Arabic and then, out of sudden I felt that I needed to highlight to him that he’s an arrogant person. I was intrigued to know, what triggers all this arrogance in him! He gave me reasons and all that. I don’t like arrogance for I believe you won’t go far with it. To be honest with you, an arrogant will trigger me to be arrogant as well. I hate to do it. I am able to bring people down with words – simply when someone has crossed the line (I will hold my breath exhaust my patience, before uttering my words!). So my Arabic teacher, Nader, has crossed the line and there I was – teaching him a lesson.

He could not defend the fact that he is arrogant. He said – this is his nature. I was fast to say to him – you were not born this way. And he said – sorry that I have great self confidence. OK, well, there is a huge road dividing self confidence and arrogance. Well, I think these 2 words belong to completely 2 countries. He did not agree with me and started being so graphics how wrong I was. I hated it when someone talks to me with his index finger pointing to me. And I said, enough is enough, now clean my toilet! Nah, that did not happen albeit my toilet does need a bit of cleaning. Haha.

I asked him – have you been living in other countries apart from Sudan, how many societies have you lived in for you to be so self-centred, self-absorbed and not thinking about others? What kind of education level that you have to be this arrogant. He was furious. And at that very instant, I broke him. He has not met someone who could confront him on this subject matter. Yes, no one likes to be criticised. Well I had to. There are points in my life that I have been criticised about myself. It is hard, but I took it all in. He was on and on about him living in dorm with others from Brazil, Senegal and hence, he could conclude that he doesn’t have to leave Sudan to embrace and understand other cultures. To me, who ever has travelled abroad and lived in societies other than their comfort zone, is a privileged one. I am talking about self-assessment. We don’t live in a bubble. That’s what make us humble for we have seen others who are better than us, others who are more intelligent than us, others who suffer less than us. All these make us – a better person, I hope.

Oh check this out – he was saying that his attribute is clearly defined in Quran. Well, he is the master since Arabic is his language. He said, something along the line of; don’t judge people because some people who don’t talk much sometimes is of his or her own nature. Yes fine, don’t be prejudicial, and all that. Fine, I can take that. I can buy that. But my problem is when you talk! And, mind you, in one breath after he cited the verse from Quran, he said the F-word to me!

I rest my case!

** Sometimes, arrogance is a manifestation of oneself to camouflage and shield his own weaknesses from others.