Malaysia Tak Boleh!?!

Rather than taking a break and “getting away from it all” I decided that I was going to put some order back in my life before taking off for some rest and relaxation. What a miscalculation. I definitely forgot about the TIM factor. This is Malaysia and one should never forget that.

I have been without water for the past 48 hours and it has been absolutely frustrating!

After grabbing a quick shower this past Monday morning the water in my apartment was suddenly shut off. To find out what the problem was I went down to the administrative building to find out what was up.

“Are you sure there’s no water?” was the response.

I thought to myself, “If you mean, did I check all the taps in the apartment to find out if the water has actually been shut off, then yes! I checked and I’m telling you there’s no water!”

“Yes, I’m sure there’s no water” was my actual answer.

“May I ask you a question?” I continued.

“Yes?”

“I can see my unit number on the whiteboard here in the office. Is there a reason why it’s up there?”

“Unit 1305? There’s a leak in a water pipe and the valve’s been shut off.”

“And?”
“ We called the owner twice. No answer. Now we’re waiting.”

“But I have no water! This is a problem for me.”

“Call your owner and tell him to contact this number. It’s the repair man’s number.”

“Ok, but are you going to start to repair the pipe?”

“Cannot”

“You’re not going to start repairing the pipe?”

“Cannot. The unit owner must give permission to start the repair”

“But the pipe needs to be repaired. If you don’t start now, the business day will be over before I can have any running water.”

“Call the owner”
…
My apartment owner has to travel in and out of Malaysia on business so he has a property agent to act as a go between. She has been so helpful over the past year as you’re about to see.

“Hi, it’s Mark at Spring Villa Apartments. Can you get in touch with the apartment owner? There is problem with a leaking water pipe and he needs to contact the maintenance man to give him permission to repair it.”

About one hour later I got a response indicating that my request was taken care of.

By mid-morning the next day the water was still shut off. So I decided to contact the maintenance man. He informed me that the repairs weren’t started yet because he was still waiting.

“Waiting for what?” I asked.

“Still waiting for permission from the owner , sir.”

??

“Didn’t the property agent contact you?”

“Yes, sir”

“Well, didn’t she tell you to get started on the repair?”

“No sir. She said she’s contacting the owner. Waiting for the unit owner to give me permission sir.”

“How long is this repair going to take when you start?”

“One day sir”

“But if you don’t start now I won’t have water for another day.”

“Yes sir. Waiting sir”

So, after this conversation I sent an SMS message to the property agent to find out why she didn’t follow through on my request. She informed me that she tried to contact the owner but there was no response. She was waiting for him to get back to her. Bloody hell! If you want something to get done you have to do it yourself.

At this point, there was only one possible solution to my problem. It was time to drop the Swayz!
I went back to the maintenance manans said,

“Ok. Listen. I know you’re only doing your job but start the job now! I’m giving you permission to start the repair! I’m the one talking to you right now. I’m the one that understands what needs to be done and how long it will take. Start the repair. Ok?”

“Cannot sir”

“Are you kidding me?!?!”

“No sir”

!!!

Later in the afternoon my owner was finally contacted and he also informed me that he gave the maintenance man the go ahead to start on the necessary repairs. I thanked him for following up with me. Five minutes later the maintenance man called to let me know that the owner had given permission to proceed.

“Great so you’re going to get started on it?”
“Yes sir…"

“… In the morning.”

…

Malaysia, truly Asia? Nope. Malaysia, truly Malaise, yah!