Some ask if lowering one’s pride is conceding defeat. I think not. Humility is a sign of inner strength and wisdom.
– Haemin Sunim, South Korean Buddhist teacher and writer
“Jangan panggil nya boss; nya kuli (Don’t call him boss; he is a coolie, meaning an unskilled labourer),” said a pub customer, aged in his late 30s, during happy hours (between 7.30pm and 9pm) circa Nov 2004.
This occurred at a pub along Ban Hock Road, here in Kuching when another customer addressed the pub deejay as ‘boss’.
Such arrogance was typical of the same customer who frequented the music joint, usually parking his 125cc Honda motorbike at the five-foot way close to the outlet’s entrance.
Actually the person who called the deejay ‘boss’ was a teacher and was trained by him (deejay) who was their lecturer in 1979 and 1980 at Rajang Teachers’ College, Bintangor.
The arrogant customer had no idea at all the deejay was teaching very dry — and unpopular — subjects such as Psychology of Education, Philosophy of Education, Sociology of Education, Arts Education, Civic and Moral Education.
Then the deejay was also one of the very few local education lecturers as most of his colleagues were Malayans.
“No need to bother about him,” the teacher told his ‘boss’ to which the deejay replied: “I don’t have any issue with that comment; after all, I am serving all customers including Datuk and Tan Sri, not to mention fishmongers, vendors as well as ‘kuli’ too.”
Those knowing my background are likely to correctly guess that I was the deejay, namely the subject of the said episode.
That was when I had to juggle three jobs — as college lecturer (teaching English Language to unemployed graduates under the Graduate Training Scheme GTS by the Ministry of Human Resource) in the morning, as fulltime pub deejay in the evening and as a stringer/columnist of Sarawak Tribune, writing using Anya Kedap byline for Sunday’s Local Music Scene.
A pub deejay, one surely comes across such attitude and at times arrogance among customers. However, at The Sapphire, I don’t remember coming across another customer apart from this Honda rider.
But two days after coming with such comment, he seemed to mellow, perhaps after noticing that I was driving a Proton Wira that was valued at least 10 times more than his Honda bike or perhaps my former trainee must have told him that he called me ‘boss’ because I was his college lecturer.
Nevertheless, I reiterated that his ‘kuli’ comment was not an issue as far as I was concerned.
After all I was thinking, the guy must have a kind of superego by the way he parked his motorbike, which at times would almost block the entrance to the pub.
To me, it was a testament of his super ego (despite driving such almost non-descript motorbike). I was then thinking about Sigmund Freud’s theory about the id and libido that I shared with my teacher trainees.
An understanding of Freud’s psychodynamic perspective is important in learning about the history of psychology. You may also often see references to the id, ego, and superego in popular culture and philosophy.
The id operates based on the pleasure principle, which demands immediate gratification of needs. The id is one of the three major components of personality postulated by Freud: The id, ego, and superego, the latter being the case with the arrogant Honda rider (can’t remember his name).
I am recalling this incident of 2004 upon hearing the non-stop address/dialogue on the mike by the deejay/emcee of Matang Metrocity’s Pasar Malam — it’s good that he speaks using local Sarawak Malay — just across where I write this piece. It also reminds me of deejays who are fond of ‘talking’ (in English), despite being mostly ‘nonsensical’ — and with a lot of grammatical mistakes.
As a pub deejay, one should talk as little as possible as it is a waste of time, especially when patrons are anxiously waiting for their turns with the mike/go on stage to perform.
Also popularly known as haven for Elvis tribute artistes, The Sapphire Pub and Executive Lounge in 2004 and 2005 had a good mixture of customers, both locals and foreigners. One Kim, a South Korean engineer working for a Kuching firm, was a good example of a respectful customer.
He was impressed with my memory of his repertoire (mostly Korean numbers) — it was so simple because I had a record of his requests written in my note. He used to share his nightly bottle of wine with me and pub owner Dennis Hon.
Another customer, with Datuk Seri honorific and a son of a top statesman, was at our pub a few times. He also shared his drinks with us and called me ‘boss’ — an exact opposite and perhaps to the chagrin of the Honda rider. Isn’t it arrogance vs humility?
