Housemates From Hell

Living in a shared accommodation can be fun & can be hellish at the same time. During my Uni years & post Uni years in UK, I have been living with many people with mix nationalities. It was one of the best opportunity to learn each other’s background & cultural differences. In my early years, I used to live with Malaysians.

It is typical for most Malaysians (I guess?) as when we have travelled this far, ‘stranded’ in an alien place, we will try our best to find a place where there is a sense of belonging, & that is where sharing a house a ‘method’ of doing so for many Malaysians, to keep each other close & connected, at the same time ‘taking care’ of each other.

To be fair, there is pros & cons living with fellow Malaysians. The pros is the similarity cultural wise is the best convenience of all as we don’t face any problems mingling, open to talk about Malaysian issues, food-sharing & speak Manglish etc. When comes to cleaning up, delegating duties is not a problem at all as most Malaysians are clean people. We had a fixed duty roster up & running, everyone is performing their duties well. As for billings, everyone had no qualms about the share, as everyone contributed willingly & fairly.

The cons is when everyone was so well acquainted with each other, some fellas might start to taking things for granted by going over the top. Going OTT for example, going in & out your room invading your privacy, taking your stuff & using it, & also eating the stuff that you cook or brought home without even asking your permission. They will finish em’ all up before you even realise! All this had to with the mentality of thinking that ‘oh yeah, we are fellow countrymen, your stuff is mine, & my stuff is…mine! So I can do whatever I like?’. That makes the ‘tidak apa’ attitude an undeniable practice.

The Wannabe Triad

The worse Malaysian I encountered before, is a dude from Perak (i know its embarrassing cos I’m Perakian too), few years my senior as in age, but a junior batch-wise. This dude uptight to the max that he gave ‘early warnings’ to others not to overstep his border or else face the consequences of getting lambasted with his triad-like crude remarks. The bottom line is, either way could easily trigger him cos he can’t accept criticisms, in the same time he can’t tolerate people who rebuked him, whether it was in a tactful manner or not. For him, any criticisms will be seen as negative & a threat to his position, reputation & integrity.

At the end of the day, he became public enemy number one cos everyone shunned him after he gave everyone a hard time in the house. Reasons? All for petty stuffs that is not worth arguing & not worth mentioning either!

Eventually he did find faults with me too cos he wasn’t satisfied about me ‘siding’ the others which he clearly misunderstood. I did observe him for sometime when all the tension occurs between him & the others & manage to spot his weakness. His weak point is he needs someone more patronising than him, verbally & psychologically to pacify him ‘down’. It was when he became too confrontational, I have to resort in using confrontational methods too just like he did – much louder & more patronising than him – a reverse psychology.

Our fiasco came to a standstill at one point & we try resolve the issues using diplomacy like I once initiated at the very beginning. Surprisingly he heed the advice, & we made peace. It was a wonder, cos other housemates try to use same diplomacy but it just doesn’t work for a hardhead like him. That is where I noticed that he is not as fearless as he portrays, is all sheer boisterousness! Lame.

From Mainland With Love?

The batch after that was the worse of all, not that I have anything against mainland Chinese cos many of my friends are also mainlander. But this batch was the dirtiest bunch I ever live with. The duty roster for the first time failed systematically as no one would like to adhere to timetable. It was frustrating that I have to work my arse off being a pathetic housekeeper for those spoilt brats. I call them spoilt as they were a bunch of rich kids who don’t even know how to do simple DIYs, DIYs such as changing a light bulb, clean a clogged sink, etc. I wouldn’t mind if a girl can’t do it, but this is for two of the guys in the bunch & one of them even studied Masters in architecture, what the fuck?

One of the weird lot loves steamy scenes on TV that he will rub his balls even there’s people around. Once when I was on vacation back home for few months, I left the house in their ‘safe keeping’. Guess what? When I was back, the whole house was in a big mess. The kitchen table was thick on grease with months old rice grain adhering dusts. The bathroom was clogged, with mouldy grime all around the walls & smelly odour lingering the air. I have to spare my sleep & jetlaggy feel just to clean up the whole house upon arrival from my 5 hour journey from the airport. Enough of those unfavorable tots. Sick, disgusted & tired of them.

Y Ffel Cwpl Gan Cymru

That was Welsh, & the last bunch was a Welsh bunch. Once more, not that I had anything against Welsh. is just that this peculiar bunch doesn’t mingle well with multinational people. Sly & cunning individualists as they always try to get things in their way. Even they were new comers, they try to make everyone ‘obeying’ their rules by outlining the ‘thou shalt nots’ based on their understanding.

Because of their arrogant behaviour, many housemates left. Their bossy attitude came out of hand when they cause many racial confrontation particularly with this African housemate. They complained to the landlord of how they are mistreated because other housemates used the resources more than them & they had to endure paying bills just because others was using it & shitloads of accusations. The landlord don’t buy that cos they are bunch of smart asses too.

They used to loathe me bringing my friends around for a meal especially when I was cooking treats for my guests! They demanded respect that they claimed that my friends entered the house without greeting them FIRST & branding them rude bunch. C’mon what the fuck? Since when guests need to approach host first? As a joint-host (of the accommodation) they are supposed to be hospitable, not those guests! Not the other way round by all means? When things gone missing from their cabinet they will start accusing people.

In issues of cleanliness, they are the ‘hardliners’ that suggested a strict duty roster must be enforced but yet, they never performed their duty punctually according to the time table. At times they delayed & forgot about the duties & when I marked a ‘0’ on their name in the chart (intentionally to provoke), they’d get furious! Despite the ironies, they are just a pretentious bunch that talk alot but no actions!

I used to share broadband internet with them, but I shun them off cause they insist of using the service FIRST before paying every month. In UK, payment was taken via direct-debit from your bank account on the 1st of each month, but these guys only will pay 2-3 days before that current month ends! And each time when the payment is due, I have to remind them. At times, just reminding them tactfully a couple of times will tick them off. Just because I have been pretty ‘mean’ in demanding them to pay, they’d complain about how slow the internet is & how bad the ISP of my choice is just to make me feel bad. At one stage they even insisted that I go find a better ISP & change it. However, I never bow down to any of their demands anyway just to piss them off.

They are the type that put blame on everything good just because they dislike you. They are just 20 anyway, & haven’t seen much of the world & the reality. The bad news is that they are still here (to stay), & I’m getting fed-up with them. I was expecting them to shift out soon, but I don’t see any signs of them doing so at the mo. If they are not going, I am!

Anyway, I plan to get a nice flat by the waterfront & move out as soon as I can sometime early next year. Just tired of all these.