PART 1
1976, sometime in December 15 around 2.00 pm.
I was working as a Penghitung Sementara (Temporary Statistics) Clerk in Statistics Department in Jalan Young.
Mr Chong Piau came running. He was working in Rubber Section. I, Oil Palm.
He showed me a telegram "Anda telah berjaya dalam temuduga, sila lapur diri di Pejabat Ketua Pendaftar, Mahkamah Agung, Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad, Jalan Raja, Kuala Lumpur". Chong Piau said "May be you got the job also lah". We both went for the same interview for the job of Court Interpreter, he as Chinese Interpreter, and me Tamil Interpreter.
That time we had no telephone in the house. Any call to any body either must use the public phone (which will not be working most of the time) or pay 10 sen to the Kedai Runcit uncle to use his house phone.
I could n't wait to go home to see if any telegram had arrived. Mr Chong Piau had gone home for lunch and his family had received and opened this telegram.
4.00 pm 15.12.1976. I walked to Foch Avenue (now Pudu Raya). Took the Kepong Baru bus.
We were staying in Kepong Baru, Jalan 10 at that time. Renting a house. Will there be a telegram for me?
I got the current job the previous year. The salary was RM 108 per month. It is a temporary but a government job. It was big money (like RM 600 nowadays 2013). This Jurubahasa Job pays RM 300 something. And the job is a permanent job. And it will increase annualy. Can i get this job? I attended interview about two months ago. I answered all general questions, ministers' names, my department's functions, i translated paper cuttings, showed them my newspaper articles translated and written by me from Malayalam (an Indian dialect from Kerala). Will I get this job?
