In Dilemma: The Almighty or The Job

What if you’re presently in the following situation?

‘You’re a male Muslim. You already attended an interview session the other week & you’re just lucky for getting the job you applied recently at a 3-star hotel as a Front Office Assistant (FOA) a.k.a Receptionist. Your off day only falls on Mondays (They determine it themselves NOT you) cos you work 6 days a week. That also means you work every day but Monday. 

Surprisingly you hafta be at your workplace on Eidul Fitr & a few other Muslim festivals. It's still fine to me cos you may be on the morning shift ( 7am sharp until 3:00 pm) or afternoon shift (3pm sharp until 11pm) or maybe the night shift (11pm sharp - 7am). You'll still have enough time to celebrate Eidul Fitr, right? The total of your daily working hours will be 8 hours per day. They only pay you RM23 a day with a bachelor's degree qualification (exclusive the extra allowance approx. RM80 a month) while the Ministry of Education paid me RM50 a day as a supply teacher (Americans call 'substitute teacher' and Malays call 'Guru Ganti') with only an SPM qualification! I was too paid with RM60 per day for teaching a two-hour and thirty-minute tuition class! How different!'

That still sounds alright to me & thousands of people out there hafta sacrifice for such festivals annually - but, what do you say when...

It’s on Friday, as a male Muslim, you must go perform Friday prayer (Jumaat prayer) at the mosque and certainly need to ask permission from your head first (Baru sopan sikit kann... tak gitu?). What if your head DOESN’T let you go & she argues that your job entails you to be available all the time at the FOA desk? 

Even if, say, it’s Friday prayer time & your hotel is receiving many guests at that time, can be Mat Sallehs or musafirs perhaps, you MAYN’T go due to your duty as a 'loyal' employee (Undang-undang ala orang Kafir taat perlu la aku taat setia kann...)

It’s too crucial to highlight something here, YOUR DUTY TO YOUR FUCKING JOB.

What about YOUR DUTY TO ALLAH S.W.T?

Which one is the more important? You choose, then!

I wonder… a company belongs to Muslims, however they don’t prioritize their obligations toward Allah! The employees are all Muslims, I'm pretty sure! (Aku sendiri x pasti sama ada staff kat sini semua solat atau tak sebab... tak perlu la cerita eh!) 

Only do the fucking bastard prioritize their job more than God, in this case Allah The Almighty. This is because the more PROFIT a company makes, the more MONEY you’ll be paid as bonus in the form of monthly income. But a one-day income can NEVER be higher than a supply teacher with an SPM qualification. Shoot! S'okay if you're a non-Muslim, however.

GUESS WHAT?

“I WAS THE VICTIM”

And, that’s actually what happened to me. I ‘wrote’ this post right after I quitted/quit. That’s why the content looks still extremely hot & spicy like a box of KFC fried chickens! The job I was offered really entails a very committed & dedicated employee. Briefly, the job comes FIRST prior to your family members & even worse, before your RELIGION!

Since I wasn’t as BRAINLESS as they might be thinking when making this fucking decision, I definitely got my own arguments which I didn’t think I needed to argue with them. I know who I am & I'm clear about my main aims on this planet. I dare to defend what He commands. And, I’m NOT scared.

Sounds very odd to me when talking about this female Muslim who’s allegedly ever so dedicated to her job acted as if she’s a non-Muslim. She's the Head of the Front Office Department. As I worked on Fridays too, I was bewildered when she said,

“If I've already gone perform Friday prayer this week, next week NO MORE!!!”

In short, I’m able to only perform Friday prayer twice a month. So terrible! Seems like I were somewhere in Sarawak or Sabah where Muslims are the minority. I’ve been to Sarawak FYI. Churches are everywhere, seriously! 

She pointed out that a male Muslim MAYN'T go perform Friday prayer not exceed than 3 times in a row only. It's OK to her if I go this week & the following week, I don't. Deep in my heart I grumbled alone, “Oh, really?” or I'd better say, "Kepala hotak kau!"

I feel damn stupid for working at the so-called prestigious workplace. I’m freaking regretful for willing to work there. I therefore decided to quit. I chose the religion, sorry babe! Although it's too tricky to get a job currently, God NEVER asks me to apply such a fucking job that will keep me away of Him.

Moreover, I know

“Rezeki saya di tangan Tuhan, bukan di tangan syarikat.”

This is one of the scripts I can still bear in mind in ‘Nur Kasih The Movie’. Have you seen the movie? Highly recommended.

I got very confused when reading the hotel rules & regulations book, it states that:

'If you resign over your trial (It generally takes 6 months prior to your job confirmation), you've to pay a two-week salary before you officially quit. I think this isn’t legalized by the Islamic teaching & is it possible to classify it as RIBA? Sorry for my poor religious knowledge. 

In addition, I very much detested when she blamed me for not being a fast learner. She wanted whatever she’d already taught me within 5 minutes could be well mastered. She scolded me for promising that I was a fast learner & could do any tasks assigned. The fact was I never promised so! I said I'd be trying my best, the deaf!. Imagine you gotta deal with a terribly complex data you’ve never seen with indescribably lots of jargon! Can you? Of course you need much practice! PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT, & you know that!

I’ve got an easier example here. Just imagine school children in school. The teacher CAN'T ever teach one topic in less than a 40-minute lesson & then expect their students are all fast learners who’re able to catch as well as understand it very quickly? NOT all students are gifted learners. As an experienced teacher although not a permanent teacher yet, I know they SURE CAN'T! Even the 1^st class in which intelligent students are most typically classed, THEY CAN'T EITHER! This doesn’t make sense to me at all.

On Friday afternoon, a big number of staff there busily asked me whereabouts I performed my Friday prayer just barely. Why was I too late to get back to work, whereas other male staff could make it ASAP? Plus, the Head was NUTS for blaming me not really serious towards my job & lying to her. The question is: Did I ever lie? I don't think I was guilty for spending a bit long time in the mosque only for Allah’s commands, was I? I just waited for the dua' & shortly after that I whereupon got back to work. I didn't even go anywhere else. I didn't stop by at a Mamak stall for lunch or something. Bloody hell!

Whatever it is, I don’t wanna open my mouth. I don’t wanna frankly tell why I dislike the job. I just don’t feel supportive, really. I might fall in love with the job only if did she teach me well & only if did she really know how to teach. Personally, she just DIDN'T! 

What get me more perplexed is that being a Front Office Assistant or Receptionist DOESN'T make you more talkative as I always thought previously. It’s totally incorrect. Standing in front of the PC every time, answering non-stop internal & external calls plus answering questions from local or international guests pertaining to something I didn’t know yet really made me a headache, EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Honestly, I’m not pleased. I feel unhappy all the time. Why am I to keep working, then?

I got a bachelor’s degree & can apply many more jobs out there that permit me perform solat in tranquility.

I don’t care what the staff there wanna gossip afterwards ‘cause I believe they’ve known already that the job is risky & full of pressure. 

So, I quit! Easy!

Better quit before going bananas! 

Nevertheless, there’ve been many things I’ve learnt too including how:

a)      to make room booking/ reservation,

b)     to photocopy

c)      to activate key card

d)     to punch card 

e)      to update guest profiles from a check-in pocket file

f)       the rule of elevator use for hotel staff, etc.

But yeah there’s a lot more one must know to be a better FOA. I didn't chance to learn how to check guests in & check them out. Well...I don't mind!

Gotta tell you that there’s something I enjoy working as a FOA. At least I’ve learnt something new, something I never knew before. I’ve understood about types of rooms & how to do business i.e. offering much more expensive rooms with higher price first to guests! I like it. I know what it means by 'nett'. It’s still called KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE which is, in fact, my actual aim to work there. I’ve got to know many staff too, so enjoyable. They're friendly & kind. Hope they won't have any negative perception on me after I quit unless a Satan-like human has slandered me. 

BUT,

I got to apologize for having to leave you guys. I've no choice anymore because…

Between Allah & Job,

I HAVE CHOSEN ALLAH FOREVER!