The Punjabi Moving Man and His Helpers

Maybe I should have titled this one, "Leaving Kampar Again", but, really the most impressionable experience I have had in my move is the Punjabi movers. They turn everything upside-down. Don't ask me why cause I sure don't know. But, they do. They do.

First off, I'm expecting to pay around 500 to 700 ringgit for a truck to Seremban. Not. He told me flat out that one truck would cost 1,000 and that I needed TWO trucks. (Only, here, they call them lorries. Maybe that's why they cost so much.)

Two truck loads of stuff that mostly doesn't belong to me. But, even if I owned it all, I sure wouldn't want to PAY someone to break up, damage and destroy my belongings. Would you?

The English-speaking older man had brought with him three others who were also Punjabis. Two of them could speak little to no English and so, had no idea what I was yelling about, I'm sure. But, as soon as the men set foot in my house, it's like there was a fire in the house. Their motto was

"Get it out FAST! The faster you get it out, the more money you'll make!" --or something to that effect. The boss wanted to get into Seremban before the traffic, so that was the priority.

Obviously, my furniture took third or fourth priority. I swear these young guys were trying to make a show of their strength by taking large pieces of furniture, such as the china cabinet and turning them upside-down! But, it wasn't until we reached Seremban that the real nightmare began.

I guess I'd been too busy rushing like mad to finish wrapping and packing last minute things at the house to notice how the furniture was being treated. It seemed fairly well-organised.

But, once in Seremban, I noticed the house afire attitude had escalated and my belongings were taking the brunt of it.

"NO! NO!" I wave my arms at a young Punjabi in a turn-it-around motion and trying to talk to the real estate agent as one of the movers turns the china cabinet upside down! Later, the agent laughed when he went into the bedroom and saw the cabinet sitting with its feet in the air! He had one of the men turn it around, but all the shelves had fallen first one way, then the other, bending the corners. Yike! (Don't tell my son.)

Coffee tables went in the bedroom with the dining room chairs. Dressers in the living room. It's gonna be a long week!

A wardrobe got turned on its side and dragged across the gravel, scraping the thin fake wood grain to crap. Big gouges were made in shelves and cupboards. Ho hum. Lesson learned:

Rent furnished housing. Don't buy your furniture here but if you do, NEVER move it! Unless, of course, you do it yourself.