For the past few evenings we've been rocketed out of sleep by the explosions of fireworks between about 11:00 pm and 2:00 am. As a matter of fact, one night the noise was so loud that we pulled open the curtains and watched a colorful display from a neighbor's yard that rivaled any small town 4th of July show we'd paid money to watch in America.
My husband, a giant boy at heart, mentioned that he would like to light off some fireworks, too. "That'd be kind of fun. I'd like to light off some big ones." I told him I'd see what I could do and made a mental note to ask my Chinese "contacts" where I could purchase some explosive fun. Unfortunately, like most of my "mental" notes, I promptly "lost it" forgot what I was going to do.
This morning, while helping a student write vocabulary sentences with the words she'd missed on the last exam, I was startled out of my concentration by the unannounced visit of three local police officers decked out in their official looking hi-vis yellow net safety vests with the words "Polis" emblazoned on the back. These official looking guys strolled though the school building, peeking into bathrooms, opening cupboards, and scanning the perimeter of the building's interior. The primary school teacher saw this as a good opportunity to practice greetings and led her students in a "Good morning, Police Officers!" That caught them a little off-guard and they smiled back, waved a sheepish hello, and headed out the door. Again, like my "mental note" to find fireworks, I completely forgot this short interlude and my curiosity as to the purpose of their visit.
It wasn't until the end of the day when I was told about the police officers' visit. Apparently the restaurant downstairs was selling fireworks(crackers - more probably - I mean we're pretty darn close to China) and apparently selling fireworks/crackers in Malaysia is illegal. (Apparently the police are not so concerned about arresting those "lighting" the fireworks - only those "selling" them.) So the police confiscated the contraband and took the owners to jail. The police were checking out our school just in case additional fireworks were being hidden among books, students and computers.
When I expressed my regret at having missed the ability to make good on my promise to my husband - "Darn! I missed buying them by one day" -, again I was reassured..
"No problem. The owner will probably only spend one night in jail and he probably has contacts in the police department so he will probably get his supply returned and he'll be back in business tomorrow."
Note to self - "Buy fireworks tomorrow!"
My husband, a giant boy at heart, mentioned that he would like to light off some fireworks, too. "That'd be kind of fun. I'd like to light off some big ones." I told him I'd see what I could do and made a mental note to ask my Chinese "contacts" where I could purchase some explosive fun. Unfortunately, like most of my "mental" notes, I promptly "lost it" forgot what I was going to do.
This morning, while helping a student write vocabulary sentences with the words she'd missed on the last exam, I was startled out of my concentration by the unannounced visit of three local police officers decked out in their official looking hi-vis yellow net safety vests with the words "Polis" emblazoned on the back. These official looking guys strolled though the school building, peeking into bathrooms, opening cupboards, and scanning the perimeter of the building's interior. The primary school teacher saw this as a good opportunity to practice greetings and led her students in a "Good morning, Police Officers!" That caught them a little off-guard and they smiled back, waved a sheepish hello, and headed out the door. Again, like my "mental note" to find fireworks, I completely forgot this short interlude and my curiosity as to the purpose of their visit.
It wasn't until the end of the day when I was told about the police officers' visit. Apparently the restaurant downstairs was selling fireworks(crackers - more probably - I mean we're pretty darn close to China) and apparently selling fireworks/crackers in Malaysia is illegal. (Apparently the police are not so concerned about arresting those "lighting" the fireworks - only those "selling" them.) So the police confiscated the contraband and took the owners to jail. The police were checking out our school just in case additional fireworks were being hidden among books, students and computers.
When I expressed my regret at having missed the ability to make good on my promise to my husband - "Darn! I missed buying them by one day" -, again I was reassured..
"No problem. The owner will probably only spend one night in jail and he probably has contacts in the police department so he will probably get his supply returned and he'll be back in business tomorrow."
Note to self - "Buy fireworks tomorrow!"
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